2 Years of Change...

Enjoying the hell out of the following:

- The 24 hour fitness @ Triangle Square; $30 a month, private showers, a clean gym AND towel service!

- Heart of a Champion workout program

- Being a vegetarian (coming up on 3 years!)

Here is a picture from progression showing changes.  The far left is Oct 2010, I was a year into vegetarian eating doing CrossFit and weighed about 148lbs.  The middle pic was May 2011 during my 'weight gain' phase; I was eating about 3500 calories a day and doing a traditional body building program.  The last picture is July 2012, I am eating around 2,300 calories a day and doing the Heart of a Champion program.

Honestly all three programs have helped me so much.  CrossFit was amazing and gave me such a foundation for fitness that I never had prior.  The body building phase let me put on muscle that I have been able to retain and the program I'm on now has really helped me bring it all together with the results I was always aiming for.

I'm also excited to say that in the same time I've raised my max pushups to 45 (from 25, 2 years ago) and my resting heart rate has dropped from 68 to 54.  Hell yeah!

Still lots of work, but not bad and 100% vegetarian.  No meat, no fish; I do eat dairy & eggs.

One more thing...

Do you want to lose weight?  If the answer is yes, then do this...

For the next 3 months drink:
- Black Coffee
- Ice Tea/hot tea with no sugar
- Water

No diet soda, redbull, sugar free redbull, OJ, milk, or any other drink with calories or ingredients.

If you aren't willing to do that for 3 months, then choose one of the following two options:

Option 1: Accept yourself as you are, it's okay to be a little soft, fat or obese.  You are the majority.
Option 2: Dedicate your mind to not getting what you want for a greater good.

Soft Drink = Soft Belly

Almost February, which means the gym should be looking more normal again soon.  

Now all the people that have 'thyroid issues', 'slowed metabolism' and need electrolytes during their 30 minute works yet can't figure out why they can't shed that last 10lbs (which is actually more like 40lbs) can start getting more sleep.

New years resolution almost done?  It shouldn't be.  

Here's a mistake most people make.  "This year, I'm losing 10lbs" or "This year, I'm getting a six pack" or whatever that end result is.  Make no mistake goals and desires are great to have, but often in life you can't control an outcome.  What you can control are your actions.

Here's my new years resolution.  75,030 crunches.  Seem stupid?  We'll, on December 29th, 2011; when most people will be making the same resolution as last year, I'll be working on finishing mine.

205 crunches a day.  Every day for 366 days (leap year).  You see, I don't care what the results are, my goal is in dedicating myself to an action, not a result.

And don't get me wrong, 75,030 crunches isn't my athletic duty for the year.  I'm still working out 4+ days a week and continuing with 1 soda/juice/slurpee a month & an overall balanced diet.  But, hell, I was already doing that so why not do something new and fun?!?

Here's another way to look at it.  Be > Do > Have

Most people focus on Have, "I want to HAVE bigger arms", then set the goal 'this year I will get bigger arms'.  But go back one step, what must you DO to HAVE bigger arms?  Then go back one more step, what must you BE to DO what you need to DO to HAVE bigger arms?  Confused yet?

To HAVE bigger arms you must DO workouts that will grow muscles and eat the right diet to promote that growth.  To DO workouts and eat right, you must BE dedicated to an idea of fitness and growth.

Everyone wants to HAVE a better body, some people DO some of the work, but those that HAVE what you want are the ones that BE.

So what do you want to BE?  Who do you want to BE?

Side note, Jenni and I are now at the 24 hour fitness at Triangle Square.  It is epic.  I've never in my life seen or been to such an awesome gym.  So much fun!!!

Weight Gain Results

So my actual weight gain phase is done.  I'm a little sad as my caloric intake will drop, however, I am very happy with the results.

I went in for a water-submerssion body fat test, which is generally known as the most accurate body fat test.  I do wish I had gone in right before my weight gain phase, but it's no biggie, I will factor in what I did and the results.

10/06/10
Weight: 148
Body Fat: 12.4%
Lean Body Mass: 129.6lbs
Fat Mass: 18.4lbs

From this point until January I was doing CrossFit 3 to 4 times per week and kept at the same weight the whole time.

January and February I began eating considerably more calories (from about 2200 to about 3100) and intaking a lot more protein of various forms ranging from 150g/day to 250g/day.

As of March I weighed in at a very steady 158lbs, I'm not sure what my body fat was at but I had put on some muscle and some fat.  This is when I started my traditional body building program and kept calories around 3100/day.

End Results:

5/28/11
Weight: 176
Body Fat: 16.5%
Lean Body Mass: 146.9lbs
Fat Mass: 29.1lbs

Total Muscle Gain: 17.3lbs
Total Fat Gain: 10.7lbs

I am very happy with these results, especially in the time I got them.  I've also had substantial increases in measurements and in how much weight I can push/pull.

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My plan now is to do a cut phase, focusing on fat loss with minimal muscle loss.  Should be fun and I'll keep the results posted.

Round 1 Done

So my first round of 'body building' is done.  I'd say it was a very solid success.

My weight went from 162lbs to 173lbs in about 5 weeks of training.  I took almost 3 weeks off due to work/travel and went off creatine.

I dropped back down to 171, still a pretty impressive gain with a noticeable increase in muscle.

Today I did 1RM's on Back Squat, Press and Deadlift.

I PR'd on all 3 lifts.  Here are my new and old PR's.

Back Squat: 195lbs vs 160lbs
Press: 115lbs vs 101lbs
Deadlift: 325lbs vs 308lbs

I'm pretty happy with these numbers and looking forward to hitting another round of body building style workouts.

I don't need meat to be faster

3 months ago I decided I wanted to gain weight.  A little research and a little help landed me on deciding to intake about 3100 calories a day.  A significant jump from the 1800-2200 I was eating each day.

Here I am 3 months later, I've gone from being stuck at 148lbs for 6 months to a happilly increasing 168lbs.  My weight is up increasing, every week I'm increasing the weights I'm lifting and I'm felling great.

All without 1 bit of meat.  No beef.  No chicken.  No fish.  Nothing, not even broth.

I'm sorry to all those vegans out there, but I am actively stuffing my face with eggs, milk, cheese and the like.  But I still am having all the vegan classics like tofu, hemp protein, spirulina, chlorella, quinoa, etc.

Almost all resources on 'gaining weight' say you must eat meat.  Hell, CrossFit lives and dies by the Paleo diet, but seriously has anyone ever tried doing this on a vegetarian diet?  I'm get the same results I see and hear about from other CrossFiters and weight lifters, my wife is in better shape than most women that workout (yes including crossfiters).  Yet she hasn't eaten meat since she was 14 or so.

Here's an interesting study:
http://www.annals.org/content/153/5/289.abstract

This is a 20 year study (20 YEAR!) with over 130,000 subjects run by The Annals of Internal Medicine and funded by The National Institute of Health ie the Government.

The conclusion:
A low-carbohydrate diet based on animal sources was associated with higher all-cause mortality in both men and women, whereas a vegetable-based low-carbohydrate diet was associated with lower all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality rates.


The Annals of Internal Medicine is as close to a non-biased source as you could have for a study like this.  They have been a cornerstone of the medical community since the 1920's.  The funding came from the US Government, not freakin' PETA.

What's my point?  My point is this...  I love CrossFit and working out, but everyone jumps into crossfit and starts doing lo-carb.  Yes, low-carb can have quick weight loss benefits, people get great results in 2 months and all the sudden CrossFit and Paleo are the ONLY answer.  Neglecting that doing CrossFit is actually what got more results, why do I say that?  Because I saw the exact same immediate improvements when I started crossfit as a vegetarian.

If the only 2 people I know that actually have done Crossfit on a vegetarian diet (and I'm not talking about a crap vegetarian diet where you just eat french fries and white toast all day) do just as well as others on a Paleo diet.  Why is it not only only an option people don't consider, but they shun?

Day 3...

Well... Day 3 of this new program.

Today, it hurt to straiten my arms.  Stupid bent over rows.

My protein intake is at record highs, sorry vegan friends... milk, eggs, yogurt, cheese come one come all give me more.  Though I did also indulge in tofu, spirulina, and chlorella, enough to make any hippy smile.

Todays big movement was the standing Press, but lots and lots of other movements.  So very very soar.

Good stuff, so far I'm enjoying the program.  Now, let's see how much muscle a skinny vegetarian can gain!