MaryStella

Nice article. Thanks for posting.

I'm still proud of you as the shots you've posted your looking good in.

You might actually feel worse before you feel better with the caffeine withdrawal symptoms. I had a headache everyday for about two weeks but I was a pretty serious caffinator back then. But once I got over those headaches I almost never get them anymore and when I do they are so much less severe than they used to be. Glad you got your appetite back, I thought I ate a lot of food, you eat a ton!

Thanks Joel for thinking about this for me! Your right with your recommendation. I am not completely resting it because I want to go into the surgery strong so I don't lose too much while it has to be immoblilzed after surgery but my focus is mostly on just rehab stuff for now. 4.13.9 6am Shoulder Stability Circuit V Raises, Rear Delt Raises, Scapular Pushups - 3 x 15 Face Pulls 30 x 15, 35 x 15, 30 x 15 Run Steps - 30 minutes - 2.20 miles 105 floors 6pm Run 5K - 24 minutes Bike 15 minutes 4.14.9 Didn't feel well all day today, sneezing, coughing, headache, tired. Drinking tea and taking a rest day. I haven't had one in a really long time so I don't feel too bad about it. It's been a stressful week. I told my kickboxing trainer I am not coming back and that caused some drama. Work has been busy and my parents are having some serious health problems. I hope I am well enough to get back to the gym tomorrow.

tasha thanks for your help. I really appreciate it! An outside opinion can be so helpful. 4.12.9 Shoulder Stability Circuit - V Raises, Rear Delt Raises, Scapular Pushups 3 X 15 - I wonder how long it is going to be before this isn't a part of my daily routine. I've been dealing with this shoulder issue for so long and i will probably have to do this as rehab after the surgery too. Face Pulls - 40 X 15 x 5 Superset: Outer thigh 130 x 15, 140 x 15, 150 x 15 Inner thigh 100 x 15, 100 x 10, 100 x 10 last two sets the last rep was rough Superset X3 Hamstring curls - 85 x 15 - on the 2nd and 3rd sets the 14 rep was weak and the 15 was failure after halfway Leg Extensions 85 X 15 Superset Bicep Curls - 12 x 10 - tried fifteen but couldn't do it on the right arm with the injured shoulder so dropped down 1 arm dumbbell rows, 30 X 10, 35 x 10, 40 x10 Hammerhead Bicep Curls 5x 15, 5x 12 - wanted to see if this was easier on the shoulder. no better. 1 arm dumbbell row - 45 X 5 Superset X 5 Back extensions - BW x 15 Situps on AB ball x 30 Superset x 3 Leg Press - 130 x 5 Parallel Grip Cable Row - 80 x 10 Run Steps - 20 minutes 2.31 miles 110 floors Bike - 10 minutes Decline Bench Situps 25 x 3

That is a stunning pic. can't wait to see more.

Hope things get better for you soon!

Yeah I forgot about Bikram that is another option but I would try the power stuff first as bikram is more about holding the poses for longer periods of time rather than the power flow through poses. Try them all see what you like.

Ditto.

that's great!

oops forget to give my why. - for health reasons initially. Now for all reasons including animals rights, environment, etc.

Congrats!! Your gonna ride this victory right to AZ!

Went vegetarian in high school - just found meat ing - didn't do the vegan thing them because i loved eating cheese. Got sick in college because I didn't do the veg thing right at all. Didn't understand what my errors were at the time. Went vegan at 28? I think. I'm thirty two now and have been doing it for about 4 years.

Welcome! Congrats on your success so far. I also went vegan for health reason mostly high cholesterol, blood pressure etc. I would recommend eating healthy snacks instead of vegan cookies. Also eating more beans and oats and foods high in fiber with bring down your LDL levels. If that doesn't work with those last 10 points you can track your sat. fat because you can still be taking in a lot of if you are eating junk foods. You might want to try to front load on your calories more So that you are eating most of your calories before you burn them off not after. You do need to eat enough to recover at night though. Good luck!

I'm using the Mate factor brand . I use it sparingly though because it gives me a good jolt because I've been off of caffeine/ stimulants for awhile now.

Jivamukti Yoga or Power Yoga - Baron Baptiste

4.11.9 Crossfit Workout of the day 3 rounds for time of: Row 500 meters 21 Burpees Run 400 meters Time 16:02 I think I could have had a slightly better time had I not actually fallen. As soon as I was done running my first 400 meters I accidently stepped onto my friends treadmill near me that was still running and I totally wiped out so I lost a little time there but this was a hard one for sure. Legs feel pretty unstable starting to run coming off the burpees every round. Face Pulls 30 X 15 35 X 15 40 X 15 x 3 Shoulder Stability Circuit - 5 lb Dbs - V raises, Rear Delt Raises, Scapular pushups. 5 minutes on bike. - just tested this out as it might be the only cardio I can do right after surgery as my shoulder will have to be immobilized so even running might be out. But my legs were smoked from the CF WOD so I though I would save this for another day. SuperABset - 4X Ball Situps - 25 V raises w ball - 25 - these were rough to get through! Ball Side Situps 15, 25

@ aluck - not good awaiting surgery to repair it. thanks for asking. 4.10.9 - 6am Shoulder Stability Circuit V Raises, Rear Delt Raises, Scapular Pushups - 3x15 Face Pulls - 40lbs 3x15, Run - 3.55 miles - 30 minutes 5:30pm One Arm Rows 20 x 15 30 x 15 35 x 10 Parallel Grip Cable Pull Row 70 x 10 80 x 6 70 x 4 70 x 10 Superset = 4X Back Extensions 15 Ball Situps 25 Superset = 5X Decline Bench Situps - BW X 20 Weighted Leg Lifts - 10DB X 10

My original reason for going vegan was in response to health issues that was I having. Which are no longer issues by the way. I don't own and never have owned any pets as I have bad allergic reactions to animals. Therefore when I am around animals if they engage me to play with them I will and usually regret later but if they don't, I don't. I have come to agree with animal rights after being exposed to them after already being vegan. I believe people go vegan for different reasons and to say all vegans are animal rights lovers is just not correct. I've met many other vegans that did it only for health reasons. I've also met other who have done it for environmental reasons.

I include the bar + plates for total weight.

You can eat those. As long as it isn't from an animal your fine.

http://www.guayaki.com/ - if u wanna check it out. Also just checking in on you and seeing how your doing? Hope your recovered and getting back at it. But it don't see any workouts posted here recently so worried your still sick.

Some other costs tips I have are buy your vegetables from a farmer directly at farmers markets or at the stands they have at their farms. Way better quality and costs. better for the environment to. Same goes for fruit get them from orchards or farmers market. the buy in bulk theory works here to. If you've bought too much for you to consume before the produce will go bad you can always freeze most of it. You would be amazed how much money you save this way. Also buy foods that are cheap like dry lentils, split peas, I know other have mentioned beans and rice. If you have a slow cooker you can set them to cook in there all day and then portion and freeze/refrigerate whatever your not going to eat and then you can reheat and eat those as needed without the long cook time that dry foods tend to need for cooking. you can do it on the stove too I just like the slow cooker because you don't actually have to be home watching it and you can get one for relatively cheap if you don't have one. You save so much money over buying cans of beans etc. I am so glad you posted this because non-vegans ask me all the time if it is very expensive to be vegan. they think that it is because of the prices they see at some heath food stores and I don't really feel like it is. My largest expense is on protein powder like vega not food for sure. Just some thoughts I had, hope they help. I agree with everyone that posted before me you can totally do this.

with those abs I think you will!

Wish I could go but way too far away. Anyway, Robert you are going to do great. I know you've had some setbacks with your back recently but bodybuilding is a lot like fighting, your never really ready it just sorta becomes your turn to go. So step on that stage with your head held high and confident because you've put in all of the work that you can at this point it is just time to go! Looking forward to hearing the awesome results you guys get today!