Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

11/15/12
Bulk Chest DVD...this was my first time doing Chest in two weeks, so I felt a little behind. I really tried concentrating on isolating the muscles and moving with control since I wasn't ready to move up with my weights yet. Definitely felt a good burn from that! I'm getting better at the decline pushups, although I'll admit that some of my failure with them is mental. I just keep trying to get at least one more rep than last time. I've been using the Vega Recovery Accelerator consistently after my workouts, and I think it helps a lot with soreness (that, and all the extra veggies I'm making myself eat).

-Meal 1-
Chocolate Vegan Shakeology
Frozen cherries
2 TB chia seeds
This is my favorite shake recipe EVER! And I thought nothing could beat adding PB to it...I was wrong!

-Meal 2-
apple
grapefruit

-Meal 3-
1.5 cups smokey tempeh chili
1 large yam
mixed greens

-Meal 4-
1/2 head of cauliflower, made into "rice"
sauteed with onions, peppers, garlic, ginger & Bragg's aminos
Roasted green beans and brussels sprouts

-Meal 5-
half a pomegranate
2TB dark chocolate chips

-Pre & Post Workout-
Maca, banana, raw cacao powder
Vega Recovery Accelerator

11/16/12
I'm writing this up quickly before I leave work to go home and do Bulk Legs. It's one of my favorites, but I'm naturally stronger with my lower body than my upper, so that could have something to do with it. I'm weary of going up too much more in the weight I use for legs though, because I don't want them to bulk up any more than they are! When Sagi says "We're gonna get HUGE legs"...I'll admit, I wince a little at the thought that my legs will get huge too. I know, women have less testosterone and I can't get as big as Sagi, obviously...but I don't want my legs any bigger than they already are now! If anything, I'd prefer them and inch or two smaller. Once I start adding cardio in and stripping away some fat I should have a better idea of what my legs are doing.

-Meal 1-
Chocolate Vegan Shakeology
Frozen cherries
2 TB chia seeds
1.5 cups almond milk

-Meal 2-
apple
baby carrots
hummus

-Meal 3-
Kale and mixed greens salad with raw garlic tahini dressing
Spicy Pumpkin Vegan Soup
(I got both of these things from Whole Foods, and they were so good. The soup is always hit or miss there, but this one is a keeper)

-Meal 4-
Kit's Organic bar

-Meal 5-
TBD


-Pre & Post Workout-
Maca, banana, raw cacao powder
Vega Recovery Accelerator

Nice work Jessie!

I've been doing Body Beast as well, and loving it. Started 8/6/12, and modified the schedule a bit to maximize the bulk before the end of the year. So far up 23lb, with only 2lb left to hit goal weight before "Beast" Phase starts next week. Gains are noticeable enough that I'm getting quite a few comments at work, and had to buy some larger shirts.

Keep up the good work, I'm sure you'll love the results!

-Don

Keep up the good work, enjoying reading through the nutrition stuff you're posting up in here.

How's it going Jessie? Did you make it through Thanksgiving week?

Just posted my results after 112 days. This program works! http://www.fitcoachdon.com/body-beast-update-day-112/

Awesome! I'm just about in the Beast phase; next week! My husband and I are also adding some Asylum to the mix. After so many weeks without cardio, Speed & Agility and the fit test were HARD! I'm hoping to melt off some of this bulk so I can see the muscles I've built better.

Yes, I made it through Thanksgiving week, but I didn't get on here to write it all down! Doh! I got to play with a healthier vegan pumpkin pie recipe throughout the week though. We did Bulk Legs on Thanksgiving morning, so that was quite a way to set up the day.

Great job on your results! "You got big shoulders, you have small waist...Beast up!" lol

11/28/12

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted! I guess the holiday week and all that comes with it really caught up with me. My fitness coaching has been keeping me busier these days too, but I digress...

This week will be weird training-wise, and challenging nutrition-wise. I work late every night through Thursday (tomorrow), and then I have a 6:55am flight on Friday to Los Angeles for some training with Beachbody. We are staying with a friend and not at a hotel, so that means no weight room. We don't have gym memberships since we work out at home (that's usually a perk, but not in this instance). Maybe we'll have to buy some day passes somewhere? Any suggestions or ideas? I hate the idea of paying $15 per person a day just to use some weights. I guess I'm spoiled. I do have a friend who leads pool workouts in LA on Sundays (and we're talking "Tough Mudder training" pool workouts, not water aerobics, lol!), so I'm not worried about Sunday. And ON TOP of all this, I have to learn a dance routine to perform next weekend, and I am SO rusty! The dance is super fast too. Oh well, "If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you."...Right? Aaaand anyway, here's how to day is going nutritionally:

-Meal 1-
8 oz almond milk
1 scoop chocolate vegan protein powder
Lara bar

-Meal 2-
Large yam
1/2 bell pepper
1/3 sweet onion
1/2 head of dinosaur kale
(all sauteed together, yum!)
1/2 avocado
1/4 cantoloupe

-Meal 3-
1.5 TB raw almond butter
celery sticks
baby carrots

-Meal 4-
brown rice tortilla
kale
jalapeno hummus
diced carrots
roasted acorn squash

-Pre/Post Workout-
raw maca and cacao powder
Chocolate Vegan Shakeology with frozen cherries and spinach

I still have to do my workout when I get home tonight, since all I did was dance this morning (still a workout, but not on my schedule). It'll either be Bulk Legs or Asylum Strength...I haven't decided yet!

@DonnieUtah -- I was checking out your site, and I think we know some of the same people...I saw that you're part of Team Motiv8, which in turn is part of TNL (I'm w/teamRIPPED, so I'm part of TNL too). Small world!!! Are you in the TNL Facebook group too?

Ha, yea I'm on the TNL page too. Too funny!

Where you in Santa Monica for the certification training? I've got family down there and plan to head down one of these days to finish that up.

Loving the recipes. Keep 'em coming!

I was down there for the challenge group training, but hoping to get P90X certified there one day soon too!

The weekend went pretty well and the pool workout was a kick in the butt! Add that to a weekend full of very little sleep, and I was thoroughly exhausted by the time we flew home last night. I slept in this morning, which means I must work out tonight after work. Errrrr. I hate doing that to myself. I'm trying Tempo Chest/Tris for the first time. We'll see how it goes.

Here's what I've been eating today...

ONE
Chocolate Vegan Shakeology, 1 scoop
Cherries, 12
Chia Seed, 1 Tbsp

TWO
Unsweetened Almond Milk , 1 cup
Raw Maca Powder, 1 tsp
Chia Seed, 2 Tbsp
Gluten free rolled oats - Dry, 0.5 cup
Raisins, 3 Tbsp

THREE
Chickpeas, 0.75 cup
Avocados, 0.5
Salad Greens, 3 cups

FOUR
Tempeh, 0.5 container
Onions, 0.2
Cherry Tomatoes, 0.5 cup
Broccoli - Raw, 1 cup, chopped
Trader Joe's - Organic Tuscan Kale, 1/3 package

MISC./SUPPS
Gt's Organic Raw Kombucha Synergy - Trilogy, 1 container
Raw maca powder, 1 Tbsp
Raw cacao powder, 2 tsp

FIVE
TBD

12-06-2012

Tempo Chest & Tris went pretty well. I can normally lift heavier on chest exercises, but had to pace myself on increasing the weight because I had no previous record of what I could do when doing such slow reps. Each move starts with 15 reps where you contract for 6 counts, then slowly release for 6 counts. For example, during pushups you would go down for 6, then up for 6. Then you do 12 reps with 6 and 3 counts, then 8 reps with 3 and 3. You also increase the weight each time you decrease your reps. It really made me focus on control and it was hard at times to stay at the slower pace.

Tuesday was supposed to be Bulk Legs, but we got the schedule mixed up and did Build Legs instead...but it didn't matter because I pushed HARD and was really feeling it. Yesterday I just did dance practice and no lifting or Asylum.

Tonight I have Tempo Back & Bis, which will also be a first for me!

Food wise, we have gone back to mostly using our "veganized" version of the Asylum Get Shredded plan, which has worked well for us in the past. It offers plenty of food for ~1800 calories, depending on how you modify. We use beans, tempeh or tofu instead of the meat options and it all works out well and tastes great. Here is today's meal re-cap:

ONE
Chocolate Vegan Shakeology, one scoop
Gluten-Free rolled oats, 1/4 cup
Frozen cherries, about 1 cup

TWO
Quinoa salad (my first time having this, and it was actually quite good):
Quinoa, 1/2 cup (uncooked)
mixed with cucumber, fresh mint, lime juice, onion, ginger, sea salt

THREE
Corn tortillas, 2
Chickpeas, 1 cup
Cabbage, shredded, 1/2 cup
Cilantro, lime juice, chili powder

FOUR
Grapefruit, 1/2
Avocado, 1/2
Onion, 2 TB
Mixed salad greens

FIVE
Acorn squash, roasted, 1/2
Tempeh, 1/2 block
Broccoli, steamed, a lot

SUPPS/MISC
Raw maca powder, 1 TB
Raw cacao powder, 2 tsp
Banana, 1/2

All this clocks in at around 1850 calories, approx. 60% carbs (296g), 15% protein(78g), 25% fat(51g)

Nice work Jesse! Personally I don't like the Build: Legs program as much, but that's only because it kicks my ass (Bulgarian squats, ouch!! ), but that just makes me push harder.

Into the Beast phase now and cut my calories down to 2000, which is really weird to get used to again after 100+ days bulking at 3800, but it's really nice to drop all that tofu/processed stuff, and go back to more fresh, raw nutrients. Swapping ratios (went from 20/50/20 to 50/20/30 Protein/Carb/Fat) made me feel really weak for about a week, but on second week I've dropped 8lbs and weights are back up to max bulk again. 2 more weeks to go!

Build Legs is one of the hardest! It moves so fast and my heart rate is always so high that I have to pause and take breaks more often than Sagi would like. All the lunges are what really get me, I think it's because they seem to go on and on and on until my legs are spent...

Oh man, I don't know how you do the Fat Shredder ratios on a vegan diet! But a lot of my protein comes from legumes. I wasn't able to keep up Fat Shredder ratios even when I ate meat a couple years ago; I just can't function with so few carbs. I also like to be told what to eat and when to eat it, and I think that's why I've always done well with the Insanity and Asylum meal plans...they just give me certain options and recipes to choose from, then I can tweak them if I need to. Asylum is a lot easier to make whole food plant-based though, since it seems to be 99% produce! We always get comments at the grocery store when we go to check out with mounds of fresh veggies.