astracner

id stick with your plans to change the pre-workout drink to bcaa+g supp. im a fan of xtend although im sure it's not vegan/vegetarian friendly. the grape flavor is the best tasting pre/post workout supp i've ever tried. everything else looks good. just keep eating enough

My mother mentioned that to me just the other day. Was kinda glad to hear it. She's in excellent shape herself. From what I was told, she has to stop doing it from time to time because she get's 'too buff'

That's great & good luck! I highly recommend keeping a photo log to review from time to time. It's a great way to stay motivated. Post yours on the forums when you get done if you do keep a log.

mikkah1987: That's great and I hope you are enjoying the program. I'm not sure what the difference in the protein requirements for women and men are but for me I was getting around 15-35 grams of protein per-meal. No scientific calculations here.. Just tasty & healthy foods! This page here should give you a good idea of what your protein requirements are based on your activity level. Gardein makes great vegan meat substition products that are amazing. This made managing fats & carbs and getting enough protein much easier. You can check their website and find a store near you. They have a very nice customer support team so if you cannot find them in a store near you then don't be afraid to ask them to start stocking there. There website said that the Kroger's near my home stocked their products but this wasn't the case when I contacted all the Kroger's nearby. After letting Gardein know about the issue they had it being stocked at all of the Kroger's within 3 weeks. davidmNY: I'm the same way.. I like to know exactly what I am, have done, and will be doing before even beginning a new exercise routine. This program is easy to understand because it's written out completely for you and the program provides to tools necessary to make tracking your progress very easy. Here you can find the P90X Excel Worksheet. Alternatively, you can print them from a pdf file that you can get from here. As for the diet, I just stuck to vegan foods that I know and love. The main thing I focused on was eating my most energy rich meals during the times of the day that I require the most energy. This is usually breakfast, lunch (2-2.5 hours before training) and my recovery drink. The recovery drink was made of mixed berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries), oats, and protein powder. My protein powder was a 70% and 30% mixture of Gemma and Rice Concentrate flavored with premium french vanilla from TrueProtein.com. I hope I answered both of your questions with the detail you were hoping for. If you have any others please feel free to ask because I'd love to help anyone looking for help. Thank you all so much for your compliments and wish you the best with your health and fitness goals!

1 cup of mixed berries (blueberry, raspberry, blackberry) 1/2 cup of oats 1 scoop protein powder (70% Gemma,30% Rice Concentrate,Premium French Vanilla flavor) 1 scoop Scivation Xtend Grape 1 tbsp peanut butter about 1 1/2 cup of water this is usually my morning meal. the difference in my morning shake and post-workout shake is 3 scoop vs 1 scoop xtend, no peanut butter, 1/4 cup oats vs 1/2 cup.

I began eating vegan about a month or so before beginning the program. It definitely changed my life and the greatly added to the drive I have to pursue even more ambitious goals of mine. My starting weight was 155 and end weight was 145. I'm about to begin the program yet again, as soon as I recover from a recent illness, and am expecting even greater results. I only had access to 25 and 35lb dumbells but I have an entire weight training setup now and hopefully wont be as 'boney' this time around. Anyway, here's my results! http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/3913/p90xresize.jpg

yep i did. it was the turning point for me to move to a vegan diet and i wouldn't turn back to my old ways either.

I've been having great results with 70% Gemma Pea Protein and 30% Rice Protein. It yields an amino acid score of 153 on NutritionData.com.

Today I purchased Deva Nutrition's Vegan Multivitamin which hopefully will not come with any side effects such as digestive issues of the supplement. The majority of reviews I've read are positive so I'm very optimistic. Anyway, what's YOUR favorite vegan multivitamin?

Marcina said it very well so no need for me to add anything. I'll vouche for this! One banana an hour before bed time seems to help me sleep.

I use 70% Gemma Isolate, 30% Rice Concentrate, Protease Enzyme Complex, and Banana Bash Premium flavoring from trueprotein.com. They have a system where you can build a custom protein powder blend. I've had great results and definitely enjoy the flavor of this particular mixture.

I've been taking Greens+ for about 3 months now and I was wondering what everyone's personal opinion on this product was. Also, does anyone have a recommendation for any health supplement products like Greens+ that would actually be better? I eat a serving of vegetables atleast once daily (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, squash) and was wondering if I need to even take a supplement like Greens+. I'm aware that it does have health benefits but if I'm already consuming a balanced diet of vegetables, fruits, legumes, and nuts then is it really worth the $40 to purchase Greens+?

Thank you very much for your helpful information. If I'm placed on anti-biotics in the future I will definitely remember what you've said.

I'm in full agreement here but above all else you should see a doctor. It helps to do your research and try to diagnose yourself but in any case you still should see a doctor.

Woa.. I agree apple. Who would want to do a diet that restrictive?!?! I already burnt out on this style of dieting.. as you may have noticed from me previous post. I love food and I want to enjoy the foods I eat. On this diet it's very hard for me to do that on the low days. I would recommend less restriction on this diet for anyone who is thinking about trying this.

I've got a feeling this topic was intentionally made as a joke.. I'm sure there are serious health risks with consuming nothing but a diet of bananas.

Agreed.. I've kinda settled with keeping it simple. Eating healthy foods, watching the fat content of my foods, not over consuming on carbohydrates, and gaining strength. I doubt you can go wrong by following a plan as simple as that! Healthy foods, smart weight training, and solid cardio should always help you on your way to a physique anyone could admire as well as allowing you to live a healthy and long life. I've sort of become 'burnt out' on watching what I eat. I'm 20 years old, 140lbs and it's mainly muscle. My body fat is miniscule to begin with and I strongly believe that where I've gone wrong is with my cardio. It hasn't been solid nor routine.. Just a few minutes ago I got back from a 3 mile hike in my old neighborhood where I know the distances from point A to point B so it's easy for me to keep track. I'm going to keep this up because it helped me clear my mind unlike any cardio session could do for me in the past. I believe I've trained my body and mind enough now to the point that I can control my cravings and keep my exercise routine. The benefit of studying what I ate so closely has paid off because I understand the nutritional content of all the foods that I have access to now. My enjoyment of eating has almost been obliterated by my obsession of consuming exactly this many calories, this many carbs, or this much protein to the point where I've just said the hell with all of it. I'm young, fit, healthy, athletic, and enjoying my summer.. and now I ask myself: Why spoil it with obsessing over your diet? Plain and simple, I'm vegan and I eat the healthiest foods known to man. My plan is to live long and healthy and to spread my knowledge of how to make a healthy lifestyle work for anyone.. Not to obsess over the idea that if I overeat that I will become fat. This has turned into more of a blog than an actual forum post lol so please forgive me. Hey! you know.. It might not be a bad idea to start a blog of my own about my mission on continuing to live a healthy life. Anyway, off to grocery store. Thank you if you read all of this!

I'm trying out the "Carb Cycling" method to see what results churn out of this style of dieting. It's going to take some work to get it going smoothly but so far so good even being that today is my first day on the diet. I've got a grocery list made out already so it's time to shop! I'll let everyone know how its been going at the end of the week. My goal ultimately, is to shed a bit of fat and be able to see my abs better by the time I go to the river on July 10th. This is definitely a short time frame but I think it can be done with the determination that I have. Wish me luck Any suggestions on how this diet could be more effective would be appreciated.

I've seen good and bad reviews but they all have one thing in common, increased muscle endurance. The majority of user reviews of beta-alanine products comment on it's "tingling" effect. More research into this is recommended before trying it out for yourself but it's well-known that this is a characteristic of beta-alanine supplementation. If you are interested in beta-alanine, you might be interested in trying a product like Controlled Labs Purple Wraath. It's a powder mix that's mainly used for recovery and endurance during workouts. It is pricey and I myself considered purchasing it but I chose to turn to Scivation Xtend. Both of these products are BCAA complex powders that promote endurance and recovery from your workouts. I take half of a serving of Xtend before my workout, the other half of the serving for the duration of my workout, and then a whole serving with my recovery drink. It has worked for me and I notice quicker recovery and more endurance during my workouts. For many people, they will buy a product and use it one time then praise it's name because they think it helped them have a good workout. If you are to try beta-alanine, make sure that you have a current routine worked out and are actively engaged in it, then work any supplements such as beta-alanine, xtend, or purple wraath into you arsenal. Take notes on the changes you notice over a span of atleast a couple of weeks before determining whether the supplement(s) are working for you. If you make up your mind about beta-alanine and would like to try it, I'd recommend purchasing it in it's pure powder form. You can find it for a good price at NOW Foods that will last you for quite sometime if used as the label recommends. All of these products, in my opinion, are sure to help you during your workouts. If you have the extra money, Scivation Xtend is a great product that will definitely work very well when beta-alanine is supplemented with it. The juicy grape flavor rivals that of grape koolaid

What convinced you that this diet would be a good idea?

I started the cycle today, which is a low carb day, and it's proving to be pretty difficult as I'm only on my second meal out of the six total that I will require and I'm down to only 10g of carbs per my next six meals to meet my quota. It seems like my carb quota is a bit too strict. What's the ideal amount of carbs in any particular food in order for it to be considered a "low-carb" food?

I ran across this article on T-Nation that I think everyone take a moment to review. It got my interest in particular, being that I'm trying to lower my body fat while maintaining effectiveness of my workouts and my mass while still having a healthy diet. Here are my calculations based on the formulas provided for the high/medium/low carb days. Body Weight: 140lbs Low - Cardio - Sunday -------------------------- Carbs - 90g Fats - 35g Protein - 190g High - Shoulders & Arms - Monday -------------------------- Carbs - 280g Fats - As little as possible (<20g) Protein - 140g Low - Cardio - Tuesday -------------------------- Carbs - 90g Fats - 35g Protein - 190g Medium - Legs & Back - Wednesday -------------------------- Carbs - 190g Fats - 25g Protein - 170g Low - Cardio - Thursday -------------------------- Carbs - 90g Fats - 35g Protein - 190g Low - Rest - Friday -------------------------- Carbs - 90g Fats - 35g Protein - 190g High - Chest & Back - Saturday -------------------------- Carbs - 280g Fats - As little as possible (<20g) Protein - 140g

From what I've read, it looks like both the bulking and cutting phases are three month long periods each. So, three months bulk then three months cut.

I'm wanting to add some more size but I really don't want to add any of that to my mid-section. Any suggestions on any aspects of nutrition, lifestyle, and even training will be appreciated.

There are two different premium sweeteners, the Natural and Artificial. The natural is sweetened with stevia and the latter is sweetened with sucrose and acesulfame-K. I did some research on artificial sweeteners after my previous post advising purchasing the premium sweetener. I'd recommend the naturally sweetened flavor with stevia over the artificially flavored flavor. It seems that all artificial sweeteners have health side effects ranging from mild to possibly severe. Most of the testing has been done with animals and therefore the human research is very limited. Personally, I don't want to be considered a test subject so I'll be sticking with the tried and proven stevia sweetener. It does cost more than the artificial sweetener at trueprotein ($0.75/lb vs. $1.00/lb). The same theory can be applied here in that paying the premium for the healthier solution can be the trade off for your expensive medical bill that may be a result of using ingredients that pose a possible health risk. Take care of your body and it will take care of you! Also, I've never tried the Natural flavoring at trueprotein so I can not make a solid personal recommendation. I will be substituting it however in my next purchase for the artificial sweetener.