BeansNBroccoli

Not trying to start a fight. I was merely pointing out that saying "always" is false. Theres a lot of factors that go into how one carries fat other than their sex chromosomes. Period. That's all I was pointing out. Actually, gynecomastia affects up to 60% of young men in puberty to some extent (SOURCE), and studies show that as many as 30% continue with some recognizable form of gynecomastia into adulthood, ranging from enlarged nipples to actual breast tissue. A lot of females just don't have this large amount breast tissue that causes the higher body fat percentage. Plenty of females have AA cup breasts (which amounts to almost no extra body fat), especially after all of the weight loss that tends to come concurrent with weight training and body building. Bodies are not so easily definable by just one set of genetic characteristics, and I just think that if breast tissue is what causes the higher body fat percentage, maybe we should try to say "people with breast tissue" instead of just saying females and try to be a little bit more accurate with our terminology. It's just my $0.02, and prior to that post, I don't think we really knew the body type of the OP. Now we know that she has what may fall in line with a more "typical" female build, but you didn't know that before and saying "always" can be very misleading. Also, you know, she was asking why her sense of her own body fat was so off from the calculations of her body fat, and having a body type that doesn't fit neatly into the "typical" body that those body fat calculators assume could have been an explanation. It has been a source of frustration for me in my life, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Informing someone how those calculators work and the assumptions they make is actually perfectly on topic.

This afternoon my motivation was the promise of a craft beer on the train ride home, and pushing as hard as I can because tomorrow's rest day and that means today is the day to go big as hell. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow because it's Saturday and my girlfriend actually has the day off (we rarely get to spend entire days together because of work schedules). Last night's sleep was really horrible (50%), and I think it's because I woke up a couple times to one of our dogs wandering around the bedroom, looking for trouble to get into. He's pretty convinced that if he isn't sleeping, I shouldn't be sleeping. Good thing he's so cute WORKOUT 08FEB2013 (abs/shoulders) Military Press (SS'd with dumbbell shrugs) 10 x 35 lbs 10 x 45 lbs 10 x 45 lbs 10 x 45 lbs Dumbbell Shrug 10 x 45 lbs 10 x 45 lbs 10 x 45 lbs 10 x 35 lbs Ab Plate Twist (SS'd with 3-point plank for 1:00) 15 x 25 lbs 15 x 25 lbs 15 x 25 lbs Air Bicycle and Roman Chair Leg Raise Super Set 3 sets of 15 reps/exercise Arnold Press 10 x 15 lbs 10 x 15 lbs 10 x 15 lbs Front to Side Raises 10 x 8 lbs 10 x 8 lbs 10 x 8 lbs NOTE: I'm not 100% sure what to call these. My trainer friend in college showed them to me. Essentially it's a front raise, then move arms to the side and down to the starting position for a side raise. Then side raise and bring arms/weights back together with arms extended in front of your body in a front raise, then back down to starting for one rep. Whatever they're called, this combo of front/side raises always kills and I really enjoy it. Leg Press 10 x 90 lbs 10 x 110 lbs 15 x 110 lbs I decided to throw these on at the very end of my workout because legs are usually Wednesday so I have plenty of time to recover, and I've been feeling really weak about my squat lately. It feels like when I squat, my back is what's actually stopping me from putting on weight rather than my legs. All of these sets were completely ass to ankles, literally. I touched down at the stop in the machine for every rep before going back up. Any tips regarding this would be very much appreciated, especially as to whether it might be preferable to switch to just leg press for at least awhile rather than doing squats. I have no intentions of competing, so being able to do squats for competition isn't a consideration for me. I just want to be strong and put on some muscle and weight. NUTRITION 08FEB2013 Breakfast Juice, fresh n raw! (broccoli stalk, 1 carrot, 1/2 cucumber, 1/2 tomato, 1/2 cup spinach, 1 cup strawberries) Homemade Breakfast Burrito (tofu, black beans, kidney beans, garlic, onion, bell peppers) Coffee w/Soy Creamer Salad w/2 cup spinach, 1 avocado, 3/4 cup pinto beans, and 1.5 tbsp balsamic vinaigrette dressing 1 Can Butter Beans Protein shake w/two scoops protein today (usually only 1) Clif Builder Bar White Rascal Beer (found out that my favorite beer has 1.5g protein today when I scanned it into my food tracking app! win!) 2,353 kcal 298g carb 151g protein 60g fat I probably won't be back to log again until Sunday, because tomorrow will be entirely devoted to resting up and relaxing with my favorite person in the world. Thanks for stopping in!

@OwlWhisperer I agree 100% that genetics play a huge part in how our bodies hold fat and develop muscle. I was actually responding to this: I didn't mean to imply that you had said that all women carry more fat... that was a different poster. Sorry for the misunderstanding, I should've clarified

It is not always true that females carry more fat or that the definition/structure of a female at 10% will be similar to a male at 5%. What is true is that breast tissue is mostly fat, so individuals with a lot of breast tissue will have more fat. This includes females and males with medical conditions such as gynecomastia. If an individual doesn't carry much breast tissue, their body fat % will be lower, regardless of sex. Yes this generally correlates to sex, but it's incorrect to say that women will always carry more fat than men. The general pattern of fat deposits found on most females is certainly not true for all females. There's tons of genetic variances that could account for different patterns of fat collection/muscle development, and your chromosomes are only one of them. To look at just chromosomal make-up as an indicator of where a certain individual will keep fat deposits just isn't as reliable as you may assume. I know that females are also said to carry excess fat around the reproductive organs, as well, but one could make the similar arguments regarding this as I have already made regarding breast tissue. If you carry abdominal fat, you carry abdominal fat. Period. Regardless of sex. Don't mean to harp, just a pet peeve of mine when an assumption is made that "women's bodies carry fat in this manner and men's bodies carry fat in this other manner" when chromosomes are really just one part of what is a hugely intricate genetic code that accounts for a lot of these differences. It seems to me to not be far from the old idea that females can't do pull-ups because of differences in upper body musculature, which as we all know simply isn't true, either. As for raw vegan body builders, there is plenty of protein that can be gleaned from raw produce, and dry beans can be sprouted and be edible without the need to boil/cook. It might be a little/a lot more difficult, but there's no reason a raw body builder couldn't get sufficient protein if they structured their eating correctly.

Just my $0.02, I'm not sure that the online body fat % calculators that use measurements such as hips, waist, and wrist are really all that much more accurate. They might be for certain body types, but definitely not for all body types. I don't really have much of a reason for thinking this other than personal application (If I just put in my measurements those sites tell me I'm around 26-28% bodyfat, which simply isn't even close to true), however, so ymmv. Good luck with your new plan! I always try to view my muscle soreness/fatigue in a positive light, too

Snowed like crazy yesterday in Chicago, and when I was given the option to go home early, I hit the gym early instead and let myself have a nice long lifting session, full of stretching and jump roping between sets. This workout made me feel really solid. Pull-ups are really hard for me, and getting a better lat spread is definitely a goal, so I've decided to do some wide-grip negative pull-ups every few days. Biking 6 miles in the crazy Chicago snow yesterday really hit my already sore legs, too! Feelin fantastic. WORKOUT 07FEB2013 (back/biceps) T-Bar Row 10 x 55 lbs 10 x 55 lbs 10 x 55 lbs Wide-Grip Negative Pull-ups 3 sets, 5 reps each Wide-Grip Lat Pull-down (SS w/hammer curls) 10 x 70 lbs 10 x 70 lbs 10 x 80 lbs Hammer Curls 10 x 20 lbs 10 x 20 lbs 8 x 20 lbs (to failure) Close-Grip EZ-Bar Curl (SS w/concentration curls and 21's) 10 x 35 lbs 10 x 35 lbs 10 x 35 lbs Concentration Curls 10 x 15 lbs 10 x 15 lbs 10 x 15 lbs 21's (I never know whether to count these as 21 reps or 7 reps, but I'm sure you get the idea) 21 x 35 lbs 21 x 35 lbs 21 x 35 lbs NUTRITION 07FEB2013 Morning Juice, Fresh/Raw (1 cup broccoli, 1/2 orange, 1 carrot, 1/2 cucumber, 1/2 cup strawberries) Coffee w/Soy Creamer Couple handfuls Pistachios (~1/3 cup) Homemade Moroccan Lentil Soup (Lentils, garbanzos, white kidney beans, carrots, onions, celery) Salad w/2 cups spinach, 1 cup pinto beans, 1 cup diced tomatoes, balsamic vinaigrette Pabst! 2.5 cups raw broccoli w/3 tbsp hummus 1 package Trader Joe's Complete Oatmeal, Maple & Brown Sugar in water (if you have a Trader Joe's near you, this stuff is great. tons of protein and calcium) Clif Builder Bar 10 oz Soymilk Fuji Apple 3 tbsp raw peanut butter Homemade chocolate chip cookie dough protein bar (Larabar copy from ohsheglows.com (recipe), really delicious but a little high in fat) 2,399 kcal 290g carb 102g protein 88g fat

@Dylan Yeah, all of the fantastic plans and information on this site have really helped me out, especially in terms of focusing in on my goals and setting standards so I can actually reach them. It's great to have a forum where you can talk about lifting and bulking and not be told that the only way to do it is to go drink some whey protein and then eat an entire bird every day hah I hope that I can help continue some of the already excellent content this forum has. I feel I always learn the most from looking at what other people are actually doing versus hypothetical proposed plans, and then seeing the real-life outcome of the work people are putting in. It's all more motivating for me and gives me a lot more drive to actually get out there and get work done. Another thing that I've liked about this site is that I haven't come across the sexism that I think is sometimes a big problem on other weight training sites. It feels like here, if you wanna lift big, you're encouraged to lift big. If you wanna lose weight, you're encouraged to lose weight. The general atmosphere seems a lot more supportive and positive, and I really like it.

I've only been really consciously trying to count and control my protein intake for a week or two, but I've had pretty good success keeping my numbers up. Granted, I have used a protein shake the past couple days that boosted my intake 26g/shake. Without the shake I can get in 90-100g/day pretty easily, and that's while keeping my calories around 2,200 kcal. I usually eat at least two cans of beans a day, either straight or in a recipe (roughly 3.5-4 cups if I make them fresh), which is around 60g protein right there with only ~7g fat, depending on the kind of bean. I also include a lot of broccoli (my post-workout snack on the train ride home is usually around 2.5 cups raw broccoli with 3-4 tbsp hummus, which is another 10g of protein or so). If you have the possibility of making yourself a green juice or smoothie, these can be great for getting in protein that comes from whole foods. I like to juice a bunch of broccoli and bok choy or turnip/beet greens (my juicer doesn't do so hot with spinach so I stick to more "structured" greens) and add a beet and a carrot and an apple, and that way I can get in anywhere from 4-10 more grams of protein in a quick shot. If you do find yourself interested in protein powders/shakes, there are lots of good vegan options that are just pea protein or just rice protein or just hemp protein, and these options are very minimally processed. You don't have to go for the more highly processed vegan protein powders

Thanks Ross! Your log is one of the ones I've been following for a week or so before actually signing up. You're a lot of motivation!

Hey all! One of the things that I had a really difficult time with when I was trying to switch over to a whole foods based diet rather than relying on processed, pre-made meals was just finding the time to make nutritious meals. We're all busy, we've all got limited time to hang out in the kitchen and a lot of us are trying to eat 2500+ kcals a day which can be plain difficult on a whole foods diet. The best way I've found to work around this is to make gigantic portions of foods that freeze well and to freeze them in individual portions. I generally only cook for two people (my girlfriend and myself), but when I'm in the kitchen it's more likely to look like I'm cooking for a small army. This helps minimize the time, effort, and money needed to make sure that we get good nutrition while still running around living very active and busy lives. Usually I double or triple each recipe that I make and then there are frozen, single serve portions in the freezer ready to be thrown into backpacks in the flurry of a busy morning, and making that much at once pretty much ensures that there are several options choose from so that we don't get bored. One of the most effective meals to prepare and, in my opinion, one of the most comforting/filling to eat is some nice hot soup. On weekends I generally make at least one pot of soup, and in the winter when our diet consists more of soups and stews than it does salads, I'll make a second pot of a thicker stew or chili. I also like to make soup because generally it's a one pot meal, and I hate doing dishes. Ideally I'd like to pop into this thread periodically and post up whatever soups or stews or chilis that I've made recently or recipes that I feel particularly triumphant about, and to encourage others to do the same! Let's start it off with the recipe I've been enjoying eating immensely this week... Moroccan Lentil Soup (found on allrecipes.com and modified slightly) http://images.media-allrecipes.com/userphotos/250x250/00/68/81/688184.jpg 2 onions, chopped 5 cloves garlic, minced (I include a LOT of garlic in my food, so for those that don't like garlic much you may want to decrease this) 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger 8 cups water 1 cup dry lentils 2 cups cooked garbanzo beans, or 1 15 oz can drained and rinsed 2 cups cooked cannellini beans, or 1 19 oz can drained and rinsed 2 tomatoes small diced, or 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes 1/2 cup diced carrots 1/2 cup chopped celery 1 tsp garam masala 1.5 tsp cardamom 0.5 tsp cayenne pepper 0.5 tsp cumin 1 tbsp olive oil 1) In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat for a few minutes, then saute onions, garlic, and ginger in the oil for about five minutes (until slightly softened). 2) Add remaining ingredients, including spices. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 1 - 1.5 hours, or until the lentils are soft. 3) Soup can be eaten as is, or if you desire a thicker broth, use an immersion blender to blend ~1/2 of the soup or transfer 1/2 of the soup to a food processor and puree. NUTRITION (makes 9 servings in my hands, each serving = 2 ladel-fulls) 219 kcal 38g carb 12.2g protein 2.4g fat I hope that someone finds this helpful! Happy cookin!

all this consistency is really motivating! way to move those squat numbers up! i'm in the same boat, trying to deload my squat to focus on form and technique. all it takes is a little patience and a lot of sweat, right??

Juicers are great! I have a fresh green juice every morning to start me off before I even think about hitting the coffee. Be careful trying to keep the juice for any extended period of time after you make it, though. If not kept dark and airtight, unpasturized juices lose a lot of their nutritional value during storage. Your best bet is to drink any juice you make within 30 min, and anything past that generally shouldn't be kept much longer than 24 hours and even then in a dark, cold container filled up to the very top to prevent oxidization. One of my favorite bodyweight exercises that really seems to engage most of the major muscle groups as well as being a good bit of cardio is Burpees. Basically you start from a standing position, squat and tuck, then place your hands on the ground shoulder width apart and extend your legs back into a pushup/plank position and perform one pushup. Then you bring your legs back under your upper body and spring upwards back to standing. There are many good tutorials on youtube such as . Good luck!!

Tonight I'm really feeling the workout from earlier this afternoon as well as the workout from yesterday. I woke up this morning (slept a little over 7 hours, Sleep Cycle says my sleep quality was "70%," which somehow measures how long I was in deep sleep) feeling more sore from yesterday than I expected, but I always welcome that morning soreness. Feeling sore the day after just makes me feel like I've actually done work, although I'm sure I'm far from being the only person who feels that way. Started my day off with a fresh raw juice as per usual which was fantastic, but as the day progressed I kept hitting snags and frustrations and by the time I was done with the work day and ready to hit the gym I was really ready to lift hard, get sweaty, and try to work off some of the frustration that I was feeling. WORKOUT 06FEB2013 (legs/obliques) Soundtrack: a lot of Bring Me The Horizon and The Chariot Calf Press 15 x 180 lbs 15 x 230 lbs 15 x 230 lbs 15 x 230 lbs Dumbbell Side Bend (each set superset'd with 15 reps Elevated Feet Oblique Crunches) 15 x 30 lbs 15 x 35 lbs 15 x 35 lbs Squat 10 x 70 lbs 10 x 80 lbs 10 x 90 lbs 10 x 90 lbs 10 x 90 lbs NOTE: usually I can hit 15 x 110 easily, but I backed weight way down today because I feel my form has been less than perfect and I wanna get my ass to the grass on these before I move up again, so I just increased the number of sets. Kettlebell Windmill (each set superset'd with 15 reps Spiderman Planks) 15 x 12 lbs 15 x 12 lbs 10 x 18 lbs NUTRITION 06FEB2013 Morning Juice, Fresh n Raw (cup broccoli, 1/2 apple, 1 carrot, 1/2 beet, 1/2 cucumber, 1/2 tomato, 1/2 cup strawberries) Coffee w/Soy Creamer Banana 2 servings Homemade Moroccan Lentil Soup (lentils, garbanzos, white kidney beans, carrots, onions, tomatoes) Homemade Pasta from yesterday (high protein whole grain pasta, tomatoes, green pepper, shallots, mushrooms) Clif Builder Bar Protein Shake 2 cups raw broccoli w/4 tbsp hummus Banana 2013 kcal 117g protein 314 g carbs 43 g fat

Hey All! I'm new to the site but I'm not completely new to veganism or weight training/fitness. I've been vegan for about two years and I've played sports and have been an active cyclist my whole life, although I am starting now to get back into weight training. I'm also still a little new to eating a completely whole foods-based diet, as the first year and a half of my veganism involved a ridiculous amount of processed vegan "food" like fake meat and cheese. I log every workout on WeightTraining.com (profile), and I'm going to try to also log here and record my daily food intake. Hopefully, if I'm doing this right it will serve as a resource, and if I'm not doing something right, someone else can call me out on it and I can get it fixed! I'm very open to constructive criticism and critique of my plans. I'm not following a specific plan, but I've done a lot of reading and combined bits of different plans that I like and that seem to work for me. Currently I weigh around 118-119 lbs, and ideally I'd like to bulk to 125 and I know that may take me half a year or longer if I want to do it clean and keep my fat intake low, but I'm prepared for it. Strength is the primary goal, and size/aesthetics are a close second for me. I've been the skinny kid my whole life and I'm done with it WORKOUT 05Feb2013 (chest/triceps) Incline Bench Press 10 x 45lbs 8 x 55 lbs 8 x 60 lbs 6 x 60 lbs (to failure) Incline Dumbbell Fly 10 x 12 lbs 10 x 15 lbs 10 x 15 lbs Tricep Pushdown 10 x 40 lbs 10 x 45 lbs 10 x 45 lbs Skull Crushers (SS w/reverse curls) 10 x 35 lbs 10 x 40 lbs 8 x 40 lbs (failure) EZ-Bar Reverse Curl 10 x 40 lbs 10 x 40 lbs 15 x 40 lbs (time to move up) Machine Fly 5 x 88 lbs 8 x 75 lbs 10 x 63 lbs 10 x 63 lbs Dumbbell Bench Press 10 x 15 lbs 12 x 15 lbs 12 x 15 lbs NUTRITION 05Feb2013 Breakfast Juice, fresh n raw (1/2 apple, 1 carrot, 1/2 beet, 1/2 tomato, 1 cup spinach, 1/2 cucumber) Coffee w/soy creamer Homemade high protein pasta (w/Fire Roasted Tomatoes, Shallots, Bell Peppers, and Mushrooms) Homemade Veggie Cobbler (onion, carrots, corn, celery, sweet potatoes, green beans, tofu, a little breading) Hummus w/2 cups raw broccoli Clif Builder Bar Protein shake (first time trying it!) 2,035 cals 276g carb 114g protein 44g fat I'm including the first of my progress pics, the lowest one from mid-Dec2012 and the two more recent from today, ~2 months of training 3 days a week and the past couple weeks I've really been hitting it hard 5 times a week and watching my fat:protein intake ratios a lot more closely. Front, 15Dec2012 Front, 05Feb2013 Back, 05Feb2013

Hey-o! My name's Jaime and I've been lurking for a few weeks and checking out all of your great tips and workouts before deciding to start my own profile and workout log. I'm 25 and I've been vegan for around two years now. My first year and a half I relied a lot on the processed vegan meat and cheese replacers, and basically ate the same as I had previously except with fake meat. Now, in the past six months, I've starting really focusing in on whole foods and getting all of my macros balanced. I lifted in college for aesthetics but I was never that serious about it. Luckily I had a friend that went on to become a personal trainer and she would kick my ass about form every time we were in the gym together, so I'm pretty comfortable training and I've been back in the game for two months now. My goals are to bulk up and put on some more muscle while eating strict and clean, and keep my endurance up so that I can run the occasional 5 or 10k run or daylong bike ride with my girlfriend this coming summer. I train 4-5 days a week and focus on free weights and compound lifts, always tryin to lift heavy and keep my form up. In my day-to-day life I work in a biology lab and I'm studying to take my MCAT, hopefully starting med school in the next two years. I needed to take a few years off and feel out the "real world," and now I'm ready to dive back into school. I have two dogs (a whippet and a pitt bull/boston terrier mix) and they help keep me on my training by having seemingly unending energy for walks, runs, and long afternoons spent tossing a ball around the dog park. If I could even match 1/4 of my pitt puppy's energy I think that I would be set for life! When I'm having some relaxation time I like craft brews, XBOX, and playing guitar/bass. I log on WeightTraining.com (profile) and recently got a profile on Fitocracy (profile), and it'd be great to connect with people on those sites as well. I get a lot of motivation cruisin through everyone's training logs on here, and plan to start my own soon, too. Hope you're all having a stellar week!