12 weeks out for "Vegan Olympia" on July 25th - 27th 2013!

[vivalasvegans]

Hey welcome back! You can make this happen. The hardest part is making the time to do it. Is it possible to have a couple of back up plans for when work gets out of hand? Jump rope, straps, bands, ab ball, a few weights... walking lunges and dips... you know what I mean! Have fun, G!

[hsorlando]

How about we hold each other accountable. I keep letting my busy schedule get the best of me too! And so then I don't get to the gym either. In the end their all just excuses, but good ones unfortunately. But when your passionate about aomething you find a way to make it work, excuses and all! Happy lifting!

[Lean and Green]

I completely agree Hsorlando. You find a way to make your passion work

vivalasvegans, I should have more backup plans.

I fell short of my weekly goal, which is to get 4 pumping iron sessions in, 2 cardio sessions, 1 yoga session, 1 stretching session.

The good news though is that I am working towards it and I am going to not get discouraged. I'll get there by the end of the month and then it's ON!

Gym session1: 12 sets of Chest
Gym session2: 9 sets of lower back
Gym session3: 9 sets of shoulders, 6 sets of forearm.

All barbell and dumbbell work. Workouts were in between 30min - 1hr.

This week I will be training mainly during lunch I will start the weeks with Legs, Upper Back, Bis and Tris.

Team VeganProteins will be making some noise this year, stay tuned.

[ICanDoThis]

The good news though is that I am working towards it and I am going to not get discouraged. I'll get there by the end of the month and then it's ON!

Don't quit. We're all here to support you. Vegan brothers & sisters!

[Lean and Green]

The good news though is that I am working towards it and I am going to not get discouraged. I'll get there by the end of the month and then it's ON!

Don't quit. We're all here to support you. Vegan brothers & sisters!

Hey ICanDoThis!!!!!

Oh I have no intentions on letting setbacks taking over this time around. Mid week report looking good!

I have gotten to the gym the last 4 days in a row. Wooo ha!

So far I am going during my lunch. Between getting there and back plus changing I get about a solid 30 minutes in and sometimes a touch more. 12-18 sets depending, not too shabby. The idea is to get a consistent routine going and then gradually build on it. Forget all or nothing, my wiser self is striking a balance now so that this will be a permanent, Jack Lalanne lifestyle. No more hitting a goal for the sake of that goal and then falling off the wagon. It's a life long journey and I want to be on my path for good

So 4 resistance training workouts, CHECK! Now 2 30min cardio sessions, 1 30min stretching session and 1 1 hour yoga session and we can call it a week. Going to get as close to this mark as possible.

Eventually within a month's time or so, I will be going to the gym after work when i'm out early (2-3 times a week) and this will be in addition to the lunch workouts. That will give me the time I need to be sure and get contest ready. It will take time and dedication. Here goes!

As for nutrition, I am getting in 25g protein shakes 7 times a day, the last one no later than around 8pm, depending on when I get up. One shake every 2 hours , 175g. Other calories from whole food sources and whatever we have stocked in the pantry.

I really REALLY want to build right now BUT.. there is someone's life that I may be able to save.... My future father in law, Wally. He suffered a major heart attack and then some recently. He is on oxygen and 15 meds. I got him to watch Fat Sick and Nearly Dying and he totally relates to the nice guy at the end.

I promised him that if he does this, I will do it with him. Problem is that I am already quite thin for my frame and size (170lb) and a juice fast would really shred me down in a way that I don't desire. I love the cleansing aspect but I don't need a cleanse just yet. I will do this to support him though and modify my diet to be all liquids. I will add protein shakes throughout the day and possible Vega EFA oil for omega 3s.

We are shopping together for him on friday for some whole foods so he doesn't shock himself and then possibly starting this before the end of the month.

I didn't get this chance with my dad and part of the problem was my approach. I was too excited and when about ti the wrong way. It's too lang to change his ways radically. I can't learn from this now and hopefully still help others.

Of course, there will be blogging about our journey and he wants to participate. Pics, etc. Let's get inspired people!

No time like now. I can always go on a building phase in the spring.

Wish us luck!

[Lean and Green]

End of week recap.

Much more improvement from last week.

-Got all 4 resistance training workouts in (during lunch 30 min ea)
-Got in 2 30min cardio workouts in (chose treadmill on an incline & an elliptical machine)
-Did not get the hour of yoga in or hr of stretching.

I have a feeling I will hit the mark this week. I have no intentions on slowing down only speeding up and progressing further.

Diet has been pretty on point. Getting in my protein, calories and pretty much avoiding all sugars and processed foods. Moderate to low on the fat intake. 2012 is working out well.

Been super busy, more than ever but still getting my workouts in which tells me that there will be no slacking this year. Hope to keep things going and to stay inspired by keeping up with friends on the forum and holding myself accountable for training consistently/

Going shopping with future father in law on Tuesday. We are going to get him on whole foods and a mostly vegan diet for the next 1-2 weeks. If we can get through that, we will take it to the next level and get the juice feast going for him.

I wanted him to do a fast but he only has $75 a week for food. We will have to mix in smoothies to make the budget stretch. Juicing all day can be costly. Besides I need to do the same and i'm also on a tight budget. We are in this together! I'll be adding protein shakes to mine though so I don't waste away and so I can maximize my training efforts.

Not mentally prepared for this cleanse yet but I have confidence that it will go well. I've done this before, I can do it again

[hsorlando]

Been super busy, more than ever but still getting my workouts in which tells me that there will be no slacking this year. Hope to keep things going and to stay inspired by keeping up with friends on the forum and holding myself accountable for training consistently/

Me too!
I also didn't get to my nice relaxing yoga class either, but I did get some extra rest that was much needed!

[robert]

I appreciate all your recent support!

www.veganproteins.com is where it's at!

Happy to see you on the forum more these days too!

Did you notice some of these names that are back: SeaSiren, sydneyvegan, FormicaLinoleum, joelbct, and others? So awesome! Old School has returned! Yeeeeep Buddha hey

[kareno]

I went bowling recently and "Yeah Buddy!" kept slipping out of my mouth - almost without my even realizing it or intending to say it! I thought of you and Robert and just laughed.

Keep up the great work, G!!

~Karen~

[hsorlando]

Karen, yeah that happens if you hang out with them too much!

[robert]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX7nQrCgALM

[Gorilla]

Yes. Taking control, making it happen, doing what you need to do. Same here.

[Lean and Green]

@R.C. here in New Hammmpshhhhirrrrre! Bhudday.
@kareno Yea Buddy can be an adjective, noun, verb, pretty much a replacement for any word or any phrase at any given YEA BUUUUUUUUUUDYYYY
@hsorlando buddy?
@Gorilla thanks for the support mate. Still at it!

I have been meaning to update my journal on a weekly basis and yet I just haven't been able to get a moment to do so. I still have all good things to update here.

As far as my workouts, they are still consistent and I am still getting stronger. Gained some weight too which is nice. Always good to have some fuel stored away and some new muscle. I was down near the 170lb mark and now i am slightly above the 180lb mark. I anticipate that I will wind up losing once the juice feast starts. It is not my goal, I want the exact opposite, I want to GROW but I want to help my future father in law more. He wants our help and he is doing an amazing job so far.

I will be doing a juice feast with him for extra support. He has been vegan for about 2-3 weeks now and has lost about 30lbs. I will be blogging about this soon.

So my 2 week recap:

2 weeks ago I got to the gym 5 / 5 for resistance training sessions, 0 / 2 for cardio 0 / 1 for stretching and 0 / 1 for yoga.
1 week ago I had 4 / 5 on resistance training and nothing else.

It's mainly an issue of time. I have been continuously pulling 90 - 100 hours a week of work. It's a lot and it gets to me at times but it is the only way to transition from working for someone else and working for ourselves. www.veganproteins.com is picking up a lot more and we put a good amount of what comes back to us right into adding more products and other stuff. Our new office has been really helpful in getting more organized. I can't work for both an employer and myself and get the results that we want. By mid next year hopefully I can phase out my job.

This week I have gotten 3 / 5 resistance training sessions in so far and i'll keep you posted with an update on saturday!

[robert]

Well, well, well. Look's who's back. Mr. 20,000+ views in his journal, rocking things New Hampshire and Haverhill style!

A little Granite State and MA up in here!

Nice to see you back. kareno says hi too. In Phoenix for the night.

Keep after the training and the awesome work with www.veganproteins.com!

Yes, buddy!

[Lean and Green]

Hey Hey Kareno! RC! Still going at it. It is hard to sustain this though. I decided to take Sundays off completely from work and training for the most part for the last 3 weeks and going forward. I need to reset my body every week. Even with that it is still challenging. I put in about 80-100 hours a week of work. Only about 4 hours a week of training It's just the way it is right now. At least I am making time for it. I tried to hang out with friends saturday night and then with thendanisays sunday night. Both times I started to hang at around 10pm and by 10:40pm I was sleeping sitting up.. This is a transitional period for me so I just have to roll with it. Sleep deprivation is no fun.

Ok so workout recap:

4/5 resistance training sessions. No yoga, stretching or cardio.

This is the minimum requirement for me in regards to staying active and although it isn't as much activity as I would like, it is bettern than not fitting in any training.

Out of everything I have been doing, deadlifting has been the most fun:

Deadlift Day: 245x8, 255x8, 265x8, 315x4, 365x1

It isn't near my PB's but that is to be expected. Just getting started and it is nice to be able to put up some plates.

My right rotator cuff impingement does give me some discomfort (happened 4 years ago) but I am able to push through it.

Dani's dad has been vegan now for almost a whole month!!!!!!! He has went from 286lbs to 248lbs. We make him food once every 3 days and package it for him. In a couple of weeks, he will be on a 50-100 day juice fast. I will be joining him for mental support in this and thendanisays might be as well.

Already got in Legs today. Here's to 5 sessions this week and beyond!