Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Hello everyone. I became a vegan last February after my fiance decided to go on a plant based diet. I have to admit, I have really struggled recently, and I have cheated. Eating meat makes me feel sick, so I have recommitted myself to staying vegan and I am looking to build muscle. I want to give you a brief synopsis of why I went vegan, why I want to stay vegan, and why I want to build muscle:

--> I have had several health issues since adolescence and recently went through 3 surgeries in two years. I found out milk, wheat, and eggs were contributing to my stomach problems and rearranged my entire diet. I still ate meat, but I tried to stay "organic" due to extra hormones/poisons in factory farmed meat that could worsen my issues. But, I could not digest meat properly and would get heartburn and reflux from it. I also felt "heavy." Last February, I decided to go vegan. Adopting a plant based diet has improved my life and health tremendously.
--> I lost a lot of weight due to severe pain and the trauma of surgery. After surgery, I did not have much of an appetite and I am still struggling with that. I am petite/slim and losing more weight made me even slimmer. I lost muscle tone. My back aches, I can barely lift things, and I am out of shape. I would like to have an athletic physique without eating meat/milk/eggs/soy.

--> I was always the weak one in gym class. I could not do monkey bars, climb a rope, do pull ups or push ups. I was the slowest runner and the last one to be picked for kickball. I do not want to continue to be weak.

My goals:

Stay healthy & manage my condition
Build muscle and compete in Tough Mudder & various athletic competitions in 2 years.
To become strong.
To become an inspiration.

My 30 day journey goal:

Gain muscle on my arms, upper body, and legs.

Diary:

Today, I did chest flys using a resistance band 3 sets of 10

Bicep curls w/ 2 lb weight 3 sets of 10

Triceps 3 sets of 10

Pilates

Food:


Breakfast: Quinoa w/blueberries & almonds w/ spinach/banana/berry smoothie w/ Garden of Life Raw Protein Powder & Hemp Powder.

Mid morning: Vega whole food health optimizer

Early Afternoon: Brown Rice w/ spinach, sunflower seeds, cannellini beans, hemp seeds, walnuts, topped with lemon juice.

In between: Workout and then spinach/banana/berry smoothie w hemp powder.

Dinner: Black bean spaghetti w/ garlic, tomato sauce topped with avocados.

After dinner: Green smoothie w Garden of Life Protein and Glutamine powder.

Hurdles:

Since I have a small appetite and still have some digestive issues left I do not eat as much as I should. This is improving by the day and I am going to get past this major hurdle. When I have issues, I make smoothies to get protein/calories.

Hey there!
Sounds like you are on the right path! Congratulations for making a healthy change in your life. Sorry to hear about your troubles
I too struggled with being underweight, feeling weak, sick, and constantly tired and drained. I'm two years into my training now, and I've gained a fair bit of muscle and I feel a lot stronger, and much more energized and healthy!
I am also hoping to make it to the Tough Mudder this March (if I can improve my cardio, which I haven't been doing AT ALL yet!)

Your diet looks pretty good, the smoothies are a GREAT idea!

I train A LOT now - 5-6 days a week, but when I started, I was only doing 2 days a week, resistance training. It was enough to notice a difference. I began with Pilates to build up my core and foundation muscles, then moved on to full-body weight sessions. These days, I split my training into muscle groups, I got incredible gains after I started doing that too, but I strongly suggest just starting out with full body workouts, and giving yourself plenty of rest and recovery in between to help your muscles grow and develop.
If you're interested, my training journal is here: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=27193
Or you can follow the Tumblr version here (its pretty much the same thing though, just easier to keep track of in my opinion!) http://loveofiron.tumblr.com/
There's some "before" and "after" shots on there too
Trust me, if I can do it, you can too! I'd love to help any way I can, so feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.
Good luck with achieving your goals, and like I said, sounds like you're on the right track, keep up the awesome work!

_________________
Feel free to add me on Facebook! But send me a message so I know who you are
https://www.facebook.com/simi.monique

Hi Simi! Thank you very much! I am so excited to be on board. Congrats on building the muscle in two years. I hope to arrive at that destination soon. My stomach doesn't seem to handle too much food, so I am trying to split my meals even more. Today was not a good day appetite wise, so I got the extra calories/protein in by making smoothies. That is a very good idea Simi and it gives the body a chance to get used to everything. I plan to rest/recover tommorow and continue on Friday. I am also going to be doing Pilates/core workouts. I have done some form of core/pilates in physical therapy & it helped regain the strength back into my legs. I will check out your Tumblr and your journal and I will definitely keep in touch. Thank you for the support and encouragement!:) Good luck with Tough Mudder.

Day 2:

Today was a real struggle. I woke up with a very bad headache and when I am feeling like that, my appetite takes a nosedive. I managed to eat quinoa cooked with blended up blueberries to give it sweetness w/an avocado. For lunch I did manage to have some black bean spaghetti which has 20 grams of protein per serving. For the rest of the day, I made "weight gainer smoothies" w/ protein powder. I added spinach, hemp milk, 4tbsp of peanut butter (for calories), blueberries, some cocoa powder and hemp seeds. Tomorrow is my rest day and I hope to have better luck with my appetite.


Workout:


Today, I focused on my core and legs.

I did some balancing moves on the core ball. I stood on one leg at a time for 20 sec 5 times each. Then I did squats on the core ball 3 sets of 10.

I finished up the workout with Pilates, mostly focused on the legs. Used 5lb ankle weights and did leg raises 3 sets of 10 each leg. Front, and side.

I recently purchased a Core/Yoga/Pilates workout DVD and I will be doing that on Friday.


Today was just a stepping stone and I am determined just as ever to accomplish my goals.

Day 3:

Today was my rest day. My appetite was much better today.

Breakfast: Quinoa w/blueberries and almonds.

Mid-Morning: Spinach, blue&blackberry smoothie w/peanut butter & Vega Health Optimizer powder

Lunch: Roasted potatoes, 1 gluten free burrito, 1 avocado, & kale salad w/hemp seeds.

Late afternoon: Green smoothie w/ Hemp protein powder & Garden of Life Protein Powder.

Dinner: Spinach salad w/canellini beans, hemp seeds, tomatoes, and topped with avocado.

Today was a really busy day so I only got to do my arm workouts. I did not get a chance to open the Pilates DVD

Workout:

Bicep Curls 3 sets of 10

Triceps 3 sets of 10

Chest Flys using a resistance band 3 sets of 10

I'm going to be incorporating shoulder/back workouts in the coming days.

I apologize for not logging on this weekend. I did write down my workout progress on paper. I dont know if that counts.



Saturday:

Leg extensions w/resistance band 3 sets of 10

Leg raises w/ankle weights 5lbs: front, side 3 sets of 10

Standing on one leg on the core/balance ball standing for 30 seconds each leg. 3 sets.


Sunday:

Bicep Curls: 3 sets of 10

Triceps: 3 sets of 10

Chest Flys: 3 sets of 10


Today:


Rest day.

Meals have been mostly the same for this week, due to budget. This new week will bring in some different meals.

Awesome job! Keep up your fantastic work!

-Karen

Thank you Karen!

Hey! How are things going?

Hope all is great!

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Check out my Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness Book on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Bodybuildin ... 497&sr=1-1