NYVegan

Should I eat just as much on rest days as the days I workout? Im trying to bulk up with both muscle and a little fat. I workout m w and Fridays.

Question: how much peanut butter is too much?

About me: I am 5 foot 8 and about 120 lbs. Im trying hard to gain weight, mostly muscle but even some fat wont be bad. I find it challenging to eat large volumes of food so im trying to eat calorically dense foods. But I also care about my health so I try to eat mostly a plant based diet.

I believe that peanut butter is a good way to gain some calories/mass but im afraid of going overboard. How much is too much?

Thamks everyone!

Ok so here is the situation with me:

I am 23, 135lbs, very toned with little body fat but also little muscle. I have tried in the past to build muscle with very little success. I won't say I am giving up on muscle building, but I want to try a new approach to fitness.

I have pretty terrible endurance. I'm used to working out for less then 30min 3x a week. So endurance is my new goal. BUT I do NOT want to get any skinnier then I am! I really can't afford to lose any more weight. Here is what I am thinking:

Sunday- Hot Yoga

Monday- Spartacus Workout ( http://www.menshealth.com/spartacus/workouts/ )

Tuesday- Dynamic Apnea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_apnea) / swimming

Wednesday- Spartacus Workout

Thursday- Rest

Friday- Spartacus

Saturday- Dynamic apnea/swimming

How does this look to people? Remember, I want to get fit and get better endurance without getting skinnier!

Thanks for the advice

I would appreciate input from others

Ok so here is the situation with me:

I am 23, 135lbs, very toned with little body fat but also little muscle. I have tried in the past to build muscle with very little success. I won't say I am giving up on muscle building, but I want to try a new approach to fitness.

I have pretty terrible endurance. I'm used to working out for less then 30min 3x a week. So endurance is my new goal. BUT I do NOT want to get any skinnier then I am! I really can't afford to lose any more weight. Here is what I am thinking:

Sunday- Hot Yoga

Monday- Spartacus Workout ( http://www.menshealth.com/spartacus/workouts/ )

Tuesday- Dynamic Apnea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_apnea) / swimming

Wednesday- Spartacus Workout

Thursday- Rest

Friday- Spartacus

Saturday- Dynamic apnea/swimming

How does this look to people? Remember, I want to get fit and get better endurance without getting skinnier! I posted two pics so you could see what i look like now.

haha very true! thanks guys Off to the gym and supermarket now!!!

It depends what you mean by testosterone booster. Saturated fat boosts testosterone and I consider coconut oil and dark chocolate safe for most vegans to eat.

THanks for the advice and information everyone @VeganEssentials I will definetly avoid those gimmicks you talked about. @vegimator I think I will spend some time looking at some more natural ways to boost testosterone levels...especially if they involve Dark Chocolate

I guess testosterone for me = masculinity which is something I have always had to deal with a skinny, gay vegan. I just always fear that people view me as un masculine.

I was wondering if anyone here takes a Testosterone booster. I was thinking of taking one every few days to help my workouts.

I'm really not sure how everyone will react to this question. If this seems "unnatural" and bad for you, please be kind to me in your reply Or better yet! Educate me!

I figured if I write my goals down here I will be held responsible to follow through on them.

I just started a modified P90X that I WILL stick to for the full 90 days! Modified because I am using more weights and because of their cardio program I am swimming instead (because I love swimming )

Tomorrow when I am working I will slack off and write up what exactly my workout plan is for the next few weeks. Hopefully I can also get some photos up too.

Wish me luck!

Anyone here ever participate in a Tough Mudder? I am thinking about doing one on November 21st in NJ. Wanted to hear about other people's experiences.

excellent point! I never read the bottle of vitamin water because I've never tried it. But I just did and see that it is full of a lot of sugar. nix the v water.

Does anyone here use Vitamin water as a way to help get all the required daily vitamins? I noticed that at least one "flavor" has b12 in it.

If you avoid vitamin water please let me know why.

thanks!

i hate how even on vegan boards i still have to be inundated with non vegan shit.

 

But this is the time to awesomely educate without being a douche!

 

I try not to be a douche when I educate people and am just matter of fact about my choices. I've actually inspired omnis to try my food, cut back on meat, try being vegan for while...and turned a few vegetarian.

Thank you! education was exactly what I was looking for.

There was a reason I put the word "happy" in quotes in my original post.

For the record, I have been completely vegan ( including dairy free) for over a year now. I didn't think there would be anything wrong with me researching a different alternative to the lifestyle. In fact, if I never researched alternate lifestyles, I never would have discovered veganism to begin with!

And thank you for showing me the vegan cheese. I might have to bite the bullet and try it. I usually avoid fake dairy products for health and taste reasons. But if some of you like the taste, I'll try it!

So I have been a vegan for a while now but have been thinking about letting myself eat some local cheese from "happy" cows.

ou

Do you guys find cheese wrong even if it comes from local cows that you know are healthy and happy?

Thanks guys! This is stuff I could already use. I'm going to modify my workout as per your suggestions. I am definitely going to try to increase protein/calories too.

If anyone else has other suggestions too that would be awesome. More brains are better!

What would you guys suggest for rest? Rest between reps, sets, and workout days.

I would like some help with my workout and nutrition plan.

I am a 22 year old male. 5'7", 140 lbs with very very little fat on me. I am trying to gain muscle but I am a "hardgainer."

Here is the workout I have been following:

Day 1:

Incline press with dumbell. 4 sets.

Barbell row. 3 sets.

Side bends for obliques.3 sets.

Lats. 3 sets.

Weighted dips. 4 sets.

Day 2:

Reverse squats. 3 sets.

Step ups with dumbells. 3 sets each leg.

Good mornings. 3 sets.

Leg raises for abs. 3 sets to failure.

Day 3:

Dumbell press. 3 sets.

Military press. 3 sets.

Over the shoulder tri-throwbacks. 3 sets.

Dumbell bicep curls. 3 sets.

Pull ups. 3 sets to failure.

Then here is an example of what I ate yesterday:

8 am:

Banana

Big Bowl of Oatmeal with peanut butter and raisins.

Bowl of uncle Ben's cereal

11:30

Cliff Bar

1:00

BLAT Sandwhich (bread, lettuce, avocado, tomattoe)

Peanut butter sandwhich.

1/2 cup of pineapple.

4:00

1/2 cup of granola.

workout

5:00

Protein shake (17g)

Orange

3/4 cup of edamame.

1 whole wheat bagel with veggies on it.

2 slices of bread.

8:00

Pasta with marinera

9:00

Larabar

Looking at it now I totally see that I am not eating enough food. Especially since I am a Scuba Diver and typically do 2 dives in a day.

Still any advice on how much more I should eat, and how to change my workout would be awesome.

So I am reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall and it talks about this stuff called iskiate which is made from chia seeds, water, sugar and a little lime.

Has anyone ever tried it? It is supposed to be great for energy/ recovery. Just wondering if it is for real or just hype.

If no one here has tried it I may go out and buy some chia seeds to make it and I can let you all know how it goes. Don't want to spend money on it if it's nothing though.

So is gelatin vegan or not? I can not get a clear answer on this and so many vitamins use gelatin!

I guess I should be more specific eh?

I'm a 21 year old male. 5'7" and 140lbs. I obviously have a slender build and I'm a "hard gainer."

I would work out as such:

Mondays: Moderately paced swim

Tuesdays: 4 sets each of arm curls, triceps, military press and forearm curls. Ab routine.

Wednesdays: Moderately paced swim.

Thursdays: 4 sets each of squats, calf raises, glutes, and dead lifts. Ab routine.

Fridays: Swim.

Saturday: 4 sets each of Bench Press, bar row (for back), lower back, pull ups. Ab routine.

I'm also going to try to pack in around 2500 calories per day. More?

Please criticize the routine as much as you need. I'm looking to maximize gain when it comes to lifting and maximizing stamina in my swimming.

Thanks!!!

So I'll be heading back to school later this month and want a new workout routine for the semester.

I want to do one day of heavy lifting for the upper body, one day of heavy lifting for the legs and one day of high intensity for the upper body.

I'm also an avid Scuba Diver so need to be swimming quite a bit so would like to swim about 3 days a week.

I'm having some trouble trying to figure out how to schedule this all.

Should I do:

Monday: Heavy lifting upper.

Tuesday: Swim

Wednesday: Heavy lifting legs.

Thursday: Swim

Friday: High intensity upper.

Saturday: Swim.

Sunday: Rest

Would this schedule give me enough time for my muscles to recover? Or is it too much?

Also everyone keeps saying "get plenty of rest, get enough rest." But HOW MUCH is enough? 8 hours? 7? 9?

Thanks everyone in advance!!

Paul

I LOVE peanut butter and banana sandwiches. I was reading a news story about Elvis today (it would have been his 75th birthday recently) and saw that he too loved them but liked them fried. This sounded really good to me so I looked up the recipe which is just like a normal pb and banana sandwich but you put butter on either side at the end and fry it in a pan. Does anyone know what I could use instead of butter to fry the sandwich? Obviously something vegan and as healthy as possible.

Thanks!!!

How do you guys feel about creatin? Good? Bad? Is it even vegan? Does it work? I've never taken it and i've heard very mixed things about it.

The problem is I work at a summer sleep away camp. The meals hey serve here are hardly vegan friendly. I eat what I can and try to have some of my own food on the side to make it through the day. While I agree that bars are not the best thing, it is all I can really do here.

I was fortunate to find a whole bunch of cliff builder bars from at my local GNC that are expiring soon. Lucky because that meant they were only 50 scents each

Here is the problem though. They are all the chocolate clif bars and in my opinion have way too much chocolate. I have noticed that I can peel the chocolate off the top of them though. Do you guys think I am loosing any of the protein by doing this? I assume all the protein is in the crispy part of the bar but I may be wrong. Does anyone know if there is protein in the actual chocolate layer?

Thanks guys.

I know that seitan is high in protein and very yummy but I was wondering if it is actually GOOD for the body? Is it one of those highly processed foods that people try to avoid sometimes? What about other nutrition in the seitan? I've heard it has a lot of iron.