Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

SO here i am.

After 3 kids, i'd like my body to be mine again. I am fit, strong and healthy. But, I want to get onto a plan that i actually stick to long enough to see some results; instead of switching it up so much that i can't tell what actually working and not.

I am going to take some vulnerable pictures of these areas and track my progress. Problem is, i don't really know where to start.

So, this is the beginning of my log. I'd like to post a little more history, but as of now, there is a sad little one who needs to be cuddled... story of my life

Look forward to reading your log!

well.... there's always tomorrow, right?

We had a snow day today and the kids simply wanted me to be outside... nothin wrong with that I just wish i had more chances to work it a little bit more.

SO, food today?

let's see - I'm not a coffee drinker, but today with the snow, i chose to make an exception
So, coffee with a banana +almond butter , and a greens energy bar.

Drank a juice/smoothie - chard/spinach/carrot/ celery/ cilantro/ spirulina/ chlorophyl/banana/ mango (sipped throughout the day)

For lunch, had a salad with a little grilled tempe+garbanzo beans+ raw tahini dressing

water.......

and then, when i took the kids out to eat.... i couldn't resist the seitan fajitas!! OH, geez. Melted daiya on top with grilled onions on a corn tortilla. whoa. totally regretting the overly processed fake meal.... but.... i can relax every now an then.

Tomorrow, i'll get to go to the gym. Hoping to do some lifting, squats, and some medicine ball action... maybe a little cardio. My lungs are still recovering from pneumonia... so i need to take it easy there....

now, time for sleep and hopefully some relaxing yoga first .....ahhhhh.....

Welcome back! See you around!

So far, today....

This morning i made a green smoothie of 3 bananas, 1 mango, chard, flax, hemp and spirulina..... I sipped on that, made some yerba mate and ate a greens + chocolate energy bar.

Went to the gym and worked with a medicine ball, did a bunch of squats, some dead lifts, and a few machines....

Sipped more smoothie. might make some quinoa for dinner...not sure. it' a hard balance to find...

Home for lunch, steamed some kale, and grilled up some tofu - (about the equivilant of 1/4 of block), put the kale and tofu in romaine leaves for a sort of taco - with a tahini lemon dressing on top.

That brings us to now... not sure what i'm doing for dinner.

I'm pretty thin - i'd love to gain muscle and loose that lanky loose look. I *am* toned in a lot of areas, but i hate "being vegan" and people knowing it - knowing i workout, and then seeing me in a swim suit - Toned in certain areas, really thin in some areas and loose/flabby in others. i don't like getting that, "it's cause you're vegan" look. it gets old. I want to look like, "wow! and you're vegan??? tell me more!!"

(btw, i'm 29, 5'3'' and 110 lbs. - weight is not my concern here )

Dinner ideas??

Daiya just flat out rocks in my book. Great going on the foods too. I make a 2 cup batch of Quinoa when i can and then chuck it in whatever Im eating down the road. Spread it out over a bunch of meals.

I have mentioned on other posts... So hate to sound like a broken record... But I really mean it, Get Robert's book right now. Order it from Amazon or wherever. If you want a platform to start on (if you need one) then Vegan Bodybuilding and Fitness IS the place to start. And for exactly the reason you mentioned. (Some people I knew thought I had some type of cancer or something cause I was so thin. Ugh.)
It's been not even half a year and have made big gains. Start out simple with light weights and slowly work your way up. Keep a food journal and track your workout's. Map out your calories/proteins intakes and adjust along the way.
You can't lose.

Thanks, growinglarger.... before and after photos? those are great for reference. Yeah, it can be really frustrating - *because* i am so slim, it's hard to be honest at all about going to the gym, running, food choices, etc... because people just look at me annoyed...

anyway- thanks for the encouragement!

Great to see you posting again!

Happy travels and maybe see you in So Cal or the 503

Be in touch.

I'm off to FL now but have a great weekend!

ok... quickly....

dinner last night.... - sauteed portobellas, diced tomatoes, steamed kale and a little daiya

Then i was freezing and decided to bake up a bunch of vegan/gluten free/soy free/sugar free/corn free choco chip cookies! YUM!!

This morning so far,

kombucha, yerba mate, 6 oz. green smoothie....

now, off to the gym.... i'm sore, so we'll see what i can do... if i'm sore, should i wait to recover or lift through it?

If you are looking to put on muscle you might want to up the protein you eat. I was just looking at your dinner from last night and it seems pretty low in protein. Maybe add some legumes or tofu or tempeh or something?

When I have muscle soreness I usually lift through it. If it's an acute sharp pain I wouldn't, but I'm assuming we are just talking about normal muscle soreness from lifting. Some light cardio (walking on treadmill, etc.) beforehand can help to loosen you up.

Thanks! i get stumped sometimes with protein... i'm not always in the mood for beans, and don't want to over do soy, you know? I know that mushrooms are supposed to be a good source for protein... and i do put hemp in my smoothies. Doesn't spirulina have protein?

another problem is that i have stubborn pudge as a thin layer lining my lower abs and thighs... so - i can't get a straight answer from anyone as to how/whether or not to focus on burning it at all... so right now, i'm working on just building the muscles and hoping all will fall into place.

So today..... I actually had more smoothie than i said - had about 16 oz. before going to the gym.

at the gym: 1 hour yoga class; focused on plank, hip opening and shoulder strength.
worked with a medicine ball on the HUGE exercise ball, did low and wide squats while lifting the measly 25lb weight. (stop laughing )
I don't know what machines and what certain exercises are called, but just know that for the most part, i did dead weights/ med. balls and calisthenics.
............then i relaxed in the sauna for 20 minutes.

After the gym, had water and a larabar. Bought a decadent raw chocolate at the coop... YUM.

had a burger patty made of lentils/rice/kale, daiya on top with pickles and wrapped in romaine.

(coffee with hemp milk.... again???)

home... dinner: sauteed chantrelles, steamed collards. and black beans

i feel good, but i can tell that i need more water......

Is this day 3 then, of my log?

For breakfast i had a little of my green smoothie and a greens energy bar.

After dropping the kids off, i head to the gym with a friend who's asked me to kick her butt into shape alongside my own.

We started things off with a mile and a quarter of inclined speed walking which felt amazing!

Then we went to the weights and did several different series of squats, arms, and abs. We came up with some pretty cool moves, IMO.

One of our goals, as moms. is to keep our workout under an hour - aaaaand, we're working on it.

I feel like i'm starting to see a difference....

Post workout - smoothie, larabar (2 bars in one day?? yes, i had kids with me and we had errands to run..life )
1 handful of clementines and a couple vegan dolmas. YUM.

later, more smoothie... it was a big smoothie.

home late afternoon - a small serving of leftover quinoa with black beans/collards/kale etc... wrapped in seaweed

Dinner - salad with romaine, kelp noodles, avocado (1/2), cilantro and tahini dressing - again, wrapped in seaweed....

evening snack - a few dates with sunflower butter and 1/2 of a naval orange. ...

what a yummy day!

.... attempted a workout yesterday.... came down with a sinus cold..... to be continued.

(oh, but yesterday i ate a (bought) raw sandwich... made with a delicious seed bread and seed pate- but it was so hard to digest! too much fat and fiber all at once. i wonder if i would've been better off just making a small sandwich with sprouted bread. That other one sat like a rock in my gut and made me gassy for hours!)

I finally kicked it, but now i feel like a weak noodle.... off to the gym in the morning to kick my own butt into shape! ....again

How are things?

Hope all is great!