godesslissa

goedesslissa, I am training for a personal training certification at ISSA. Tell me what your goal is (lose weigth and gain muscle, gain weight and gain muscle) and I will give you our formula. Its called the Zig Zag approach. It is effective at keeping off the fat.

Most immediate goal is to get rid of the "squish" that's accumulated in the months since I've been to the gym! (abs to thigh area primarily) I'd prefer to lose weight and gain muscle, but I'd be happy just converting it to muscle if I could lose some inches in the process! I need that toned look I used to flaunt!

Thanks a lot kollision! I might have to take you up on the offer! I think you guys have a point about proving people wrong who say it can't be done. Hell, I've spent most of my life proving that I could do all sorts of things that people didn't believe I could do so this shouldn't be any different.

From the time you started really seriously working out how long did it take you to be in competition form? This morning while I was getting ready to head to this little gym I found near my place I realized that a big goal I want to have is to be in at least one competition by the time I'm 29, definately by the time I'm 30! (I'll be 28 in August) Now I just have to get back into a routine and set those smaller goals that will get me there. Would you guys advise finding another trainer more experienced in bodybuilding or is it not as necessary?

I've been on a home-made pasta kick for two weeks now )

 

Haha I have been on a beans and rice kick for two years!

 

and vegweb definately rocks.

LOL. My son would starve to death at your place. Those are the two foods he hates most. (I think the bean phobia comes from my dad telling him that beans give you gas- as polite as my son is the thought of that terrifies him. It doesn't matter how often I try to convince him otherwise Whenever I fix those things for myself I have to make him something separate. Maybe he'll grow out of it someday.

You'd probably love a place we have here in Indy called Yats. It's a cajun/creole place that serves vegetarian/vegan dishs and I'm addicted to the place. (they have an awesome tofu creole) Nearly everything contains beans and all of their dishes are served on a bed of rice. Best of all the servings are huge (easily enough for two meals) and everything on the menu is $5.00!

My other favorite thing to make is home made wheat crust pizza with whatever veggies I have on hand. (Usually artichokes, spinach, mushrooms, olives, fresh tomatoes, black olives and fresh garlic- sometimes a little garlic sauted tofu... )

I love your sig. I just had to buy Goonies for my son to watch He thought it looked "lame" at first but my husband told him just to watch the preview for it and if he still thought it looked lame he didn't have to watch it. Needless to say he thought it was a great movie. I've been picking up all the movies I liked when I was a kid for him to watch lately (like Labrynth, Dark Crystal, E.T., Spaceballs, Gremlins...)

Here is another link to an interview with Tonya Kay

 

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/kristi15.htm

 

Check it out, she's pretty awesome!

 

-Robert

WOW! What an impressive woman! Thanks for posting those links!

Riley- what formula are you using on the composition tracker and how accurate do you think it is? I noticed that I have three pretty different estimates using the three different formulas. Should I just stick to using the same formula and use it as a guideline? (I prefer the Weltman & Tran formula even though it didn't give me the most favorable estimate)

Cardio question:

I've gotten conflicting information from the two trainers I've had- Should I do cardio every day I work out and should it be before or after my weight training?

Also is there a way to calculate about how many calories you should be consuming?

Hi Melissa,

 

Welcome to the board and thanks for sharing your story. There are many competitive vegan athletes in all different areas. Rob is a first-class example!

 

Definitely give veganbodybuilding.com a thorough read, lots of great info hidden in there. I expecially enjoy the success stories and contest winners. If you still need more help or inspiration, check out a couple of my other favorite sites www.veganfitness.net and www.veganbodybuilding.org

 

Good luck and keep us posted.!

I read a lot of this site the a couple nights ago while I was at work and was impressed with both the level of knowledge and the level of dedication Rob and some of the other people on here have toward bodybuilding and veganism. It's definately going to be a great resource and I'm sure you'll all be innundated with questions from me from time to time.

I checked out veganbodybuilding.org last night and was pretty impressed with the site. I'll have to check out veganfitness tonight. Thanks for the suggestions!

Let's talk about some ideas for goals you'd like to set for yourself and then map out some plans to achieve them..........and YES you CAN do it while vegan, forget what most trainers tell you when they say it's not possible.

 

I'm not sure where I should start as far as goals go. I've always just followed whatever my trainer felt I should be doing.

the site is pretty cool. I might have to make dinner tonight for everyone.

When should I be there?!

Vegetarian Times is a great magazine. (I just got a 3yr renewal subscription on Ebay for $10!!) I'll have to check out VeggieLife. Which of the first three magazines you have listed would you say you find the most useful?

I was looking online for bodybuilding books and came across one that I thought might be worth picking up called Natural Bodybuilding by John Hansen. Has anyone here read it? I have quite a few books on health and nutrition, but nothing on strength training/bodybuilding.

My name is Melissa. I'm 27 and live in Indianapolis. I've been vegan for the last 5 years. I started going to the gym three or four years ago just because I hated feeling so sedate. In the years since I've lost motivation in part because, due to being vegan/vegitarian, I haven't gotten a lot of support from those around me. I've been a member at two gyms and had trainers at both who didn't take my goals seriously because I'm vegan. I got tired of hearing "you need meat if you want to succeed". So I stopped working with trainers and continued to just go and do my own thing for a while- but after a while I started slacking off. I didn't have very clearly defined goals and it made it easier to drop my son off at school in the morning and instead of going to the gym as I usually did- I'd find myself running errands or doing things around the house until it was too late in the day for me to get anything done.

Then I started going to school full time in addition to working full time which really started to take a toll on my physically and mentally. I realized that having a routine at the gym- while not always convenient- gave me a sense of mental and physical balance and I need to get back into the habit of sticking to it no matter how crappy the weather here is (There's nothing more tempting when it snows in Indiana than staying curled up under your warm covers instead of scraping the snow off the truck and going to work out.) It seems that when I get up and go straight to the gym I get more done, I'm not as tired and I have more focus.

A couple days ago I was at work (I'm a nursing assistant on a pediatric unit in a hospital here) and I was talking about fitness and health with some of the nurses I work with and found out one of the new nurses placed 7th in the Figure A division of last years Jr. Nationals. We talked almost all night about her goals and her workout routine and her diet and she mentioned that she knew that there are vegitarian/vegan bodybuilders and suggested I look around online for any forums/communities that could offer support and advice on how to do it right... and I wandered onto this site.

I've never really thought about getting into bodybuilding before, but I'm starting to think that getting involved with it might help me set some good goals and keep me motivated. I really look forward to meeting other vegan/vegitarian people in the bodybuilding community on here!