Jump to content

stcalico

Members
  • Posts

    381
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by stcalico

  1. not sure if this chart is relevant/helpful to anyone for self-assessment.. but thought I would share.

     

    I'm close to or at advanced level on most of my lifts according to the chart (for 118lb female) except cleans... I don't seem to have the coordination for that one.

     

    My goals for this year is to reach the advanced level for all of the lifts.

  2. THis black bean soup is not pretty, but tasty and super easy to make and is very high protein. It even includes veggies (salsa). You'll need a blender. I leave out the sour cream ,tho I suppose if you really wanted you could use a vegan version of that.

     

    Other bean soups or chili are good & cheap. Make big batches... you can freeze them so doing it bulk is less work in the long run.

     

    I also recommend big batches of hummus.. to use on various wraps or as a base for a veggie pizza (on a pita crust).

     

    Stir fries are nutritious and fast and easy to make, I use the veggie 'chicken' strips and only use about 1/4 of a pkg for each stir fry. I like to sprinkle peanuts or pumpkin/sunflower seeds on for extra healthy fats and protein. You could go with cashews.. but those are more expensive.

     

    Granola with soy or almond milk is easy protein rich brkfst.. (some almond milks have more protein than others.. read the label).

  3. I was taking crossfit classes a year ago. I had to give it up due to a shoulder injury. Probably a result of lifting too much weight with an imbalance from a previous poorly healed collar bone injury.

     

    So do I think it is dangerous... Yes, there are tons of injuries in crossfit. But I think there are a lot of injuries in other sports too depending which sports you do. You have to decide if you like it enough, if the benefits outweigh the risks to you, and also be aware of how you can minimize your risk of injury. Because you will make zero progress once you are injured.

     

    The above notwithstanding, I am planning to go back in the New Year because I love it that much. They have the best and most intense workouts I've ever done. Even after more than a year off though, I know I will need to go easy on the shoulder and be careful not to push it. (and it is hard not to push yourself in that environment).

     

    Some boxes push you harder than others and some will have far better coaches than others, but in the end I think it is important for you to be aware of your limitations, play it safe rather than playing to win (ie. make sure you have your form down before increasing your weights), and know that you need to look after yourself.. you are the one that needs to live with the consequence of your actions. Be aware that the 'coaches' do not really get a whole lot of training... quite honestly the ones I've met are imo less knowledgeable on fitness than I am and definitely have less knowledge in nutrition. I would not put too much faith (or any really) in what they 'think' they know - ie. always do your own research before following blindly.

     

    I would advise that you continue with your regular workouts to work on supporting muscles they are not hitting in crossfit classes. For example if you do a lot of shoulder presses and bench presses you will develop an imbalance of muscle in front vs back which often leads to injury.

     

    If you do decide to get into it, there is a supportive group on facebook (crossfit vegans and vegetarians).

     

    GL

  4. Hey Dan.. welcome.

     

    Wow, 30 pounds (an increase of 25% of your bodyweight) in 12 months sounds like a fairly ambitious goal for a hard gainer! Not trying to discourage you but you might want to read this article here. It gives some practical advice that might help you with goal setting. I think it may be easier to measure your strength gains, rather than your weight gain... and it would be more indicative of muscle (not fat) gain.

     

    To get bigger / stronger, you'll need to lift HEAVY. Go for 4-6 reps max and occasionally test what your one rep max is. To gain the most amount of mass, focus on your major muscle groups - squats, deadlifts, bench and shoulder press, and pullups. Training your biceps, triceps and calves will do very little to increase your size or strength .. but if you really want to do them, do them at the end of your workout. If you include any cardio aim for sprinting (high intensity) rather than any type of endurance training... to train your muscles to work as 'fast' twitch' muscle.

     

    Good luck!

  5. To get lean you need to lose weight.. duh. So diet is of primary importance. Adjust your calories so that you lose slowly. Losing quickly means the amount of muscle to fat ratio you are losing is increased. Regardless, you need to be aware that when you lose weight you will lose some fat and some muscle (and strength). Don't let that discourage you.. you can build back the muscle.. and usually quite quickly because of 'muscle memory'.

     

    Sorry, I don't have a lot of advice on dieting. I can usually lose just by cutting out beer... hahah.

     

    I think there are a lot of other posts here that might help you out as far as diet goes.

  6. 1400 Calories! That is no where near what you should be consuming imo. I'm impressed that you have the power to consume so little.

     

    There is no such thing as a 'damaged' metabolism.. your body just adjusts - ie. in times of famine, it makes sense for the metabolism to slow down. A person can live on 500 calories a day and doing so will extend their life (because metabolism slows so much). But it doesn't sound like life extension is your goal here.

     

    I would definitely up your calories to a minimum of 1900 (for your current size). Increasing your protein amounts helps with fat loss. Protein powders are easiest option .. have you experimented with different kinds?

     

    If you are worried about upping calories (and it sounds like you are), maybe intermittent fasting would be a more palatable plan for you ... something like a 5:2 diet (try google for details).

     

    Sometimes you have to experiment on yourself to see what works for you and what doesn't. Good luck!

  7. This seems to be a good article from a registered dietician. It's about vegetarian, not necessarily vegan diet, so you'll have to adjust the information a little to your needs. You'll probably be most interested where it mentions 'endurance' athlete. The document is from 1997 so may be slightly out of date... but I don't think things have changed much really.
  8. Well, I'll start by saying that I do not believe there are health benefits to a 'detox diet' and altho you may lose a bit of weight, most gain it back in a very short time. Also if the diet is very low cal, you'll be losing muscle moreso than fat - negative impact on your body compositition.

     

    I think clean eating would be the way to go as opposed to 'detoxing' ... ie. eating clean includes cutting out alcohol, coffee, excess salt, simple sugars and simple (white) carbs and anything processed/prepackaged (including the fake meats and cheeses and protein powders etc)

     

    Some people go RAW as sort of a detox too and apparently have had good training and weight loss results. I haven't tried it myself but thought I'd throw it out there in case you may want to look into it as an option.

  9. Wow, I've never seen the clean taught that way before.

     

    But just because you've seen other people suck at something doesn't mean you should never try it. The HIT and Tabata workouts can be pretty intense if you like that sort of thing. (I do!).

    True tho that crossfit does have a big potential for injury due to heavy olympic lifts and/or sometimes poor trainers.

  10. I'm not a trainer - just read a bunch and have been on and off at the gym and finally found what works for me. But my opinions (ie. my educated guesses) on your questions:

     

    1) You do not look like a typical ectomorph to me, so I suspect working out (hard) should show some good results for you. How far you take it will depend on your determination and commitment levels.

     

    2) I only suggested the Cliff bars because you mentioned you were eating chocolate bars and I think protein bars (despite saturated fat) would be a better bet. You could opt for a protein shake instead... but the bars are imo more convenient and less mess.

     

    As a vegan I'm not sure how much you have to worry about a bit of saturated fat. But true, any process food is not ideal - Go whole food if/when you can. There are recipes to make your own protein bars (with no palm oil!), so you could do up a batch in bulk if you were so inclined.

  11. I should add that (based on my own experience only), you shouldn't need as much cardio as you are doing. 20 minutes is perfect if you are pushing yourself hard (ie. if the sweat is not dripping off your nose, then your not pushing yourself hard enough). If you do HIT style you will get it over with and will not be as likely to get bored with it as in past.

     

    Overall, lifting heavy will be more important than cardio to change your body composition and show definition. Sorry.. i just noticed you said you are doing pull-ups so ignore my earlier comment about that.

     

    Oh one other thing... you could replace the granola/chocolate bars with a protein bar. Costco sells the Cliff bars for less than I've seen elsewhere.

×
×
  • Create New...