Summer is upon us. I have been involved in fat loss-muscle building challenges since the fall of 2009. This Summer Challenge is my sixth. Why?, some may ask, and have asked. For me to have a goal and be working toward something brings meaning to my life. It just makes me happy. I’m constantly seeing how I can improve, have more energy, feel better and be stronger than the year before. Since March of 2011, I’ve been eating strictly vegan. Partly as an experiment and partly because it just makes me feel good.
I’ve incorporated some green drinks (Amy’s Hippy Dippy Green Drink aka Green Lemonaide) and some live food smoothies into my nutrition plan. I try to eat at least fifty percent of my food raw. I believe as we put living food into our systems, we will feel more alive and our bodies will be repairing at a much faster rate. Live food in = life. Dead food in = well you get the picture.
One of the goals for this Summer Challenge is to gain muscle. The goal is to gain 5 pounds of pure lean muscle while at the same time lopping off five pounds of fat. Not an task, but it has been done. The main thing to focus on is eating enough calories so you don’t lose lean body mass but not too many as to add unwanted fat. This will be accomplished by eating 5 or 6 mini meals a day and cycling the calories. Shooting for 1600 on my low days and bringing them up to 1950 every fourth day. These numbers are different for every person. You can google Katch McArdle Calorie Calculator to determine what these figures are for you.
My first meal is oatmeal with soy protein. Meal 2 is Hippy Dippy Green juice or live food smoothie. Third is a large green salad with a variety of raw veggies and lentils, beans or quinoa. Meal 4 are protein balls or protein drink, the last meal is some form of protein and vegetables, either cooked or raw. I taper down on carbohydrates during the day which helps a great deal with hunger. I workout early so I bracket my workouts with the highest carbohydrate meals. It’s important to fuel your workouts. I’m logging everything I eat so I know how many calories I’m consuming.
Speaking of workouts, I’m lifting pretty heavy weights 4 days a week doing a split routine. Which consists of one day training chest & biceps, one day of legs & abs, one day of back and calves & abs and one day of shoulders & triceps. For cardio I’m running with my running buddies on Tuesdays and Thursdays incorporating high intensity interval training. On Friday or Saturday I usually get a long bike ride in with Dan.
After just one week I’ve lost 1.67 pounds of fat and gained .07 pounds of lean body mass. for a total of a loss of .83% body fat. Not to mention the half inch off my waist and a quarter inch off my hips!
With a bit of discipline, some hard work and a determined goal, you can reach your health goals. Won’t you join me in getting in the best shape of your life, no matter what age you are?
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