Raw Vegan + Bodybuilding. 30 day trial.

[AO1]

Hey guys =)


I'm launching a full raw-vegan food diet starting 24th October and ending 21st November.

During this period I will also be training with weights with the aim of increasing muscle mass while decreasing bodyfat%.

I will be taking pictures of my current state, including measurements of muscles and daily weigh-ins.

If you would like to join me in this trial please feel free to do so - it would be great to have the extra commitment and support =)

I will post measurements and pictures tomorrow - it's a bold step but I know once those pictures and stats are posted here they'll be little chance of me backing out of the challenge due to - my perceived - heightened perception of the community's interest in my success .

I'll be posting as much information and data possible with the goal of aiding others who are on or considering a similar path.

[JAX]

Sounds like a fun experiment. I did a google search on bodybuilding vegan and also bodybuilding vegetarian, a lot of info came up. If you haven't already checked it out, there may be a few good pointers on some of those websites. Well good luck with your trial.

JAX

[Fullcrum]

I've heard you likely will not build muscle until you detox sufficiently on a raw diet to allow the building of muscle. If you want information, listen to Tim Van Orden. Though a distance runner, he claims he is "overweight" for a runner and continues to gain weight without effort and likely under 2000 calories while distance running because raw food is efficient.

But detox first.

[Marth]

Starts tomorrow for you? Good luck dude, you're my hero

[Buttercat Apocalypse]

I'm subscribing me to this thread

[AO1]

Hey guys, great to know I've got you cheering me on

Slight change of plan, I'm beginning this 30 day trial on the:

26th October 2008.

This is will give me enough time to get to the farmers market and scope out the required foods. I also need to finalise my training program with the new info I've acquired from the - synchronistic like - arrival of "The 80/10/10 diet" book. A book I didn't even order, but showed up in the mail the morning after I announced this diet trial

Starting on a Sunday will also make it easier for me the measure my training program since it's likely to be a 3-weekday training split.

I've been slowly adjusting my raw-food intake over the past two to three days and I'm approximately 70% raw now, with bananas and broccoli being my main sources of food.

So far, these are the resources I've been using to inform my decisions:

Welcome to Charlie's Gym | Raw-vegan bodybuilder, I've also got his ebook
FoodnSport: The 80/10/10 Diet | The 80/10/10 diet
We Like It Raw - Raw Food Goodness
Give it to me Raw - Raw Food Community | Raw food community
Bodybuilding.com - The Future Of Bodybuilding! Huge Bodybuilding Site. | General bodybuilding site
From Geek to Freak: How I Gained 34 lbs. of Muscle in 4 Weeks - The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss | Timothy Ferriss' amazing transformation
Arthur Jones Casey Viator Colorado Experiment | Experiment conducted to highlight the benefits of short, high-intensity training

[AO1]

Statistics:

Age: 20
Height: 6"
Weight: 158.8 lb
Bodyfat%: 17.56

Neck: 35cm/ 13.8"
Upper arm (biceps + triceps): 31.5cm/ 12.4"
Forearm (at widest): 26cm/ 10.2"
Chest: 101cm/ 39.8"
Waist: 80cm/ 31.5"
Hips (ass at widest): 97cm/ 38.2"
Calves (middle): 35cm/ 13.8"

Pictures:
Taken on October 24th 2008


[Picture 1 - Front - Tensed]



[Picture 2 - Side - Relaxed]



[Picture 3 - Breadth held in - Tensed]



[Picture 4 - Breadth held in - Tensed]



Picture folder HERE.



Pictures [3] and [4] where taken on the same day as pictures [1] and [2] - it's amazing what you can show in certain light-conditions, albeit through a dirty mirror ;P. They were taken to magnify my ideal body-image and to strengthen my end goal image.

[Plato]

Nice! I'm about to begin something very similar.

An exciting new goal!

Your measurements are similar to mine too.

[AO1]

whoa, can't believe I just posted these pictures of myself, semi-naked and online, with my real identity exposed

My 18 or 19 year old version would have never done something like this - opening myself up to others criticism, judgement and general response. However, I've grown tremendously since then and it's great to do something like this and not be afraid but empowered and honoured to be in a position to inspire others through naturally being myself (creative, self-expression). It's time to move towards Love, and in particular, Oneness.

This has also been a great exercise in revealing the truth: objectively looking at myself through pictures has massively impacted my ability to honestly judge and communicate how I truly feel about myself. Simply looking into a mirror didn't quite cut it.

I'll post up my diet and training statistics tomorrow; I'm extremely excited about this diet trial

[AO1]

Daily Food Intake:

I'm keeping it simple with the bulk of my calories coming from banana + spinach shakes.

2500g........Bananas
500g.........Broccoli
100g........ Cucumber
100g........ Dates
100g........ Lettuce
30g.......... Nuts
1000g.......Oranges
375g.........Spinach
400g........ Tomatoes

TOTAL:

27g... .Fat (7%)
76g... .Protein (6%)
842g.. Carbs (87%)

3504 kcal


Training program:

This program will be repeated on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from week commencing 27th October 2008 to alleviate initial soreness.

From the week commencing 3rd November 2008, the program below will be performed on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

1. Calf Raise 20 reps
2. Deadlifts 8 – 12 reps
3. Leg press 8 – 12 reps
4. Bench Press 8 – 12 reps
5. Pulldown on machine 8 – 12 reps
6. Overhead press 8 – 12 reps
7. Biceps curl 8 – 12 reps
8. Tricep Extension 8 – 12 reps

[AO1]

Quick Update


Feeling very energetic at the moment. The bulk of my calories are coming from banana and spinach shakes. At the moment this seems new and varied enough for me to continue with for a few days, however I predict I'll become bored drinking the same shake over and over again. If you guys know of any good, calorie-dense shake recipes let me know =)

So far, I have not observed any detox-like symptoms (colds, headaches, fogginess, fatigue), I'm not sure what to make of this.

The only real challenge so far has been acquiring all the food - from a financial perspective, my food bill went up from £15-20 ($35-$40 approx) a week to £40-£50 ($80-$100). I'm going to have to adjust to a new equilibrium; how else can I be of service?

I could document my progress on a blog set-up with adsense to monetise the traffic. On a side note: what specific info about my trial would you guys appreciate? I'm new to this so I'm continuously adjusting my path as I move along. Ready-fire-aim.







p.s. I'm experimenting with various learning strategies, specifically with the presentation of information, so be prepared to see more multi-coloured posts from me

[eruso]

Wow, good job on eating all that food.

[DerekH]

How did you measure your bodyfat?

It seems awfully high. I have roughly the same definition in muscles and I weigh 165 @ 10% and I'm 6ft tall.

I use a skin caliper.

[AO1]

I used this website (Jackson/Pollock 7 method) and these calipers to measure my bodyfat%.

I used a variety of the methods on the above website, with answers ranging from 14-18% bodyfat. I decided to go with the Jackson/Pollock 7 and concluded it was a accurate reading.

If you see here: Tim Ferriss, who conducted a similar experiment to the one I'm undergoing, had 16.72 BF% at 146lbs - judging from his before picture and overall stats in comparison to mine, I'd say my reading is accurate.

[DerekH]

Same method and same calipers I use lol.

Ah well!

[breakthrough]

Sorry, I don't mean to be negative but there's no way you will build muscle on a vegan diet. You will definately lose fat but zero muscle gain.

Protein sourced from plants does not have the same bio-availability as animal tissue. The protein just won't break down enough to be absorbed efficiently and there is just not enough contained in plants.

If you want to build muscle properly you need to eat meat.

I hope you stick with your program to the end as I will look forward to following you documenting your progress. It will be an interesting experiment.

[Fullcrum]

If you look up vegan bodybuilding on google, many results will come up.

Even raw vegan bodybuilding has a couple results.

[Joeschmoe]

Originally Posted by breakthrough

Sorry, I don't mean to be negative but there's no way you will build muscle on a vegan diet. You will definately lose fat but zero muscle gain.

Protein sourced from plants does not have the same bio-availability as animal tissue. The protein just won't break down enough to be absorbed efficiently and there is just not enough contained in plants.

If you want to build muscle properly you need to eat meat.

I hope you stick with your program to the end as I will look forward to following you documenting your progress. It will be an interesting experiment.

Ha ha ha!

[AO1]

Originally Posted by breakthrough

Sorry, I don't mean to be negative but there's no way you will build muscle on a vegan diet. You will definately lose fat but zero muscle gain.

Protein sourced from plants does not have the same bio-availability as animal tissue. The protein just won't break down enough to be absorbed efficiently and there is just not enough contained in plants.

If you want to build muscle properly you need to eat meat.

I hope you stick with your program to the end as I will look forward to following you documenting your progress. It will be an interesting experiment.

Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

and

Welcome to Charlie's Gym


I do appreciate the energy though

Side note: some interesting facts about bananas you might like.

[MariaG]

Really interesting experiment, AO1. Since you asked about ways to create additional revenue to pay for your increased grocery bills, you could definitely start a blog and throw up some Google Adsense. Also, creating a few videos of your food prep and progress and posting them on YouTube (with links back to your blog, of course) could help drive some traffic. Don't forget that you can do a few affiliate promotions - like an Amazon link to the 80/10/10 book.

This might not pay off immediately, but over time you could gain enough traffic to help you reach your new equilibrium.

[VacMan]

Awesome experiment!

Very interested to see how it goes.

I think getting enough protein is going to be tough, but possible.

You'll really have to track what you eat and stay on top of it extremely well.

I maintain that you can gain or lose weight eating almost any foods you choose.

It gets harder if your trying to specifically gain muscle though.

In that case your protein is going to be a huge element.

More power to ya though for giving it a shot!
-Sean

[AO1]

Hi guys!


Unfortunately this 30 day trial was not successful for me.

I've been inspired by Steve's current experiment into raw-juicing and I'm determined to make this work. I'll be posting a detailed summary later today of what action I'm going to take

[Revolution]

Doesn't surprise me AT ALL.

There was way, way and I mean waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much sugar in your proposed diet.

But some lessons are best learned the hard way, thats why I didn't bother to comment.

[Andrew Michaels]

You might wants to check out Charlie Able

[Buttercat Apocalypse]

This is the one thing about the vegan diet that puts me off.. I want to be buff. But I'm trying it out for now anyway. But can it be done? Vegan and muscular?
Edit: I saw charlie's gym. Ok
Edit edit: damn the guy lives in Hawaii. I've been wanting to go there for ages.
Edit Edit Edit: did you get Charlie's ebook? How is it? I think I'll buy it.

[lifetimelearner]

whats wrong with beans they have protein ???

[Henri J]

I just found this, pretty interesting:

Garden Diet - grow younger and attain your ideal weight with all natural food

[funchy]

Check out: VeganFitness. Great site! There are a few really sharp people on there... lots of good info! Not all of them do Raw, but there are some awesome vegan bodybuilders there. It's a good site, even for those of us who aren't totally into bodybuilding.

Originally Posted by breakthrough

Sorry, I don't mean to be negative but there's no way you will build muscle on a vegan diet. You will definately lose fat but zero muscle gain.

If what you're saying is true, how is it there are vegan bodybuilders and other kinds of vegan athletes? They should not exist, if you're right.

Protein sourced from plants does not have the same bio-availability as animal tissue. The protein just won't break down enough to be absorbed efficiently and there is just not enough contained in plants.

Please prove it. I think you have been misinformed.

Both plants & animal proteins are broken down in digestion to polypeptide chains and then back to the basic amino acids. Your body can't tell if your aminos came from plants or animals -- all that matters is you have sufficient levels of the the essential ones.

If you want to build muscle properly you need to eat meat.

If you're going to make such a bold statement, can you explain why you believe this?

[liamona]

Originally Posted by AO1

So far, these are the resources I've been using to inform my decisions:

From Geek to Freak: How I Gained 34 lbs. of Muscle in 4 Weeks - The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss | Timothy Ferriss' amazing transformation

You do know that Ferris recommends a diet that includes meat, right?

From that article you linked, he says:

Here are the six basic principles that made it happen:

4. Eat enormous quantities of protein (much like my current fat-loss diet) with low-glycemic index carbohydrates like quinoa, but drop calories by 50% one day per week to prevent protein uptake downregulation.

This is from the link to his "current fat-loss diet":

How to Lose 20 lbs. of Fat in 30 Days… Without Doing Any Exercise

Rule #2: Eat the same few meals over and over again
The most successful dieters, regardless of whether their goal is muscle gain or fat loss, eat the same few meals over and over again. Mix and match, constructing each meal with one from each of the three following groups:


Proteins:
Egg whites with one whole egg for flavor
Chicken breast or thigh
Grass-fed organic beef
Pork

He goes on to say, "Eat as much as you like of the above food items."

[liamona]

Originally Posted by funchy

Your body can't tell if your aminos came from plants or animals

Sure it can, because it has to break down all the pesky fiber in plants before it can absorb the amino acids (and other nutrients). The nutrients and amino acids in meats are much more bioavailable because of the lack of fiber.