Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Wednesday:
No workout yesterday-worked longer than anticipated (12 hours).

Today's workout:
Elliptical 20 min vigorous
Treadmill warmup 15 min
Stretch 10 min
Upper body body weight & 5# wts .....bicep curls, kickbacks, pushups, overhead press 2sets of each 10-20 reps.

Nutrition mostly on track considering I've not put much effort into food prep. Thank goodness for fruit, carrots & hummus-ALL portable for on the go snacks!

Tonight's dinner-new recipe courtesy of my hubby (75% omnivore)- chorizo (trader joes soy) tacos....contains mushrooms, onions & chorizo served on corn tortillas!

Sounds like you've got an awesome and supportive husband! And he cooks for you, too??? Hang onto that one!!

Get some good rest and remember to take some time to relax, too!

Thursday:
Surprisingly I was off early from work! I took the opportunity to lay low....... Did do a yoga video 35 min workout (Jillian Michaels) which serve to remind my how awesome yoga is for my body! I must do it more often. Tonight's plan is to hang with my hubby and enjoy a movie night at home!! It's not often that it's the two of us relaxing together!

Dinner tonight were tasty Cajun Chickpea Cakes with steamed veggies...... Recipe courtesy of Everyday Happy Herbivore by Lindsay Nixon. I own BOTH of her cookbooks and I must say that I love her dishes..... All recipes have been simple AND delicious!!!

Tomorrow I think swimming might be on the agenda after work!

Cajun Chickpea Cakes! Yumm! I've been spying Ms. Nixon's books, and I'm happy to hear your positive review. If I was only going to buy one of them, which one would you recommend I should purchase first?

Thanks! Enjoy date night with your hubby!

Karen, it's a close tie between her 2 cookbooks...... I'm thinking the 2nd one, Everyday Happy Herbivore might have a slight lead in my fav position only because of the chickpea recipes......her blog has great recipes posted too! Let me know if you try any!

Friday: no workout today
Fundraiser associated with hubby's work that was held at a brewery..... Cool venue-local brews & vino. I tried vino but wasnt impressed! Not a beer drinker..... Heavy hordeurves were just that-heavy!!! I avoided it all and held out for a tapas place after with friends! I had potatoes & sautéed spinach in OJ!! I did eat a few grilled shrimp ( a former fav!) BUT now regret it as I have heartburn which require tums!!! Ugh-typical digestive issues when I stray fom my normal diet!! It's hardly worth it anymore......

Group of friends tonight have proposed we join forces to run a brew to brew relay in April!!! Legs vary from 3-7 miles depending on the team size-total run ~37 miles -I'm pumped!! I love a goal especially with accountability!

Thanks for that suggestion. I did see that her website has a bunch of recipes, which I'll continue to spy until I get her book. I LOVE chickpeas!!!

Your relay sounds like fun! Lots of breweries in your area? Would you drink beers between each leg of the race?

Brew to Brew is a relay race from Boulevard Brewery here in KC to the Freestate Brewery in Lawrence KS.....it was mentioned last night over dinner and I just checked out the website! It sounds great with proceeds going to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The teams consist of 2-10 runners and legs vary in distance depending on number of runners on our team. I believe beer is served at the start and at the end in Lawrence! I'm thrilled because there's GF option for meal AND beer at the end!!! wahoo!!! I'd think after this event we'd deserve a reward!!! This run is first part of April so it's a do-able goal for all of us in our group!

Today's workout was decent.
Elliptical 30 mins (level 7) maintaining HR 145-165.
yoga style stretcing 10 mins

it's been a cold day - overcast. I plan to relax and catch a movie in tonight!! I'm thinking my hubby's offered to whip up some pizza for us.....next to Mexican, it's my favorite!

Sunday: start of week 3
Read my journal updates..... Nice that I can keep up to date on my progress & goals- love it!
Decided today was a relax day...... So no workout except housecleaning and laundry!

I've been exercising my mind though..... I've started reading Vegan for Life by Norris & Messina. Interesting concepts - really need to track my protein intake more (my phone will do that if I were to use it daily!)........

Did make a Rum Cake last night..... Another fantastic recipe from Everyday Happy Herbivore!! Trying tO not eat the whole cake today.....

Monday:
42min on treadmill-includes 5 min warmup then 3 10 min runs w/ 1min walk between followed by 4 min walk cool down
5 min stretch
(felt great just had to cut short due to mom duties starting!)

Starting watching Sick, Fat, Nearly Dead while on treadmill....... Interesting story! Still have 58 min left.

God food choices today as I was at work! Tonight: spaghetti pasta w/ mushrooms

Rum cake?? Wow... Good thing I've ordered the book for myself!

I hope you'll post your thoughts about Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead once you get a chance to finish it up. I've heard such amazing things about it, but have yet to see it myself.

Great job!

Tuesday:late start at work since I'm on call..... Love this type of day!
Got kiddos off to school and then a few things done around the house

Workout:
Elliptical 30 mins level 5 nice sweat while I watched more of Fat Sick & Nearly Dead..... Intrigued and almost finished! (Karen, I'll share my thoughts soon!). This documentary weighs heavy on my mind as I head to work...... Today's population is SO unhealthy!

Nutrition..... My bag is packed! I'm trying to add more protein (~70g/day) so I made yet another recipe from my fav cookbook! Eggless Salad and it's undescrible with words how good it is.....Karen, you'll be glad you got your OWN book! This recipe uses tofu so it's chocked full of protein. I've got my fruit, Lima beans w/ leftover pasta/mushrooms, and celery sticks w/PB! I've also got an emergency frozen black bean enchilada dinner in case in a real late night!

Talked to a few more friends who are willing to commit to relay! Will need to take my running back outdoors soon and be consistent about my stretching!

You're awesome!!!!!

Can't wait to get the book, and I'll have to try out that indescribable eggless salad!

Happy Hump Day:
Tired from work-rough call shift & functioning off of 4 hours of sleep today! I really need and LOVE my sleep!
Today's focus -good nutrition
Not sure if I'll get a workout in......would rather have early bedtime to let body rest and tacke the world tomorrow!

Did have yearly Gyn checkup today and had a interesting conversation with the Nurse Practioner all b/c she noticed my current reading material..... "Vegan for Life". I took the opportunity to share with her just how awesome I feel and what a positive impact nutrition has made on my health AND life! She was curious and took notes about the resources I offered such as The China Study, Forks over Knives, Engine 2Diet, Dr Caldwell Esselstyns book, & Happy Herbivore blog/cookbooks ( I had to abbreviate my list!). Funny thing is her hubby is a firefighter!! She admitted to being a fast food junkie b/c he worked and it was only her at meal time! This office also is oncology/Gyn so she definitely agreed that nutrition plays a KEY role in fighting/preventing cancer! Again, great discussion with another professional and she said she felt like she'd just been to a continuing Ed lecture!!! What a huge compliment!!!

I love getting to share what I've learned about vegan nutrition....... Still thinking, at the back of my mind, how exactly to put it all to use in helping others......

That's so fantastic about your taking the initiative to share about your vegan nutrition. It would be easy to feel intimidated talking to a doctor or other health professional about this type of thing, but kudos to you!!!

Thanks Karen-I try To share daily with others some tidbit of info about my lifestyle..... It's becoming easier as I "live the lifestyle" and others take notice! In fact, tomorrow, I'm taking BOTH Happy Herbivore cookbooks to share with two new Vegan co-workers!!!

Today went longer thn expected at work. Got in a 10 min walk outside with doggies in the 55degree weather and then15 min on treadmill. I stretched for 10 min.

Tonight was a happy hour with friends !! I enjoyed red wine and tasty veggie tacos (mushrooms, pico & avocado slices on blue corn tortilla!). The food was fabulous & it's a NO tums night because I stayed vegan!

Another friend of mine is considering tackling a sprint distance triathlon this summer........