Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

I'm sorry you have a headache. I hope it goes away soon.

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Courtney

"If slaughterhouses had glass walls, we'd all be vegetarians."
-Linda McCartney

Days 53 and 54

I had an early day at work yesterday. We had an off-site retreat which was a nice change of pace. I had to leave early for an important meeting and missed the fun second half of the day. I've gotten used to bringing my own food to these types of events. I'm so glad I do this on a regular basis. If I say no to everything then there's no room for temptation. I saw colleagues pack away thousands of calories an hour between muffins, croissants, juice, decadent sandwiches with cheese and salmon. It was pretty crazy. That was one of the highest fat spreads I've ever seen but they did balance it out with a fruit plate and some veggie trays... that was enough to ease any guilty consciences.

I tried to go to the gym this morning and train legs. It was a total bust. I did my leg press but my butt was still very sore from last Friday. I did a lunge per leg and it felt like my quads were going to snap, sieze, or spasm. The feeling was not good. I biked for a while, stretched and tried again. Lunges were out of the question. I guess my legs needed more time to heal. I did one set of leg extensions and that too was horrible. I'll try again on Monday... if I survive the weekend.

My boyfriend is on his way to town. He's apparently 2 hours away. I just go home from grocery shopping. My family is throwing a huge BBQ tomorrow and I volunteered to make the salads. I just came back from getting all the ingredients and I have no clue how I got it all home on foot. It's amazing how much I can carry. Can that count as a weight workout?

I'm making a bean salad with coriander, carrots, corn and a lime dressing. I'll probably add some cayenne for kick. I'll be making a broccoli, carrot, raisin salad with veggenaise and pumpkin seeds. I'm also making a roasted veggie salad with sweet onions, carrots, red peppers, zucchini, roasted garlic, fennel and quinoa. I was going to make a strawberry and kale salad but I couldn't find any kale.

Tomorrow I will have to run out again to buy ingredients for my fruit salad... At least I'll have help carrying everything back here.

I bought some BBQ flavoured tofu cutlets and I'm going to make some rice bowls for my boyfriend and I. I have some boy choy, onions, carrots, corn and something else that I was going to put in there. . . I'm too tired to remember. However, I have two hours before it needs to be done so I've got time to get my act together.

It looks like there will be no gym for me this weekend. My days are all filled up.

I should go and unpack all those bags full of food. There are some tofu products that need to go to the fridge.

Happy Friday!

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"Nothing is impossible unless you think it is." Paramahansa Yogananda

Days 55 to 57

It was a crazy weekend and I am so glad it's over!!

I went to a BBQ last night and one of my friends' cat's decided to spend most of the night sitting a top the back of my chair. He was very cute and snuggly but when I got home, I could not stop coughing. I had a serious allergy attack; it was awful. I finally fell asleep just before midnight and woke up around 5:30. I got up at 6:30 and had a looooong debate with myself about whether or not I should go to the gym. I am pleased to say I made it!! I had a great workout but I was clearly looking quite tired. One of the guys at the gym was after me to smile but alas, I was too tired.

I had a really nice day but unfortunately ate out way too much today. I bought at ton of really great groceries so I'm looking forward to having a more healthy day tomorrow. I am also looking forward to trying this sprouted grain cereal that I bought today. It has no flour in it which is awesome! I think it has apples, sprouted buckwheat, sprouted almonds, sprouted quinoa, walnuts, figs and cinnamon (and love).

I'm thinking about going to a 6:30 AM yoga class tomorrow morning and for that to happen, I must get to bed now!!

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"Nothing is impossible unless you think it is." Paramahansa Yogananda

Days 58 to 60

It's been a weird week. I've really been struggling to find motivation. On Tuesday I bought two copies of Oxygen magazine to try and get me pumped. There were some really great exercises in there that I'll try to throw into my new routines and in each issue there was constant mention of the very important role of nutrition. One of the things that Robert Kennedy said twice was that your workouts won't necessarily cancel out a big mac combo (not like any of us eat that) or a whole day of cheating.

I've been really hungry lately. It's been almost 10 weeks and I still haven't figured out what combination/amount of food my body likes best. I've got a week and a half left in my contest and I'm losing motivation. I've hit a wall. I'm tired. I want life to go back to "normal" but I didn't like that life much because I wasn't feeling healthy... so I don't know what's up but I'm sure I'll figure it out soon.

I made awesome vegan pizza yesterday on a corn meal/spelt crust. I loaded it with caramelized onions, grilled zucchini, portabella mushrooms, roasted garlic, pineapple and green olives. It was awesome!!

We had a scavenger hunt at work yesterday, followed by a pizza party. It was really hard to be around all that cheese and not give in. I brought a brown rice bowl full of veggies and tempeh and chatted to my co-workers to avoid temptation. Sunday will mark my second month dairy free and I'm happy for it. In another week, I will celebrate seven months sugar free. I am grateful for these little milestones since they help me to know that I'm making progress by transforming my life, one bad habit at a time.

I had a decent leg workout yesterday. I still can't do lunges and am willing to live with the fact that I might never be able to. I'm going to have to get creative with my leg workouts but I know I can do it.

I didn't think I had worked them *that hard* until about an hour later when I was running down the stairs in my building on my way to work. The jelly feeling set in. I'm sore today which is awesome!!

My cardio is slipping a lot these days too.... I must get back on track.

That's all I have to say for now.

Here are my very short term goals:

-Eat clean
-Prepare for killer upper body workout tomorrow (I'm hoping to use 30lb db for my last set of chest press)
-Get to bed early

I think that's more than enough for me right now.

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"Nothing is impossible unless you think it is." Paramahansa Yogananda

Day 61

I didn't get to bed as early as planned and only got 7 hours sleep. I was tempted not to go into the gym but I was awake before 6am and decided to give it a go. I was feeling pretty anxious about a lot of stuff that's going on right now and couldn't sleep anyway. I knew a workout would make me feel good and help burn off some of the stress.

I wasn't quite ready for my chest press with 30lb dumbbells today. I ended up only being about to pump out three reps with 27.5lbs. I might've been able to do more if I had a spotter but I didn't.

I don't know why I did this but I ate a lot of junk today. I know better than that. I have no excuse for that. I have to get my eating back on track...

I am so tired right now. I could fall asleep and it's not even 8pm. I think I might just go to bed anyway.

My plan for tomorrow is to get some cardio in and take Sunday as a rest day. I look forward to using the elliptical again. It's been a while.

Happy Friday!

_________________
"Nothing is impossible unless you think it is." Paramahansa Yogananda

Days 62 and 63

I tried to spend as much time as possible outside yesterday. I phoned up a friend and we took two of his three kids to the park to feed the ducks. They were very cute, a bite of bread for them, a bite of bread for the ducks. It was a lot of fun!

I picked up two books from the library "The Body Sculpting Bible for Women" and "A Diet for a New America." They should keep me busy for a while.

I'm not sure I like the Body Sculpting Book. I think I prefer the Body for Life program. I'm going to read more of it today and see what I can get out of it. There appear to be more exercises in it so I might find some ideas on how to train my uncooperative legs. I fell asleep reading it and had a nice nap before going out to meet my friends for dinner.

I walked to the restaurant and it took me 45 minutes. I must admit, I wasn't going fast... I was people watching as I strolled through Chinatown. It was such a beautiful walk, I had a really long moment full of peace and gratitude. I just felt lucky to be alive and grateful for the beauty in my life and in that moment.

My goals for today are:

- Get through my to do list so I can focus on my last week of the contest
- Buy groceries
- Prepare food for the week
- Go to bed early
- Map out my workout for tomorrow
- Eat clean
- Meditate

In the next few days I'm going to try to cut the sodium from my diet as much as possible to help with my final measurements. I just wish my period would get here soon so I can gain and lose the weight that comes each month before my final measurement. I'm also hoping to do some hot yoga classes the weekend before the contest ends to sweat everything out. I wonder if that will work or backfire... I'm also tempted to juice fast for my last three days... that could be risky though.... I could put myself in a yo-yo type situation.

I could also go with a more sound plan which is to keep doing what I've been doing and see what happens. *sigh*

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"Nothing is impossible unless you think it is." Paramahansa Yogananda

Dude, I can't do lunges either. I can't balance very well and tend to fall to the side so I mess up my form.
What I've been doing to train my body for lunges, is to put a bosu ball behind the small of my back up against a wall. This forces you to stand up straight. Then, start doing your lunges. Start with no weights at first, and then as your balance improves, start adding weight to it. Eventually, try doing them without the ball.
I'm hoping this works anyways..

Good luck!

It took me over a year to be able to keep proper form with walking lunges. I started with stationary lunges while holding onto a weight stand (or bench) for balance. If you keep at it, I bet you'll find a way to do them.

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Do what you always did, get what you always got.

My balance is still terrible but lunges will get easier I promise!!!! I have terrible balance, but I've seen people with great balance having trouble with lunges. Sometimes the trainers even falter, who'd have thought! Do you use weights when you lunge? I find the heavier the weight the better balance, or less tipping over I do. I actually find that holding a barbell behind my head on my shoulders helps. Anyway don't give upon the lunges, it'll happen.

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The devotion of thought to an honest achievement makes the achievement possible.

Hey Ladies,

My problem with lunges isn't really balance. Although, I'm sure it would be if I were attempting walking lunges. I'm still having huge problems with my quads ever since I over trained them a few weeks ago. I have really bad knees and have neglected the muscles around them for so long.

Today I was able to do 10 static lunges per leg using just body weight. I plan to build from that and increase what I can do but in a healthy way. The first time I did lunges, a few weeks ago, I did some serious damage. I know my legs have had enough when they feel like they're going to snap. I've been working out long enough to know the difference between a nice burn and an injury on the horizon.... For me, the big thing is more that I haven't given up entirely on lunges. I'll keep working at them and let you know how it goes.

Days 64 and 65

I didn't make it to the gym yesterday. I woke up and was getting myself all psyched up when I realised, I didn't feel well. I thought I had a migraine coming on. I decided to go into work early and leave early since I had to go look in on a friend last night. I'm training with my trainer on Thursday too so I decided to do my weights on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday instead of my normal Mon, Wed, Friday routine.

I haven't been eating as well as I should be. I guess it has to do with my period, or the funk I'm in or, the self-sabotage kicking in. I take responsibility for all the crap I've recently put in my mouth and from now on I look at each meal as a new opportunity to do better.

I am finally getting my period! Yay! I look forward to all the bloating disappearing so I can get on with my life and my contest.

I am super tired today and will likely do all my dishes, prepare food for tomorrow and spend the rest of the night in bed with a book. I do hope I fall asleep while reading it. I'm tempted to go out for a bit but I really feel like my body is telling me to rest. And so I will. I had a killer leg workout today and think I've earned it.

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"Nothing is impossible unless you think it is." Paramahansa Yogananda

Ouch, migraines! Hope you feel better soon.

_________________
Do what you always did, get what you always got.

Thanks DV! I feel much better today. My period finally came and my body is reverting back to normal.

Days 66 and 67

Yesterday morning I woke up with another headache. I didn't feel so hot but managed to get up and into work very early. I got home nice and early because of my early start. I was in bed and napping around 4pm yesterday afternoon and got an hour of sleep. It was bliss.

I walked to and from the vegetarian restaurant that I went to for dinner last night. It was about 35 minutes each way. I don't count that as cardio but it was still better than nothing.

This morning I had a great training session with my trainer. We trained upper body and it was good. I got confirmation on form for my lying hamstring curl... it's been so long since I've done it, I had to double check. Turns out my hams are strong! My trainer had me do an interesting warm up exercise for my chest. It went like this:

- Get into a push-up position.
- Put your left forearm to the mat
- Put your right forearm to the mat
- Put your left hand back into starting position
- Put your right hand into starting position
Repeat until collapse and change up the starting hand after a certain number of reps.

It was a weird form of torture but I liked it.

My trainer jumped the gun and handed me the 30lbs dumbbells for my chest press. I wasn't ready. My mind was prepared to do 27.5 and I couldn't pump out more than 2 assisted reps. I'm going to do more working out on my own and build my way there. I think my trainer is over estimating my ability. Or maybe I'm under-estimating it... or perhaps we meet in the middle somewhere. Who knows?

All it in all, it was a great workout and only day one and a half of my period so I feel good for accomplishing what I did when all I really want to do is go to bed.

I'm thinking of going to hot yoga tomorrow morning. I probably shouldn't do yoga with my period but I don't care. I want to start shrinking in advance of Monday's final measurement.

Wish me luck!

My goals for tonight and tomorrow:

- Eat at home. Do not eat out. This applies to most of this weekend.
- Get to bed early
- Go to morning yoga or after work
- Stay focused.

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"Nothing is impossible unless you think it is." Paramahansa Yogananda

Day 68

I typed up a whole blog entry at work and then tried posting it. However, I couldn't get it to post. Something to do with cutting and pasting.

It's funny how things workout sometimes. I was all prepared to go to 6:30 AM yoga today. I was diligent last night in preparing. I went out of my way to go to the yoga studio to get a replacement card so I wouldn't have to deal with it at 6AM today. I found out when I got there that I had actually left my card at the studio and didn't have to pay $3 to replace it.

I was with a friend at the time and we noticed one of my other friends sitting on the patio of a neighbourhood bar all by himself. We popped in to join him for a drink. I had sparkling water. I wasn't about to drink alcohol less than 12 hours before a yoga class. And I'm not much of a drinker anyway. Well, we were having a nice time but it started to get cold, the humidity was killing me a bit, as was the second-hand cigarette smoke. At a certain point, my stomach started doing weird flips and flops and I had to get out of there.

My friend Rob walked me home and we made it about a block and a half away from the bar before we had to turn onto a side street so I could "toss my cookies" without an audience. Thankfully, I had a plastic bag on me so I was prepared to contain the "cookies." It was gross. I felt gross. I feel lucky to have a friend like Rob. He held my hair, told me I was going to be fine and made sure we found a garbage dumpster before getting home. It's amazing how far we walked without seeing a garbage bin.

I fell asleep not long after I got home. I woke up to the phone at 7:30 when my boyfriend called. He woke me from the deepest sleep I ever remember having.

I puttered around my condo and went to work. I felt icky, tired, off and a queasy. I made some kukicha tea and brown rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I toasted some pumpkin seeds and threw some tamari on them. That will be all the food I eat today. Three cups of brown rice with a quarter cup of pumpkin seeds. I have about 1.5 cups left and it should get me through the day. Especially since I'm not so hungry. I had some apple juice too. I'm back to kukicha tea.

My cure all for headaches, sore throats, tummy aches etc is to eat part of an umeboshi plum. They're pickled Japanese plums, at least one to three years old. The taste is very strong, sour and salty but I find they really help balance my system out.

I came home from work and took a nap. I woke up two hours later. I'm ready to go back down but I think I will read for a bit first while I drink my tea.

I can hear my tummy working through its state of distress. My leg muscles are still a bit sore from Tuesday. My shoulders, chest and back are stiff and sore from my workout yesterday. My abdominal and diaphragm muscles are sore from last night. If ever there was a reason to slow down, this is it.

I'm going to take it easy tomorrow, maybe take in a yoga class if I'm feeling better. I might fast on brown rice for another day if my stomach is still wonky in the morning.

I suspect some bad tofu is the reason for all of this. I bought it in bulk so it didn't have an expiry date. I don't think I'll be doing that again any time soon. However, after this experience, I will probably now have an aversion to tofu... like I do brown lentils. Yuck.

On the bright side, it feels good to be resting and taking it easy... even if my stomach is at war with itself.

I really hate that I found joy in weighing myself this morning and seeing that I was almost a kg lighter than I was yesterday morning at the same time. It's not real weight loss. I'll go back to normal when I'm feeling better. However, I was also missing a 1/2 inch on my waist today too. I was tempted to go in for my final measuring today. I'm going to do my best this weekend to take care of myself and get measured on Monday as planned.

Happy Friday! May your weekends be fun!

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"Nothing is impossible unless you think it is." Paramahansa Yogananda

I hope you're feeling better soon!

I haven't been throw-up sick in more than 20 years. I've heard it's no fun at all.

You're probably best to just take it a bit easy over the weekend and let your body recover.

You are probably right Pamela. However, I feel pretty good today. My stomach felt okay when I woke up and my energy levels good. I'm thinking of doing a hatha yoga class instead of bikram today. I might be easier. We'll see how I feel in another hour or so.

You are so lucky that you haven't had to throw up in so many years. I have the most fragile stomach on earth. It's terrible.

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"Nothing is impossible unless you think it is." Paramahansa Yogananda