Vegan Bodybuilder Journal

[VeganChamp]

November 1, 2005, 4:43pm CST.

It begins.

At the moment, I am 6'5" and 174 pounds "dripping wet." I have been a vegan for almost 8 years and consume no products from animals. This includes dairy products (egg and whey protein), as well as the obvious meats like beef, poultry, and pork.

I'd like to start keeping track of everything, including but not limited to, workouts, sleep, nutrition, water intake, mood, and results, of course. I might post some pics, but I need to get some basics out of the way first.

Okay, I have a very limited (or even close to "non-existent") athletic background. I was a slightly overweight, 215 pounder when I was 17 years old at this same height. That doesn't sound overweight, but it was all fat. When I was 18 I started running and playing some basketball and I lost 60 pounds in the next year. I didn't change my diet a lick. Still ate the same cafeteria crap that my university was offering like ham and cheese sandwiches and chorizo and egg breakfast tacos. Obviously my metabolism WOKE UP and I was always a skinny guy trapped in a chubby guy's body. Well, since then I've added a whopping 15 pounds of muscle so I'm usually hovering around 170... but that's due to inconsistency on my part. My lowest body fat percentage ever was when I was around 156 and was at 4.2%. Now at my current weight of 171 -175 I am at 7.4%.

My goal is to gain about 50 pounds of muscle. Yes, you heard correctly. 50 pounds. I don't think that is out of the question, even for a vegan, since I can add about 20 pounds of muscle, as I've done before last year when I was near 190, and hardly anyone noticed because of my long frame. Oh, and for the record, I've been vegan since I was 20 and my weight has stayed the same since before I changed my eating habits.

In order to reach my goal, I am working out with weights five days a week doing just one bodypart a week. I also would like to increase my involvment in sports that help build a better overall physique. Currently, I'm playing indoor soccer and I'll be starting up basketball pretty soon. I'm also going to make sure I eat six clean meals a day and sleep 8 hours a night. That last part, the sleep is my biggest challenge.

Okay, well that's enough of an introduction. I'm out. I'll submit my first journal entry tomorrow.

[VeganChamp]

November 2, 2005, 2:53pm CST

Yesterday I woke up at 4:10 am and had a "Wanna-BLT" sandwich, which I picked up from Bouldin Creek Cafe in Austin on Sunday, for breakfast... along with an "Active Greens" energy bar. I drank a bottled water as well, and took my creatine (CE2). I took a brief "wake-up" shower and got to Gold's Gym (Babcock & Callaghan) at 5:05 am. This is my favorite gym to workout in so far. It's just 5 minutes from my apartment.

I know I'm not supposed to, but I usually don't have a warm out time set aside before I workout. Today is chest day, so I grabbed some light dumbbells to loosen up and stretch out my shoulders, and then I stretched out my pecs for a but before repping the bar 20 times.

Bench Press: 135 x 8; 145 x 6; 155 x 4; 145 x 6; 135 x 7
Seated Calf Raise: 70 x 16; 90 x 14; 115 x 12; 135 x 10
Incline Bench Press: 95 x 8; 105 x 8; 115 x 6
Decline Bench Press: 95 x 8; 105 x 8; 115 x 6
Incline Bench Press: 35 x 6; 35 x 4

Workout lasted almost exactly one hour and I felt pretty good during the whole time. I do feel like I need to eat more to keep my energy up. I slept well the night before, going to bed slightly before 7:00 pm so I got about 9 hours sleep (a rarity for me... even to get 8 hours).

My post workout meal was a protein shake (soy and 50 g of protein always) and a package of seiten warmed up in the frying pan with spinach leaves and olive oil. The package said 31 g of protein per serving and that there were 2.5 servings in the package, so all together my meal had about 130 g of protein. I need to double check that to be sure. I might also want to put more carbs in that meal.

At work, I ate around 11:30 am and had a hummus wrap with vegan pumpkin mousse. I ate again around 3:00 pm, and this time is was a couple of paddies of some southern fried tofu with cantaloupe. After work, my plans were smashed since it was the Spurs opening game and ring ceremony and a friend of mine came over to watch it with me. We ended up ordering pizza (no cheese, of course) and we finished off this cranberry walnut pastry I had... not the best meal for someone trying to stuff his body with healthy food. I didn't even make the effort for a protein shake before bed. It was a late night also, which means that I was falling asleep around 1:00 am and that sets me up for only about 6 hours sleep for the next day. Not good.

That's the last time I eat that badly that late AND the last time I let a situation with a friend extend that late on a weekday. I need to exercise more discipline than that.

[VeganChamp]

Did not workout yesterday. That sucks. I know it was my birthday and all, and I had a couple of people over for dinner in the evening after work, but there is no excuse for not setting aside at least 20 minutes for abwork, lunges, push-ups or something else. Oh well, live and learn. I also stayed up way later than I should have because my internet was working at home again. I went to bed around 1:00 am.

I did eat well, though, having about 5 meals for the day. I need to drink more water, though, and take my supplements much more consistently.

[JaeBeam]

I think you should reconsider reworking your goals. Gaining 50 pounds of muscle is a great looooong term goal, measured in say... years.

IMHO, you should create a set of say... quarterly goals? Some folks even set weekly goals, depending on how intense they are.

So for example, lets set a goal of "Gain 10 pounds by March 1, 2006". Gives you a target weight and date just before the spring breakers come south!

Then I'd set a goal or 2 that would help you get to that 10 pounds. Something like, I will eat 6 meals a day over the next 2 weeks. To gain the amount of mass you are talking about, thats what, 20*weight in calories on a basic bulking cycle, right?

Perhaps setting some weight lifting goals would be helpful, but considering your overall goal of gaining weight, I would put them at less important than your eating goals. Something like increase my Squat to XXX (10% more than it is now).

Good luck.

As an aside, I thought Creatine was an animal product? I could be wrong. I'm a vegetarian, but not very strict. About 1 serving of meat a month, I can't resist getting a hot dog at a baseball or hockey game. I consider it a boycott more than a lifestyle.

[VeganChamp]

Thanks, JaeBeam,

I actually meant the 50 pound goal to be achieved in 4 years or so, so I hear ya. I didn't specify smaller goals in my thread starter, so I can see where that number can sound ambitious. I'll state this, then: I'd like to be a solid 185 by the end of the year. At last night's measuring, I am 174 and at 6.2% bodyfat, so 11 more pounds in two much is very possible for me.

The only difficulty is that in addition to the goal of bulking up, I also am trying to get involved with different sports. I like the complete body tone certain sports offer, as well as the skill development that comes with it. I've been playing soccer lately, which involved a lot of running and footwork, so I've got to really increase my daily caloric intake. I know one thing for sure: I'm not doing any additional cardio work.

Creatine is found in animals, that's correct. But most of the creatine products out there are not animal derived. I called and checked. It's created in their labs.

Appreciate the comment.

[JaeBeam]

Originally Posted by VeganChamp

I'll state this, then: I'd like to be a solid 185 by the end of the year.

Excellent. I'd suggest thinking about short term goals that would get you to that weight.

Reducing your soccer play, upping your caloric intake to a specific number, or number of meals a day. Stuff like that; measurable mini-goals that you can use to gauge how you are doing before you jump on the scales 1/1/2007.

Perhaps you could take a page out of my book, and get an extra 2400 calories/week in beer form! Good luck. Bulking takes commitment, and the super power known as "eating 6 times a day".

[VeganChamp]

Normally I don't drink, but I can start if it helps me achieve my goal. A bar called the Flying Saucer is just down the street from my apartment, and they have the biggest beer selection in San Antonio! Plus, I have four bars within walking distance of my place: Jack Rabbit's Tavern, Madison Avenue, Sky Lounge, and the Drinkery.

OK, I'm not going to drink, but I like the suggestion. I hear what you say about commitment. This past week hasn't been especially productive because I've had "other things" I felt I has to take care of first. If this is going to be done right, it's got to be a COMPLETE change of lifestyle.

And let me know how your "beer diet" is coming along. Hey, if Babe Ruth could do it, why not you?

[VeganChamp]

Okay, every time I went to workout, I forgot my little notebook AND I've been neglecting writing down what I eat. I don't even exactly remember everything, but I'll give it a try.

On Thursday (Day 3), I had a soccer practice that last an hour and 15 minutes and then did one shoulder exercise for 5 sets. I did the dumbbell shoulder press, and I think I started with 30 pound dumbbells, doing eight reps, but by the last set could only do 3 reps with the 40. I ate well that day.

On Friday, (Day 4), I did a two exercise arms day. Nose crushers for triceps, 5 sets, and barbell curls for biceps. If anyone knows the weight of the bar, let me know. It's not the 45 pound barbell, it's the smaller curvy one that you use for arm work. I want to say it's around 25 pounds, but I'm not sure.

Saturday, (Day 5) I played about an hour's worth of basketball before doing about 5 sets of upright rows, ranging from 95 pounds to 115, for shoulders, and some more work for arms. I believe I did cable pressdowns with the whole stack of some machine, but it must not have really been that much because I can't be THAT strong. I also did dumbbell curls with 30, 35, and 40 pound dumbbells. I finished off the workout with three sets of lunges holding 30 pound weights. I did three sets going 8, 6, and 4. I decided to go light this week in legs since I was playing soccer and I had two games to play on Sunday. Well...

On Sunday, (Day 7) I had two events which I planned for but didn't turn out the way I thought they should have. I was supposed to go hiking in the morning with a friend, but he hurt his back the night before so that was nixed. And then in the evening, I was supposed to play soccer, but the league had some new rule that there had to be more girls than guys playing (it's a co-ed rec league at UTSA), so I was one of a couple of "odd men out." That really sucked. I couldn't play and out team ended up having two girls injured... and for every girl that had to leave the game, we had to take a guy out. So since we only have three girls on the team to start with, after you subtract two of them (and two guys because of this stupid rule), it was down to one girl and the goalie. [It's indoor soccer so there is only 6 people playing at one time for a team.] Anyway, we were losing 10-0 anyway, but we had to forfeit the game. Sorry ass way to end the season.

Okay, I know most of that was not related to me gaining muscle mass, but it ticked me off. The good news is that I ate a LOT yesterday (my brother came into down and bought me a belated birthday lunch, so I had some good Thai food). This morning I woke up and weighed myself and took my bodyfat %. I'm 175 and 5.7%.

My supplementing has been inconsistent as well. I took maybe a couple of mulitvitamins this week and creatine ONCE. Will do better in the future.

[JaeBeam]

I doubt I'll ever see less than ... 15% body fat, and I used to run marathons. Genetics, perhaps a lack of drive. I've always been a performance based athlete, never cared about body fat % etc. Of course, since leaving college, I've only participated in "pay to play" leagues, may explain the body fat % thingy.

Forfiet? a coed league? Jesus, just throw in all your players, and agree to lose 1-0 with the other team's captain. I have to assume you play to have a good time, and get in a workout. Pretty much like my beer league hockey game.

I played rec league soccer, indoor, turf, concrete and hockey boards for about 2 months. I would get very angry from the contact, so quit. Took up ice hockey. Contact is assumed, so its all good now.

Ok, so completely off topic post.

[MrSinister]

good luck vegan! ill be watching and encouraging im not a vegan but the next one down so luckily i still drown my diet with dairy especially milk and cheese.
50lbs of lean mass only took me about 2.5years so dont let anyone tell u its impossible, especially with you being 6 5.
i started off 79kg flabby, last bulk i was 122kg (265ish) but about 25% bf, now currently cutting im 112 and gonna lose another 12kg where at 100 i should be where i wanna be nice and lean and bulk again from there.

[VeganChamp]

After work I went to workout at the campus recreation center. Since I work at a University it seemed convienent. However, I discovered that everyone and their momma comes to do bench presses after 5:00 pm, so I'll have to go back to Gold's Gym by my apartment. No big deal.


Chest Workout (with limited access to equipment). 5:40 pm.

Hammer Strength Incline Press Machine:
40 x 10
60 x 8
70 x 8
80 x 3
70 x 4

Dumbbell Bench Press:
40 x 8
45 x 8
50 x 5
50 x 4

Bench Press (It finally became available!):
135 x 4
135 x 3

I decided to go home at this point since some other machines and free weights I wanted to use weren't available, but I threw in 4 sets of 50 calf raises for my calves once I got to my apartment. Next Monday, I'm going to go to Gold's where I won't have any problem in getting to use the equipment.

Nutritionally I ate well. I have five meals and supplemented with 2 50 g protein shakes during the day. I think I'll see if I can take in three shakes a day so I can have near 150 grams of protein from that source alone, which would be a great addition to the amount I normally have with my meals. I drank four of those 17 ounce water bottles too. And I'm taking the multivitamin and creatine as I should, so everything seems to be back on course.

[VeganChamp]

Thanks for the encouragement, Mr. S.

I look forward to joining the ranks of the meatless muscleheads out there. And good luck on leaning up a bit.

[VeganChamp]

And hey, Jae!

If you wanted to, you COULD drop below 15%. But why ruin the beer league hockey game's MVP body right? I've never played ice hockey. Not too many ice ponds (or rinks) in San Antonio.

Oh, and our co-ed team was really competitive in addition to it just being for fun and getting into shape. If there was a chance we'd win, we wanted to take it. It turns out that (after the fact we found this out), the refs misinterpreted the rules about the number of guys/girls on the court so we got royally screwed. Oh well. Basketball is coming up next for me.

[VeganChamp]

No workout today. Still tired from the past couple of days and not enough sleep. I did eat well, though. I went to bed with enough time to get a decent 7 hours for Day 10, which should be legs.

[VeganChamp]

Okay, I need to get a couple of things straight.

First of all, I apparently don't know how to count. In one of my entries I went 4,5, and then 7 in counting the days I've been doing this thing, and that threw everything off. To add to the confusion, I usually write my entry the day AFTER the day Im reporting on. In any case, I'll be more careful.

Next, the past three days I haven't worked out. Why? A couple of reasons mixed together and I'm trying to avoid being frustrated. Yesterday, I had a decent excuse because I was getting my cell phone repaired and it took all evening to get it back. It was a hassle at the Sprint store but now I have a new phone so it should be worth it. But the previous two days it was a combination of a lack of energy and poor planning. I now know that I need to get whatever workout I want done BEFORE 7:15 pm or so. It takes me a long time to get relaxed for bed, so I can't get in a quick workout from 9:30 pm to 10:30 pm and then just plop into bed. I'll be up to about 1:00 am or so if I do that, and then I have to get up for work at 6:30 am. So, my mistake in one of the past couple of days was that I had some things to do right after work, and I could just workout a lot later. Nope. My window of opportunity closed pretty quickly. So, I just have to make sure that I'm in the gym before 6:00 pm every day, so I can get a good workout in. The other part of it is lack of energy, which I suppose comes from my troubles with sleeping a full 8 hours or so (I have gotten about 6 hours a night lately, and that's better than my average!) and also my not having the best eating habits. Interesting how all of this connects.

Anyway, I don't expect to workout today either since I'm working on about 5 hours sleep, need a nap, and then I have an obligation to attend in the evening. Frustrating...

[VeganChamp]

Completely out of my routine. Aside from some basketball on Sunday (Day 13) and a lot of dancing on the previous Thursday and Saturday, no physical activity for me aside from lots of walking. But walking and dancing is not going to build up a slim guy like myself. The eating hasn't been that much better either. The past couple of days I sort of had an excuse because I was feeling a little sick (I missed work on Monday), but I probably wouldn't have gotten sick had I continued my workout, eaten healthy and often, and not gone to bed at 5:30 am a three nights in a row.

Well, today is a new day. Let's see if I can get in a good leg workout today.

[JaeBeam]

Getting to sleep at 5:30am? Your living the rock and roll lifestyle. Start getting up at 5:30 am, and live the body building lifestyle

I've been sick as well. My doctor has taken me off the Beer Bulking diet, to get my sleep hygiene (sp) back on track.

Consider recent progress as that one step backwards that preceeds 4 steps forwards.

[VeganChamp]

Got it. Thanks for the advice. I guess I'd better call Mr. Jagger and let him know that I'm going to be missing out on some roaring afterparties for a while.

[VeganChamp]

Recovering from being ill. Nothing going on. I guess the rock star lifestyle should just be for those who are rock stars.

[VeganChamp]

Only played basketball on three of those days and weightlifted on two other ones. Will regroup this week for a strong start to next month. This time I will take pictures and measurments of my body in its current state and periodically check progress.

I should have known. Everytime I start recording workouts and 'measuring progress' I hardly ever find the time to go to the gym. When I'm not keeping track of anything, I find it easier to go. Weird. I'm trying to break through that. If anything throws me off, like a sickness or something, for a few days, I will start back up as soon as I possibly can. [That's a little promise to myself].