October Vegan Challenge

[bekabug]

Day 1

Hello everyone, this is my first post here.

It has been my dream for two years to get into bodybuilding. I have been exercising as a vegetarian that eats a lot of cheese and other fats and have known for a long time that I really need to go vegan for a myriad of reasons.

Everyone I have shared these two goals with has done one of two things: laughed at me or flat out told me it can't be done. I live with my partner and he is supportive of my fitness goals, but doesn't think that I can do it as a vegan. I, of course, know better...I can do both and do them well!

I'm not sure if I should begin a serious training program AND go cold turkey vegan or if I should go vegan for a solid month before I add more intensity. I currently don't eat eggs, cows milk, or butter. I guess the cheese, overdoing the carbs, and not **truly** pushing myself physically is what is really holding me back from my fat loss/muscle gain goals. (You could be thinking it'd take a lot of cheese to do that, and you'd be right. It's obscene really.)

My current routine is:

Cardio & Abs - Tuesday Thursday & Saturday
Weights - Monday Wednesday & Friday

I workout at home and lift using a gym we bought last year. Cardio includes a kickboxing video, yoga, aerobic routines, cycling, and using a really cheap-o elliptical indoors.

I get *so* hungry after I workout that I have absolutely got to be prepared to keep me from doing something stupid. I've got a handful of practical vegan recipes I love so I can cook in bulk and use the freezer for something other than pizzas and Amy's burritos. I'd really rather keep it as fresh and raw as possible, though.
I make a pretty mean green smoothie with my strawberry soy protein powder,too. (Kale, bananas, almond milk, + 1 scoop)

Other things in my arsenal:

A-Z Animal Ingredients List for iPod
OAMC Veggie Style
Vegan Freak Radio
Vegetarian Food For Thought

I'm thinking of getting this book because I have plenty of cookbooks but nothing like this. If you've got an opinion about it, have some inspiration to offer me, tips or anything else positive to share, I'd love to hear it.

[JP]

hey welcome to the forums mate!

Looks like you have a very methodological and thorough approach to your challenge.

Are you new to weight training, as in do you have any background in training?

The only thing i would warn about is that if you drop things like cheese etc, remember that they are very calorie dense, so replacing that needs calorie dense vegan food. That is, of course if your goal is not weight reduction via calorie intake reduction.

All the best for your challenge, and please dont hesitate to ask anything from people here

[Kryptonite V]

go cold turkey vegan

I currently don't eat eggs, cows milk, or butter.

??
So it's only cheese and honey, diet wise? You call quitting cheese cold turkey?

Hey mate, ditch the cheese. I think it's one of the worst things one can eat health wise.
Oh, and welcome to the forum Good luck with your goals!

[tempehmomma]

Welcome to VF. I agree with Kryptonite ditch the cheese cold turkey it ain't gonna kill you. I have a copy of another edition of Thrive it's worth buying. Check out the book Simply Vegan by Debra Wasserman. Goodluck with achieving your fitness goals.

[bekabug]

Thanks for the replies, welcomes and the well wishes. Working on Day 5. (I've been keeping better track of my progress on my blog.)

I guess I was misunderstood... The cheese has been and was always going to be thoroughly ditched (aside from a screw up on day 2) and I'm feeling great. I was curious if I should go vegan AND increase my training or if i should go vegan and give my body time to adjust before I start hitting the gym really hard.

This week has been really rough for me job wise and I am definitely not eating enough calories so there is some tweaking to be done. I've decided to wait at least 2 weeks before I start really getting into things.

I found a local health food store that sells quinoa and lots of other fabulous items in bulk so I'll be going after some of that. I was fabulously unprepared, grocery wise, and have managed pretty well so far. I am nothing but optimistic at this point.

As far as a background...I suppose I don't have one. I have and use the Women's Body Sculpting Bible books for routines and take bits and pieces out of Muscle & Fitness Hers. I have never worked with a trainer. Stepping it up a to the point of calling myself a bodybuilder is probably going to mean that I talk to a trainer at some point. If I could find a trainer that didn't act like I was going to die because of my dietary decisions, that would be choice.

I want to be a bodybuilder and I am a female who is an aspiring vegan. All those combined is earning me some pretty interesting looks from others.

I'm learning a lot and making changes like eliminating phrases such as "cold turkey" and "killing two birds with one stone" from my vocabulary.

Something else I have learned? I don't know how to cook vegetables. Not terribly shocking as I was raised on and have lived on mostly canned/boxed food items. My familiarity with spice flavors isn't what it should be and I've had a kitchen disaster or two this week.

I own veggie/vegan cookbooks and just need to buckle down and read up a little before I start throwing things together.

One more thing and I'll be done for this post, while I'm just here in particular for the health reasons I am, at the heart of it all, an ethical/spiritual vegan. It would bother me when I would read an article about someone who went vegan to lower their cholesterol or to lose weight and then after they met their goals they went right back to eating animals. That's not what I'm about. I'm ready to make this change for good.

[drummer boy]

Something else I have learned? I don't know how to cook vegetables.

1. Boil Water
2. Steam Veggies
3. Add Salt + Pepper
4. Consume
5. Repeat Frequently

[bekabug]

Day 6

I tried quinoa and LOVED it. I will definitely be repeating that frequently. I bought nutritional yeast flakes and I can't wait to try those. I also got 2 single serving flavors of hemp protein powder to try and see how I like. Bought my first eggplant ever and I'll be figuring out how to prepare that tomorrow or Monday...should be interesting.

I spent an insane amount on organic veg from Earthfare...I won't be buying from them again, but it's hard because their produce is in much better shape than my other grocer's. I suppose since ALL their stuff is organic (everything I looked at anyway) that they've got a much quicker turn over. Other places people would rather pay for chemically grown produce and save themselves $0.50/lb and let the organics wither and rot.

[jemmyducks]

It's great to hear ("read") your excitement! Welcome to the board and good luck with your goals.

I say get going on the training. There is so much to learn about exercises and how you respond to different programs. It's been a never-ending experiment for me, just like trying new ways of (vegan) eating.

[Rochellita]

welcome and good luck with your goals and I hope you stick with the vegan diet