Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Linking my last journal for my quick access.
I quit working out a few months ago, and although I figured out a few reasons why I quit (no time for other interests), I hadn't figured out all the reasons. Stale music was the main one, which I quickly discovered as I just HAD to move when I bought 3 new albums - for 2+ hours! XD But working out with someone has been the real catalyst. We don't workout together every time, but it makes a big difference to be with someone that knows their shit, is in better shape, is positive, and lives near by! What sucks (for me lol) is that they're getting a better job further away, so I'll probably be solo 90% of the month - but still! ...I'll have to look for someone else.. :o Point is, I have been working out for the past 2 weeks. I figured I should come back to the forums to keep a journal. So here it is:

Current Workout Motivators
- Bigger arms, shoulders & calfs.
- Lose cellulite on butt and thighs.
- Gain an ass my husband can't let go of.
- Dance for 4+ hours on Industrial nights.
- Be able to do Yoga without making a mockery of myself.
- Doing the splits has always been a passive goal of mine.. so, why not!
- Lose like.. uh.. idk 5% body fat? I don't have much to lose, but it would kick to be leaner!

To Be Done In The Near Future:
- take pictures of myself for before/during/after shots... yea, I STILL haven't done this.. so embarrassed lol.
- finish reading Robert Cheeke's Vegan Bodybuilding book.
- read Brandan Brazier's Thrive books.
- research sneakers to make sure I have the best Vegan ones my money can afford for jogging.
- Buy more raw super foods to help recovery & build muscles!

_________________
Vegan is NOT a diet // Support the Vegan Bodybuilding website

Current Play List (with youtube links when possible):

Accessory
I Say Go (Human 2.0 Dance House Mix)
Ruff fuxxx
She Says It Feels Good
Shout it Out
The Mouth

Distorted Memory
Sweet Evil

Iambia
Sederial Spheres (MK5 Mix)

X-RX
Push it!
Virus Infect

Nachtmahr
Deus Ex Machina
Karussell
Mein Name
Nachtmahr
War on the Dancefloor

_________________
Vegan is NOT a diet // Support the Vegan Bodybuilding website

Date: Dienstag, Juni 26th
Time: 12pm, ish?

Today's Goals: Workout for a longer time than I can when it's a work day lol
Today's workout: Stretched, elliptical, jogged, elliptical, butt exercises, stretched.

Warm-up: My understanding of Warming-up is to stretch.. so, I did so, for 15mins. It was good.
Workout:
Elliptical for 10mins until I saw it wasn't raining.
Took the dog out for a jog for 10mins as it started raining.
Got back on elliptical for 20mins +/-.
Did some butt exercises for 10mins: Squats, Front Lunges, Side Lunges, Deadlift, Donkey Kick R&L, Hip Bridge, Leg Extensions, & Flutter kicks. The latter two were a joke and a half lol, I could hardly do them & totally needed padding under my pubic bone because they hurt like a bitch!

Supplements:
Vega Pre-workout Energizer
1 Chlorella tablet
1 of 3 Mega Food Vegan Daily (I can't yet afford to take all 3 in one day)
1 Mega Food Vegan Protect
1 HealthForce Ultimate ORAC
500mg MSM

Post-Workout Meals:
Modified Thrive post-workout recipe
Modified Thrive protein shake
..Didn't have the ingredients to make them just right : P

Notes/Comments: I felt the burn in my glutes, AND has a mini "runners high"! = D

_________________
Vegan is NOT a diet // Support the Vegan Bodybuilding website

Way to stay at it, Mina, even when you feel like you don't have optimal conditions around you, like a lifting partner. Keep the faith: soon, you will be the better-shaped mentor to a lifting buddy who says, "She really knows her shit!" Das ist wahr!

Bis spater,

Baby Herc

PS: Doing the splits is easy to accomplish, you can do it. At 17, I could barely touch my toes. At 42, I can do the splits three ways--left foot forward, right foot forward, and straight out to the sides (my favorite, feels so good). All I did was stretch a millimeter further every day until I had it.

_________________
Power [][][][][][][][][][]
Speed [][]
Stamina [][][][][][]
Smarts [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
http://allthoughtsworkoutdoors.wordpress.com/

Danke schön Baby Herc! Sie sprechen Deutsch? I don't, but I'm learning =)
You're right too, I should just keep at it regardless, but just knowing I have someone I admire to impress, keep up with, & not disappoint has been crazy motivating lol. Either way, I will continue to persist & handle why I quit if/when that happens.

On that same note, I bought water shoes, now know how to drive (got my first license to prove it lol), and will be getting speeds on my bike soon enough if the price is right. Point? I'm better prepared to go to the beach to workout, drive anywhere to workout, and bike anywhere as a workout

_________________
Vegan is NOT a diet // Support the Vegan Bodybuilding website

Date: Mittwoch, Juni 27
Time: 9am, for about an hour total.

Today's Goals: Run around the block.
Today's workout: Stretched, ran, stretched.

Warm-up: Did mostly leg stretches, and the yoga sun salutation for about 20.

Workout: Ran around the block which took 15-20 mins, did a little bouncing but Emmie (family in laws dog) wasn't with me so it was pretty straight forward. I took my time as I'd like to start encouraging my body to burn fat as fuel, and the little I read said to go mellow lol. Anyways.

Supplements:
Vega Pre-workout Energizer
Adrenal support from ridgecrest
Chlorophyll
Magnesium

Post-Workout Meals:
Modified Thrive post-workout recipe.
Vega sport protein.

Notes/Comments: my arms hurt the most lol, probably from the sun salutation! I bought some chlorophyll to help keep me alkaline until I can perfect my diet. I think its Brendan Brazier that said staying alkaline will help with recovery and lactic acid and stuffs. Seemed to help some!

_________________
Vegan is NOT a diet // Support the Vegan Bodybuilding website

Nur ein bisschen. I'm a quarter German but it's the quarter that wants to drink beer, not the quarter that wants to study.

Tschüß!

Baby Herc

_________________
Power [][][][][][][][][][]
Speed [][]
Stamina [][][][][][]
Smarts [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
http://allthoughtsworkoutdoors.wordpress.com/

Lol cute! Well you spell better than I do, never knew that's what tschüß looked like on paper haha thanks! =)

_________________
Vegan is NOT a diet // Support the Vegan Bodybuilding website

Notes On Sleep: No idea what's going on lol. I've needed 8-10 hours since I can remember, and yet these last couple of days, when I've been working out more, thinking I need more than ever to rest to recover - I'm waking up after 7 and not able to fall asleep again! Wtf!? Welp, I'm up anyways & might as well workout now! :p

Freitag, Juni 29 Update: Ok, I am seriously baffled lol. For as long as I can remember, I've needed 8+ hours of sleep. I've worked out in January and occasionally needed more than that. For 3 days in a row however, I have fallen asleep around 11:30 & woken up around 6-6:30!! Wtf?!?! The only thing I can possibly think of that could be contributing to this is the Perfect Cleanse (best cleans I got from a short-term [10 days] herbal cleanse: toxins coming out gave me a rash & my left arms lymph nodes were swollen like half sized marbles for almost 2 weeks!) I did from Garden of Life, eating more Chlorella, raw foods, on top of exercising. If those didn't do it, idk wtf is going on, and even if they did, this makes no sense to me. I tried lying in bed each day for an extra hour just in case lol, but nothing. Only yesterday did I feel like I might get too tired during work, so I had some caffeine.. but then why not sleep longer last night if that was the case!? Idk if this is good or not cuz I wanna make sure I am properly recovering from working out lol. Anyways, will post updates as I get them. Maybe this is just a fluke!

_________________
Vegan is NOT a diet // Support the Vegan Bodybuilding website

Date: Donnerstag, Juni 28
Time: 8am - 9:45?

Today's Goals: run around the block & maybe to the park for longer than yesterday.
Today's workout: stretched, ran longer & to the park, then stretched.

Warm-up: Stretched for 20 mins, sun salutation & a few others to make sure I got my calfs, thighs, & butt enough.
Workout: Jogged to the park & made sure I bounced around a bunch to try to strengthen balance & dancing muscles. I think a few people laughed at me, so job well done in my books! =D

Supplements:
Vega Pre-workout Energizer
1 tab of Chlorella
1 Rainbow Light Curry Iron pill
Chlorophyll in 3 bottles of water.

Post-Workout Meals:
Modified Thrive post-workout recipe.
1 scoop of Vega sport chocolate protein.

Notes/Comments: Quite stiff in the morning, but stretching helps. I think my knees and ankles hurt more the more I bounce around lol, might have something to do with jumping on my tippy toes!

_________________
Vegan is NOT a diet // Support the Vegan Bodybuilding website

Date: Freitag, Juni 29
Time: 9:00ish - 11:30 ish

Today's Goals: jog until I can't jog no mo
Today's workout: stretched, threw the ball, ran, stretched.

Warm-up: Sun Salutation & some arm stretches for about 20mins. Threw the ball for my new work out partner, to exhaust her.

Workout: Ran to the park, tried to focus more on stamina than bursts.

Supplements:
1 chlorella tablet
Vega Pre-workout Energizer

Post-Workout Meals:
Modified Thrive post-workout recipe
Vega chocolate sport protein

Notes/Comments: I was gonna do some butt, arm, leg, or ab training, but I had trouble just getting myself going to jog, strangely enough. Tomorrow is def a rest day. Workout wasn't for the whole time listed, there were mini breaks between throwing the ball, jogging, and stretching.

Oh!! And good news, I finally took pictures of my flabby ass! On the downside, it unmotivated me as it looks just like a larger woman's ass, but the mini version, cellulite dimples and all
It should motivate me to workout more, but I just don't work that way. So long as I think I look good, I am rdy to roll! My ignorance was bliss lol. I'm just gonna have to pretend I didn't see my ugly behind & imagine that I alrdy have the hot ass I want =D

_________________
Vegan is NOT a diet // Support the Vegan Bodybuilding website

Date: Samstag, Juni 30

Off day.

Notes on sleep: I slept about 8-9 hours last night, but I got the same reaction I normally get when I sleep too much: nightmares right before I wake up. We'll see what happens tomorrow. I don't mean to sound ungrateful towards the God of sleep, I'm just afraid this isn't permanent. If it is, you better believe I'll be happy & friken pay due homage!

But again, we'll see...

_________________
Vegan is NOT a diet // Support the Vegan Bodybuilding website

Date: Sonntag, Juli 1

Off day.

Notes on sleep: Night 4, 6 hours if sleep. I feel fine, as if I got 8-9. Still baffled.

_________________
Vegan is NOT a diet // Support the Vegan Bodybuilding website

Date: Montag, Juli 2
Time: 10:30am - 12:30pm

Today's Goals: workout a ton with jogging and weightless training.

Today's workout: stretched, jogged, butt, arms, stretched.

Warm-up: stretched a good 20mins with the sun salutation & extra calf & thigh ones. Should have remembered to stretched arms too..

Workout:
Jogged around the block 3x. Had mini breaks between rounds, 1 to bring the dog back in, and 2 to eat a coconut oil covered date, sprinkled with Vega smoothie mix.

I did the following arm & butt exercises as well as, and as many times as I could in 1 minute.
Butt: deadlift, donkey kick L+R, leg extensions, flutter kicks, jumping lunges, chair, fire tyrant L+R, mountain climbers.

Arms: My arms are very weak, so it's not surprising to me that moves that required me to lift my body were virtually impossible. I have no weights, so for those that required them, I just went through the motions - better than nothing at this point.
Bicep Curls, Tricep Extensions L+R, Bent Over Row, Reverse Bridge Dips (impossibly difficult! I did maybe 5 before a tiny muscle in the back of of my right arm cramped up like nobody's business! Couldn't even bend my arm for a few minutes), Half Push-ups, High Side Plank L+R, Front Raises.


Supplements:
Vega Pre-workout Energizer
1 chlorella tablet
1 Mega Foods Vegan Protect
500mg of MSM
1 tsp of HealthForce Greens
1 dropper of algae DHA + EPA

Post-Workout Meals:
Thrives Lemon-Lime Recovered Drink

Ate pretty big and & some junky meals today! I was so starving after my work out that I would have eaten a brick of tofu! I should have just taken a protein shake, but instead I scarfed down a Boca patty, later had a big marinated tofu sandwich, then a big ass protein & greens smoothie, then a grilled Daiya sandwich, and finally a big salad... I ate way to much and I knew it. I was just so excited to be taken out by my husband, and then to have a grilled cheese sandwich again lol... Anyways. Won't happen again any time soon!

Notes/Comments: I slept almost 8 hours, but didn't feel good. It felt like I was between getting too much sleep & going back to needing more sleep.

_________________
Vegan is NOT a diet // Support the Vegan Bodybuilding website

Date: Dienstag, Juli 3
Time: 10:30am - 12:30pm

Today's Goals: get a good workout in - go as long as I can without too many bursts lol as I'm trying to increase my stamina.

Today's workout: stretched, jogged, stretched.

Warm-up: the usual sun salutation plus a few others, what ever felt right.

Workout: jogged all the way into the park. As usual, I start with a good pace, speed it up when a good song comes on, slow down when I can't breath, and keep it steady when the songs are just ok, or when I'm too out of breath.

Supplements:
Vega Pre-workout Energizer
500mg MSM
1 chlorella tab

Post-Workout Meals:
Modified Thrive post-workout recipe
HealthForce greens
Vega chocolate sport protein

Notes/Comments: For the second workout in a row, I smell like a post-hockey game locker room lol. I don't know if that's a good thing or not, but I'm taking it as one, and as a sign that I really worked my ass off =D

On calories: I felt it was too stressful to count calories. Sometimes I got enough, other times too much or too little. Often I would forget. So never mind them right now! I'm gonna listen to my body, give it the best foods I can, and focus more on getting the hang of working out, before I consider counting them again.

Notes on sleep: I slept almost 8 hours, just like I always have. The good news is that I think I figured it out! 2 things, first is that I think I ate way too much yesterday and too junkie! And second, I think being alkaline also helped!

I looked up what Brendan Brazier had to say about calories in his book Thrive, and it was nice to see that he validated my dislike for focusing on counting them rather than focusing on nutrition. He added that part of recovery ends up being from the food we eat trying to get all our calories in, rather than all from working out! Well, yesterday I know I got too many calories in, and not from the healthiest choices!

Also, all of last week I started making sure I was as alkaline as I could be without actually knowing what my ph was, as I have no test strips yet. Almost all the water I drank had a lot of chlorophyll in it, and I tried to get as many veggies as I could, etc. Yesterday I did not lol. So! Those two factors seem to be why I have been getting less sleep without feeling tired. At least, that is my conclusion thus far. We shall see!

_________________
Vegan is NOT a diet // Support the Vegan Bodybuilding website