Do Over!!

OK, I've been BAD! Things have been stressful and rather than concentrating on my goals, I've been reaching for comfort foods :(

So, tomorrow is day 1!!!

I can and will learn from my mistakes, make better choices and become the person I was meant to be!!!

Week 1 Day 4

Well, because of my huge binge yesterday, I was not very hungry today!

m1...grapefruit
m2...green smoothie with apples, a banana, spinach and flax seeds
m3...hummus, cucumbers, almonds
m4...tofu, red beans, rice, cauliflower all in a cajun spice
m5...tecchino, cocoa, coconut milk

Calories 1,352 Fat 44.2 379 28 % Saturated 8.0 70 5 % Polyunsaturated 15.2 129 10 % Monounsaturated 14.0 118 9 % Carbohydrate 206.8 772 57 % Dietary Fiber 45.5 Protein 54.9 194 14 % Alcohol 0.0 0 0 %

Fat ( 28 %) Carbs ( 57 %) Protein ( 14 %) Alcohol ( 0 %)

Simplifying the food targets

I think the last post was a little confusing, here is a simpler version of my daily targets!

7am… 2 fruits
10:30 PWO…green smoothie incl 3 veg, 2 fruit, 2T flax or hemp seeds
12:00…beans or tofu, 3 veg, ½ grain
3:00…1 fruit, 1 oz nuts
6:00…beans or tofu, 3 veggies, 1 grain
9:00 chocolate coffee :smile:

Ooopps!

OK, not quite an oops, more like a dang! Confession time...Yesterday did not go as planned. What happened? PMS! Binge, splat, spooey. I feel like I let everyone down. But I cannot undo what is already done, nor will dwelling on it help anyone, so we move on!

Today is going to have to be a forced rest day as my toe is still ouched :(

But foods will be better!

In doing a whole bunch of research lately, I have come up with these "targets"

Now, I don't expect to be "perfect" or to get it all right everyday, but these are what I am shooting for...

600 cals from fruit
400 from veggies
300 from nuts and seeds
300 from beans, tofu, tempeh...
200 from whole grains

or approximately..

Food Name Amount Unit Cals Fat (g) Carbs (g) Prot (g) Delete Total 1,785 44.7 311.7 66.1 Banana, raw 2 medium (7" to 7-7/8" long) 210 0.8 53.9 2.6 Apple, raw 2 medium (2-3/4" dia) (approx 3 per lb) 144 0.5 38.1 0.7 Pear, raw 1 medium pear (approx 2-1/2 per lb) 96 0.2 25.7 0.6 Orange, raw 1 medium (2-5/8" dia) 62 0.2 15.4 1.2 Grapefruit, raw 1 medium (approx 4" dia) 82 0.3 20.7 1.6 Spinach, raw 6 oz 39 0.7 6.2 4.9 Cucumber, raw 1 medium (7" long) 24 0.3 4.3 1.2 Celery, raw 2 medium stalk (7-1/2" - 8" long) 13 0.1 2.4 0.6 Broccoli, raw 2 cup 60 0.7 11.7 5.0 Carrots, raw 2 large (7-1/4" to 8-1/2" long) 59 0.3 13.8 1.3 Asparagus, cooked, from fresh 1 cup 72 4.1 7.5 4.3 Beans, string, green, cooked 1 cup 82 4.3 10.7 2.5 Flax seeds 0.12 cup 97 7.6 5.2 3.3 Almonds, unroasted 1 oz 164 14.4 5.6 6.0 Beans, black, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt 1 cup 227 0.9 40.8 15.2 MORI-NU, Tofu, silken, firm 1.5 slice 78 3.4 3.0 8.7 Oatmeal, cooked, regular 0.75 cup, cooked 109 1.8 19.0 4.5 Rice, brown and wild, cooked 0.5 cup, cooked 85 2.0 15.0 1.8 Chocolate coffee w/ soy cream 1.5 serving 82 2.2 12.8 0.0 Total 1,785 44.7 311.7 66.1 Calories Grams Calories %-Cals Calories 1,785 Fat 44.7 382 22 % Saturated 5.5 47 3 % Polyunsaturated 15.9 135 8 % Monounsaturated 16.6 141 8 % Carbohydrate 311.7 1,175 66 % Dietary Fiber 73.7 Protein 66.1 216 12 % Alcohol 0.0 0 0 % Fat ( 22 %) Carbs ( 66 %) Protein ( 12 %) Alcohol ( 0 %)

Looks pretty! I am afraid I won't be able to eat so much veggies, but this would be my "goal" day!

Week 1 Day 4

Feeling really good today! My toe is on the mend, but not quiet 100%

Today's workout...

10 sets of pull-ups supersetted with deadlifts
5 sets of BB rows supersetted with chin-ups
...all heavy in the 6-8 rep range

And food stuffs...

meal 1...juicy pink grapefruit
meal 2...green smoothie with 6 oz spinach, 2 apples and 2T flax seeds
meal 3...1 can Trader Joe's lentil soup
meal 4...1/2 oz almonds, 1 c edamame
meal 4...cajun baked tofu, flax and millet bun, sauteed onions, raw carrots
meal 5...cocoa and coconut milk

fruit and veggie count...12 :)

Week 1 Day 3

I had to make some slight changes to today's workout because my toe hurts :(

So I mixed up some body weight exercises with some higher rep, explosive sets and came up with...

squats
Stability Ball chest press
DB swings
Plie' squats
Stability ball chest fly's
EZ bar curl/shoulder press combo
leg extensions
bosu pushups
DB rows

repeat circuit 3 times.

Foods...
2 bananas
green smoothie of 2 T flax seeds, 6 oz spinach and 2 lg apples
hummus, whole grain tortilla, tomato, lettuce and snow peas
GF pizza crust topped w/ spiced soft tofu, veggies and olives
cocoa and coconut milk

I am beginning to recognize that I really need to start working on portions. So starting tomorrow we'll see what we can dish up on that!!

Sorry about the short recess, I hurt my toe :(

So workouts have been, well, absent. But, I can now put on a loose fitting shoe and my workouts will resume today! YAY!!

What else? Hmmm...

Been doing a lot of reading lately and I think I am going to change my views on that whole PWO idea. I really want to do this with whole foods, so out goes the protein powders and instead enters the green smoothie. Chock full of vitamins, minerals, and all kinds other good for ya stuff!! YUM!!!

Week 1 Day 1

OK, I've looked over my schedule and I believe Tuesdays would be the best for weekly or bi-weekly photos. So Welcome Day 1!


Today's weight...124

Today's workout was pretty intense. I did straight sets of...

front squats
single leg squats
military presses
upright rows
dips


Today's eats...
2 bananas
PWO shake w/ rice protein powder (I hope to check out Vega later today)
hummus wrapped up in a whole grin flax tortilla with carrots and spinach
chili spiced tofu, potato wedges, broccoli...all stirred together and possibly topped with peanuts (depending on how hungry I feel)
cocoa in Teechino w/ soy cream

I have also been scouring the internet and printed out a whole bunch of info on vegan bodybuilding. I hope to begin sifting through it and can't wait to start applying all the wonderful things I learn!

I can't wait to welcome my new body into the world! :)

Post Workout Nutrition

In researching all things fitness today, I realized I had been neglecting the ever-famous post workout meal. Now don't get me wrong, this was not always the case. I used to pay strict attention to it when I was an omni, but in converting to veganism, it somehow got lost in the meal plan construction dust.

NO MORE! If I am going to build the body of my dreams, I need all the right building blocks. According to the Vegan Bodybuilding Blog...

http://veganbodybuilding.blogspot.com/2008/09/post-workout-nutrient-intake.html

These are the recommended things to include to speed up recovery, bolster your immunity and enhance performance...

Here are the guides I would suggest at the moment:

Protein 30 grams
High glycemic carbs 40-50 grams
BCAA’s 1-2 grams
L-glutamine 5 grams
Vit c 60-120mg
Vit E 80-400 IU.

The best way to consume these:

Here’s the best way to consume the above after exercise nutrition.

Straight after your exercise, but before your cool-down stretch have your BCAA’s , l-glutamine (also a good time if you supplement with creatine to take that as well).

Now do your cool down

After cool-down now consume your protein-carbs-vitamins

So beginning tomorrow I am going to start incorporating each of these into my meal plan!

What is your personal post workout protocol?

week 1 photos/ measurements and where do I go from here?

WARNING!!! WARNING!!

The following is not for the squeamish of heart!!!

Goals are such a huge topic for me. My mind is swirling! Why? Because my goals are still so unclear. There is so much I want to do with my life and so many people I want to inspire, that I feel overwhelmed with all that has to be done. What is clear however, and as evidenced by this photo....


Is that I got work to do!!!!



My beginning measurements are...

neck...12.5
bust...33.125
waist...27.375
abs...31.25
hips...34.625
rt thigh...21.75
left thigh..22.125
rt calf...14
left calf...13.75
___________________
Total inches...210.5

Beginning weight...123.8

Beginning BF% according to accumeasure...18.96

As I said, I gotta lot of work to do! Why? Because I feel like I need to have that certain "look" in order to really inspire people to believe that they do possess the power to change their lives and to reach higher and expect more from themselves and to not allow the world to walk all over them. I need to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.


So my first short term goal is to see all those numbers go down and to more closely resemble...well, you already know! I hope to more closely resemble Jillian Michaels. To me, she exemplifies femininity and strength, two seemingly incompatible qualities that when mixed becomes breath taking. I also chose her because (as delusional as I may be) I somehow believe that somewhere hiding under this extra padding that has temporarily taken up residence around my midsection, my body type is at least somewhat similar. And also, like Jillian, I too am... shall we say... vertically challenged!?! LOL!!! Anyways...I do find her inspirational, so I'm goin' with it.


BLAH! URGGH! YUCK! Gotta shake all that outta my head!

I'm glad to have all that beginning shtuff out of the way, now on to the funner shtuff! What is my vision and game plan? I wanna be 14% BF. Based on my current calculations, I am sitting here with 23.47 lbs. of fat, and 100.33 lbs of pure lean. I like lean! If I can hold onto most of my lean mass while cutting the fat, I should reach my goal of 14% at about 116 lbs. In other words, my mission is to dissolve 7.8 pure lbs. of grease! EWWWEEE!

As for time frame, I know I do not want to lose it to fast and risk sacraficing any hard earned muscles, but not so slow that I get bored. So I think I am going to shoot for 16 weeks from today or February 1, 2009. So my time schedule becomes...

week 1...123.8...18.96% BF

week 2...122.8...18.34% BF

week 4...121.8...17.72% BF

week 6...120.9...17.1% BF

week 8...119.9...16.48%BF

week 10...118.9...15.86% BF

week 12...117.9...15.24% BF

week 14...116.9...14.62% BF

week 16...116#...14% BF

There ya have it! Where I am and where I'm going, thrown in with a game plan.

I am going to continue tracking these numbers and making any adjustments I need to make in order to reach my goals. In the meantime however, I also want to begin delving into where I want my life to take me and crystallizing the meaning of "inspiring people".

So if you find yourself unhappy with your current situation, my questions to you are have you taken an unbiased stock of where you are now? Where you want to go? And how you'll get there?

Yoga, a tape and goals

With all the "excitement" this week, I decided to pop in The Pleasure Trap by Douglas J. Lisle

http://www.amazon.com/The-Pleasure-Trap/dp/B00166PRIM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1223748303&sr=1-1

And do some light stretching to relax and unwind. If anyone is struggling with eating healthier, I highly recommend this video! Doug is a riot and does a beautiful job of illustrating the mechanics that drive our desire to eat.

Meals today will include...

m1...2 bananas
m2...grapefruit and high fiber muffin from Trader Joe's
m3...Hummus wrap with lettuce and tomatoes, side of snow peas
m4...leftovers from last night
m5...cocoa, soy cream and teechino with a dash of cinnamon




I am beginning to work on some concrete, measurable goals that I hope to have complete by the end of this weekend. If I had to choose my dream body, I think it would resemble Jillian Michaels from "The Biggest Loser". I know some people will hate her and others love her, but I personally think she exemplifies grace, fitness, speed, agility and strength.


I also believe I have the beginnings of a fairly decent foundation set, especially in my upper body. It is my midsection and legs that need to be coaxed into releasing some of that "stored up energy!!" LOL!!!

Along the same vein, I am toying with the idea of taking measurements and perhaps either weekly or biweekly photos to keep me on track, especially since we are entering the dreaded holiday season. If I get up the nerve!

I know my future goals include somehow helping people transform the way they view themselves and their lives by transforming their bodies. And I hope to show people that you can build the body of your dreams by eating in a delicious, nutritious way that not only heals and supports you on a cellular level but also helps to heal and support our world.

And a calm fills the air!

Huge exhale!!! I think our pup is going to be OK. She gave us a good scare again though! She is 9 yrs old and has already manged to get herself into major, life threatening conditions 4 times!! Count em' F-O-U-R!!!! My poor DD would be devastated if anything ever happened to her. Sorry to go on a bit of a rant here, but how can people who love their pets ever reconcile the fact that they then sit down to a plate of flesh?? The thought simply makes me wanna cry.

With all this stress is it any wonder my workout today was mediocre at best. However it did still managed to kick my butt! I did 3 sets each of pullups, barbell clean and presses and single DB snatches.

OOOooohhhhh! I made this last night from Show Me Vegan


http://showmevegan.blogspot.com/2008/08/tempeh-salad-with-grapes-and-pecans.html

It was awesome!!!!

And right this second I am cookin' 2 recipes from Veganomicon...with a few small changes ;)


Broccoli-millet croquettes and White Bean Aioli.

I am thinking about trying to either pan fry the croquettes in non-stick spray or bake them though to avoid the extra oil from frying. And I prepped the Aioli using 1/2 oil and 1/2 veggie stock. So far it looks, smells and tastes DELICIOUS!! Can't wait!!

Who's trying to derail me??

Yesterday was shall we say, trying??! I spent most of the day running back and forth to the vets with one of our puppies while my DD sat nearby totally teetering on the edge. While I somehow did manage to get in a workout, eating sucked! I could not even stomach the thought of food until well after 3 pm, and then once the evening came, there was not enough food I could scavenge.

Today I am just beat and I am going to get my nutrition back on track, but I am taking a rest day from my HIIT.

I'll check back with ya all tomorrow!

Let the fun begin!

Wow! I'm beat :)

Tough workout! Phew!

My current workout rotation is...

M...Circuit training including high reps done in an explosive manner mixed with plyometrics
T...Heavy push muscles
W...either HIIT, plyometrics or kickboxing
Th..Circuit training again with high reps done explosively
F...Heavy pull muscles
Sa..Yoga or pilates

Meal plan for today...
m1...whole grain muesli in almond milk
m2...green smoothie with baby lettuce(dark), 2 pears and 2 T flax, splash of almond milk
m3...brail nuts and carrots
m4...mexican beans and salsa on rice noodles (I'll post the recipe tomorrow)
m5...hot cocoa made with coconut milk

I think that's it. If I make any changes, I'll let ya know!

Where do I start?

I can not believe it is almost Thanksgiving!! GULP!! And I've been eatin' like *&^$#%! Time to buckle down and get serious! Tomorrow, no really, tomorrow is the day! The day to begin the body by vegan challenge! Goal, to eat and workout to the best of my knowledge and ability! Focused, intense, organized and driven!

My overall goal is to drop about 10 pounds of extra flab hanging on to my otherwise taught body and to improve my overall health by consuming mostly plants and not too much!

My plan for tomorrow will include a beginning weight and measurements session followed by an intense circuit training workout. I will report on meals later!!!! :)