Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Hey everyone this is my first fitness and nutrition journal. My goal is to do a bikini fitness competition in May 2012. I've been inspired by a girlfriend of mine who just did a competition a few weeks ago though shes a big meat eater thinks that I will have a tough time because of my vegan diet. I've always been into working out and being healthy I've been able to maintain an ok physique for the last 4 years when I fully switched to a vegan diet but never knew how to kick it up a notch.. or a few! I just bought Robert Cheeke's Vegan Bodybuilding and Fitness, browsing a lot online here on this site and veganmuscleandfitness.com.
My girlfriend gave me her workout routine which I will add to my workout routine. Right now I have been doing bodyrock.com workouts 3-6x/week and HII cardio on my cellerciser 3-6x/week. As I get through Robert Cheeke's book and doing more research online I should have a pretty good idea on a good workout plan.
My diet is vegan (with some honey from a company that loves their bees) I try and eat mostly fresh food though it is winter here in BC and warm food is sooo nice to have in the evenings. 1st and 2nd meal is almost always smoothies. (bananas, dark leafy greens, berries, coconut oil, honey, chlorella and protein powder - just bought the vega sports protein powder in vanilla!) Immediately after my workouts is when I take chlorella with some supplements (multi, B12, maca... ) Evening meal lately has been steamed veggies with legumes (I keep my meals pretty simple no sauces) I am a coffee addict which I enjoy 1 cup in the AM before my workouts with coconut milk, if I dont get a good sleep I usually have another cup mid day. My liquid has definitely gone down since summer, I'm currently drinking 1.5 litres of water - I gotta work on this!

I will be posting on here regularly to keep track and stay on track, any suggestions/ideas etc are always welcome. Hopefully I get a an email soon from veganmuscleandfitness.com with their free diet planner sheet to keep tracking easy. If anyone knows of any good apps for their journals plz let me know!
cheers!

My girlfriend's workout routine:
Week 1 day 1-3 - 50 % of 1 rep max 4 sets of 12

day 4-6 50 % of 1 rep max 4 sets of 15

Week 2 1-3 55 % 4 sets of 10

4-6 4 sets of 15

Week 3 1-3 60% 4 sets of 8

4-6 4 sets of 10

Week 4 1-3 55% 4 sets of 12

4-6 4 sets of 15

Week 5 1-3 60% 4 sets of 10

4-6 4 sets of 12

Week 6 1-3 65% 4 sets of 8

4-6 4 sets of 10

45 second rests in between sets

Day 1 Legs
Sqauts
Alternating walking lunges
Split squats
Hamstring curl
Standing calf raise
Leg extension

Day2 shoulders , chest, tri
Front raise
Side Lateral raise
Dumbbell Shoulder press
Flat bench fly super set with press
Front press down tri
Reverse pull down tri

Day 3 back , bi , abs
Lat pulldown
Mid back seated row
Ab crunch back straight
Oblique side crunch on horse
Dumbbell curl
Bar curl

_________________
Sarah

Day 1

2 Cups of coffee with 1 TBS coconut milk in each - late night last night....
1 Liter Green Smoothie (bananas, kale, chard, chlorella, coconut oil, honey, himalayan salt, 1 scoop of protein powder, 1 liter of water)

1 cup of coffee with 1 TBS coconut milk.

Workout:
Squats, 4 sets of 12 - 30lbs
Alternating Walking Lunges, "" - 40lbs
Split Squats, 1st set-30lbs, 2nd set-24lbs, 3rd set-24lbs, 4th set 20lbs
Hamstring Curls with Ball 4 sets of 12
Standing Calf Raises, 30lbs
Hanging Knee Raises 4 sets of 12
20min high knees on cellerciser 5sec rest 15 sec work

Big glass of chlorella + supplements
Dinner: yellow split peas with curly kale, cauliflower, peas, tomato, cannelloni beans, green onion

For the rest of the night lots of water(im loving water with little lemon juice, himalayan salt and stevia) a chamomile tea and then right before bed another glass of chlorella.

_________________
Sarah

Day 2

1 cup of coffee with 1 TBS coconut milk

Bodyrock work out:
Low Jacks - 39(with 20 pounds) - 46 - 40(no weight)
3 Pushup + 5 mountain climbers - 4 - 4+1pushup - 4
Reverse Push up - 12 - 10 - 6(10sec hold half way)
Elbow plank and reptile pushups
30min high knees cellerciser 5/15

chlorella + supp.
1 liter green smoothie (bananas, kale, chlorella, coconut oil, honey, 1 liter water, 7 dates, himalyan salt, 1 scoop protein powder)
a few pieces of dried ginger
a few handfuls of sea salted popcorn
chlorella again before bed

Yesterday was not a very good day - food wise - I know that this is something I have to really focus on is getting enough food in me so when I'm out of the house for most of the day I need to better prepare myself or else this will happen again...

_________________
Sarah

Day 3

1 cup of coffee with coconut milk

Workout:Shoulders,Chest,Triceps 4 sets of 12
Front raises: 5lbs for 2 sets, 3lbs last 2 sets
Side Lateral Raises: 5lbs for 1st 2 sets, 3lbs for last 2 sets
Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 8lbs (1-4)
Bench Fly set on Ball: 5lbs (1-4)
Front press down Tri: Resistance band
Reverse pull down Tri: Resistance band.
30min high knee cellerciser 5/15

Chlorella+supp.

1.5 litre of green smoothie(bananas, dates, kale, himalayan salt, coconut oil, honey, protein powder, 1 liter water, chlorella)

Going for vegan pizza tonight.

_________________
Sarah

Before going to the Canucks game I had 3 pieces of vegan pizza. Then at the game I brought 10 chocolate covered almonds and 10 chocolate covered cashews - these were vegan as well and omg so good, glad I didnt bring the whole bag!!
Drank much more water today then yesterday but still not as much as I probably should, today was about 2 liters. Its so hard to drink water when Im so cold all the time...

_________________
Sarah

Last night had my chlorella drink before bed.

Day 4

2 cups of coffee with coconut milk

Workout:
Lat pulldown with resistance band 4 sets of 12
Mid back seated row " " " "
Leg Lift, Star Crunch, and Butt Lift combo 4 sets of 12
Reptile Plank 4 sets of 12
Dumbbell curl 8lbs 4 sets of 12
Bar curl 8lbs 1st set, 5lbs last 3 sets of 12
30min high knees on cellerciser 5/15
Chlorella + supp.
1/4 cup coconut yogurt - I have not had any type of yogurt in over 5 years but wow this so delicious brand of coconut yogurt tastes just like dairy yogurt!
1 liter green smoothie (bananas, red chard, honey, coconut oil, coconut milk, hemp seeds, vanilla stevia, himalayan salt and 1 liter of water)

_________________
Sarah

leaving the house today till late tonight, being more prepared and taking 2 liters of green smoothie with me (bananas, red chard, chlorella, frozen berry mix, macadamia butter, coconut milk, chocolate raspberry stevia, himalayan salt, water, honey) and lots of water.

_________________
Sarah

Day 5

My coffee machine broke 2 weeks ago so I had been using my mini french press which is great because it only makes one cup but I cracked it yesterday while washing it This is the third french press Ive broke now.... Doesnt make me want to buy a new one so Im looking at buying a really good coffee machine, any suggestions?

This AM I went to Starbucks and got a grande caramel soy latte, it had been awhile and omg they are sooo good...

Workout: Legs
Sqauts 30lbs 15x15x15x15
Alternating walking lunges 30lbs 15x15x15x15 Next week definitely adding more weight, should have added more weight today
Split squats 24lbs 15x15x15x15 on each These are killer
Hamstring curl on Ball 15x15x15x15
Standing calf raise 60lbs 15x15x15x15 - I dont know what I was doing on day 1 with 30lbs
Leg extension - Havent been doing these since I dont have the machine... Gotta look into another leg exercise...
30min high knees cellersier 5/15
Chlorella drink + supp.

1 liter Green Smoothie (bananas, water, himalayan salt, honey coconut oil, coconut milk, hemp seeds, cinnamon, red chard, vanilla stevia.)=yummah

_________________
Sarah

Dinner last night was a very good salad:
Romaine, green lettuce, red bell pepper, orange pepper, celery, cucumber, cannelloni beans, carrot, beet, sauerkraut and homemade dressing: celery, dates, lemon juice, water, salt and pepper, chickpea miso, garlic, coconut oil.
A few min later had to have another bowl coz it was that good.!
Chlorella before bed

Day 6
1 cup of coffee with coconut milk

workout: 4x15
Front raise 5lbs
Side Lateral raise 5lbs
Dumbbell Shoulder press 8lbs
Flat bench fly super set with press 5lbs+8lbs
Front press down tri resistance band
Reverse pull down tri " "
20min high knees cellerciser 5/15
chlorella + supp

big green smoothie to take to work, 2 liters (bananas, apples, pear, red chard, hemp seeds, cinnamon, honey, coconut oil, coconut milk, water, himalayan salt)

dinner is homemade split pea soup (split green peas, onion, garlic, celery, peas, corn, carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, pepper, veggies cooked/steamed with coconut oil)

_________________
Sarah

Got weak....

Once I was alone in the house, after doing my friday nightly routine around the house I boiled 3 little yams, had a 1/4 cup coconut yogurt and a couple spoonfuls of sauerkraut and 2 mandarin oranges... I am on the binging mode.. I feel like I could eat an entire vegan pizza and a thing of coconut ice cream.... I do this once in a while...binge
Maybe I didnt eat enough during the day? Probably because I didnt have enough water, I'm trying to pour water down my throat as I type to satisfy whatever it is Im wanting... I really didnt "binge" I just ate a bad combo of foods at 930pm, I havent ate this late in awhile, but it gets to me. I beat myself up about it, fack I cant even workout first thing in the am I have to wait till after i get home from work.. its ok, it could have been worst. Luckily i have no bad vegan food in my house
Confession over.
Moving on.

_________________
Sarah

had chlorella before bed last night

Day 7

AM 1 cup of coffee with soy nogg
breakfast 1 liter green smoothie (bananas, red chard, water, himalayan salt, Cinnamon, coconut oil, honey)
LUnch the rest of the green smoothie which was almost 1 liter
crappy snack a soy latte from starbucks
dinner a large salad: romaine, green lettuce, celery, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, shredded beet, shredded carrot, shredded coconut with homemade dressing: dates, celery, lemon juice, water, salt pepper, garlic, chickpea miso, sauerkraut.

Thinking about maybe doing back, bi and abs tonight or maybe just have a rest day.

I'm wondering if I should starting tracking my food better, using a program that'll tell me how many calories ive consumed and my fat/carb/protein %s. Seems so time consuming...

_________________
Sarah

I have downloaded Chono-meter to track my food, I'll have to finish setting it up tomorrow! Hopefully its quick and easy to use!
Day 8
This AM

1 cup of coffee with coconut milk

45min high knees on cellerciser with 5 sec rest and 20 sec work
chlorella and supp.

breakfast + lunch green smoothie total 2 liters (coconut milk, water, himalayan salt, cinnamon, chlorella, vanilla stevia, honey, coconut oil, 1 bag of frozen berry mix)

1 Cup of candied yams
1 handful of salted roasted mix of nuts
4 bite size protein cosmic cookies


Day 3 back , bi , abs = 4-15
Lat pulldown resistance band
Mid back seated row resistance band
Leg Lift, Star Crunch, and Butt Lift combo
Side Plank raises - last set could only do 13 on right side and 14 on left side
Dumbbell curl 8lbs
hammer curl 8lbs - last set could only do 13 on left arm
chlorella
1/2 scoop vega sports protein powder with water

_________________
Sarah

Even though I am a female BBer, and what you eat for the day is probably what I eat every 2-3 hours! When I went raw for the summer, I had about 3 green smoothies (a full Vitamix blender volume: 3 bananas, 2 mangoes/a whole bag of frozen mangos), a pint of berries, and 1/3 of a package of baby spinach - then water to the rim of the Vitamix and blended) a day, plus a huge salad of veggies with oranges/citrus and a handful of seeds/nuts. When I input my diet into FitDay.com (just like Cron-O-Meter) I found out that I was still under 2,000 calories (not good for a BBer)!

So I am going to guess that you are not eating enough calories to sustain your workouts, maybe to sustain your everyday life though (calories for base maintenance, exercising to go to work, exercising to just do chores around the house/apt, and to handle any stress you might have in your life). You will need calories to make the curves you want for bikini competitions. Then you can lower the calories alittle before the comp date (May did you say? then I would think about that at the end of Feb/beginning of March - depending on how much you can tweak your bodyfat level). I would focus on the curves now, and eat the calories. Bingeing is a sign that your body needs more calories - which you may have to tell your body to be quiet and just drink water at that point because you will only have to do it for a month or so before the comp, but now is not the time to do that.

Research about how you can put your body into a starvation mode, where your body can survive on minimal calories and it will hold onto its fat/adipose tissue (such as you see when the contestants still have cellulite on their thighs and glutes with very low bodyfat). "Cycling" is one way to keep your body guessing that it is OK, and it is fooled into letting some of the fat go for fuel, because it thinks it will get enough calories soon (and it will in the near future).

Hey thanks Gaia I was kind of figuring I wasnt eating enough. :S I have to plan a better schedule of eating more small meals throughout the day.

I weighed myself this AM and am currently at 107.8lbs at 5ft 2.5in

Day 9

1 cup of coffee with coconut milk.

Workout
45min high knees on cellerciser 5/20
chlorella+supp

2 cups green smoothie (banana, honey, red chard, coconut oil, himalayan salt, water, 1 scoop vega sports powder, chlorella)

1 liter of that same green smoothie
4 spoonfuls of peanut butter with blueberry jam (ya im weird, who needs bread)
2 small pieces of vegan pizza, 1 large square vegan nanaimo bar (sister was testing some recipes for xmas which I got to try!!)

A large bowl of salad same as what I had earlier in the week except I added sprouts this time yummah and doubled the amount!
3 bite sized protein cosmic cookies

Wow. This was a lot of food for me. Lots of not so healthy food too. Im so glad its still early-ish in the day, I'll be working out my legs really hard tonight! Then right after have the vega sports powder with water (which tastes fantastic btw) and then wait a couple hrs or so and have my chlorella drink before bed.

Ive been looking at a lot of vegan recipes lately so hopefully I'll make and try some out and plan for more healthy heartier meals.

_________________
Sarah

k New program here it is:
20min cardio warm up with stretching before each work out 2 days off weights if I feel the need to do something on those 2 rest days I will do some cardio or go do a sport or something fun like hiking.. etc
Stretch right after each set 30sec each side
With the sets weights get heavier as the reps get lower
in 2 -3 weeks I change the exercises up
Weights are going to be heavy, very heavy but I can do it its all in the mind and I will grunt and make faces and do whatever it takes to lift, push, and pull those heavy weights, so glad I have a gym in my home coz its going to get ugly

"diet"
Continue to eat what I know is good but enough of it, not going to stress too much about how much Im eating just as long as Im eating lots of meals through out the day. Going to work on kicking my coffee habit. Up the chlorella, get more maca, get spirulina and load up as much fresh fruits and veggies as I can.

Current status is 107.8lbs, measurements i'll take tomorrow.

Monday - chest and triceps
-10 pushups – 3 sets
-3sets 8x8x6x4 12lbs – 15 - 20 1st set peck flies on the floor legs up
-3 sets 8x8x6x4 12lbs – 15 – 20 flat bench press legs up
-super set no weight, resistance band, chest fly higher reps 3 sets
-4 sets 10 pushups elevated
- 4 sets 10 diamond pushups
- 4 sets high rep resistance band – tricep pull downs

Tuesday back and bi
- double handed chain saws 10x8x6x4 10lbs – 20lbs
- 10x10x10 pull ups try using yoga swing with swing under 1 leg Or use resistance band
- 8x6x6 sitting Reverse back fly
- Super high rep sitting lat pulls
- pick a bi exercise curl/curl twist.. etc 12x12x12

Wednesday legs
- Squats 12x12x8x6 weights on shoulders
- Lunges 24x24x26x8 alternating
- Weight on thigh knee up- leg straight out exercise high reps hip flexers
- Ball exercise hamstring curls high rep 3-4 sets
- Calves raises 12x12x8x6

Thursday shoulders and traps
-100 shoulder press low weight
-Standing Arnolds 10x8x6
-Standing Rear delts 12x10x8
-Bus drivers front raises 10x8x6
-Standing side raises 10x8x6
-dumbells behind back belly forward slighty and squeeze upper back trap raises? 30+ reps per set
- trap raises 30+ reps per set

Friday bi tri forearms
-3 bi exercises 12x12x12each
-3 tri exercises 12x12x12each
-Forearm curls 10-20x3 - opposite same 10-20x3

_________________
Sarah