Getting Strong Veg Style

[marygrace]

Although I'm already a couple of weeks in, I've decided to start a training log for my experiences with NROL4W. When I introduced myself in the NROL4W forum and mentioned that I am a vegan, some people commented that they were interested in seeing what sorts of foods I ate while taking part in this program. So I think that, in addition to posting my workout information, I will dedicate some time to my food intake.

I am a 21 year old college student. Extremely unathletic and a little on the chubby side for most of my life, I took up running towards the end of high school. While I lost a little bit of weight from that, running became a sort of obsession, because I figured if I just could run a little bit MORE (and eat a little bit LESS) I would achieve the type of body I wanted. This never happened, though, and no matter what amount of food I ate and how many miles I ran, my body never looked any different. I started to dread running and would usually feel pretty lethargic.

At the beginning of December, I joined a gym because I was tired of running outside in the cold. Planning to pretty much only use the treadmill, I was approached by a trainer on my second visit who told me that it was probably in my best interest to cut down the running and incorporate some strength training. She provided me with a pretty easy strength training routine and told me to do intervals three times a week, and if I wanted, to do one or two longer cardio sessions on other days. I was skeptical at first because I was afraid that if I cut down on my mileage I would gain weight. After doing her routine for a couple of weeks, I noticed that I hadn't gained any weight, but also didn't feel like I'd been getting much stronger, either.

It was around this time that I read NROL4W. The book first reinforced a lot of what the trainer had already told me, making me feel a lot more comfortable with the idea of backing off the cardio and getting into the heavy weights. But more significantly, I learned about the importance of diet and the role it plays in training. While I've been a pretty healthy eater for a while, the vast majority of my diet was made up of carbohydrates, and I was neglecting to feed my body enough.

Embarking on the program outlined in NROL4W, I have already found myself gaining strength. I continue to take the occasional steady-state run, but focus the majority of my cardio time on intervals, which I really enjoy because they are short but still intense. Concerning my diet, I have made a huge effort to take in as much protein as possible, and have brought the level of carbs way down. I have also embraced the idea of eating small, frequent meals, and feel great about it. At this point, I'm not really interested in counting out calories or macro ratios, but rather doing what feels comfortable and seeing how it works out. So far, I am pleased.

I didn't take any measurements at the beginning of Stage 1, but since I'm only a little more than halfway through it, I'm sure these current measurements aren't too different.

Height: 5'5"
Weight: 121 lbs
Chest: 33"
Waist: 27"
Low Waist: 33 1/4"
Hips: 38 1/2"
Bicep: 9 1/4"
Thigh: 21 1/2"
Calf: 13"

Today was a rest day regarding NROL4W, but I did take a 25 minute run outside this afternoon since the weather was nice. For those who are interested, here is what I've eaten over the past two days.

2/4
8:30a - oat bran with rice protein powder, almond milk, and agave nectar
11:30a - PWO shake of almond milk and soy protein powder
1p - baked lima beans with tomatoes, 1/2 yam
5p - rice protein power bar
7:30p - kung pao tofu with peanuts, asian eggplant salad
9:30p - frozen banana with peanut butter

2/5
8:30a - oat bran with 50/50 mix of rice and soy protein powder, almond milk, agave nectar, 3 prunes
12:30p - braised tofu with kale, brussels sprouts, and sundried tomato, pumpkin seeds
4:15p - almond bread (made with almond meal and flaxseed) with hummus
for dinner i'm having a chickpea cutlet with marinara, and kale with white beans, and for a snack later i will probably have a frozen banana with grain-free granola (chopped almonds, pumpkin seeds, macadamia nuts, and raisins baked with cinnamon and vanilla)

I look forward to posting more soon!

[Cynic]

Keep in mind, most vegetable and grain based protein sources DO NOT have complete protein profiles.

I remember asking this before, the complete ones are:

soy
buckwheat
quinoa
spirulina
amaranth

Anything else requires a composite. I know from Dos that legumes and grains are a good combo (thus, beans and rice is a complete protein source) and one other I forget.

So, you're doing rice and almonds, that should work.

Do you like rice milk? I'm thinking rice milk and almond butter with your soy protein powder might make a pretty potent combo.

You do seem to have a handle on it for the most part. There was a query earlier in the month from someone who wanted to try the lifestyle, but didn't really research it. You should be able to help a lot.

What is the macro breakdown (pro/fat/carb)?

[marygrace]

I know that in order to get complete proteins one would usually have to combine beans and grains, but the beans and grains don't have to be eaten exactly at the same time. It can be spread out throughout the day. I think since I have oats for breakfast pretty much every day, it completes the beans that I usually have later.

I like rice milk and will look into combining it with some soy protein and almond butter. That sounds like a great idea.

As far as actual macro numbers, I haven't really been keeping track, though I know I could only further benefit by doing so. I will have to start doing it, maybe logging the my food into fitday or something like that.

[stingo]

Nice to have you aboard. Remember that trainer should you opt for some personal training sessions. She sounds like she knows her stuff. (Good on her for approaching you to help you out.)

[marygrace]

I definitely plan to keep in touch with her and possibly work with her again in the future. I only got a chance to work out at that gym while I was at home during winter break. When the semester ends in May, I hope to go back there.

And yeah, I really appreciate the fact that she approached me, because I doubt I would have sought out anyone for advice. She really set me on a whole different path that is working out a lot better.

[marygrace]

Today was workout B5 in Stage 1. I went for a casual run outside yesterday, which I hadn't done in a while, and I think it took more out of me than I anticipated. Today's workout felt HARD!

Due to the wacky nature of my school's small, over-crowded gym, I usually have to use the cardio machines before doing anything else. So I did 15 minutes of HIIT on the treadmill. I know its a lot better to do cardio after weights, but that isn't really do-able right now.

-Deadlifts - 3 sets of 10 at 65 lbs

-Shoulder presses - 3 sets of 10 at 12 lbs
I can feel myself getting very close to moving up to 15 lbs. I think it will definitely happen in workout 7 when I lower the reps.

-Lat pulldowns - 2 sets of 10 at 50 lbs, 1 set of 10 at 60 lbs.

-Lunges - 3 sets of 10 at 20 lbs

-Swiss ball crunches - 3 sets of 12 with arms extended behind me, holding a 10 lb weight
I was finding the crunches with a weight on my chest still very easy, so I tried this more difficult variation. It was a lot more challenging, it took a LOT to keep my balance!

I feel like I worked really hard today and am definitely looking forward to resting tomorrow. I think, for a little while at least, I'm going to eliminate any extra runs aside from HIIT running in order to save my energy.

[climban]

Hi MaryGrace,

Thanks for stopping by in my log! Looks like you're doing really well! I know the problem of overcrowded gyms... Moreover, in mine, they are not used to people, and especially girls, doing "weird" programs

[marygrace]

Originally Posted by climban

Hi MaryGrace,

Thanks for stopping by in my log! Looks like you're doing really well! I know the problem of overcrowded gyms... Moreover, in mine, they are not used to people, and especially girls, doing "weird" programs

Yeah, the vast majority of girls at my gym stay either in the cardio section or in a small matted room to do endless amounts of crunches. When I walk over to the real weight area and then start doing step ups on one of the benches, I get some weird looks!

[stingo]

Originally Posted by marygrace

-Swiss ball crunches - 3 sets of 12 with arms extended behind me, holding a 10 lb weight

Nice work - another variation to try is putting your feet on a bosu ball or against the top or (even harder) on the top of a weight bench.

[gregl515]

The workouts look good and I am interested in your diet. Is your home or school in Voorhees?

[marygrace]

Originally Posted by stingo

Nice work - another variation to try is putting your feet on a bosu ball or against the top or (even harder) on the top of a weight bench.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll definitely give the weight bench variation a try during my next B workout.

Greg - my hometown is Voorhees. Are you familiar with the area?

[marygrace]

Today was workout A6 from NROL4W. I was sort of afraid I wasn't going to be able to do this workout today, because my back was extremely sore from the previous workout's deadlifts. (I think it is an error in form, something I will be working on.) When I woke up this morning, though, I felt almost completely better, and went ahead with my workout.

-Squats, 3 x 10, @ 75 lbs first set, @ 85 lbs second and third sets

-Pushups, 3 x 10 BW -Bent over rows, 3 x 10 @ 15 lbs
I use the alternative bent over row instead of the seated row because my gym is always super crowded and its hard to hold the row machine while doing pushups, etc..

-Step ups, 3 x 10 @ 15 lbs

-Prone jackknife, 3 x 12

I also did 15 minutes of HIIT. After watching the video that Natalia put up on the NROL4W forum regarding HIIT, I decided to walk my recoveries instead of run them slower. This enabled me to do faster intervals, and I was still plenty tired by the end. I did my recoveries at 4mph and intervals at 8.3 mph on a 1.5 incline.

I feel really good about today's workout. I've been really hungry lately so have been eating a lot without much regard for calories. It is always good, clean food, and I don't feel like its having any adverse effects, so I'm not worried. I'm trying to not get too hung up over counting calories unless I find it becomes absolutely necessary because I feel like it would just make me crazy. Regarding the vegan aspect of my training, here's what I ate yesterday:

8:30 am - oat bran with almond milk and rice protein powder, 3 prunes 12:30pm - tofu sauteed with kale, brussels sprouts, and sundried tomatoes
4pm - frozen banana slices with peanut butter
8pm - greek salad (minus the feta) with hummus, soy cappucino
11pm - homemade protein bar made following cassandra's recipe in NROL4W, subbing soy protein for whey

So far today I've had the same oat bran breakfast, and a PWO shake of almond milk and soy protein. For lunch I plan to have baked lima beans with tomato and some sweet potato. I'll have a rice protein bar for a snack, and tonight I get to eat out, and am going to splurge on some vegetable sushi which I love. At some point after dinner I'll probably have some fruit and peanut butter

[stingo]

Nice work. I love to reward myself with sushi as it's not something I can make at home and for whatever reason it makes me feel good. When doing hard workout like these your appetite will definitely increase so managing your food intake becomes important.

[marygrace]

i make sushi at home sometimes, its pretty easy and since i make it with brown rice, pretty healthy.

as you mentioned that its important that i manage my food intake, does it seem like i am eating enough? today, for instance, i ate what felt like a hearty amount of food, but still felt kind of run down.

[stingo]

Originally Posted by marygrace

i make sushi at home sometimes, its pretty easy and since i make it with brown rice, pretty healthy.

as you mentioned that its important that i manage my food intake, does it seem like i am eating enough? today, for instance, i ate what felt like a hearty amount of food, but still felt kind of run down.

That's something you'll have to figure out over time. AC's workouts do take a lot of out of you, so calorie intake's at a premium. Only thing I can suggest is to try eating near your maintenance (as I believe the book suggests). If you find you gain fat then you need to drop that number a little. If not, then it sounds like you're ok.

[mel]

Hi Marygrace! Good luck to you with your goals. It is awesome that you have transitions from cardio to strength training.

I will be very interested to see how you manage the food portion of the program as I have never eaten veg before.

mel

[marygrace]

Today was workout B6 from Stage 1. I felt pretty energized and am really looking forward to moving onto Stage 2 in a couple of weeks!

Deadlifts: 3 x 10 @ 55 lbs
I backed off the weight a little bit because last week's workout left me in serious amounts of pain, and I wanted to be able to concentrate on my form.

Lat pull-downs: 2 x 10 @ 55 lbs, 1 x 10 @ 52.5 lbs
Shoulder presses: 3 x 10 @ 12 lbs

Lunges: 3 x 10 @ 20 lbs
Swiss ball crunches: 3 x 12 with feet resting on a weight bench. This was a LOT more challenging than any of the previous swiss ball crunch variations I've done.

Also did 15 minutes of HIIT on the treadmill with 8.3 mph sprints and 4 mph reco