Ravi

All I gotta say is Yeah Buddy! Make it happen! Ravi

Robert just rocked Seattle! We had a great turnout of almost 40 people packed into a little yoga studio to listen to his talk. Was great to see him spread the message of thriving on a plant based diet. We planned for only an hour talk...but ended up going almost 2 hours with Q&A and mingling after. BVP663 and Tasha are also up here...we're all hanging out and playing on our laptops....gotta love the internet! http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3603/3370000840_ea7345959c.jpg

3 DAYS TO GO!!!! Will be great to see Robert and the rest of the VBB crew up here rocking Seattle! If you are on the forum and live in Seattle or nearby...come out to Robert's talk on Thursday night at Yoga House of Bellevue (7pm)! Please "PM" me so I can get an accurate count of who is coming. Namaste,

http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DBTzsEi9zfds&tid=56881141886&src=box&appid=2344061033#/event.php?eid=56881141886 Hey Everyone....I'm organizing a public talk with Robert Cheeke before Seattle Vegfest this month, should be a blast! If you are in the area, or know someone who is, please pass along the link above. Date:Thursday, March 19, 2009 Time: 7:00pm - 8:30pm Location: Yoga House of Bellevue. 11069 NE 12th Street . Bellevue, WA Description MOTIVATIONAL TALK ON NUTRITION, VITALITY, TAKING ACTION AND MAKING IT HAPPEN! Listen and be inspired by Robert Cheeke, founder of Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness and one of VegNews Magazine's "Top 15 Most Influential Vegan Athletes." During this FREE event (yes, many great things in life are free!), Robert will present his proven system of diet and exercise to achieve greater health and vitality in an engaging and interactive session that is guaranteed to leave you feeling uplifted and inspired! This event is for anyone who is looking for an edge when it comes to eating better and living more fully in their lives. Don't worry if you aren't a vegetarian or vegan, you are bound to come away with plenty of insights that you can start applying right away to feel better than you have ever felt before!

I got my shipment and have been taking it for several weeks now. It tastes decent and mixes well. Overall I am very happy with my selection. I usually blend it with a few dates for sweetness (since I didn't choose to have any sweetener added to the mix). For the price this really is outstanding.

I just place my own order for 5lbs worth. Looking forward to trying this out! The prices seem super cheap. What is other folks experience with the quality of the custom mixes? My blend: + FORMULA Rice Protein Concentrate non-GMO 20% Gemma Pea Protein Isolate non-GMO 45% Hemp Protein Powder 35% + Vanilla Flavor + **Plain** No Sweetener + Aminogen / Vitamin and Mineral + FREE Food Grade Bag

I used to be meticulous in taking notes of my workouts and my nutrition/diet. Every day I'd write down in a notebook what I did for a workout, how I felt and what I ate during the day. For nutrition, I focused on the timing of the food, the items, the total calories and the protein quantity. However for the past year or so I've taken a very laid back approach, which measn the notebook has been collecting dust while I continued trained but failed to make consistent gains. So just last week, I decided to keep track of my diet again, just to see if my actual intake was somewhat reasonable given the strength/size goals that I have. Turns out I was way off-base. While I thought I was consuming about 120 grams of protein a day (I weight 150), I was really getting closer to 70 (yikes!)! I was also low on the calorie side (2200 cal/day) given I am super-active and looking to gain lean mass. So I set a new goal to get my calories up to around 3000 cal/day (varied depending on activity, but this is a general goal) while keeping my protein intake at 120 grams/day minimum. The past week has been eye-opening. My notebook never lies Getting enough nutrition per day takes focus, prep and timing. That means no skipping breakfast, no eating late lunches (which prevents eating a pre-workout meal that I need to achieve my caloric totals) and no eating "junk" dinners of over-cooked carbs (if I do that I miss my protein quota for the day). So the moral of this story is, no matter how much you hate keeping track of things, and no matter how well you think you "remember" what you are doing.....keeping a log (for a least a few weeks) is a great way to keep you honest about what you REALLY doing compared to what you THINK you are doing. Namaste, Ravi

Wish I was down there with you all!

...but to do it!

Robert and I hit up the 2008 Emerald Cup...it was OUTSTANDING! Check it: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2361/2429884505_6aca92975d.jpg

First of all, CONGRATS on your awesome progress! Feeling great is the most important thing...and if you have that accomplished...you are about 10 steps ahead of the game. To your question.... I know PLENTY of people (male and female) who only do Yoga as their primary exercise...and they are super strong and have a lean/muscular physique. It is possible but you need to challenge yourself with Level 2-3 classes and be very consistent. Just going a couple times a week to an entry level class wouldn't cut it. This probably holds true for any exercise for that matter. For me, I've found yoga workshops/intensives as a great way to get exposed to new poses and push myself beyond plateaus in my practice. You might want to look into them if you studio hosts them or there are any nearby.

The Fed move is a sign of desperation....it's funny how the market can interpret it as a positive thing. This is only temporary. In fact, most of the liquidity won't event make it to the hands of consumers....the government is going to soak it back up to fund it's massive outstanding debt....most people don't understand this and therefore....you get a crazy bounce on the news. Really, I think we might see a bit of a recovery throughout the summer/fall given our decline of late....but I think the next 10 years are going to be tough sledding for much of the US/Europe. It's demographic related. The baby boomers are retiring in massive numbers. Supporting an aging population puts a major strain on an economic system. If you've been to Asia, you've sen the droves of young people (working age/early in their careers)...and they aren't all clamoring to come to the US....not good for our economy.

I'll be there....

I work ~60 hours a week. Typically 10hrs a day during the week, and another hour or so during the evenings doing email and a few hours on the weekends wrapping up projects and such. It is a lot of work, and can be high stress at times, but I enjoy it. Training right now is 3-4 yoga sessions a week (1.5hrs each) and 3 weight workouts per week (1 hour each). I might run for 20 minutes 2x week if I feel motivated.... Commuting is one of my biggest non-work time commitments. 30-45 minutes in the morning, and 45min-1.5 hours in the evening.

They both have killer Ormuses!!!!

...and the Arnold wasn't all about bodybuilding...they had over a dozen competitions...including many martial arts tournaments: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3216/2308980315_1e57078d44.jpg

Having sat through pre-judging and the finals (I was like 20 rows back so had a decent view)...I really thought Phil Heath had him. Dexter's back/lats were amazing.....but Phil was ridiculously cut and symmetrical, on a much bigger frame. Though...I would love to see someone like Kai Green or Melvin Anthony win...they are just so much more entertaining to watch! http://www.bodybuilding.com/contest_media/2542/110/d/img_66331204421886.jpg

Yeah Buddy! Here comes Ronnie! He might have trained in like 6 months but his arms were still super swol with veins all over the place

R.C. back in action! http://www.tias.com/stores/rps/pictures/0511244a.jpg

Outstanding!!!! Great hangin with you this weekend and fantastic to see you on stage totally rockin and doin your thing! Let us know how your upcoming modelling shoots pan out!

Welcome!!! This is an outstanding community, you'll have a great time here.

Some more pics from the final yesterday...and from roaming the expo today. Dexter Jackson won....but the whole field was super impressive. The lineup! http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2147/2306290577_5456c342f6.jpg The final posedown.... http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2161/2306291317_51b6f5f76f.jpg Dexter getting props from the Governator! http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3101/2306294621_44fc7e3e5e.jpg These two girls were begging to get a photo with the one and only R.C..... http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3114/2307098584_2a4ff3b37a.jpg After the show, practically all the top guys were posing at the MuscleTech booth. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3227/2306296983_2710a8da4d.jpg I have like 500 more pics.....so stay tuned!

I'll start a thread with photos from the event, SeaSiren, Robert and I hung out today at the expo, met a ton of pros and watched the Women's Bodybuilding and Figure prelims and the Strongman competition. Looking forward to another three days of fun! Muscular Development booth had a competition on their small stage for $10K in prize money! The middle dude took home the $7K grand prize. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2163/2300638153_db64e13bde.jpg Rob doing a little "stretching" http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3085/2300638587_0bce6cc7f3.jpg Two American Gladiators! http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3187/2301431718_d0f3204893.jpg World record tire deadlift of >1100lbs. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2051/2301432194_e94de7c730.jpg VBB in da house! (Rob and SeaSiren, I'll let you figure out who is who) http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3203/2300639743_cf272efefc.jpg Ain't nuttin to it but to do it! The man, the myth, the legend....Ronnie Coleman! http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3095/2300640023_ff3ca590f8.jpg Rob and Flex Wheeler (with plenty of tats) http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2194/2300637341_aba779fd0e.jpg

I think the story is interesting and overall good for the vegetarianism/veganism movement .....since even though he is not vegan...it will make people start to question their own dietary habits. It is a starting point. Not perfect, but better than nothing.

I assume this is addressing my rant...and I do understand that many folks here have been overweight. I also really enjoy the forum and have found it to be mostly full of incredibly positive and motivational (sometimes hilarious) commentary! I know many folks on the forum personally and they are truly great people. The ultimate basis for my rant is that it is easy on a forum to say something flippant ("e.g. just eat fewer calories..."), something that would never be said face 2 face (or at least not said in that way, so tersely), and not think about the effect on other people. I saw it and it bothered my so I commented on it. It isn't a huge deal but hopefully we can learn from it and be a little more aware going forward (me included).