Ruz

Totally agree..if you don't take a supplement where do you expect to get it from? It's the only supplement I have ever really noticed a dramatic effect with..that said i wouldn't really go about 5g becuse it gives me nausea perfectly. Cramps and nausea have beeen associated with higher doses, like when doinng a load. For a vegan 5g with their post workout shake should be fixed in stone!

LMFAO! Well if they were in the competition I wouldn't vote for them either! What century are we in anyway? this is like watching 80's french porn!

I'm not going to vote for anyone with hairy armpits..no matter how huge their biceps are..its aesthetically offensive! sorry!

Most supplements dont do anything apart from turn your pee interesting colours and leave you with an empty wallet! i don't really think supplements should be any different for a bodybuilder than a normal vegan. however.. I think all vegans should take creatine EVERY day as we don't get any from our diet and it's dirt cheap! I think also an EPA and DHA supplement would be beneficial, here's a good vegan one but I'm scouring the net for anything cheaper so it anyone finds anything please let me know! http://www.v-pure.com/ Contrary to popular belief, the omega 3 in flax seed isn't converted or used easily by the body. I eat 2tbsp of ground flax a day but I still want to supplement. Selinium would be a good investment, but dont buy pills, just eat 1 or 2 brazil nuts a day..no more because its highly toxic! Obviously B12 supplement, even if you think you're getting enough it pays to be safe! Also, don't invest in expensive post workout supplements touted to stop muscle catabolism. All you need is a good strength vitamin c tab after your workout, get the cheapest available as they are all more or less the same. I take 1g after my workout. i also think BCAA's are a waste of money. I didn't notice any effect when I took them apart from the fact that I was skint! Cheap supplements like wheatgerm and polen are loaded with BCAA's, you don't need to buy expensive supplements..its all industry hype. Vegans tend to eat a lot more fruit and veg than your average meat eater so you should have no problem getting sufficient BCAA just from your everyday diet.. Like I said, supplementing is an individual thing but I've tried lots of supplements and the only thing i really had results from was creatine. you don't have to load it, just take 5g, a big teaspoonful, a day. Remember creatine iss the most extensively researched ssports supplement available. Any side effects it may have, such as nausea, are only really a problem when you are loading creatine, 5g a day shouldn't be a problem for anyone. I also noticed there was reference in this thread to coconut oil..I suppose you are referring to the medium chain trigylcerides it contains? This used to be thought to protect and preserve muscle fibres, particuarly during a diet. However, extensive research has proved that it has absolutely no effect whatsoever and is just another saturated fat...I've got a bottle of MCT which was rather expensive so i wish i'd researched it better before buying it. Something I've learnt is to look for research done by universities and professionals when thinking about buying supplements and not by the people pushing the supplements..NEVER believe any crap you read in bodybuilding magazines and the like! Oh..and I forgot to say vitamin D of course if you don't live in a sunny climate or take fortified soy milk etc. I don't know od any vegan vitamin D food sources! Your body produces it naturally if there is enough sun, but in northern climates, especially in winter you really should supplement!

Really you should check out the net for how to sprout..there are various different methods. you need to decide what to sprout and then see the best method. Youtube also has some very informative videos and a visual explanation is often clearer than a written one. you can download charts which give you a rough idea of how long you should soak the seeds before you sprout them, generally the bigger the seed the longer you soak it. it's not that hard really and you only use a few seeds at a time so it doesn't really cost so much if you screw up. i used to use wide topped glass jars with a section of old tights as a gauze on the top held in place by a rubber band. Now I have a three tier sprouter which only cost 18 euros and is much easier to use and doesnt take up so much space in my already microscopic kitchen! Don't go out and buy one now though..make sure you can stomach the taste of sprouts first!! Sprouting success really depends on where you live and your free time. I can sprout here in winter no problems, but in summer when i have to work long hours and am out of the house for a long time, I can't wash the seeds often enough and they go dry and die. like when it gets too cold in winter if you dont wash them often enough they rot. its all a bit of trial and error but you need to be careful not to eat rotten seeds because they can be quite toxic. If they smell bad they are rotten, fresh seeds dont generalñly smell much. Basically you put a thin layer in the bottom of your jar, water them, drain off the water and leave them to do their stuff. As a general guide you'll need to do this about 3 times a day until you see the sprouts appear. Then you dry them off and store them in the fridge. Personally I dont really like the taste of sprouts, although I do eat alfalfa sprouts from time to time because of their "steroid" type efffects. They are def the bet sprout for bodybuilders in my opinion. i just whizz them into my protein shake, although it makes the taste even more rank..suprising that that is possible with pea protein really but it is trust me! Anyway, like i said check out the net and let us know how you get on!

Oh How I wish that didn't ring true....

Hey..I just found the best link!! here you can download a ton of brill books for free including the UD2 diet and stubborn fat loss..check it out! http://foro.musclecoop.com/showthread.php?t=20784&page=6 You can download about 6 books before you go over your daily limit..but the next day you can start again!!

Just checked out your blog..nice! It must be a pain in the ass to check ingredients like this in Canada!! In the UK, food has an official stamp on the packet, approved by the vegan society, or for veggies by the vegetarian society..it makes life much simpler! However, I believe the UK has the highest proportion of non/meat eaters outside India so iot-s logical they mark the food clearly.

Nice vascularity in that 3rd picture! J

As a bodybuilder I think the very best thing you can sprout is alfalfa!

Hey..that-s how I make it! But now I use sesame oil as it works out cheaper than tahini and gives exactly the same flavour!

Upff! Lovely definition and peak!

No..i never said Hi..she was famed for being crazy so now you know where Ozzy gets it from! Ozzy is my fave too although Dio was great..i loved his 'dream evil' solo album

Well that depends on the fat and to what temperature you heat them. Basically, the higher the smoke point the better the oil is for cooking. Here is a list but I-m sure you can find many more on google> http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/CollectedInfo/OilSmokePoints.htm Personally I use sesame oil and olive oil for cooking but i don-t ever deep fry stuff so I-m not worried about the fat turning rancid and i also bake a lot. The UD2 diet leaves you feeling like shit..especially during the first week. You-ll feel weak, trembly and dizzy, for me most of these symptoms were greatly reduced during the second week and hardly a factor after that. However, getting to sleep and sleeping well can be difficult on a low carb diet as I believe they affect seratonin levels. You could try eating a few brazil nuts before bed or perhaps taking a herbal sleep remedy. you should also try to eat your last meal just before bed time. About the fat coming back on..well i think if i learnt anything from this diet it was that i generally eat too much carb and that-s why I have too much fat. Obviously if you go back to eating the diet you ate before UD2, which was the diet that made you fat in the first place, you will get fat again. However, the higher percentage you have of lean body mass will help burn off calories as muscle uses far more calories to maintain than fat . This is incidentally the reason why the body burns off muscle first when you are on a calorie deficient diet. The body needs a lot of calories to maintain muscle and very few to maintain fat so it economizes! that-s bad news for anyone on a diet trying to lose fat. this is why its crucial to work out with heavy weights when you are on a diet. You need to convince your body that you need ALL your muscle fibers and that it can-t possible use your muscle for energy, forcing it to use fat. Too much of the wrong type of cardio will only make you fatter and make your muscles smaller so please read Builts "How to do cardio if you must". There is a link on this page and I would recommend reading the whole page before going to the link, its very informative and eye opening> http://www.ironmagazine.com/article403.html As regards the UD2 and its suitability for you, well I wouldn-t really recommend the diet to anyone who isn't preparing for a competition. I think carb cycling would be much more suitable combined with an intelligent workout plan, including some cardio. I-ve decided to do the cardio routines for stubborn fat loss detailed in the link I-ve sent you. however, instead of doing more traditional cardio for the HIT interval training part, such as running, cycling etc., I-m going to use a two way body split on Monday and Tuesday and use superseries with very short rests for cardio. i-m going to do just cardio on wednesday and then a 2 day split for a heavy workout on Thursday and Friday, rest Saturday and straight cardio on Sunday. This is very similar to the workout plan detailed in the UD2 book except i will probably be using higher reps than indicated on Monday and Tuesday to get my heart rate well up but not cause too much muscle damage so I-m rested for the strength training workouts on Thursday and Friday. I-ll also be carb cycling. I-ll eat most of my carbs on Thursday, Friday and Saturday when I-ll also eat at 100% of my calorie maintenance level, then on the other days, I-ll eat lower carbs, but nothing extreme, maybe a 20% calorie deficit. This of course means that I-ll lose fat slower but I-m in no rush and I think its a very healthy fat loss plan. I also don-t see it as a diet i.e., that when i have reached my desired fat level I-ll just revert to what I was doing before. i see it as a new long term eating and exercise plan. Obviously I-ll have to modify and change things depending on how my body reacts to the new plan. Once I get down to 12% body fat I-ll switch to eating above maintenance calories for strength training days and only slightly lower on carb days so it all balances out.

Ok, just done my last carb load! I-d just like to take some time to explain what I have learnt from this diet. I-ve eaten healthily for many years now..only whole grains, lots of seeds, nuts veggies etc. I always thought that it was the starchy carbs which made me feel full..however, after 2 weeks on the UD2 diet, i realized that as long as i added fat to my food, I didn't get particularly hungry. During the first week i ate around 1,300 kcal and was literally starving ALL the time> I actually drempt about eating! During the second week i had read more about the UD2 and decided to add more fat to my food as everyone was saying how it helps curb your appetite. It was difficult for me to actually add a tablespoon of oil to my food because I had always learned that it was very fattening and too much fat, even healthy fat was bad for you. However, the more I read, the more interesting it became. recent studies have shown that people who get a large percentage of their calories from fat actually live longer! It-s sugar which screws up your heart and not fat! Anyway, to cut a long story short..as I noticed that adding more fat to my food actually did help with hunger, i became more confident and actually found myself pouring a tablespoon of coconut oil into my smoothie! During the last week of the diet, I got my calories down really low and didn't really get very hungry at all! In fact, I have to say that i discovered that i was LESS hungry on my low calorie vegetable smoothie, loaded with fat, than I am with my regular breakfasts of wholemeal toast or oats. I used to eat about 3 times during the morning because I was SO hungry, but when i ate more fat, i didn't feel hungry even once and was actually eating far less total calories! It was rather worrying for me when I analyzed my diet and realized that most of my calories came from fat, but i think this concern is just from the years of brainwashing I-ve had about how low fat diets are good for you. I-m starting to believe its all crap. I'm also starting to think that the reason I never look 'hard' enough is because of the amount of carbs i have being eating to satisfy my hunger. I-ve been talking to a lot of BB on different forums about this and the ones who have hard bodies all year round, and not just when competing, consume most of their calories in the form of fat and protein. So..I-m going to drop most starchy carbs from my diet and get carbs from other sources, especially pulses. I-m also going to eat less fruit and get my vitamins and minerals from eating more leafy vegetables and nutrient dense foods. I-ve been eating a LOT of fruit and I really don't like what I-m reading about the effects of so much sugar in the diet. Its going to be hard for me on a long term basis because i-ve always based my meals around carbs i.e. pasta with something, rice with something, couscous with something, quinoa with something etc..I-m going to have to re/think my whole way of eating! Really I-m down to a very healthy weight now and only have 14% body fat so I should look harder than I do! It must be down to diet! Anyway, I-ll let you know how i get on..I want to look hard!! But in the meantime, any of you trying out the UD2, or any other low calorie diet should really bear in mind what i have said about fat cutting hunger..fat is going to be your biggest friend! Dont forget that the MCT-s in coconut oil have a protective effect on muscles and sesame oil does too to some extent. Also, if anyone wants a list of the recipes i did use on this diet I-d be happy to give info..although there isn't a great selection. The most useful things i discovered to eat were TVP and coconut cream for breakfast, gazpacho..which is a traditional spanish drink made of tomatoes, peppers, garlic and oil, salmorejo de asparagus, and mashed cauliflower. Most of the other stuff I ate revolved around green veggies, and protein was from seitan, tofu the occasional nut and my hemp and pea protein crackers.

There is very little scientific information to back up the theory. Here are the links available on quackwatch http://www.quackwatch.com/search/webglimpse.cgi?ID=1&query=blood+type I-m blood type A and I eat a lot of things I shouldn't according to the list, particularly tomatoes and peppers. I just couldn't survive without tomatoes so I-m happy its all bullshit!

BLACK SABBATH! OK get this...ozzy-s gran used to live about 1km away from me! Also, its not only Sabbath, don-t forget led zeppelin are from Birmingham! I actually saw Robert Plant in a local bar in Walsall a few years ago but was to embarrassed to go in and ask for an autograph! I used to listen to both groups as a kid and saw Sabbath 3 or 4 times live at the famous donnington rock festival and the NEC if I remember correctly. I still think they are great and still load the odd sabbath track into my MP3, although i dont tend to listen to Zeppelin now because their music has dated more than that of sabbath..the hippy lyrics just dont do it for me anymore, although of course they are still a classic band! So who was your fave Sabbath singer? Wow yeah! That would be great! Shame you live so far away...but let me know if you ever visit Eurpoe! Measurement challenge: Ruz, how many cm are in an inch? Actually, I-m OK with inches because there-s some parts of the male body I STILL measure in inches mmm..think an inch is roughly 2.5cm isn-t it?

Thanks! My gym uses kilos! So that would mean I only squat 154lbs? Uff! thats crap! but i suppose I only started squatting in Feb this year so doing more than my body weight is ok for now, but I want MUCH bigger legs! What do the rest of you girls squat just for curiosity? I used to hate squats but after forcing myself to do them I-ve become addicted and the only problem is that i can-t do them everyday because I don't grow if i don't rest. i love front squats, lateral squats, Hungarian split squats, sumo squats and especially box squats. I-m also getting pretty addicted to deadlifts too! problem is that there aren-t many gyms nowadays that have good equipment for free weight training. My gym only has 1 set of 10 kilo dumbells! so thats 22lbs right? I think they must be the most popular because we are always fighting over them....its ridiculous! They also only have 2 sets of 15kilo dumbells..I just wish the guys at my gym werent so weedy so they could leave the smaller weights for me. In my home town of Birmingham Uk we have loads of brilliant spit and sawdust type gyms where none of the guys would be seen dead stealing the "girly" weights of me!! If I could find a good gym I think I would progress quicker..its really frustrating!

I wish you guys would modernize a bit..I don't understand pounds, only kilos! Aren-t most of you younger than me? Do all your gyms have the weights in pounds?

Yep she is its true..but I think there is something going on with her clit too! http://www.tmuscle.com/img/photos/06-153-feature/image003.png http://figureathlete.tmuscle.com/img/photos/2008/08-FIG007-training/image015.jpg In this foto she is even checking it out herself! http://media.photobucket.com/image/gina%20allioti/beardlover/ginaalliotti.jpg

gena aliotti and Kim Klein, especially Kim look great... but Yaxeni Oriquen looks gross in my opinion...also check out her jawline! Bet she has a fun sized mars hidden away somewhere!

If you want to do the UD2 diet you need to do it properly because if you still have glycogen in your muscles you wont carb up properly. I can send you the book if you give me your email. However, if you want to start with something softer and easier to fit into your normal habits, read the article on carb cycling (the link is posted above). I'm going to change to this now!

You got me worried there! Just bought amicat for my cat and she loves it. It seems like quite good quality and it should be at over 5 euros a kilo! I must say however that I am quite peed off with people constantly attacking me about my pet-s diets, don't worry, I'm not referring to you..all you did was give me some very helpful advise! However, last weekend, my dog was diagnosed with epilepsy and there was some woman in the park where I take my dog who said that the vegan diet was responsible for his illness! When I asked her what she fed her dog she replied "Dry bread". This woman is a doctor! So she seriously thinks that my dogs diet of lentils, carrots spinach wheatgerm and rice and olive oil is worse than dry bread! She actually implied that I could cure my dogs epilepsy if I gave him meat! I had to leave before I started shouting because once I lose my cool I lose it BIG time! I also give my dog a multivitamin and mineral supplement which doesn't come cheap..but of course, people are so ignorant Incidentally, this woman is the owner of my dogs brother..he weighs 25 kilos and can hardly walk..my dog weighs 15 kilos and runs a minimum of 8km a day..stupid cow! It always pisses me off more when this kind of ignorance comes from people who work in the medical profession..like the idiot doctors who tell people to eat carrots, sweetcorn and lettuce to lose weight..duh!!!

Ruz, you gotta stop cranking out the one liners. You should do stand-up comedy. I can't stop laughing. Hahaha! Aww thanks! and I-m not even trying to be funny, I-m just naturally sarcastic like a lot of British people. My M8 made me get up on stage one day when there was an open mike and i had the audience crying with laughter talking about various different methods of trying to extract public hair from your throat and various other sexual disasters in my life..I was just telling the truth but people thought it was hysterical..needless to say i got thrown of stage for using too many obscenities but I did have a lot of people come up to me later and say they loved it! But I dont get drunk nowadays so I can-t see it happening again...

I know..the vegan diet and exercise plan at the end of that thread is mine! I-ve dropped from 59kilos to 55 in a month and not lost any muscle so it IS a good plan. However, I-ve suffered from headaches on all the low carb days, getting progressively worse, and this week i had a migrane, so that-s the last time I do the UD2 diet for vanity! Infact my head is still throbbing like a bitch today and I have to workout before my carb loading Not fun..I can deal with muscle pain and exhaustion but I cant deal with loss of vision and my head pounding while I-m in the gym. If I were competing i might consider doing it again but just to look more ripped on the beach..well no, feeling like shit for a month really isnt worth it for me! However, after reading countless articles on the UD2 and other low carb diets, it appears that although my reaction to very low carbs is not unusual, most people DON/t feel so bad after the first few weeks. And as I have seen how effective it is I would recommend that anyone give it a try..just because low carbs give me migranes doesnt mean the UD2 is not for everyone! However, it has been a valuable learning experience for me and I-m going to continue with the principles I-ve learnt to some extent and see if i can lose the rest of the fat with simple carb cycling. I-m planning to start next week, only eating starchy carbs when I train at my calorie maintenance level and eating lower carbs, on cardio and all other days and a 25% deficit in my maintenance calories. I-m toying with using this approach http://builtblog.wikidbody.com/2007/08/06/how-to-set-up-a-diet-basic-carb-cycling and I will definitely do the cardio plan for stubborn fat loss http://builtblog.wikidbody.com/2007/06/11/how-to-do-cardio-if-you-must/ I met Built on the vegeterian bodybuilding site you mentioned and her advise is invaluable! PS today I saw ALL my abdominals for the very first time!! Even with a stinking headache it did make me feel quite good!