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New Girl from UK


Steffie
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Hi everyone!

 

I’m Steffie from Cheshire in the UK. I’m 27 and have been a Vegetarian since December last year.

I’m nearly Vegan but am looking to make the full transition this week! I try and keep away from as many dairy products as I can (eg Soya Milk, Soya Cheese etc)

My main problem is chocolate. Even though there is vegan chocolate out there, its very difficult to come by unfortunately.

 

Anyway, I joined a gym 3 weeks ago as I wanted to get fit and lose a bit of weight and tone up.

 

I’m 5ft 7 and weigh 11st 11lbs at the moment. I don’t see myself as fat as I already have quite a muscular figure, its just the years of chocolate cake and sweets that’ve given me a bit of a belly! (I’ll be sharing before and after pics so my first pic will appear very shortly!)

 

So, I was looking online a week or so ago about what foods I should be eating (as a Vegan as I want to go 100% Vegan as soon as I possibly can.) while going to the gym to make sure I’m getting the right nutrients etc and that I wont be doing myself any harm, Then I came across this website! I saw pics of other vegan ladies who all look fabulous and I’ve now been inspired to get fit and start to tone up and then I was thinking of bodybuilding, I don’t want to go over the top but I would love a muscular figure. (I’m most inspired by Mindy who I think looks perfect!)

 

I’m a complete beginner I’m hoping to find some meal ideas or recipes but I’m not sure where to look so if anyone could possibly help me with this I would be extremely grateful. It’s a massive journey for me and I want to make sure I will be doing it the right way and wont be harming myself in any way. I would like to find out what foods to eat pre-workout and post-workout that will help me on my journey and what supplements etc I should take to help.

 

Any information you can give will be extremely appreciated and I hope to get chatting to you all soon!

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Steffie

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Hi! I'm new here as well! Just keep your focus and you can achieve your goals.

 

Workout basics that are my belief:

 

if you do cardio, do it after lifting or on a day by itself. Muscle energy mostly derived from glycogen is depleted after cardio and lessened by lifting. So cardio imo is best suited at the end of your lifting session. Since your glycogen is depleted or reduced greatly from the lifting, your cardio will finish that and start looking for reserves which is fat. You can use cardio for a warmup prior to weights, but I think it's best to keep it 5min or thereabouts so you have plenty energy for tearing down your muscles with lifting.

 

I just felt compelled to see that because I see so many noobs in the gym do this backwards. Best of luck and keep us posted!

 

Rick

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Welcome Steffie

 

I agree with rickb and jungleinthefrunk. Lift heavy and do your cardio after your workout if you still have energy.

 

Dark chocolate is not very hard to come by and is usually vegan.. you do have to check the ingredients. I used to think I didn't like dark chocolate, but once it was my only option I sure grew a taste for it... I love it now. .lol.

 

My new goal is to wean myself off added sugar and fat so no chocolate for me. I haven't had any in a couple weeks, and I don't crave it... so I believe it can be done.

 

There is a recipe section here you can check out where people have posted their favorite recipes and sites. I use Pinterest for my own collection of recipes.

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Hey Steffie,

 

Welcome to the forums. Dark chocolate is a massive winner to sort those cravings if need be as above . Substitute other sweet fruits though from time to time, eventually youll want the sweet fruits before the "junky" sweets!

 

I would advise taking things step by step so you do get to overwhelmed. It seems like your nearly vegan, perhaps focus on getting through a few days of vegan before hitting the gym. Once youve got a vegan routine going, then you could look into cardio and heavy weights etc. as above.

 

It all comes down to how you learn though and your personality.

Good luck!!!

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Welcome! If you're in the uk and craving chocolate you need to go to 'holland and barrett'! Its like a vegans dream in there, they also have meat substitutes that are almost all vegan, pastries, 'sausage' rolls, even cornish pasties that are vegan ahha, there should be one round where you are have a google and find it

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Hi everyone!

 

Thank you for such a warm welcome and for all your tips and advice

 

I have my gym review with my trainer a week on sunday so I'm going to speak to him about doing more weights work, I love cardio but I really want to get to grips with doing more weights, Ideally though I suppose I need to concentrate on getting fit for now before I go for it with the weights. Like I say I'm totally new to the gym and even though I'm dedicated now, I'm just a bit worried that I might be doing things wrong.

 

I took my 'before' pic earlier on (I didn't think to do it 4 weeks ago when I first joined) Its safe to say I cant wait to get rid of my belly! lol

 

Thanks again everyone

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When you start lifting weights, you're going to want to only do compound lifts. (Deadlift/Squat, Dips/Bent Rows/Pullups/Overhead Press, Chest Press, I think that's all of them?)

 

Lifting will cause your frame to increase in size, and isolating muscles with movements like preacher curls will diminish in tonal alteration (and thus be a waste of energy) as your compound lifts continue to increase your form size.

 

It is wise to reach a specific size with compound lifts and then stay at that weight with those lifts (to stay the same size) when incorporating isolation moves for bodybuilding.

 

If you're happy with how big you are and just want to go right ahead and tone up (for that ripped look) remember that compound movements will cause those gains to suddenly appear insignificant.

 

also, a good resource for weightlifting instructions: stronglifts.com

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Hi Steffie,

 

I'm also new to this forum and to the gym! We sound similar in a way as I am about your age and height and only started formally exercising 4 weeks ago this coming Monday. It's addictive (not quite as much as chocolate though - yet!).

 

I live in London and there are so many vegan treats to be had nowadays. When I became vegan there was quite a small, uninspiring choice, but now I'm spoiled by amazing creations (and hoping it doesn't interfere with me losing my fat!). Apparently Ocado sell a lot of vegan-friendly goodies now, some of which are made to be healthier or at least as healthy as a naughty thing can be!

 

Good luck with your training and ditching the dairy choc

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Hahaha Dylan, No it was totally unintentional haha! But I'm fairly proud of that statement!

 

Hi Madeline, Great to hear from another newbie lady too and yes we are very alike! maybe we should be 'Online BB Buddies' Like have our own thread if the moderators/admin will allow it, then we can help eachother out and get motivated etc. just a thought!

 

Thanks again for the warm welcomes everyone!

 

Got my review with my trainer on Sunday so looking forward to that.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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