Daily menu for those raw and lifting?

[Liserpiece]

Hia,
I was wondering if any of you raw lifters out there would post what you eat in a day. I lost weight while detoxing, 10lbs and want to gain it back, plus a bit more!. I want to replace those lost lbs with muscle and even a little fat would be welcome :) However, since trying to do so, (4 weeks now of 100% raw :D ) of cardio/aerobic exercise and light weight lifting/toning, I have not gained a thing. :eek: I know I can do this, but I need some guidance!! I think with my cardio work outs, I'm burning fat, not something that I have a lot of to burn. I may be preventing muscle build up??? It's frustrating to see the scrawny person in the mirror when I feel so GREAT on the inside!!!
Any thoughts/daily menus would be great!
Thanks!

[belleadonna]

I am a 54 year old woman and I lift. I have been for about 20 years. I have had no trouble retaining my muscle on a 90% raw diet. My typical day is

Barley grass upon rising followed 1/2 hour later by
carrot/spinach juice
I go to the gym and work out for about an hour. When I get home I have a glass of carrot/ginger juice and a banana.
For lunch I either do fruit or a huge green salad
In the afternoon I have more fruit and another glass of carrot juice with some other veggie juiced (whatever I want)
For dinner I have a salad and a small portion of cooked food like roasted potatoes, rice and beans, steamed veggies, etc...
I may have fruit later in the evening if I am hungry.
That's all that I do. I feel stronger than I ever did and I don't run out of gas in workouts. If I eat a heavy breakfast I find that I do run out of gas.

[LoveLife]

I'm not sure what to tell u about the food....BUT..I did notice something in your post that is preventing u from gaining muscle...U said that u do cardio and light lifting/toning...well if u want to gain muscle u have to lift heavy with low reps..if u keep lifting light with high reps then u will tone but gain no extra muscle or an extremely small amount..it will only tone the muscles u already have..and make u stronger...so what u need to do is lift heavier...u need to find a weight where your muscles go to failure in 4-6 reps (also u may want to lift fewer days..becuz it might take u longer to recover..still do cardio and maybe some light lifting on your not heavy days)...this is why u see guys lifting so much weight..they want to be bigger..and no do not worry u will not look like a man:p ...women can't do that unless they are taking something to help them look like that..I would suggest lifting heavy until u are how u want to look and then go back to toning:) ....cardio will not make u unable to gain muscle...but u may not be eating enough calories and/or protein...good luck:D

[cindi1]

Absolutely - too much cardio can burn your muscles too. If you are scrawny - as you say - I suggest you cut back on cardio and do a lot of HEAVY lifting as was already suggeted.

Try to get a ratio of twice as much weight training as cardio. And keep the cardio moderate - in the fat burning heartrate zone.

I don't think it's what you are eating that is causing your trouble.

good luck!

[belleadonna]

Yeah, good point. I rarely do any cardio and if I do, I just walk and not on the days that I lift. Also, don't forget to rest your different muscle groups. Don't work the same groups out every day. Your muscles need a day in between to re-coup.

[Liserpiece]

Thank you all for the replies, very helpful. I think I will continue to eat the same and lift (heavier :) ) weights... maybe something like this:
Monday- Lower body with walk
Tuesday-Upper body with moderate cardio, stationary bike
Wednesday-Lower body with walk
Thursday-Upper body with moderate cardio, stationary bike
Friday-Moderate cardio, walk
Saturday-Moderate cardio, bike ride
Sunday-Rest :)
I'm HOPEFUL!

[belleadonna]

You will just need to experiment and find out what works best for you. Vary your workouts every 3 weeks or so too as your body gets smart as to what you are doing. Like I said, I do very little cardio. My typical workout looks something like this.

Monday- Chest, triceps, back, biceps, shoulders
Tuesday- lower body
Wednesday- workout with trainer, upper body
Thursday- I work part time on this day
Friday- upper body again
Sat-rest
Sunday-rest
I switch up my routines every month or so doing different sets of different exercises.

Like I said, I feel stronger on a 90% raw vegan diet and at age 54 I can squat 255 lbs and bench 100 lbs.

[Turbolift]

I'm throwing my 2 cents in here! I've just started eating RAW but I've been weight-lifting for about 6 yrs now. I agree with everyone on needing to lift heavy! I'm always trying out changes in sets and reps to keep my muscles continually shocked and wondering what in the heck I'm doing! That's the way you grow 'em....

If you do cardio with lifting, make the cardio AFTER lifting and not before. If you lift heavy enough with legs, you'll want to give them a day all to themselves. Believe me! I can't walk for a good 2-3 days after my leg day. I can't imagine trying to do cardio afterwards..

If you want to combine muscle groups, go for something like Chest and tris and/or shoulders and another day for back and biceps. Listen to your body. THere is a great bodybuilding web site that really gets into the physiology of lifting and building muscle while providing great routines and individual lifts. www.abcbodybuilding.com

Good Luck!

[rawsurfer]

you still need cardio though... never doing cardio and only doing heavy lifting isnt that good for you (i think)

[lavendarJ]

My muscle groups are finally starting to rebuild....I think anyway. I lost everything or at least that's the way it seemed but I understand the process of losing the muscle and trust that my body is going to rebuild. I've been doing this set of strength training exercises:
http://exercise.about.com/library/blbeginnerstrength3.htm
I do this 3 times per week and I am finally starting to notice some sort of development or at least feel some sort of change. I think switching to 3 days per week versus trying to alternate upper and lower body 6 days a week has made the difference. I think doing this specific set of exercises (the combination) makes a difference for me. I do 3 sets of everything and do 20 reps of each (except for the pushups). I just use my dumbbells and a 20lb weighted bar. I can tell a difference-finally- I had become weak to the point where I couldn't even get the lawn mower started :D . I still do my cardio every day..not too intense on strength training days. I know how you feel about the muscle thing. I don't think it is possible to lose all your muscle mass but it sure felt like that for a while with me. Let us know how it progresses for you.