Simi

Hi Jay! From Melbourne also, been vegan 5 years now, training about the same amount of time. WELCOME! Great work on going vegan and amping up the training! The best advice I can give is to keep trying your best to be consistent. Consistency with your training and diet is what's going to give you the best and fasted results. And also to be patient... results take time and there are no shortcuts!

After meeting up with Robert again, I decided to sign in here for the first time since 2013! I joined up years ago when I first went vegan, this forum is where it all started for me and I'm so thankful for all the help and support I received from all the awesome members!

WOW! AWESOME transformation so far! Really well done! xx

Hey congrats on competing! What are you having at the moment? I've actually decided to do another comp in a week! Seeing as I'm in shape I thought the experience would be good For my comp prep I'm having oats with protein powder, berries, flax oil and rice protein in the mornings, then the rest of my meals I'm having lots of nuts, tofu with dulse flakes for seasoning and iodine, unlimited vegetables (eg cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, beans, spinach... anything I want really!) protein shakes (pea and rice) and rice cakes after training.

Sorry rawrnr, can't help you there... I'm a natural competitor, and I don't use supplements besides protein (on very rare occasions I've used pre-workouts when I feel I need a kick) I'm just 100% consistent with my diet and training

Thanks everyone!

Yea that's him! Was so great of them to come along and support me!

Thanks heaps!!! Appreciate your support! Do you compete yourself?

For sure! There's Australiasians in 2 weeks if I can afford to fly to Sydney... but otherwise I'll focus on building up my legs and bringing an even better package to the IFBB state titles in October

I felt fine! I stay quite lean most of the time anyway so I didn't have to diet that hard - I actually got to up my calories and cut cardio for the last 2 weeks! So I felt great today I think being vegan keeps me very lean

More snaps! Meeting fellow vegan athletes Meeting fellow vegan athletes Another on stage shot - twisting a bit much but hey it was my first comp

Comp was today! Man, I had a blast! Didn't place in the top 3, but I got in the first call outs for comparisons, so I think I came close! Feedback was my conditioning was great, but I needed a little more legs. I was well aware of this anyway but honestly today wasn't about placing for me! I'm just so proud to have given it my all and brought my best to the stage! I'm also just so excited and motivated now to keep improving and compete again! Posing for the camera after getting off stage During first call-outs!

Thanks for the compliments and support! Here's a snap I took today before my first photo shoot for a friend's PT business, looking forward to having some professional photos! Excited for the big day

I've been pretty dormant on the forums lately, but rest assured I have been working very hard! I'm actually 4 weeks out from my first IFBB novice figure comp, and my back is coming along really nicely! So excited! My legs will be a little on the small side, but it's only a novice comp, and there's plenty of time to work on those for the next one. Looking forward to the main event, March 9th! I'll post some of my on-stage shots after then

Thanks for all the kind words! Really very flattered and humbled! I'm around 19 weeks out from my comp - so excited! Here's another update Will start leaning out a little in a few weeks

Wow you look great!!! Keep it up!

Haha! Had to laugh at the cleaning the room comment! You look great! I was like you - going from skinny to buff. Got stuck for about at the same weight for ages despite training hard and eating well. I just made some TINY adjustments and broke past it. I increased the protein in my meal sizes a little bit, but the biggest thing of all was having pre and post work out carbs. I go for a slow burning carb about 1-2 hours before I train, then a fast carb straight after. I love flavored rice cakes, but anything, even sugar/candy is good! Also have protein after workout too. The sugar replaces the glucose that your body has used during the workout, and the protein is used for the muscles. It means the rest of the food you eat goes into rebuilding the muscles, rather than recovering your system. Keep it up, and be patient. You look fantastic

Thanks FormicaLinoleum! I have the tiniest bit of leaning out to do, but I wont start that till late this year/early next year. Other than that, I just need to keep smashing the training, eating like a (vegan) beast, and build as much muscle as I can between now and then! And thanks for the compliments too Synny!

I've been pretty dormant on this forums lately, but just checking in to let know I'm still at it and training hard! I wanted to share my progress, as I'm really proud of what I have accomplished so far, and look forward to finding out what my body is capable of in the future! This is a before/after shot (late 2009 to present), and my progression pics so far (from 2010-2012 - I look so aggro in the last shot haha!) Also, it's confirmed - I will be competing in my first novice figure show next March! I can't wait to give those meat eaters a run for their money Anyway that's all from me for now, but I plan on visiting this site a lot more often than I have been! Sim x

Hahaha, CONGRATS!!!

Thanks Robert! Training is awesome, although I'm so busy at the moment working overtime a lot and training like a freak for the Tough Mudder next weekend, so keeping a journal of it all was just going to be too much for me to keep up with! After next weekend I'm giving myself a week off from training (I'm pretty sure I'm going to hurt myself!) Then I want to restart my journal and give Derek Trezise's Total Body Mass a whirl. I'm setting my sights for competing in the novice figure either in October this year or March next year. Hope your training is going well too, loved the recent shoot you did on Vgirls Vguys, you look awesome!

Yea she's lovely! She actually ended up winning the Australian IFBB Pro Grand Prix on the Saturday evening She seemed pretty quiet, but I think she was probably very exhausted after competing AND spending both days at the expo meeting fans, taking photos and signing pictures.

... Erin Stern Kevin English

I was lucky enough to be offered the opportunity to work behind the scenes at the Melbourne FitX Sport and Fitness Expo on the weekend, which also featured the IFBB Pro Grand Prix. My highlights were getting to hang back stage with some of the pros (including Phil Heath!) and seeing my friends on stage! I wish there was more vegan stuff there though. I was so inspired and have decided to compete at the event next year. I would love one day to be the first Aussie vegan figure competitor to earn an IFBB pro card Anyway, thought I'd share some pics here! My partner with Phil Heath backstage Tony Doherty (owner of Doherty's Gyms, where I train) with Shawn Ray Me and Rich Gaspari

I couldn't agree more! You're stunning! =) Thanks for the compliments Mina!