Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Ok, I am ready to really get in good shape for the first time in my life... my fitness level now isn't BAD (which I am sure is a matter of opinion) it is just not as good as I want it to be. I need to step up my workouts for sure. After having been through 2 pregnancies, a c-section and a "natural" birth, I am absolutely in awe of my body and what it is capable of. I am really excited about trying to bring it to a new level!!

OF COURSE any and ALL tips or comments are more than welcome! I look forward to your input!

I am going to attach some pictures of my stomach in an attempt to embarrass myself so thoroughly that I am forced to make it look prettier please, try not to gag. I DEFINITELY want to work on my core muscles... so any advice you all may have in that area would be particularly appreciated.

My Goals:
lose 20 lbs of fat, firm up stomach, glutes, thighs and arms.....be generally fit and toned and feelin' good!



I have to say that I am not loving the deflated balloon thing I've got goin' on.

So what is your fitness level right now? What is your current regime?

i would say that for having two babies (and two different kinds of de;liveries at that) you are already off to a great start! don't be embarrassed!!!! we're all here to support each other! i'm with pamela though...whats the plan of action here?

thanks for the support

you know girls, I have been thinking about the plan of action and right now I am mostly doing cardio and yoga because, well, they are easy, and give me energy and I am not very well educated on the weight machines at my gym. I had a personal trainer when I was pregnant with my second but I didn't pay enough attention to what I was doing on the machines SOOO my plan is to do a pretty straightforward resistance strength circuit and to mix it up with 30-60 minute cardio sessions 5-6 days a week. SO it would be something like this:

M: 30-60min cardio
T: strength circuit, 30 min cardio, stretching yoga class
W: 30-60min cardio
Th: strength circuit, 30 cardio
F:30-60 cardio, yoga
S: 30-60 cardio OR rest
Su:30-60 cardio, strength circuit, stretching yoga class

what do you think???

as far as diet, I am pretty good at being strict.....
my plan is:

Organic Food Bar (vegan) (I don't know how else to describe that... the actual brand name is "organic food bar" I get them at Trader Joe's)for breakfast w/ or w/o fruit.

lunch: tofu/fruit smoothie (with alll of my supplements (omega 3,6,9-maca-probiotics-flax meal) in it)

Dinner: giant salad w/ lots of veggies and/or beans or a grain based meal with lots of veggies.

any suggestions???

....oh I forgot, my fitness level:

well, my current weight is 159lbs (I am 5'7") and I am not sure what my BF% is but I would be willing to bet it is pretty high.

Okay well just out of curiosity how much more are you restricting then from what you normally consume? It's good if you are good at neing very strict as long as you don't get so restrictive that it causes you to binge out bad. Make sre you have enough energy from what you're consuming. What kinds of mixed veggies any raw mostly cooked? What kinds of grains, how are they prepped?

It is nice to see your body at the start, it is a good way to show your progress as you continue to get more involved in you fitness based activities.

I see nothing wrong with starting off with some good light cardio. Cardio gets the endorphins running big time, you feel good and that in turn makes you want to exercise even more. Trains you organ muscles as well. Rasies the metabolism and def helps to shed weight. The exercises will just come naturally as time progresses you'll be all into it before you even know it, intuitively. Just focus on getting your sessions in, getting on a routine and a schedule and committing. The rest will flow.

I'm rootin for ya, keep it up!

I am not restricting too much from what I normally eat.... I will definitely snack on raw fruits and veggies if I am feeling deprived, being as busy as I am with two young kids- I don't have a lot of time to sit around eating so I think that will be the easiest part of this... also, I don't keep "bad" foods in the house... my only problem with diet is that sometimes I go too long without eating because I am too busy to eat and then if I get a chance to eat I will eat more than I normally would. My grain of choice is brown rice (just cooked normally)(I really came to love it when I was doing macrobiotics).... I use it a lot for dinners and sometimes brown rice pasta if I am in the mood for pasta or a whole wheat tortilla to make a wrap. Do you have any suggestions in that department??? or any diet related advice??

My biggest challenge is going to be getting to the gym every day or at least 6 days a week... like you said though, once I start it will be hard to stop... I did not get to go today because I had to take my dad to the emergency room (he is a mess, medically speaking, and I often have to do stuff for him- which is the #1 factor for my spotty gym attendance) but hopefully everything will be settled down by Sunday when I want to start my new fitness plan!

Yeah, my thought with posting pics of my "before" body is that it will keep me motivated to be posting some awesome "after" pics in a few months!!

I really wish I could do a juice fast like you are doing!! But seeing as that I am still breastfeeding I don't think that would be a good idea..... I am definitely going to do some kind of a fast once I am done with the bf though... I wanted to ask you if you have an awesome juicer or how you make your juices?? I reeeeealy want to get a juicer.

thanks so much for the support, it is really motivating!!

My juicer: Greenstar
My blender: Vitamix
Mesh Bag: Mesh Bags

You don't have to buy the juicer too, you can blend everything up and strain in through the mesh bag to remove all the pulp. I wind up doing that often when i don't want to clean up the juice but i really like to use the juicer for the greens. I do both blends and juices. Blends are everything together very liquified, kinda like a smoothie you could say.

Those devices can prob be found a fair amount cheaper on other sites or older/refurbished models. I wonder, would it be a bad idea while you're breastfeeding? I guess it's a pain in the butt too and all, maybe you don't want to change things up too much while you are bf. Ah better safe then sorry.

The pasta/whole wheat stuff, even though it is being made from whole grain, b/c the whole grain is being pulverized and processed, it still is not the healthiest option. Cooked whole grain would be better imo it's still in it's whole form.

Ezekial Cereal and breads (food for life) are pretty good choices, not raw, as good as you're going to get for a cooked 'bread' product. I think they're pretty top notch. I don't know what to recommend in the cooked pasta department.

I personally would implore you to make a $20 investment and see if you like it. No harm in $20 dollars. Buy one of these:
Saladacco/Spiralizer


You make RAW spaghetti or noodles out of zucchini or radishes or other stuff like that in minutes and it tastes awesome. I have yet to make it for someone even the most hardcore of italians, that didn't at least acknowledge it as an interesting alternative. Many wind up really liking it. Can't get better than this for pasta!

You can dehydrate breads and stuff but that is getting too complicated and no need to get a dehydrator stick to the basics.

As for the 6 days a week thing yea nice but say to yourself no matter hpow 'spotty' my gym attendance is this week and every week, i will make sure i come a minimum of 3 times a week not matter what and of course with a goal of at least 6 days a week. 6 days with a family and just getting back into it, newborns and suhc you never know. It might now be as easy as you think and don't set yourself up for failure. I am not saying to not shoot for it, it's entirely possible and it seems like that will be your schedule but make a goal that you will acheive no matter what so you have a positive affirmation of what you're doing at the end of each week.

Liquids/smoothies/juices are much easier to digest and changing meals to liquids only will definitely help you body transform it self.

You have my continued support, feel free to get a hold of me whenever needed

THANK YOU! thank you, thank you!

I so value all of that information!! I didn't know they made those veggie "pasta" machines!! I have had veggie pasta at a raw food restaurant in San Diego but I had NO idea how they made it!! I thought it was just "restaurant magic"! lol I will definitely make that investment!! that will be really fun!!

Yeah, I am just afraid of doing a juice fast while I am bf-ing because too few calories can cause a dip in my milk supply... I noticed a dip when I went from vegetarian to vegan but with some fennel tea it got back up... also, surprisingly, Maca increased my milk supply. I am also worried (and this is probably unfounded) that if I really do a heavy "detox" that toxins will come out in my brestmilk?? I dunno

ok, I was wondering about buying a used/refurbished juicer... I was thinking of looking on craigslist? I'll see what I can find!

I definitely don't eat a lot of the processed grains (pasta), like maybe once or twice a month... I prefer plain ol' brown rice for sure. I will definitely take your advice on the juice/liquified food.... I don't know if you know anything about macrobiotics? but one of the kind of gross things that I did while I was doing the macro thing was to chew EACH BITE of my food 100 times....lol....just because of the same thing you said... that the nutrients would be bio available by the time they got to your digestive system and your body is more able to take what it needs and get rid of the rest.

Thank you so much!!!

What do you do, exercise-wise right now?

cardio and yoga and SOMETIMES (like once a week, not enough to do any good) a strength circuit w/ resistance machines.

Yea I could totally see how you viewed it as 'restaurant magic' as I think I used to as well until the raw food lifestyle put me on to it. It's actually much faster and easier than boiling pasta even, i'm telling ya. A couple of twists and you're done. You could always let the made zucchini pasta soak in water or oil with seasoning for 6-12 hours to soften them but they're pretty darn good right out of the saladacco. I want to hear about when you get and use it and what you thought. Perhaps you could even give me some cool recipes? Spiralized veggie pastas are one of those rare gems in the raw food world that do not require a whole bunch of crazy prepping and tons of odd ingredients. It's enough to keep someone on a high raw diet and satisfied as mono meals can get cumbersome when you don't prep food. It takes two minutes to blend up a sauce too, very convenient.

I heard it was something like 26 times to chew on food before you swallow. Whatever! 100 now that's just preposterous. I couldn't deal. I'd never wind up having enough time in the day to eat. It's miserable at the dinner table too as everyone is finished and you're still chewing your water and haven't even gotten to the appetizer yet. I have heard bits and pieces of the macro diet but never gotten into it.

VM, Get a BLENDER first! It's much moe of a necessity and a staple and it's two in one, with the mesh bag idea. Then focus on a juice when you are ready. Look into the Champion Juicer as well. That's another model that people really like; after you get you blender. Good luck on your search!

Maca is good stuff, it has many interesting properties to it; supposed to up testosterone levels in men also. I have it in my cupboard. It's good for making stuff, I like the taste of it blended into deserts...

Toxins being eliminagted in the breast milk? Hmmm, i guess they'd be releasing from everywhere. I am going to ask my colonist on monday when I see her for some more insight. I would def trust her opinion, she is pretty knowledgeable. I'll get back to ya on that one.

Either way you can always switch 1 or 2 of your meals to liquid just to change things up, ya know?

Oh and your welcome! YOUR WELCOME! YOUR WELCOME!

You take the effort to write a blog and post your routine/progress etc etc, why shouldn't others take the effort to stop in and provide guidance, support and learn from you as well?

I am really excited about making raw veggie pasta, I am sure I will love it without any kind of soaking... I love my raw veggies! I am really excited because when I looked at that Saladacco... I realized that my husband uses one at his sushi bar to shred daikon so I asked him if he could get me one from one of his suppliers and he can! So it will probably cost me less than 10 bucks. Woo hoo! I can't wait to use it! I think the first thing I am going to make will be zucchini pasta w/ fresh tomato sauce... that just sounds sooo good. I will take pictures! I was also thinking that it would be good to make some butternut squash pasta.

Ok! I will get a blender first I have a really crappy blender now that makes everything taste like metal ;( blech. I have been jonesing for a really good blender! I will make it my first priority!

I am looking forward to hearing what the colonist says about the toxins/breastmilk issue... I get freaked out because in 'Diet for a New America' John Robbins talks a lot about the amount of toxins being released in breastmilk... I eat 99.9% organic because of that but I am sure I have built up toxins in my body and that is why I am nervous about detox... but yeah, let me know what she says!!

yeah, chewing your food 100 times is pretty crazy!! Macrobiotics is really strict but it does make you feel good... you have to cook A LOT and until you really get a hang of the yin/yang properties of food it can be a little tedious!! The thing I had a hard time with was not eating tomatoes, peppers, or eggplant because they are "poisonous"...

and yes! I will definitely do more liquid "meals" I am going to look at your juice fast thread again to get some more info on juicing....

Your support and knowledgeable input is soooooo helpful!!! I am so glad that I found this forum, I am really looking forward to reaching my goals and I know I will with all of this support and encouragement!

I'm eating mostly macro now... why did you stop? I know it can be restrictive and time consuming...

For how long were you doing it? Did you see any health benefits?

I did a three-day brown rice fast last weekend and lost about 2kg. Only .5 of that came back a week later. I'm addicted to brown rice and not just for its cleansing capabilities.

Good luck with your fitness journey! I'm rooting for you!

Karmacharger,

I actually REALLY loved doing macrobiotics... I did it for about 5 months and then I got pregnant and I couldn't eat any of the macro food (it is not really recommended for pregnancy anyhow)... I had reallllly bad morning sickness and throughout my pregnancy most macro food made me want to vomit. I was considering getting back into it recently but then I decided that I would start by going vegan and work my way back into it. Now I don't think that I would really commit to macrobiotics again unless I felt I needed to for health reasons. I kind of lost my macro "groove" and I am just not in a place in my life right now where I can cook as much as I would need to. I do believe in the power of the macrobiotic lifestyle for sure! It makes you feel so "tuned in"! Good luck with it and I have read a few books about it so if you ever want to chat about it feel free. I will always love brown rice though......mmmmm yummy!