Bodybuilding and Raw

[smasty]

So, I have some bodybuilding friends poking their nose in here (hi KB!)...if you are doing strenuous exercise on raw (psssst...Alissa--this means you), including bodybuilding, will you share your experience? How are you eating? How is your body responding? What is your energy level for tough workouts?

[Alissa]

Alright smasty,
When you first go raw, if you are working out heavy, lifting weights, etc... You will undoubtedly lose some strength and not be able to lift as much weight. After that initial period, (which is ALWAYS different for everyone in terms of length of time!) you will gain back your strength and more of it. YouÂ’ll have a lot more energy and endurance.

My energy level for workouts was much improved as I was able to work out longer and harder and my stamina was like never before.

My body began to get more defined, something I could never get on cooked food. I have a typical bodybuilding physique, I get really big and bulky really quick but losing weight and getting ripped were not easy for me.
Even now I can get 'smooth' if I eat a lot of fats and donÂ’t do enough cardio.
Everyone is different in this sense; there is no one answer and you really have to 'know' your body.

My diet varies very much! If im working out a lot I tend to want a lot of fruit. But I still try to get my greens. Im doing some experimenting with hemp powders and my green powder which is amazing stuff and im really feeling it.

Its always changing but I can tell you that I have never had the strength, stamina, and energy that being raw has given me. My body is so much more sculpted now.

Did that answer some of what you were asking?
Best,
Alissa

[smasty]

Today is day 100 for me on raw. I'm thrilled with my progress, but there's definitely things I want to improve for the next 100 days. (Check out my journal entry today on Alissa's Raw in Process).

Day 1 weight: 196
Day 100 weight: 170
Day 1 Body fat % 31 (approx)
Day 100 body fat % 25.5
Day 1 fat pounds: 60.76
Day 100 fat pounds: 43.91

Day 200 Goal:

Weight: 160
body fat 20%

This means I've got to lose exactly 11.41 pounds of fat, and gain 1.5 pounds of lean in the next 100 days to meet my goal. Very doable, but will require consistent heavy lifting and daily (5x a week) cardio.

My exercise has been terrible the last 3 months. Very sporadic---I'm looking forward to more discipline in that area, and cleaning up just a few things that have gotten sloppy in my eating habits (too much dense food for convenience).

So, I'll be embarking on a bodybuilding experiment w/ 100% raw to gain 1.5 pounds of muscle in the next 100 days. Stay tuned!!

Sue

[thunderdancer]

YEAY!

Sue this is brilliant, i'm so interested in this too - I posted another thread coz I missed this one.

I too want to make some muscle, I have gone all thin and weedy and this will be my 1st ever time building muscle.

I'd love to hear what you do and how, I have no gym but I have got hand weights and a brother who tells me great stuff about using the body doing resistance work.

Thank you for sharing your goals! I just read your journal too and the LBM info was really good too thanks.

I used to eat loads of dried fruit and nuts too (don't have a dehydrator or I would have eaten that too) I ate dry figs and dates byt the bag. In the end my digestion shouted NO so I no longer have them. It was hard getting off them but increasing my fruit worked really well.

I feel so inspired by your journal!

[Kristi]

[QUOTE=thunderdancer]I used to eat loads of dried fruit and nuts too (don't have a dehydrator or I would have eaten that too) QUOTE]

You cracked me up. LOL Great way to start my morning!

[thunderdancer]

Hehe

And a great way to finish my day - to be grinning at the thought of making you laugh ;)

Seriously, my friend makes the most YUM things in her dehydrator, when I go there they have to open all the windows and light insense... ok not so serious after all hehe

[smasty]

Hi Thunder! Your pic is so great, I love it!

Yeah this will be a fun experiment! All my bodybuilding in the past has been done with high protein...loads of chicken, whey, eggs, tuna. I'm, obviously, not eating any of that stuff anymore, I do have hemp protein I use on occasion. I'll post my food and workout plans, and progress regularly. I'm glad to hear I have a partner! Resistance training is so important. Thanks for your comment too about the dense foods, I think it can be a real trap, I'm glad I'm recognizing it.

Sue

[Kristi]

What exactly is "dense" food? I think I know but perhaps I'm just dense ;) .

[smasty]

I see raw foods as basically two types: 1. High water content (fresh fruits, veggies) or 2. dense foods with little water (nuts, dried fruit, dehydrated stuff, high fat foods like olives, avocado, oils)

[Kristi]

Thanks for enlightening me! :)

[marigold]

i dont qualify for the heavy weights catagory but i do lift weights and my muscles do grow and are quite defined..i do rebounding too..dont do anything special but i do eat more fruit ..and am more hungry after..does this help..

[lil]

Smatsy -
I've really noticed a difference once going raw (with high fruit) with weight lifting.

I was fine when I was vegetarian, then I went vegan a few years back and seemed to loose a lot of strength. My ability to lift heavy weights and do cardio went way down. I dabbled in the protein powders (whey and hemp) but there was no difference. This last month I've really stuck to a high fruit raw diet and I can't believe the difference in the gym. I've increased some of my weights by 30%! (I'm still in shock!). I haven't experienced any of my usual fatique or weakness. I also look more toned and muscular.

[Rawkinlocs]

Maybe this is what our new category should be...fitness, exercise type of stuff. I need advice on what to do to build and tone muscle! I'd love to hear more from you all as to what you do, how often, etc.!

[thunderdancer]

Sue - happy to be your partner!

Rawkinlocs - i'm with you there!! It'd be grea tto get into this even more, training together/tips/guidance/expereince/inspiration

[smasty]

Great idea to make "Fitness" the new category!