There’s not much to say here as it’s my first week properly back at the gym and the weekend before we were on holiday. As a quick guide I have run a bodystat and my weight is 3Lb but down that means nothing at this Point. Next week will give a better view of how things are going and my plans ahead. My strength has come back quite well and so has my Cardio, fitness levels. I will update more next week. I’m also only on plant based protein and nothing else supplement wise.
This year has flown by and I’ve neglected my blog due to using social media for quick and easy posts. I do hope to get back on my blog to just update myself on a weekly basis. The last 6 weeks have been all over the place due to the school holidays and my lack of consistent training and diet has definitely set me back. I’ve stuck to my plant based diet, but a lot of it has been processed quick food. I am back on my healthy nutritious diet now though, so hopefully things will improve for me.
I went on a bike ride to the gym today and it was a real struggle. My fitness is down and I was exhausted trying to train legs. This will all come back within a week or 2 once I flush the alcohol out of my system, get some good sleep and clean my diet up. I haven’t put any ‘weight’ on over the holiday, but I have lost strength. Once I start training well again, my weight will go up a bit and my body fat will most likely stay the same. I’d like to say I’m holding lots of water, but it’s definitely fat. It’s ok though, the trade off with memories outweighs the slight set back in fitness. A good 4 weeks and I’ll surpass the beginning of the holidays.
I still have a few weekends away with he kids and that will involve drinking a few pints, so I can’t give it my all until after that. In the mean time I can though and that’s what I plan to do.
Each Saturday when I’m at home I will take my measurements, a picture and my weight.
Each gym session I will use a note pad to write down my weights, sets and how I feel.
I will prepare my meals with set intervals to help me stick to my diet.
Let’s see how this goes…
But it’s easy sitting here typing all this up. I’ve been here many times before and had set backs. I do have a reason to push hard this time though and it will definitely pay off if I can stick to it. Just before the schools broke up, I was in a good strong fit place. I was carrying a little bit too much fat, but I was strong and active. Strength and fitness wise I was in a good place. I need to get back there first…
As 2018 comes to and end, I would like to sit down for a short while and reminisce on what stand out points have happened this year in regards to my fitness journey. I thought it was a quiet year, yet it turns out to be one of the most important years to date.
In no particular order, here’s what’s been going on;
Changing my diet to a plant based diet
Attending a seminar at Dinos gym with Cedric Mcmillan
BodyPower and meeting some more pro bodybuilders as-well-as getting some more DVDS signed
Attending Cain Leathem seminar at Temple Gym
Meeting Eddie Hall at Bushbury Gym
Attending a Dorian Yates Seminar at Temple Gym
Invested in supplements to sell
Invested in my future with tools for the job (bands, bodyfat machine etc)
Joining a new gym and working from there
Invested in myself with qualifications
Food and hygiene
LV2 gym instructor
LV2 indoor cycling instructor
LV2 circuits instructor
LV3 personal trainer
Spending time with friends in the gym
It’s been a great year when it comes to progression. I’ve finally passed my qualifications, which was a big thing I wanted to accomplish. My health is good and I’m in a good place physically.
I’m not sure what 2019 is going bring, although I do know that the more I do next year, the more rewarding I will find it. I have some plans for 2019 and I have wrote them down. I’ll see how it plays out and that’s it for now.
I’m currently 18lb down and I aim to drop another 10lb over the coming weeks/months. As people know that I’m on a vegan, predominantly plant based diet, people assume that it’s the ‘vegan’ food that has allowed me to drop body fat. I just want to clear a few things up from my experience.
The secret to losing body fat is to burn off more calories than you consume.
Now lets elaborate on this concept;
I can maintain my body fat level by eating the same amount of calories as I burn off and this can be done a few different ways.
If I need 2000 calories to maintain weight*, then I need 2000 calories, simple enough concept right? But what about ‘nutrition’? I can get 2000 calories from Walkers ready salted crisps all day as they are vegan, but my strength and health will drastically suffer. If I eat 2000 calories from organic whole plant based food, then if done correctly, I will maintain my strength and body fat, whilst staying healthy.
*Many factors vary into this.
Just because I’m on a vegan diet doesn’t make dropping body fat any easier for me. I actually find it more challenging to drop the body fat, as the food I eat usually contains more carbs and fat than protein. However, when I get it dialled in, I can continue to gain strength and drop body fat. I’m 18lb down and I have not lost any strength at all and if anything, my focus, mind to muscle connection, wellbeing and strength have all improved. My energy levels are much higher than when I were on my old diet and that has led to me taking on more challenges and not burning out.
If I were a meat eater and enjoyed eating meat, I could get all my protein from lean, high biological value foods such as chicken, white fish, eggs and so on. I don’t want to do that though and so I have to find alternatives which usually have higher levels of fibre in them too. I’m really enjoying my diet and that reflects on my progress so far.
Let’s recap.
If you consume more calories than you burn, you will gain weight.
If you consume the same calories as you burn, your will maintain weight.
If you consume less calories than your maintenance amount, you will lose weight.
And that’s open up a whole new chapter I need to quickly mention.
I use the term ‘weight’, as muscle and fat are ‘weight’ according to the scales. If I said fat, that could be misleading as you could be consuming junk food and gaining fat, rather than muscle. Also if you are in a calorie deficit, you could be eating way too little and could lose muscle rather than fat and the scales would still say you are losing weight.
So nutrition is key for everyone! Designing a nutritionally well balanced diet, accompanied by exercise, is what will make you lose body fat. Eating a plant based salad diet will help you lose body fat, but it will also diminish your gains and muscle mass. For me personally, this defeats what my goals are.
I advise you to spend some time looking into the importance of macronutrients. Find out how carbs, fat and protein work on the body and what they do. Once you understand the basics of the 3 main concepts of food nutrition, you will start to think about how different foods can affect the body and mind. This will naturally lead you on your way of discovering healthier, more nutritionally dense food, than you may be having now. It all plays a part on the human body and mind, so spend some time grasping the basics. Once you have a basic understanding of nutrition, it will help to grow your body and mind.
If you like meat, dairy, fish and so on, you already have some great sources of protein as long as it’s organic. Eating animal produce that is chemically enhanced, defeats the object of living a healthier life in my opinion.
Now go away and work out the fat, protein and carbs for this food. I’ve gone over the top as it’s just a wild example. Just use it as a stepping stone when it comes to working out calories. I have also added meat, fish, dairy into the meal idea as the people who ask me say that they really enjoy eating meat and they couldn’t live without it. I’ll save a vegan diet plan for when it’s needed in another blog post.
It’s not difficult when you put the time in and figure out what works for you. Good luck!
When I’m switched on, I’ll spend my early Saturday mornings doing my body measurements. This includes my weight, body measurements, skin fold and the mirror. I take it all quite serious with what I do and today I have been digging through my old pictures for comparisons. I find a date and a shape I like, I check all my measurements, photos, nutrition for the day and so on. This morning I have stumbled across an old pic I like and compared it to todays pic, as a plant based diet eater… not really.
These pictures are actually 1 day apart. The one on the right was on a Sunday and the left was on the Monday. So I located my diet notes from that day to see why and what happened, so here it is. On the Saturday I had 381g of carbs and a net of 3,500calories. That’s a lot for me. On the Sunday I was still flat and I had just rolled out of bed. On the Monday I had been training and my carbs were making me look more full. Also the camera, lighting and so on worked in my advantage. The point is, if you don’t stay focused and eager to figure things out, you may not understand things and may not progress. I think with those 2 photos I could lure in the new comers and charge a few pound to tell them what they want to hear.
Only a few Spaces left now for natural transformations. Within 6 weeks you can see changes like this. (You get the point)
As everyone that follows me will now know that I’m on a plant based diet… I told you! So things are a little different now with goals and gains. I need another 6 weeks before I can see if consistency makes up for meat, dairy and fish. It’s interesting as I have broadened my knowledge, studied my training and mind, added a broader range of nutritious foods and stayed hungry. Just a few weeks/months left and I’ll know where I am. I know what I want by the way, that can go in another post later down the line. I’ll just stick to this at the moment and remind myself of how one picture can be so different to another and yet they are less than 24hours apart.
Don’t be fooled by good advertising, dig into the person you are investing not only your money into, but your life and future. If the person doesn’t have a background, just be cautious. Everyone in this day and age has some form of social media outlet or references that are easy to find. Think about it and go for it…
I think I’ve realised my place when it comes to finding the right path that I need to take when it comes to fitness. I’ve contemplated over getting bigger and bigger by any means possible, but thats just not my goal and it isn’t in my vision for the near future. Obviously I want to get stronger and bigger, but health and knowledge is more important to me at this stage of my life. I’ve trained and been a member of several local gym and they are all great, I can’t knock them at all, but I’ve not been training at a local ‘Community focused’ gym that has ticked all the boxes for me. It’s not the biggest or the best gym around and that’s not it’s focus point. This gym is aimed at the community from all walks of life with different goals and experience levels. The gym is focused on welcoming people with open arms and helping them to take their first steps in a gym, right up as far as there visions and passion takes them.
I’ve recently joined the team at Community Fitness after weighing up the gym for a few months. I can see the potential and direction the gym is going in and it certainly fits my criteria at this moment in my life. I love to get involved with fitness from all different aspects and this has opened up a new journey for me where I can share my journey, enthusiasm and passion to help others reach their goals. It’s a very exciting time for me and something I have been waiting to do for some time!
I’ve been gradually getting my head back on track over the last few weeks. It’s been a tough year, although I am back on track, I still need to make some adjustments. I know I’ve been eating too much and that’s fine. Now it’s time to start casually measuring my daily food intake. I aim for 2250 calories per day for a week and make further adjustments on a weekly basis. I believe I’ll be around 1800 calories a day when I’m dieting hard.
I’m dieting for me to promote myself and help others along. I have some big goals for the distant future and the best way for me to gain followers, friends and clients is to do it myself first. I have a rough goal of around 2 months of consistent strict diet or around 3 months of a slow, relaxed diet. Fortunately it’s a lifestyle for me and I know what I have to do to get there. It shouldn’t be to difficult, depending on how life unfolds during the months of cutting.
I’m slowly getting on top of my social media. It’s very time consuming and quite difficult to keep on top of it all. I’ll do what I can though and over time it will grow.
From a macro point of view, Vegan food is higher in fat, carbs and lower in protein. I’m currently trying to drop the body fat. I think it’s harder to drop the body fat with a vegan diet, although I think I’ll be in a better place as I do diet due to my metabolism, carbs and fat being higher. I’ve told myself over the years that if I want to do something and give it 100%, I wont fail. Let’s let time pass and we will see how it’s goes.
Do I feel healthier?
My stomach does. I’m not having cramps, bloating or general upset stomachs. I used to suffer with a bad stomach frequently when I had cheese, beer, onions, pizza, chocolate or general junk food. When I had a clean meat diet, I also felt relatively healthy and I now know that what I was eating back then was not healthy.
Do I have more energy?
Yeah, I think so. Nothing special to get excited over and as I’m not dieting as such, I can’t yet comment on this.
What about mentally?
I feel better mentally, but I’m also in the ‘zone’ and this is obviously a bigger factor than the food itself. Knowing I have a goal and I will reach it at all cost, I’ll just deal with whatever crops up. I am hungry now, but as I’ve just ate, I want to wait an hour before eating again. This gives me time to type up this and pass some time away.
What would I like to say?
I would like to say I feel healthier, stronger, fitter, better skin, mentally happy, more energy and so on. I really want to, but at the moment, I can’t say any of this. I could blag my way, but I just need to be honest. Let me get my body fat down and this will be the telling point.
My aches and pains have gone. My hamstring feels a bit better, my delt feels better and that’s good. Although it is a problem that comes and goes.
Is a vegan diet the best thing ever?
Well no. That’s also down to each individual. I really enjoy it and I will talk about it in the same way as I enjoyed talking about my meat and then my vegetarian diet. I wouldn’t advise anyone to go vegan it if you enjoy meat and are bodybuilding. It sort of isn’t logical and makes it much harder, but if you have your morals or a good reason to go vegan, then do so. You may have some very good benefits from it health wise. Again, if you’re eating processed food then it’s not going to be better than eating a good healthy meat diet. I mean, you can live off chips and crisps as they are vegan, but this isn’t a good healthy diet is it!?
Why are you vegan?
It’s easier for me to say it’s for medical reasons, but it isn’t. I do it completely off my own back, no one else in the house is vegan and I cook meat for them. I’m vegan as I have become more spiritual and I have empathy for the animals and I can see the meat/dairy trade is just about making money at all costs. I don’t feel morally happy to support these trades, even if it does mean I lose muscle ‘gains’ I know I’ll make up for this with my mental gains. I find that whole food is much better than refined food, although meat can be from a good source so this is irrelevant. I enjoy my path and I won’t be swayed by others opinions. My body responds better to vegan food and my stomach feels much more settled. My knowledge on nutrition has been expanded and I enjoy the lifestyle.
What about cutting the calories?
When I was on meat and veg during my cutting phase, I found my energy was low and I felt constantly tired. I have to remember that I was dieting and I was strict with my food intake, obviously I’m going to feel rough, it’s part of the journey and what most people struggle with. I need time to see how my vegan diet works for my cutting phase, as I know protein will be harder to get without the extra carbs and fats. Chicken and veg was boring, but it was also high in protein and low on fat and carbs. Time will tell…
This weeks weigh-in…
I’m the same weight as I was last week. I have a had quite a lazy few days though as the snow is quite bad here. I have done cardio twice a day to try and make myself feel a bit better though. Once the snow clears and spring is here, I’ll be doing much more calorie burning in just general daily activities. I feel tighter at the moment, although it’s too early to judge just now. I’ll come back to this…
Recovery?
My sleep has been excellent the last few nights, I’m tired early (I’m programming myself to sleep early and recover better) I’m getting a good night kip now, without the nightmares and upset.
Conclusion…
I feel healthier, fitter and my aches and pains have gone for now. Perhaps this is down to the better diet I have? When I was on meat I felt good on a strict diet and I also had much more strength than I do now. Again, time will tell… I am happy with my diet and a slight strength decrease is fine, but I will still challenge myself to beat all my previous best lifts!…
I seriously do not doubt myself one bit! If I don’t reach my goals now, it’s time for me to take a step back and concentrate solely on long term general heath. Which Is what I’m trying to do now, but the weight lifting side is something I cannot just stop. As sad as it sounds, its my life! Like football or the pub for some, moving those weights gives me something special!
That was a long blog and gave me chance to speak to myself with a honest open mind. Now I need to put it all into production and make things happen… Let’s do it…!
Health and HIT 