Mini Forklift

Hi Simone, welcome to the forum. Great to see you on here! Thanks for posting up your typical diet. If I'm honest it just doesn't quite look enough to me, and also looks on the low side in terms of protein and healthy fats/EFA's. This would explain your trouble gaining weight.

For lunch I would look at adding something in with your pasta, some protein would probably not be a bad idea. I'd throw in things like avocado, maybe some beans (black, pinto, kidney, chickpeas etc), cherry tomatoes etc. I add stuff like that all the time, gives my food more texture and flavour whilst nutritionally enriching it too.

You could easily add in some trail mix, raw nuts alongside your snacks ~ and don't be afraid to stray away from bananas! Sometimes my afternoon snack is something like a pear or mango, a rice bowl of raw nuts or trail mix and a herbal tea or black coffee.

If you're still feeling a little unsure, take a look through this thread to get some ideas of what (and how much) some of us are eating. I found it quite useful and insightful

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=570

All the best MF.

- Lift as often as possible. 5 times a week is good, sometimes even twice a day is fine, if it is not too long. Keeping weights at home would help, as you practically need 5 to 10 minutes in order to do biceps/triceps/shoulder workout. Also, do extra push-ups every day, no matter if you were in the gym the same day or not. You can do it in the morning or/and before sleeping.

As a natural lifter I definitely wouldn't advocate training that many times a week, it's just too much for the body to recover from and adapt. I also feel that training twice a day is not needed

IMHO you can make great gains on training hard 3 x week, maybe 4 x week at the most. In terms of training load, more is not necessarily better and you can get an optimal weights session done in just 30-40mins. You need to be able to train smarter rather than just train more often; rest is just as important as the training itself and your recovery will also largely be dictated by your nutrition. Make sure you are consuming lot of good quality, colourful and varied foods with plenty of healthy EFA's like nuts, avocado, coconut oil etc. Sleep well, drink plenty of fluids (water, herbal teas NOT soft drinks) and focus on your physique goals ~ write them down and read them before your gym session.

Focus and mindset is important as it's this that determines how well you apply yourself to the job at hand. All the best MF.

SUNDAY 28th JUNE

LEG PRESS (last set: 2PPS x 12)

S.SET W LEG EXT

PAUSED BOX SQUATS (WIDE STANCE)

SLDL (last set: 132 x 12)

LYING LEG CURLS

RUN: 0.9km (500m sprint/speed pickup working up to 3.40'/km pace / 400m cooldown)

SATURDAY 27th JUNE

D.BELL PRESS (last set: 44 x 12)

S.SET W SPOON PRESS

SEATED ROW (last set: 88 x 12)

EZ B.BELL CURLS

S.SET W REV. EZ B.BELL CURLS

RUN: 4.9km

Thanks for the welcome and your support guys. My doctor also advised that if I stay away from processed foods I can reverse my pre-diabetes completely and my risk of getting diabetes will reduce.

Absolutely, I have no doubt in that

Yes I think so mate, change is good so they say ?!

Probably the way I post images the most is simply to copy the image url:

1) Right click on a photo and select 'Copy image URL'

2) Now go into the 'Full Editor' and click on the 'Img' tab above the text box and you should see it insert into where you have been typing

3) Paste your url in between the bracketed url's

3) That should bring up your photo once you publish your post, but you can always click the 'Preview' tab to check if it has

http://www.nickelpos.com/easy_as_pie.jpg

What a fantastic and informative post Robert. Thanks for taking the time to share this MF

Damn, I thought you had uploaded the wrong clip as you got completely to the top and everything looked great !!

Glad you are okay though, that's could have gone quite badly. I've seen people blowing their kneecaps out so you were really lucky. Strong lifting though regardless !!

just wondering, is cycling a good leg workout for bodybuilding?

 

i have been cycling atleast every 2nd day on max resistance+ top gear, approximately 40 mins / 12 km trip (with a walking period), heart rate goes up a little, but i'm not out of breath.

 

what do you guys think? im not good at squats/deadlifts (safely), i have a short achilles tendon which kinda doesnt let my knees go past my feet, so other wise i have to use machines

I think it can be useful, different terrain and intensities will obviously be working towards different results. In terms of adding bulk and size to the legs you would be wanting to train at a high intensity over a relatively short distance. Hill reps are great as are flat sprints ~ you only have to look at the leg size of track cyclists to confirm that this type of training is effective

Longer rides add in the benefit of counting towards cardio, but could also somewhat negate the effects of the harder/shorter training. I always found that my legs got really nicely conditioned from my longer rides of 100+km ~ fantastic for adding vascularity too as the veins and capillaries will rise to the surface in an attempt to optimally deliver blood to the working muscles.

Welcome to the forum Sandy and well done with your weight loss ~ 2kg is a big drop!

Nice to have you on here, any questions feel free to ask no matter how small or unimportant you might think it is MF.

Were you low carb, when you were high fat? From what I understand it's the combination of carbs and fats that cause fat gain.

 

Have been skimming through my gf's copy of 80/10/10 for the last hour or so. Lots of great info in there , and might be something worth checking out.

Well I was mainly trying to drive up my fats, wasn't overly paying attention to the macro's as a whole. I would probably think it looked something like high fats & EFA's/moderate carbs/moderate protein. I'm going to start recording my nutrition a lot more in my journal, just wrote up yesterday's meals if you wanted to take a look; going to try and write up at least a few days every week so people can get an idea of the sort of foods I'm getting into me.

My basic feelings is that protein is overrated, carbs are fine in moderation as they're pretty damn essential for brain & body functioning (like fats you just have to select the right types) and fats are important and necessary on a number of different levels Oh and beer is probably up there in importance too !!

I think I will drop in what I eat over the course of a day every now and then. This was from yesterday...

FLUID INTAKE

1.5l water

BREAKFAST

Muesli, 1 x pear, 1 x tbsp pea protein, almond milk

LATE MORNING

Coffee • Long black

2 x tsp coconut oil

LUNCH

Large salad w baby spinach, kale, cherry tomatoes, 1 x avocado, capers, beetroot, carrot & cashew nuts

Chickpea curry w quinoa

AFTERNOON

2 x kiwifruit, 1 x banana

DINNER

'Steak' pie w vegetable pilau rice

That was a good read, and I'll consider it.

 

From a pure physique standpoint though, I'm very sold on the high carb low fat thing.

 

I do have some vegan omega 3 DHA supplements lieing around, so perhaps I'll make a better effort to take them, though am feeling damn awesome since the change so far.

It's always good to take away what you think is important and relevant, I always do a lot of research from varied (but credible) resources. What works for me might not work for you and vice versa, that's always good to remember!

Glad to hear you are leaning up, I'm sure tightening up on the dozen beers a week would bring things in even tighter hehe. BTW this was me a couple of years ago on a high fat diet (tons of avocado, oils, nuts etc):

http://my.picresize.com/vault2/L842E8ORVW.jpg

The diet did the opposite of what a lot of people were expecting ~ basically stripping off any remaining fat I had. Ended up getting into fairly good shape whilst also getting stronger... win win

I really don't believe that fat is the enemy, as long as you are consuming the right types. You need to be taking in decent levels of omega 3's on a daily basis ~ you only have to start doing a little research into longevity and you'll start to realise the importance of 'good fats' in your diet.

SO WHY SHOULD YOU CONSIDER RAISING YOUR EFA'S/FAT INTAKE?

First and foremost health is probably the main thing, and diet-wise ideally you want to be eating a variety of foods that are higher in monounsaturated & polyunsaturated fats. Researchers and scientists are repeatedly finding that the countries/people with the lowest recorded incidence of cardiovascular disease also have a very high, regular intake of omega 3 fatty acids (and other healthy EFA components such as HUFA's MUFA's, PUFA's, arachidonic acid etc). MUFAs can be of benefit to insulin levels and blood sugar control and PUFAs (found mostly in plant-based foods and oils) can help decrease the risk of Type II diabetes as well as reducing LDL whilst raising HDL cholesterol.The Okinawans and Inuit's for example have been shown to have an average Omega 3 intake of around 17,000mg/day and their race has virtually NO cholesterol, heart or CV problems. These types of ethicities have zero/very minimal elevations in cardiac inflammatory biomarkers and this is shown again and again in studies.

Chia seeds are also something I like to add in to my diet as they are rich in omega content (mainly a-linolenic acid, also known as ALA). They're also a great source of antioxidants and contains a variety of amino acids, plus their mucilage is effective at cleaning and detoxifying the intestines as well as being a reasonably effective appetite curber. If you buy a good chia then it should be gluten free and shelf stable for years due to it containing Cinnamic acids that help guard the omega oils from oxidation. Another bonus is that it has a positive effect on blood sugar levels, which is great for athletes as blood sugar levels can fluctuate a lot as the duration of the exercise increases. Other good food sources of healthy fats that may benefit your performance are mixed raw nuts (walnuts, brazil, macadamia are all good), avocado, rice bran oil, almond butter, coconut oil etc. Ideally, you want to be eating a variety of foods that are higher in monounsaturated & polyunsaturated fats. MUFAs can be of benefit to insulin levels and blood sugar control and PUFAs (found mostly in plant-based foods and oils) may help decrease the risk of Type II diabetes as well as reducing LDL whilst raising HDL cholesterol. If you are looking to consume Omega 3 through diet alone you need to make sure you are eating raw; cooking denatures the Omega 3 as well as reducing the levels of DHA.

So to summarise, raising your intake of EFA's (especially omega 3) will offer anti-inflammatory benefits as well as reducing CV risk factors as I mentioned above. I would be careful on increasing the intake of omega 6 as this is pro-inflammatory due to the fact that it increases the production of inflammatory chemicals known as eicosanoids; also worth noting that a rise in omega 6 intake will decrease omega 3 levels. Another bonus is that supplemental EFA’s have been shown to stimulate muscle protein synthesis in older adults

OMEGA 3 SUPPLEMENTATION IN RELATION TO SYMPOMATIC PRESENCE

DOSE:

General health ~ 1,000-2,000mg

Moderate disease/stress ~ 3,000-4,000mg

Mood/behaviour/cognition ~ 5,000mg

Severe disease/stress ~ 6,000mg+

Bipolar disorder ~ 9,600mg (optimal dosage according to studies)

We know from studies that it’s great for improving membrane fluidity, is the brains fat of choice for both function and structure and it holds significant merit for reducing post workout inflammation/DOMS.

References:

** (1) Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Muscle Protein Synthesis: NCT00794079

Glad you made the switch back to the plant-based lifestyle!

 

Not sure I have a good answer for you. A variety of plants, fruits, grains, nuts, beans should be covering all your bases. Quinoa for example has complete amino profile. I think you mostly need to deprogram your thinking about all macros, all the time and trust in the foods. A caloric sufficient diet from a variety of sources should more than cover your nutritional needs. Though do some reading and if you hit a plateau or start to regress in your training (strength, size, weight, etc.) then some tweaks are needed. The magic of the whole foods is that the sum is greater than the parts. Let the nutrients work together, not in isolation.

 

in general, we're inundated with marketing and mis-information. Walk the grocery store and notice the latest push for PROTEIN in pretty much every food -- you'd think we had a protein deficiency epidemic in the USA. More like most of us are overloading on it. Guess where the extra protein goes if we get too much and don't filter/pee it out -- body STORES it.

Great post that summarises most of what I would have replied with

I think you can sometimes end up over-thinking things, I know I have been guilty of that in the past. Main priorities would be a consistent high quality, varied and colourful diet with plenty of raw and organic wholefoods. Protein/carbs/fat are all important in their own right but I tend to now be of the opinion that making sure we get a high protein intake isn't the be-all-and-end-all; in fact I dropped my protein shakes a while back and noticed no difference in terms of muscularity or recovery & adaptation from training.

All the best with everything MF.

You should get some valuable info along the way, and you are right in the sense that keeping a journal does provide a sense of accountability ~ especially when you start to get people looking through and commenting on it. I hope you can keep on top of posting in here, amazing how much motivation you start to bank up once the training becomes more regular and habitual. It's always tough at the start no matter who you are !!

Anyhow, welcome to the forum and I look forward to seeing you around the board posting more soon MF.

Hope you continue to keep this log going, you should get some valuable info along the way.

We're not all hulks on here, I'm sure nowhere near that !! But you should find that keeping a journal provides a sense of accountability ~ especially when you start to get people looking through your journal and commenting on it. All the best and hope to see you around the board posting more soon MF.

Hey Jack, welcome to the forum buddy. Sounds cool building bikes, you should post up a photo or two so we can have a look. I've done a fair bit of road racing, tough sport to be in. Did you ever end up competing with the weightlifting?

It's really nice to have you here. I look forward to seeing posting more around the board, I'm sure you will find people very encouraging and helpful and if there's anything you need or are not sure of please just ask. Good to see you back on the wagon again! MF.

Ahhhh, I hear you on the chips. Guilty of that myself especially when I have a beer in my hand !!

Nice work with the training John, I always found the rower to be a great warm-up exercise for the whole body.

Just a quick question, any particular types of food you are are struggling with in terms of overeating?

HIIT and beers raised. Winning combination !!

Hmmmmm, so I have been offered a spot in a 100km mountain run in January. Very tempting ~ so gym-wise I really need to focus on leg strength and muscular endurance

http://www.stjamesmountainsports.co.nz/assets/_resampled/600x364xresizedimage600364-100km-stampede.jpg.pagespeed.ic.mPH5l35D14.webp

http://www.stjamesmountainsports.co.nz/assets/_resampled/600x72xresizedimage60072-HC100-ev.PNG.pagespeed.ic.kDlAXU5Y-8.webp

Great work with both getting under 150 and of course your running. Looks like you are really turning over those miles!

The calorie restriction/overload sounds interesting, I'll be following along to see how it all works out for you. Keep up the good work MF.

Welcome to the forum Nandia, this is a fantastic community here and really one of a kind. If you need anything please just ask, otherwise welcome to the board and I'll look forward to seeing you posting more. Already some useful posts in this thread which is a good thing!

Feel free to have a look through everyone's training journals, that's often a great source of motivation and inspiration as well as being a good place to start. Cheers MF.