Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

I am prepping for a contest on 4/7/07. January training and diet are still about building--in particular my back and shoulders.

In brief, I'm on a 2 days on/1 day off training schedule, and cardio 4x/week, 40 min.--about 1/2 steady state, 1/2 intense interval stuff. I'm supposed to try and split cardio and training, but it's a little tough right now as I teach group fitness on the weekdays.

Today's workout (each pair supersetted, 60 sec rest between pairs, pre-fatigue scheme for shoulders and tri's, high rep work today):

DB Lateral raises 3x20
DB OH Presses 3x10

DB Shrugs 3x15
Upright row 3x10
(ouch)

Bench dips (feet up) 3x8
Cable french press 3x12

I also taught a Step and Sculpt class today. I was supposed to teach PiYo too, but no one can make it, which is why I'm doing this instead.

Diet: Right now I'm on a train/non-train scheme (I call it "Stuff and Starve") to build still, but to start getting my body comp "more favorable". On training days, I eat 200g total carbs (4 servings of starchy carbs, the rest vegs and low gi fruit), around 130-140g protein, 45-50g fat. I love training days. On non-training days, it's more like 120g total carb (2 servings starch, boo-hiss), 120g protein, 25g fat. I track my macros on fitday.com. On any given day I drink a gallon of water.

I'm off to Whole Foods for more chow and protein powder, and an evening of cooking. It's ALL about preparing.

Great to see you posting a journal! Seems like everyone is competeing in April. Where are you competing?

What do you eat to get 130-140g protein per day? How many calories per day in total?

Just asking because to get not near that much I have to intake too many calories, too much sodium and too much processed foods. When I don't do that the caloric and fat intake is way too high! And then I start to gain and fast!

Robert told me you are going to show today. I was excited. I told him you are a hottie--haha!

The show is 4/7/07 (if I'm ready!) with the SNBF, a WNSO-FAME affiliate here in the South. www.snbf.com I'm using Cathy Savage for contest prep: www.cathysavagefitness.com, and I'm attending her camp later this month with one of my Divas Unite teammates.

I think my journal posts will be much less specific going forward. I hate it b/c people want ideas, but I just got an email from CSF reminding us not to post our specific workouts and diet (macro g's at least) on forums as they are specific to our own needs. Oops, right? I wasn't thinking! Gotta be ethical though. Isn't that partially why we're vegans?

Getting my PR g's is easy for me, but--unlike you--I'm not raw or even mostly raw. And as a vegan, I'm WAY more dependent on processed items for protein than omni's and vegs (the irony is amazing, isn't it?). It's to the point where my trainer at CSF asked me to do a Nutrition 101 for vegans and she posted it on the site for those in the plan. Anyhow, I use protein powders and tofu VERY heavily during contest prep. I don't love it, and there's no guarantee that the nutrient profile is accurate batch to batch with the pp's, but finding low sodium/low carb protein sources as a vegan is difficult. Period. Being raw would make it impossible for me.

Right now I'm on pp's and the "usual" for vegans who are not specifically raw, such as soy and meat analogs. Closer to contest, the more processed stuff will decrease. I will become super dependent on non-soy pp's (I have a thyroid condition adding to the difficulty of all of this, and need to watch the soy wherever I can), such as hemp, rice, potato and pea. I also use Mori-Nu Lite extra firm tofu (not my fave ) and bake it to make it palatable and useful to me. It it the most low fat, low carb, protein dense, low sodium, easiest to find out there. And it keeps well in those little packs when I buy them buy the case. The co-op knows I'm prepping when I walk in and clean them out--LOL! Anyhow, between the pp drinks, pp pudding (see chocolate protein pudding recipe in that section, or I'll send it), and the tofu/analogs, I have no prob. I eat way more PR g's closer to show. Your hair might curl.

If you'd like a copy of the article I wrote for CSF, let me know and I'll send it. If you're willing, I'd love for us to stay in touch while getting ready for our shows! (BTW, which are you doing?)

My kcals on training days are probably 17-1800, and on non-train days more like 11-1200.

When I carb rotate, the high and low tend to look like that too, with a mid day being (predictably) 15-1600'ish.

I don't count kcals. I only track macros. But I just looked at my recent fitday.com plans, and that seems to be correct.

Does this help at all? I hope so. I'm not sure how to help a raw vegan. Sorry! I do eat most of my fruits and veggies raw, but that's where our similarity ends dietarily, I'm afraid.

Thanks for answering. Sounds like me except I gain after 1200 cal.

However even as Vegan not raw, I have a loss whereas you get all the protein? I want to build muscle quickly, but I get fat, and not a little bit, really fast on a high cal diet. I'm looking to build muscle fast (or as optimal as possible) but not gain fat I can lose before comp.

FYI -you're the first real live vegan female comp person I have had the pleasure of speaking to.

Feel free to PM me or e-mail me if you prefer. I really am interested. Hitting my first comp in April in Ohio (natural, no adds, not even fat burners) and I am in full panic mode.

Are you doing Nats or is fat burners allowed.?

For the record, I'm a fatty. I've battled it since birth. It is my body's tendency to be on the chunky side--active or not. And--to make things more fun--I have been diagnosed (repeatedly) with hypothyroidism. I have to really work at it and really watch that I don't mess my hormones up at the same time. After last season and dieting for 6 months my thyroid hormones dipped too low b/c I was coming down from a high point (remember my before photos? and those were afters from my all time high before diagnosis!). This training and eating phase came just in time for me to get my metabolism back up.

My shows are natural. Burners okay within guidelines (no DHEA derivatives, nothing on the IOC banned list, etc.). We are urine and/or polygraph tested. I don't use burners for the most part. Sometimes when I'm flagging I'll take an herbal by Country Life/Biochem. The name escapes me at the moment. Along with--hold on. . ."Lean Results" is the name! OK. . .--along with Hoodia by NOW and Diet Support by NOW and bioperine from whoever. I put that together to mimic a popular burner on the market called Lipo-something. Can't remember. Anyhow, I don't use it often or consistently, b/c as soon as your bod adapts, your results decline. That's true with anything--training, diet, supplements. Change = good for results.

My protein g's are VERY easily gotten through the pp's and meat subs--tofu being the most prominent b/c it's the least messed-with. I use pp's that are very low-to-no carb: Nutiva hemp; Nutribiotic rice; Naturade non-soy varieties called "Veg Protein Booster". Mixed with unsweetened, plain Silk soy milk, it packs a PR wallop! I might have to send you a daily diet via PM so you can see maybe. I also "sneak" it in by mixing pp into mashed sweet potatoes, adding it to veggie purees, etc.

About the kcals: 1800 kcals are really not "high" if you are training heavily. And food timing can be crucial for growth. On training days, your workouts are really only meaningful if you take in an easily assimilated starch right after with some protein. My fave is rice cakes with chocolate protein pudding spread on them. That's just an example of timing, but it's a good one to relate to your desire for muscle growth. It's still a hair too soon for you to worry about stripping down for a show. You'll lose that mass. A growth phase and a dieting phase are not congruent. Putting on muscle--even if your bodyfat is the same--still = a better body comp, as you well know I'm sure. I have to remind myself of that on days like today when I feel like Fat Bastard.

You have a PM.

Cardio:
TurboKick!

No training, just some abs/pilates/spinal stabilization (unweighted since shrinking my waist is a big goal).

Non-training diet today. I'm hungry!
M1: hemp and rice protein drink, Cheerios (should have been oats, but I was too lazy and impatient to do the whole oats I have, so I snagged some of hubby's cereal )
M2: 1/2 grapefruit, pro drink
M3: Spinach salad with mushrooms, tofu, balsamic vin.
M4: Mashed yams with crans, pro drink
M5: Tofu and broccoli with liquid aminos
I'm behind on my water. It'll be 1 gallon if I get caught up, 3/4 if not.

Friday 1/5/07:
Cardio: Taught Step and Sculpt
Training: Legs, Quad emphasis
-Performed 3 supersetted pairs of exercises wherein the first of the pair was a single joint exercise to pre-fatigue my quads, then a multi-joint exercise.
-Still high rep week, so the pairs were pretty much 3x20 for the first exercises, and 15 reps for the second.
Diet: Training day diet of 4xstarch servings, almost 1g protein per pound of bodyweight, and a decent amount of fat.

Saturday 1/6/07:
Cardio: stadium workout of sprints and stairs (both big and small steps, quick and slow), walking lunges around track, etc.
Training: Chest, Bi's
-Same as Thursday with the pre-fatigue scheme, 3 pairs supersetted--2 for chest, 1 for biceps, same rep scheme of 20/15 (ouch)
Diet: Training day diet, see 1/6/07, BUT I screwed up and missed a meal (I eat 5x), so I ate bean burritos and drank 2 beers.

Sunday 1/7/07:
Cardio: TurboKick, worked on choreography for class
Diet: Non-train. Not only am I hungry these days, I let myself sleep WAY in today (felt great!) so I was behind on the few kcals I get as it is. SO, I didn't feel too bad about the 1/2 glass of vino I drank while packing tomorrow's meals. Hey, we had a tornado warning--I had to relieve my stress, right?

Got confirmation from my trainer to avoid ab-specific work. "Step away from the crunch!", she said. Will use more planking and core engagement during lifts.

Just packed up all of my meals for tomorrow. Very excited for 2 more training days so I can eat. Anticipating the pre-contest diet soon. Better "live it up" while I can.

Going to shower and then do pics for the current contest.

Going to try a new way of entering. Today is a training day.
6a: Oatmeal w/ berries and nut/seed meal; choc pp drink.
9a: Mashed yams w/cran sauce; choc pp drink.
11:30a: Taught Step and Sculpt
12:30: Rice cake with pp pudding
12:50: Trained Back and Hams:
-supersetted pairs--2 for back, 1 for hams
-first ex. 4x15, second 4x8, 60 sec rest
1:20: Rice cake with pp pudding
2p: Veggie puree with barley and tofu, oil added
[No one in the office showed for PiYo again. Hmmm...]
4:30p: Some pp drink I apparently forgot to use earlier(!)
Dinner will be: "Steak" or "chicken" strips, mashed potatoes with butter, broccoli or asparagus + mushrooms.

Gotta eat up my fake meats this week b/c I think my trainer will yank 'em from my diet next week.

VERY fatigued today around 3p when trying to read a training journal. Possibly due to (TMI alert to the males) being a few days premenstrual. That, and I'm not used to sitting still too much. Going to try and hit the hay early tonight.

Today is another training day. My food is the same as yesterday, timing and everything, except that I'm saving some of my Meal 4 for later so I'm not so starving between it and Meal 5. Getting it in my face while working with afternoon patients will be the trick!

Today I taught TurboKick at 11:30.
I trained shoulders and tri's from 12:30-1:15 or so:
-3 supersetted pairs of exercises, 1 for delts, 1 for traps, 1 for tri's.
-All 4x15 on first exercise of each pair (pre-fatigue), 4x8 on the second.
-60 sec rest period between each superset.

Heavier on all than last week, 1 more set than last week, shorter rest than last week. I'm an animal!

You go girl!

First of all, I'll start with a true confession. . . My intended dinner last night was broccoli, "chicken" strips, and mashed potatoes with "butter". HOWEVER, I was not in the mood to eat due to stress over my mom's surgery yesterday. So I had a glass of wine. . .then some chix strips (starving). . . then some popcorn (ok, more than "some"). . .and a beer. Oops. {sigh} Coulda been worse, right? I'm sure it was a little in the back of my mind that after this week, all processed foods, booze, and otherwise "unauthorized" stuff is O-U-T. Nevertheless, it was a screw up through and through, and I'm owning it.

On to today. Today is non-training. I'm a little behind on my chow, but that's okay.
6am (skipped breakfast, tummy was twirling from last night)
10:30a whole grain waffles, pp drink
11:30a taught Step and Sculpt
[the rest here is what's intended as it's only 12:30]
12:45-1:15/1:30 Functional workout
2:00 Spinach and mushrooms salad with tofu and black olives, bals. vin.
4:00 Teach PiYo (if anyone shows, that is. . . been slow this month )
5:00 Mashed yams w/crans and pp drink
7:30/8'ish Tofu + broccoli w/ liq. aminos
May take a meditation class at church that is from 7:30-9:30 for the next several weeks. I'm totally like Ellen Degeneres when attempting to meditate. (You'd get that if you've seen her bit on meditating, or her credit card commercial that has a similar bit). BUT, I forgot to bring my last meal with me, which I'll need during that time, and that's also getting into my beauty sleep time!

BIG oops! My trainer and I apparently miscommunicated about my diet, and I've been doing something wrong since December In my guidelines, it clearly states that I can mix my fats with my starches while in a growth phase, just not in a diet-down phase. So, on training days only, that's what I was doing. She freaked. Apparently I wasn't supposed to be doing that for reasons she'll explain this weekend. Guess my ESP was down. Anyhow, as of yesterday, I am to eliminate {gasp!} 1 starch across the board, every day.

Training day:
6a Oatmeal, rice/hemp smoothie with berries
9:30 and 11:00 (1/2 at each) apple, peanut butter, choc pp pudding
11:30 Taught TurboKick
12:30 Trained quads/calves--I am crazy-strong this week, again with the increased weight and shorter rests.
1:30 Rice cakes and choc rice/hemp pp drink
[the rest is intended, it's now 1:40]
2:15 Spinach salad with mushrooms and tofu, bals. vin.; mashed yams with cranberry sauce
6:30/7 Broccoli, "steak strips" (still trying to clear those out of fridge), black olives, omega oil blend

OMG--the unthinkable happened last night! Between feeling stressed (won't bore you), uncertain about showing due to. . .(see yesterday's entry), and being SOOOO hungry after heavy cardio and legs with a dropped starch. . .yep. . .you guessed it. . .a binge occurred! Graham crackers, dry cereal, and corn chips. At least I didn't mix a fat with it, not even when my hubby asked if I wanted peanut butter on my grahams! (that would be funny if you read yesterday's entry about fats + starches).

Nevertheless. . . This weekend I'm going to ask myself if I'm going to go for April still--even if I train and diet only to decide to wait, but use it as a target and act "as if"--or if I'm going to postpone and give myself other quantitative goals like PR's in the gym and x% bodyfat by x-date.

So far, here's today:
6a whole grain waffles, pp drink
9:45a apple, PB, pp drink
No Step and Sculpt today, so I'm going to train Chest/Bi's now:
-3 supersetted pairs--2 for chest, 1 for bi's
-4x15 first ex, 4x8 second (prefatigue--single to multi joint ex's)
-60 sec rests probably
Then do cardio if I'm up to it. Most likely a nasty interval on the TM or XT.
Post WO rice cakes and pp drink
The rest is a toss up. I feel a nap coming on, and the hubby and I are doing a much-needed date night. What I eat will entirely depend on my mindset: complete and total show commitment for 12 weeks, or postponement. Either way, sounds like some cheating waiting to happen, doesn't it? On the diet, not the husband, that is. . .