SAR's Journal

[SAR]

Hey everyone this is my first fitness and nutrition journal. My goal is to do a bikini fitness competition in May 2012. I've been inspired by a girlfriend of mine who just did a competition a few weeks ago though shes a big meat eater thinks that I will have a tough time because of my vegan diet. I've always been into working out and being healthy I've been able to maintain an ok physique for the last 4 years when I fully switched to a vegan diet but never knew how to kick it up a notch.. or a few! I just bought Robert Cheeke's Vegan Bodybuilding and Fitness, browsing a lot online here on this site and veganmuscleandfitness.com.

My girlfriend gave me her workout routine which I will add to my workout routine. Right now I have been doing bodyrock.com workouts 3-6x/week and HII cardio on my cellerciser 3-6x/week. As I get through Robert Cheeke's book and doing more research online I should have a pretty good idea on a good workout plan.

My diet is vegan (with some honey from a company that loves their bees) I try and eat mostly fresh food though it is winter here in BC and warm food is sooo nice to have in the evenings. 1st and 2nd meal is almost always smoothies. (bananas, dark leafy greens, berries, coconut oil, honey, chlorella and protein powder - just bought the vega sports protein powder in vanilla!) Immediately after my workouts is when I take chlorella with some supplements (multi, B12, maca... ) Evening meal lately has been steamed veggies with legumes (I keep my meals pretty simple no sauces) I am a coffee addict which I enjoy 1 cup in the AM before my workouts with coconut milk, if I dont get a good sleep I usually have another cup mid day. My liquid has definitely gone down since summer, I'm currently drinking 1.5 litres of water - I gotta work on this!

 

I will be posting on here regularly to keep track and stay on track, any suggestions/ideas etc are always welcome. Hopefully I get a an email soon from veganmuscleandfitness.com with their free diet planner sheet to keep tracking easy. If anyone knows of any good apps for their journals plz let me know!

cheers!

 

My girlfriend's workout routine:

Week 1 day 1-3 - 50 % of 1 rep max 4 sets of 12

 

day 4-6 50 % of 1 rep max 4 sets of 15

 

Week 2 1-3 55 % 4 sets of 10

 

4-6 4 sets of 15

 

Week 3 1-3 60% 4 sets of 8

 

4-6 4 sets of 10

 

Week 4 1-3 55% 4 sets of 12

 

4-6 4 sets of 15

 

Week 5 1-3 60% 4 sets of 10

 

4-6 4 sets of 12

 

Week 6 1-3 65% 4 sets of 8

 

4-6 4 sets of 10

 

45 second rests in between sets

 

Day 1 Legs

Sqauts

Alternating walking lunges

Split squats

Hamstring curl

Standing calf raise

Leg extension

 

Day2 shoulders , chest, tri

Front raise

Side Lateral raise

Dumbbell Shoulder press

Flat bench fly super set with press

Front press down tri

Reverse pull down tri

 

Day 3 back , bi , abs

Lat pulldown

Mid back seated row

Ab crunch back straight

Oblique side crunch on horse

Dumbbell curl

Bar curl

[SAR]

Day 1

 

2 Cups of coffee with 1 TBS coconut milk in each - late night last night....

1 Liter Green Smoothie (bananas, kale, chard, chlorella, coconut oil, honey, himalayan salt, 1 scoop of protein powder, 1 liter of water)

 

1 cup of coffee with 1 TBS coconut milk.

 

Workout:

Squats, 4 sets of 12 - 30lbs

Alternating Walking Lunges, "" - 40lbs

Split Squats, 1st set-30lbs, 2nd set-24lbs, 3rd set-24lbs, 4th set 20lbs

Hamstring Curls with Ball 4 sets of 12

Standing Calf Raises, 30lbs

Hanging Knee Raises 4 sets of 12

20min high knees on cellerciser 5sec rest 15 sec work

 

Big glass of chlorella + supplements

Dinner: yellow split peas with curly kale, cauliflower, peas, tomato, cannelloni beans, green onion

 

For the rest of the night lots of water(im loving water with little lemon juice, himalayan salt and stevia) a chamomile tea and then right before bed another glass of chlorella.

[SAR]

Day 2

 

1 cup of coffee with 1 TBS coconut milk

 

Bodyrock work out:

Low Jacks - 39(with 20 pounds) - 46 - 40(no weight)

3 Pushup + 5 mountain climbers - 4 - 4+1pushup - 4

Reverse Push up - 12 - 10 - 6(10sec hold half way)

Elbow plank and reptile pushups

30min high knees cellerciser 5/15

 

chlorella + supp.

1 liter green smoothie (bananas, kale, chlorella, coconut oil, honey, 1 liter water, 7 dates, himalyan salt, 1 scoop protein powder)

a few pieces of dried ginger

a few handfuls of sea salted popcorn

chlorella again before bed

 

Yesterday was not a very good day - food wise - I know that this is something I have to really focus on is getting enough food in me so when I'm out of the house for most of the day I need to better prepare myself or else this will happen again...

[SAR]

Day 3

 

1 cup of coffee with coconut milk

 

Workout:Shoulders,Chest,Triceps 4 sets of 12

Front raises: 5lbs for 2 sets, 3lbs last 2 sets

Side Lateral Raises: 5lbs for 1st 2 sets, 3lbs for last 2 sets

Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 8lbs (1-4)

Bench Fly set on Ball: 5lbs (1-4)

Front press down Tri: Resistance band

Reverse pull down Tri: Resistance band.

30min high knee cellerciser 5/15

 

Chlorella+supp.

 

1.5 litre of green smoothie(bananas, dates, kale, himalayan salt, coconut oil, honey, protein powder, 1 liter water, chlorella)

 

Going for vegan pizza tonight.

[SAR]

Before going to the Canucks game I had 3 pieces of vegan pizza. Then at the game I brought 10 chocolate covered almonds and 10 chocolate covered cashews - these were vegan as well and omg so good, glad I didnt bring the whole bag!!

Drank much more water today then yesterday but still not as much as I probably should, today was about 2 liters. Its so hard to drink water when Im so cold all the time...

[SAR]

Last night had my chlorella drink before bed.

 

Day 4

 

2 cups of coffee with coconut milk

 

Workout:

Lat pulldown with resistance band 4 sets of 12

Mid back seated row " " " "

Leg Lift, Star Crunch, and Butt Lift combo 4 sets of 12

Reptile Plank 4 sets of 12

Dumbbell curl 8lbs 4 sets of 12

Bar curl 8lbs 1st set, 5lbs last 3 sets of 12

30min high knees on cellerciser 5/15

Chlorella + supp.

1/4 cup coconut yogurt - I have not had any type of yogurt in over 5 years but wow this so delicious brand of coconut yogurt tastes just like dairy yogurt!

1 liter green smoothie (bananas, red chard, honey, coconut oil, coconut milk, hemp seeds, vanilla stevia, himalayan salt and 1 liter of water)

[SAR]

leaving the house today till late tonight, being more prepared and taking 2 liters of green smoothie with me (bananas, red chard, chlorella, frozen berry mix, macadamia butter, coconut milk, chocolate raspberry stevia, himalayan salt, water, honey) and lots of water.

[SAR]

Day 5

 

My coffee machine broke 2 weeks ago so I had been using my mini french press which is great because it only makes one cup but I cracked it yesterday while washing it This is the third french press Ive broke now.... Doesnt make me want to buy a new one so Im looking at buying a really good coffee machine, any suggestions?

 

This AM I went to Starbucks and got a grande caramel soy latte, it had been awhile and omg they are sooo good...

 

Workout: Legs

Sqauts 30lbs 15x15x15x15

Alternating walking lunges 30lbs 15x15x15x15 Next week definitely adding more weight, should have added more weight today

Split squats 24lbs 15x15x15x15 on each These are killer

Hamstring curl on Ball 15x15x15x15

Standing calf raise 60lbs 15x15x15x15 - I dont know what I was doing on day 1 with 30lbs

Leg extension - Havent been doing these since I dont have the machine... Gotta look into another leg exercise...

30min high knees cellersier 5/15

Chlorella drink + supp.

 

1 liter Green Smoothie (bananas, water, himalayan salt, honey coconut oil, coconut milk, hemp seeds, cinnamon, red chard, vanilla stevia.)=yummah

[SAR]

Dinner last night was a very good salad:

Romaine, green lettuce, red bell pepper, orange pepper, celery, cucumber, cannelloni beans, carrot, beet, sauerkraut and homemade dressing: celery, dates, lemon juice, water, salt and pepper, chickpea miso, garlic, coconut oil.

A few min later had to have another bowl coz it was that good.!

Chlorella before bed

 

Day 6

1 cup of coffee with coconut milk

 

workout: 4x15

Front raise 5lbs

Side Lateral raise 5lbs

Dumbbell Shoulder press 8lbs

Flat bench fly super set with press 5lbs+8lbs

Front press down tri resistance band

Reverse pull down tri " "

20min high knees cellerciser 5/15

chlorella + supp

 

big green smoothie to take to work, 2 liters (bananas, apples, pear, red chard, hemp seeds, cinnamon, honey, coconut oil, coconut milk, water, himalayan salt)

 

dinner is homemade split pea soup (split green peas, onion, garlic, celery, peas, corn, carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, pepper, veggies cooked/steamed with coconut oil)

[SAR]

Got weak....

 

Once I was alone in the house, after doing my friday nightly routine around the house I boiled 3 little yams, had a 1/4 cup coconut yogurt and a couple spoonfuls of sauerkraut and 2 mandarin oranges... I am on the binging mode.. I feel like I could eat an entire vegan pizza and a thing of coconut ice cream.... I do this once in a while...binge

Maybe I didnt eat enough during the day? Probably because I didnt have enough water, I'm trying to pour water down my throat as I type to satisfy whatever it is Im wanting... I really didnt "binge" I just ate a bad combo of foods at 930pm, I havent ate this late in awhile, but it gets to me. I beat myself up about it, fack I cant even workout first thing in the am I have to wait till after i get home from work.. its ok, it could have been worst. Luckily i have no bad vegan food in my house

Confession over.

Moving on.

[SAR]

had chlorella before bed last night

 

Day 7

 

AM 1 cup of coffee with soy nogg

breakfast 1 liter green smoothie (bananas, red chard, water, himalayan salt, Cinnamon, coconut oil, honey)

LUnch the rest of the green smoothie which was almost 1 liter

crappy snack a soy latte from starbucks

dinner a large salad: romaine, green lettuce, celery, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, shredded beet, shredded carrot, shredded coconut with homemade dressing: dates, celery, lemon juice, water, salt pepper, garlic, chickpea miso, sauerkraut.

 

Thinking about maybe doing back, bi and abs tonight or maybe just have a rest day.

 

I'm wondering if I should starting tracking my food better, using a program that'll tell me how many calories ive consumed and my fat/carb/protein %s. Seems so time consuming...

[SAR]

I have downloaded Chono-meter to track my food, I'll have to finish setting it up tomorrow! Hopefully its quick and easy to use!

Day 8

This AM

 

1 cup of coffee with coconut milk

 

45min high knees on cellerciser with 5 sec rest and 20 sec work

chlorella and supp.

 

breakfast + lunch green smoothie total 2 liters (coconut milk, water, himalayan salt, cinnamon, chlorella, vanilla stevia, honey, coconut oil, 1 bag of frozen berry mix)

 

1 Cup of candied yams

1 handful of salted roasted mix of nuts

4 bite size protein cosmic cookies

 

 

Day 3 back , bi , abs = 4-15

Lat pulldown resistance band

Mid back seated row resistance band

Leg Lift, Star Crunch, and Butt Lift combo

Side Plank raises - last set could only do 13 on right side and 14 on left side

Dumbbell curl 8lbs

hammer curl 8lbs - last set could only do 13 on left arm

chlorella

1/2 scoop vega sports protein powder with water

[Gaia]

Even though I am a female BBer, and what you eat for the day is probably what I eat every 2-3 hours! When I went raw for the summer, I had about 3 green smoothies (a full Vitamix blender volume: 3 bananas, 2 mangoes/a whole bag of frozen mangos), a pint of berries, and 1/3 of a package of baby spinach - then water to the rim of the Vitamix and blended) a day, plus a huge salad of veggies with oranges/citrus and a handful of seeds/nuts. When I input my diet into FitDay.com (just like Cron-O-Meter) I found out that I was still under 2,000 calories (not good for a BBer)!

 

So I am going to guess that you are not eating enough calories to sustain your workouts, maybe to sustain your everyday life though (calories for base maintenance, exercising to go to work, exercising to just do chores around the house/apt, and to handle any stress you might have in your life). You will need calories to make the curves you want for bikini competitions. Then you can lower the calories alittle before the comp date (May did you say? then I would think about that at the end of Feb/beginning of March - depending on how much you can tweak your bodyfat level). I would focus on the curves now, and eat the calories. Bingeing is a sign that your body needs more calories - which you may have to tell your body to be quiet and just drink water at that point because you will only have to do it for a month or so before the comp, but now is not the time to do that.

 

Research about how you can put your body into a starvation mode, where your body can survive on minimal calories and it will hold onto its fat/adipose tissue (such as you see when the contestants still have cellulite on their thighs and glutes with very low bodyfat). "Cycling" is one way to keep your body guessing that it is OK, and it is fooled into letting some of the fat go for fuel, because it thinks it will get enough calories soon (and it will in the near future).

[SAR]

Hey thanks Gaia I was kind of figuring I wasnt eating enough. :S I have to plan a better schedule of eating more small meals throughout the day.

 

I weighed myself this AM and am currently at 107.8lbs at 5ft 2.5in

 

Day 9

 

1 cup of coffee with coconut milk.

 

Workout

45min high knees on cellerciser 5/20

chlorella+supp

 

2 cups green smoothie (banana, honey, red chard, coconut oil, himalayan salt, water, 1 scoop vega sports powder, chlorella)

 

1 liter of that same green smoothie

4 spoonfuls of peanut butter with blueberry jam (ya im weird, who needs bread)

2 small pieces of vegan pizza, 1 large square vegan nanaimo bar (sister was testing some recipes for xmas which I got to try!!)

 

A large bowl of salad same as what I had earlier in the week except I added sprouts this time yummah and doubled the amount!

3 bite sized protein cosmic cookies

 

Wow. This was a lot of food for me. Lots of not so healthy food too. Im so glad its still early-ish in the day, I'll be working out my legs really hard tonight! Then right after have the vega sports powder with water (which tastes fantastic btw) and then wait a couple hrs or so and have my chlorella drink before bed.

 

Ive been looking at a lot of vegan recipes lately so hopefully I'll make and try some out and plan for more healthy heartier meals.

[SAR]

k New program here it is:

20min cardio warm up with stretching before each work out 2 days off weights if I feel the need to do something on those 2 rest days I will do some cardio or go do a sport or something fun like hiking.. etc

Stretch right after each set 30sec each side

With the sets weights get heavier as the reps get lower

in 2 -3 weeks I change the exercises up

Weights are going to be heavy, very heavy but I can do it its all in the mind and I will grunt and make faces and do whatever it takes to lift, push, and pull those heavy weights, so glad I have a gym in my home coz its going to get ugly

 

"diet"

Continue to eat what I know is good but enough of it, not going to stress too much about how much Im eating just as long as Im eating lots of meals through out the day. Going to work on kicking my coffee habit. Up the chlorella, get more maca, get spirulina and load up as much fresh fruits and veggies as I can.

 

Current status is 107.8lbs, measurements i'll take tomorrow.

 

Monday - chest and triceps

-10 pushups – 3 sets

-3sets 8x8x6x4 12lbs – 15 - 20 1st set peck flies on the floor legs up

-3 sets 8x8x6x4 12lbs – 15 – 20 flat bench press legs up

-super set no weight, resistance band, chest fly higher reps 3 sets

-4 sets 10 pushups elevated

- 4 sets 10 diamond pushups

- 4 sets high rep resistance band – tricep pull downs

 

Tuesday back and bi

- double handed chain saws 10x8x6x4 10lbs – 20lbs

- 10x10x10 pull ups try using yoga swing with swing under 1 leg Or use resistance band

- 8x6x6 sitting Reverse back fly

- Super high rep sitting lat pulls

- pick a bi exercise curl/curl twist.. etc 12x12x12

 

Wednesday legs

- Squats 12x12x8x6 weights on shoulders

- Lunges 24x24x26x8 alternating

- Weight on thigh knee up- leg straight out exercise high reps hip flexers

- Ball exercise hamstring curls high rep 3-4 sets

- Calves raises 12x12x8x6

 

Thursday shoulders and traps

-100 shoulder press low weight

-Standing Arnolds 10x8x6

-Standing Rear delts 12x10x8

-Bus drivers front raises 10x8x6

-Standing side raises 10x8x6

-dumbells behind back belly forward slighty and squeeze upper back trap raises? 30+ reps per set

- trap raises 30+ reps per set

 

Friday bi tri forearms

-3 bi exercises 12x12x12each

-3 tri exercises 12x12x12each

-Forearm curls 10-20x3 - opposite same 10-20x3

[Gaia]

This was a lot of food for me. Lots of not so healthy food too. Im so glad its still early-ish in the day, I'll be working out my legs really hard tonight!

This is so spot on! Eat your food, get it processed into your blood stream, get it incorporated into your muscles, and then use it up in a really good workout!

 

-btw, I saw no not so healthy food. Break down the ingredients in the cookies, and they seem to be grains, dried fruits, and some evaporated cane sugar. Sugar in this small amount is not your enemy at this point. It is the energy that will fuel your workout. It is also energy to help repair muscles - takes alot of caloric energy to move nutrients into tissues, and not to mention the debris from your workout of blasting some muscle tissue.

[SAR]

Had a goooood sleep in today, got out of bed at 1230!

 

1 cup of coffee with coconut milk

 

chest and triceps

-10 pushups – 3 sets off my feet 1/2 way down

-8x8(12lbs)x6x6(15lbs) peck flies on the floor legs up

-8x8(12lbs)x6x6(15lbs) flat bench press legs up

-super set no weight, resistance band, chest fly higher reps 3 sets of 30

-4 sets 10 pushups elevated lower legs on ball

- 4 sets 10 diamond pushups - chest way to sore for any more push ups, did 10x10x9x8 tricep dips with straight legs

- 4 sets high rep resistance band – front tricep pull downs 15x15x13x10

chlorella+supp.

[Gaia]

4 sets high rep resistance band – front tricep pull downs 15x15x13x10

From this description, do you put the band on a hook in the middle, and then pressdown with the handles, moving only your forearms down and leaving the upper arm still? As in a usual pressdown in the gym using a cable high up with usually a double rope handle? If yes, then you should also try this exercise to hit the triceps at a different angle (one exercise hits the long head of the tricep, while the other hits the short head of the tricep):

http://www.ehow.com/video_2351893_resistance-exercises_-overhead-tricep-extension.html

 

Also found this to explain the different tricep muscle groups alittle better (though I say short head, it is actually called the lateral head):

http://www.veterantraining.org/blog/?tag=tricep-muscle

[SAR]

http://www.ehow.com/video_2351893_resistance-exercises_-overhead-tricep-extension.html

 

Thanks I'm going to do that exercise next tri day!

 

I was using the resistance band like this:

- only I was standing not laying down so the resistance band was wrapped around something close to the ceiling.

[SAR]

had a simple green smoothie(1 liter) bananas, red chard, vega, coconut oil, honey, water, himalayan salt, chlorella)

Im on a peanut butter kick, Ive had a few spoonfuls of peanut butter here and there had to give my bf the jar before I finished it all! I'm going to switch to raw nut butters because they dont have Aflatoxins which are nasty carcinogenic toxins made by fungi that grow on peanuts, its resistant to heat so roasting them doesnt get rid of the fungi. Jungle peanuts dont have aflatoxins so if i really want peanut butter I'll have to order some jungle peanut butter online.

 

Because of the amount of peanut butter I had earlier I just lightly steamed 2 heads of broccoli and had that with green onion and lemon juice for dinner.

[SAR]

This AM I got really into my what was suppose to be warmup cardio turned into a cardio workout. I didnt really leave myself enough time anyways for the weight training.

So I did 45min 5/20 on cellerciser.

chlorella+supp

2 cups green smoothie (vega, banana, red chard, coconut oil, honey, water, cinnamon, himalayan salt)

 

1 liter green smoothie(rest of BK)

 

5 cosmic cookies

 

17min cardio warmup 5/20 cellercier

back and bi

- double handed chain saws 10reps 10lbsx8reps12lbsx6reps15lbsx4reps20lbs - last 4 reps were pretty frickin hard, my form may have been off a tad

- 10x10x10 reverse pull ups off yoga swing

- sitting Reverse back fly 8x8x6 - 5lbsx5lbsx8lbs

- Super high rep sitting lat pulls 30x30x30

- pick a bi exercise curl/curl twist.. etc 12x12x8 - 8lbsx8x10

chlorella

vega sport in water

 

yummy salad - same as the last few days, coz its so damn good. Topping the night off with a mug of vegan hot chocolate coz im bloody freezing,!

[SAR]

Day 12

 

1 cup of coffee with coconut milk

 

15min warm up cardio 5/20 on cellerciser

legs

- Squats 12x12x8x6 weights on shoulders - 24x30x40x60(could have gone heavier though I couldnt put 60lbs on my shoulders...)

- Lunges 24x24x16x8 alternating - 30x30x40x60 (go heavier next time here too)

- Weight on thigh knee up- leg straight out exercise high reps hip flexers 2x25 on each leg

- Ball exercise hamstring curls high rep 3-4 sets 3x25 (i feel this one more in my calves than my glutes.. grr)

- Calves raises 12x12x8x6 30x30x40x60 (start with 40s here)

-hanging knee raises 12x12x10

chlorella+supp

 

green smoothie, same as yesterday 2 cups

 

1 liter rest of green smoothie

 

3 mandarin oranges

 

stay at work late, didnt have anything else to eat came home had a hot chocolate, now about to have chlorella then bed.

[SAR]

Day 13

 

1 cup of coffee with coconut milk

 

5min warmup+stretch

20min cardio 5/20 cellerciser

shoulders

-100 shoulder press low weight couldnt do 100 with 5lbs 50x40 with 5lbs

-Standing Arnolds 10x8x6reps - 8x10x12lbs

-Standing Rear delts 12x10x8reps - 3x5x8lbs

-Bus drivers front raises 10x8x6reps - 8x10x10lbs

-Standing side raises 10x8x6reps - 5x8x8lbs

didnt do traps coz... well i didnt want to, i kinda hate those muscles i feel like mine are naturally big enough, i want them smaller

side plank lifts 3sets 15reps each side

chlorella +supp

med. size salad (same as wed)

2 fist sized plain boiled yams ... now im feelin warm

[SAR]

Day 14, rest day.

 

1 cup of coffee with coconut milk

1 liter green smoothie same as wed.

A few roasted potato wedges

2 small yams

1 bite of vegan vanilla cup cake

1 bite of vegan maple walnut cup cake

1/2 of vegan chocolate cup cake - how could I resist

A couple handfuls of plain popcorn.

Over 2 liters of water for today,

chlorella before bed.

[SAR]

Day 15

cant really remember this day exactly...

1 cup of coffee with coconut milk

 

20 min warm up on cellersier 5/20

-bicep curls 8lbs/12, 10lbs/10, 10lbs10

-hammer curls 8lbs/12, 10lbs/12, 12lbs/8

-21s 8lbsx2

-tricep dips 20x15x15

-over head tri press 3x 5lbs/12

-reverse pull downs 3x15

-forerarm curls 3x 3lbs/20

-opposit forarm curl 3x 3lbs/20

-ab ball exercise 3x20

chlorella + supp

vega protein with water

 

lunch+dinner veggies with a vegan artichoke dip(my mom made) and veggies with my ceasar salad dressing as a dip

raw vegan caesar salad

vegan broccoli salad

steamed veggies with half a potato

3 gluten free vegan nanaimo bars

1 gluten free vegan peanut butter cup

Family xmas get together, as usual i ate non stop sooo yummy...

had tons of water afterwards, had my staff xmas party right after and didnt get home till 5am! - good times

 

Day 16

REST DAY

 

didnt get as much sleep as i would have liked having gone to bed at 530am.

had my morning coffee

went out for lunch at a new restaurant that is 100% gluten free 100% vegan and 100% organic - how cool is that!

I had a falafel wrap on gluten free tortilla wrap, with a side of coleslaw

I had a bite of my sisters grilled cheese sandwhich

I had a bite of my bfs mac n cheese

I had a mocha with coconut milk - so yummy

 

lots of water

 

did lots of walking around in the mall today

 

Had left over mac n cheese with left over veggies and dip

some dark chocolate covered coconut, dark chocolate covered cherries(wow!) dark chocolate covered banana - tis the season eh...

 

going to drink plenty more water while laying in bed watching movies till i pass out

looking forward to my work out tomorrow!