Homeless in Hawaii

30 Days of Strict Vegetarian Living: Final Weeks Results

The study for whether or not a strict Vegetarian diet would work has now come to a close. It’s been an interesting month seeing the changes in my body, attitude, and overall well being. The biggest change I have seen is the ridicule and outright hatred for choosing to eat a certain way. In the past month I have never been judged as much as I have been in my life. Most of this criticism has been from those who have no regard to their health in terms of the proper diet and nutrition. One great thing to note is how great the Vegetarian/Vegan community is and how they continue to encourage and
share new stories, recipes and examples of others who have made the switch
to a healthier diet.

This study was not meant to convince anyone that they should switch to vegetarian/vegan eating styles. In the end it’s a person’s choice whether or not they are going to begin their own research on what foods do to their body. For me the results can’t be argued in terms of my physical well being and the great benefits it has had on my attitude. After a month of not eating any animal products I can tell you that I have not once had a craving for any animal products. I haven’t wanted cake, steak, burgers or anything else made of or containing animal products. There has been such a great increase in vegan alternatives that it has been easy for me to do the switch.

What’s happened over the past month

In the past month I’ve gained muscle mass in my chest while losing half a percent of fat which hasn’t occurred for a couple of months into my diet. I’ve been told countless times while doing this study that I must be starving, but I’ve had more of an opportunity to have my palette expanded, not restricted. I now enjoy eating raw vegetables like cucumbers, celery, carrots and green peppers raw, without any condiment aids straight from the store. Never before could I enjoy such a light snack and actually get cravings for these foods.

Some say they would rather eat the sweets and die happy. I say I want to run and play with my children, have joints that work, I want to be able to avoid cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. I want to see my grandkids grow up and be able to play with them while I age. I want to age gracefully, not have my body tear me apart. I’m in control of my body, the food industry isn’t, I’ve learned that this past month. Eating only whole foods and plants has helped me see how much say the food industry has in our every day lives. If you think you aren’t addicted to sugar, meat, or fat, try doing this “diet” for a month and see how you do. Most aren’t willing to try it because they think it’s pointless, it’s not pointless in fact it could be the difference between you having early onset diabetes or not.

I’ve found the joy of natural foods. The food that is naturally here for us and doesn’t hurt the environment, doesn’t hurt or abuse animals, and above all doesn’t hurt my body. I’m not asking everyone to make a switch as drastic as mine, I’m asking you to watch what you eat. This can be started by simply watching your caloric intake, and making sure you only have good calories, not bad. Watch the videos below that I’ve posted, see what the professionals and critics are saying about what the food industry is doing to our country and more importantly, you. I ask that after you watch the videos posted, and do a little research yourself to seriously think about the consequences of what the food is doing to your body. I’m not telling you to be a Vegan or even a Vegetarian. I’m asking you to think about that big mac, or whopper you put into your mouth.

My conclusion / my choice

If you haven’t guessed it by now, yes I’ve chosen to stay a strict vegetarian for my life time. What does this mean? This means that I will not eat animal products, I will not eggs, milk, meat, whey or any other animal products put into food. I’m not only going to be a strict vegetarian, I choose to eat whole natural foods, this means that the foods need to be as natural as possible, cereals that I eat must be whole nuts, grains and natural sugars. Most meals I eat will have come straight from the ground. This includes my bans on sugar, corn syrup, and high fructose corn syrup. Keep in mind I will occasionally choose to eat home made sweets like dark chocolate covered strawberries and things like that. I choose not to eat any products that have chemically altered sugars or plain sugars in them. Too many people are dying from diabetes and other food related diseases. I can’t sit idly by and allow it to happen to me.

Starting this study a month ago I never thought that my choice to just do a study would change so much of what I believe about nutrition, about the ways I look at food and people. I believe our body is the most precious thing we have, it’s the only one we have, and we have to live with it for our entire life. We don’t get to trade it in for another, we’re stuck with what we’ve got. I would rather at the end of my days choose to be chemically killed in a matter of minutes than to live my life not being able to run with my children because I chose not to eat right.

Changing your eating habits is a change in priorities

I will be honest, it’s not cheap to live the way I live. It has cost me over double my normal food budget to switch to eating whole and natural foods. This is an investment in your future, more than your car, more than your cable, more than your internet. Switching to a healthy life takes effort and money. Instead of owning the premium channels on your cable, choose to buy more lettuce, apples, and bananas. An even better choice would be to go on a walk or bike ride with your kids the next time your favorite show on one of those channels comes on. Walking and running has been proven to help not only your heart, but also your mental health, which in turn helps create a healthier relationship in your family.

If you have been reading my posts I hope it has spurred an interest in at least trying to refute what I am saying. If you are angry with what I have said over the past month, or with this post, by all means get a hold of me and be willing to back up your beliefs. I’m willing to listen and talk to anyone about diet and nutrition, but be willing to hear my arguments from my side as well. As I said in the beginning of this article, in the end, it’s your choice. I’m here to ruffle your feathers and push you to try and prove me wrong or show me your results. I’ve gotten so much feedback from people who started reading my blog at the beginning who have noticed considerable weight loss just by watching their calories. This is such an encouragement to hear about them trying to change their eating habits and their lives. With that being said, here’s my results.

Body Stats

My stats from last week are:

My stats from this week are:

151.6lbs

Download the final weeks food regiment.

As you can see, not much has changed from last week to this week. The change was slight and most likely water since the fat percentage and muscle did not increase. Something to be noted is that since the first week I have not really lost any weight, which as stated in earlier posts wasn’t the goal. The goal was to gain muscle while losing fat. Overall in the past month I have gained .25in in my chest and dropping .5% of my body fat percentage. This drop is larger than I had been able to drop in months so to me it was a great month. Keep in mind this past month I increased my caloric intake by 900 calories. I’ve been eating more than the average american does each day and still gained no noticeable weight, but gained muscle and lost fat.

[caption id=”” align=”aligncenter” width=”491” caption=”30 Days of Strict Vegetarian Living: Final Week Results - Flex”]

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[caption id=”” align=”aligncenter” width=”453” caption=”30 Days of Strict Vegetarian Living: Final Week Results - Side”]

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[caption id=”” align=”aligncenter” width=”538” caption=”30 Days of Strict Vegetarian Living: Final Week Results - Relaxed”]

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Videos

Here’s the videos I highly recommend viewing.

Below is a trailer for food inc. You can find the video through netflix or amazon.

If you have any questions, comments, criticism or concerns please feel free to post a comment, email me - Jordanddunn@gmail.com or @JordanDunn on twitter.

Love it: Dove Men+Care

A new line of facial scrubs, bath soaps and shampoos has been launched by dove. I personally love the new scents and think the branding for the new line is phenomenal. The large bold brackets encasing the text with the use of clean but masculine looking colors. The branding for the new line of bath products fits well into what dove already has established and is great if you have a guy in your life looking for a new scent in the shower.

Hate it: UGG Boots

UGG Boots to me are one of the most hideous accessories a person can own. They are named UGG for a reason and should never be worn by any person. I don’t care if there are no other boots sold in the store and all you own are flip flops. Yes, there will be some sacrifices that will have to be made, like amputating your toes from the bitter cold, but in the end you will not have committed one of the most offensive fashion mistakes. Wearing UGG.

Hate it: Virginia Drivers

Virginia drivers are some of the worst drivers in the country. I’ve been to some of the largest cities (NYC, LA, etc..) and no where else do you have people cut you off and wave at you as though you did them a favor. No where else do you have the fast lane taken up with people going below the speed limit.

Alice in Wonderland: I should have been high

The ever talented Johnny Depp has teamed up with his good friend Tim Burton to create yet another eerily portrayed movie. Alice in Wonderland begins with Alice at her very own engagement party at the ripe old age of 19. The scenery and acting in the beginning scenes before falling down the whole are very much in line with Tim burton and his style of cinematography, the actors are all creepy as ever and it is a decent beginning. However once she falls down the hole, the movie takes a turn for the worse.

Not for children

Once down the whole the movie begins to play out like the original Alice in Wonderland which everyone is so familiar with, of course now she must save Wonderland with the help of her old friends. The setting for the movie should have been a great experience if only Tim Burton and the writers could have actually chosen an age group to target this movie towards. Within 15 minutes of the movies’ beginning Alice finds herself speaking to a caterpillar which is a well known player. One thing about the caterpillar set me off from ever taking a child to see the movie. He smokes a bong. I know this has been done in the original as well, but to me I don’t believe I want to see a movie with my child or anyone’s child with characters smoking a bong in a mystical land.

The caterpillar is not the only element of the movie that I don’t find appealing for a child to see. The idea that the evil queen is murdering other animals in the kingdom by chopping off their heads throughout the movie is generally a no-no for children. Kids do not like to see any harm come to animals in films, especially talking animals.

Not for adults

Now that we’ve established that the movie isn’t for children we can establish that it isn’t for adults. Within the first 15 minutes that I spoke of earlier while Alice is speaking to the caterpillar, the caterpillar lays out the entire movies plot by showing her a scroll of the elements to come. To me I don’t want to know the end of the movie within the first section of it. I found it annoying and ruined the rest of the movie for me. The movie is then played out as though it was all predestined to happen and there’s nothing she truly could change about the world because it was already laid out.

The movie plays out originally in a rather creepy and eery fashion, but once down the hole, Alice and the characters are more sad than creepy or strange. The movie becomes too animated and becomes more of a children’s animated style than what an adult would enjoy viewing. Johnny Depp is creepier as Willy Wonka than as the mad hatter.

Disney 3D

I saw the film in the 3D viewing theater. This was a large mistake, this may be because I have been spoiled by the gorgeous film Avatar. Watching Alice in Wonderland was a test on my stomach and my head. If the characters weren’t using obvious tricks to create a 3D effect, they were moving so quickly everything on screen blurred to the point of nausea and headaches. After the movie was complete I heard most of the people in the theater complaining about not feeling well, I’m to be included in that. Disney needed to take a note from Avatar and realize that 3D is not made for gimmicks, but to add another level of depth to the movie.

Overall the movie could have been something if I had gone out and lit up a joint or two before entering the theater it might have had a fighting chance, but if you don’t then it will be a complete waste of time and a $13 ticket.

As always if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions feel free to comment below.

30 Days of Strict Vegetarian Living: Week 3 Results

It’s crazy to think that I’m already done with 3 weeks of not touching a food product that contains any trace of animal products. I only have one more week on the trial, then we get to find out if I’m actually going to eat this way from now on. If you haven’t been reading up on the study you can start from the beginning.

The third week for my study has been a great week with great improvements. My appearance has changed quite a bit in the week and a fat loss percentage has also dropped since last week which hasn’t happened in over 4 months. This week I also finished listening to “The China Study” which has been one of the major motivations for this health study. Overall this has been a great week and I’ve been receiving news that readers are beginning to try out the diet themselves which is a great encouragement and motivation to keep posting other articles regarding vegetarian diets and health in general.

I have noticed an increase in my attitude and energy levels this past week over the other two. I don’t know if this is related to the diet or not, but I have also felt a great boost in self confidence and assurance with the way I look this week with the improvements I’m slowly noticing. Like everyone else I go into slow times of change in my appearance and meeting my goals which can be very discouraging. I’ve had quite a dry spell as of late with meeting my goal, but this past week was a great encouragement and has helped me push harder in the gym and realize that each day I’m getting closer to my goals.

In the coming weeks I’m going to be going over some basic knowledge of workouts and weightloss. Things I thought were common knowledge apparently aren’t, so I’ve decided to address these issues. Working out in the gym lately I have noticed people (especially the women) strangely contorting their body thinking they are doing an exercise when in reality they are just moving very strange. Just because you saw a short clip of a yoga session does not mean that you should go to the gym and try random poses saying that you are doing yoga.

A quick answer to a question I keep getting asked. I’ve been asked what size pant I wear since my actual waist size is 31 and if I wear a 32in waist in my pants. Actually, I wear 29 to 30in waist pants. Keep in mind that in the mens department of most any store you will not find a 29in waist. Instead of I have to get a 31-32 generally and buy belts to keep my pants on. If I didn’t own belts and wear them all the time my pants would fall off my body.

Here’s a link to the food I ate during week 3.

My stats from last week are:

38.25in

My stats from this week are:

150

10%

The drop in my body fat percentage comes as a great encouragement but also lends a problem. Most calipers used to measure body fat are made for the general populous which means that they do not really go below 10%. This means that it’s going to be guesstimating if I ever get below that unless I can find an even more accurate set of calipers I can get my hands on which would be great.

A reader was a great help this past week in helping me find a more natural soy sauce that not only doesn’t have any corn syrup but it is also lower in sodium which is uncommon in the world of soy sauce as it is basically soy with a lot of salt. The soy sauce I picked up was found at walmart and is Kikkoman’s Less Sodium Soy Sauce.

[caption id=”” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”Week 4: Relaxed, 30 Days of Strict Vegetarian Living: Week 3 Results”]

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[caption id=”” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”Week 4: Flex, 30 Days of Strict Vegetarian Living: Week 3 Results”]

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[caption id=”” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”Week 4: Side, 30 Days of Strict Vegetarian Living: Week 3 Results”]

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As I said earlier in the post it’s difficult to notice the subtle changes in the abs. Hopefully in a few weeks it will become even more defined and will be more noticeable.

As always if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions feel free to comment below or email me at Jordanddunn@gmail.com.

My Ever Changing Workout Routine

I’ve received a lot of feedback since I began posting my study about living a strict vegetarian diet for a month. One question I keep getting asked is what my workout routine and if I workout from home or at a gym. I decided I would answer this question now instead of waiting till the study is over since I have quite a few questions to answer once this is all said and done.

My workout routine was varying quite a bit from day to day, switching things up a bit, but I’ve finally pinpointed a workout routine that works great for me. I don’t recommend you do the exact workout routine if you aren’t in decent shape, or you may end up being so tired the next day that you don’t want to exercise.

All my workouts are done in the gym except on Sundays and Thursdays. These two days I workout from home due to schedule restrictions on these days.

If you are doing these workout routines with a partner, on average they should take around an hour and 30 minutes to an hour and 45 minutes depending on the routine. If alone, it should be cut down to an hour and 15 minutes to and hour and a half.

Monday

Mondays are mostly chest based and focus a little on the arms.

Elliptical machine: 45 minutes, ramp is set from 9 - 12, resistance is anywhere from 13 - 20 (variations depend on the elliptical machine I use that day)

Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 sets of 8-10 reps (60lbs, 65lbs then 70lbs per hand)

Dumbbell Bent Over Row: 3 sets of 12 reps (40lbs then 50lbs)

Dumbbell Incline Bench Press: 2 sets of 5 reps (40lbs then 50lbs)

Dumbbell Squat: 2 sets of 15 reps (40lbs per hand both sets)

Tuesday

Tuesdays I give my chest a break and focus more on the arms.

Elliptical machine: 45 minutes ramp is set from 9 - 12, resistance is anywhere from 13 - 20 (variations depend on the elliptical machine I use that day)

Close Hand Pullup: 3 sets of 8 - 10 reps (I don’t add the weight like the girl in the video does haha, i’m too weak for that!)

Negative Chinup: 2 sets of 5 reps (I do these without the assistance of a bench)

Negative Dip: 2 sets of 5 reps

Inverted Row: 3 sets of 15 - 25 reps

Dumbbell Curl: 3 sets of 8 - 10 reps (35lbs, 45lbs then 55 - 60lbs)

Dumbbell Tricep Extensions: 3 sets of 10 - 20 reps

Wednesday

Wednesdays and Fridays I try to focus mostly on abs and cardio.

Elliptical machine: 45 minutes ramp is set from 9 - 12, resistance is anywhere from 13 - 20 (variations depend on the elliptical machine I use that day)

“The Ultimate Medicine Ball Workout” (it’s easier to link to the directions that I have taken it from than regurgitating what Men’s health has done so well to write.)

Jump Rope: 10 minutes

Thursday

Thursday is focused solely on cardio and conditioning

Kickboxing: 20 - 30 minutes I do a combination of different things when kickboxing against my partner who holds the pads.

Wide Pushups: 3 sets of 20 reps (when doing these pushups on the push back up I clap in between)

Close hand pushups: 3 sets of 20 reps

Jump Rope: 10 minutes

Close Hand Pullup: 3 sets of 8 - 10 reps (I don’t add the weight like the girl in the video does haha, i’m too weak for that!)

Friday

I focus again as I did on Wednesday on the abs and cardio.

Elliptical machine: 45 minutes ramp is set from 9 - 12, resistance is anywhere from 13 - 20 (variations depend on the elliptical machine I use that day)

“The Ultimate Medicine Ball Workout”(it’s easier to link to the directions that I have taken it from than regurgitating what Men’s health has done so well to write.)

Jump Rope: 10 minutes

Saturday

Rest: I’ve got to do it one day!

Sunday

I am not going to lie, I began doing Sunday workouts starting this week. This is a brutal workout, and I would not recommend this for the faint at heart.

“The Spartacus Workout”: This is intended to be very high intensity, only taking time to switch between each station.

My workouts focus mostly on upper body, but quite a few of my workouts include rows, bent over rows, squats and many other exercises that focus on the legs which is why I don’t have a specific day dedicated to them, since they get worked out the most.

If you are attempting any of these workouts, go at your own pace, don’t try to keep up and if you can do better than me that’s great. Be sure to have lots and lots of water, these workouts will leave you dripping with sweat and completely dehydrated. Once you’re done with the workout, be sure to have a fruit smoothie with some soy protein in it.

Again if you have any comments, questions or suggestions feel free to comment below or email me at Jordanddunn@gmail.com.

30 Days of Strict Vegetarian Living: Week 2 Results

This week has come with it’s fair share of difficulties. This past weekend I came down with what seemed like the flu. This put a damper on my workouts over the weekend and the beginning of the week. One thing I realized from losing the weight over these past few months and now eating a strict vegetarian diet is that medicine strongly affects me much more than it used to. I felt as though I had drank large sums of alcohol or had lit up a joint. For the past three to four days I could barely do anything in a conscious state.

I’m getting into a pattern now of what I eat on different days and you will notice in my eating schedule that it doesn’t fluctuate that much anymore. I essentially eat a smoothie, cereal, peanut butter and jelly, and either a salad or a bowl of rice with tofu every day.

My tastes are quickly changing to dislike extreme sweets and actually enjoy tofu. The first week I had tried tofu I couldn’t stand it, but now I eat a quarter cup of tofu every other day in my brown rice, with a little soy sauce it tastes quite good.

I’m going to begin posting different “recipes” if you want to call them that. I have come up with some that taste pretty good.

I’ve become acquainted with cooking quite a bit now. I’m trying to cook a new recipe every weekend if possible. This has helped to break up the monotony of eating the same foods every day. It also helps to keep you from eating restaurant food or pre-packaged foods on the weekend because you want to just relax and not do anything. It’s fun and can help give you something different to do on the weekend.

One big change that I’m making to my diet, I believe that is even more difficult than going strict vegetarian is getting rid of corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup. This has become a challenge as almost everything in the grocery stores now have this in it. It’s even in your salad dressings, most condiments, coke, cereal,… You get the idea. The one thing I’m looking for now is soy sauce that doesn’t contain corn syrup, it’s very difficult to find and I haven’t been successful yet. If anyone has any recommendations please let me know.

I have noticed one thing since getting sick this weekend and being strung out on the medication. I feel ten times better eating the foods I have been eating and not taking the medication. I feel that the foods I’ve been eating have helped to counteract the flu much more than the actual medication has. All the medication did was dull my mind in order for me not to feel as sick. It did just that, and made me very tired and lazy. In turn, these past two days I’ve not taken any medication but instead I’ve just eaten what I normally eat on this diet and have noticed a great increase in the way I feel. I’ve even been able to go back to the gym and do a decent workout.

Here’s my update for the physical side of things. Not much has changed over this week as I had assumed. I believe it’s mostly due to being sick and not being able to do as much physical activity as I had hoped.

My stats from last week are:

152.8lbs

38.175in

~2,400 cal.

~120 – 140 g.

My stats from this week are:

38.25in

Here’s a link to my week 2 eating regiment.

As you can see, the only change has been a slight increase in the chest. This may be due to the increased weight of the weights I have been benching, or due to the diet, or both. My belief is it is a combination of both. This goes to further debunk the myth that the use of soy/plant based protein is detrimental to building muscle mass, and that whey protein is the only way to increase the amount.

[caption id=”” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”Week 3: Relaxed, 30 Days of Strict Vegetarian Living: Week 2 Results”]

Week 3: Relaxed, 30 Days of Strict Vegetarian Living: Week 2 Results

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[caption id=”” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”Week 3: Side, 30 Days of Strict Vegetarian Living: Week 2 Results”]

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[caption id=”” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”Week 3: Flexed, 30 Days of Strict Vegetarian Living: Week 2 Results”]

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Again if you have any comments, questions or suggestions feel free to comment below or email me at Jordanddunn@gmail.com.

30 Days of Strict Vegetarian Living: Week 1 Results

Week 1 results are in and it’s a little different than I expected it would be. As you know, if you read last weeks post, I began the strict vegetarian diet which means I don’t eat anything with animal products, including eggs or milk in them for one entire month.

My caloric intake for this study was boosted 900 calories more than I normally eat, because I am wanting to gain more muscle mass than what I already have. This was one of the first things that I noticed heavily. Being on 1,500 calories, you learn to fight hunger pains and curb your appetite, but with 2,400 calories I have felt like I am eating all day every day non stop. It feels like I will become obese through it, but in fact I’ve not only gained very little weight, it hasn’t been fat.

My stats from last week are:

My stats from this week are:

152.8lbs

38.175in

~2,400 cal.

~120 – 140 g.

As you can see the numbers in bold are what have changed from the time before beginning this study. My chest size not only increased .175in in one week it was muscle and not fat which is a great thing to see. While this improvement is not entirely visible it is encouraging to see that soy protein and the use of nuts are not distorting the increased weight and workout regiment that I am doing on a weekly basis.

How I’ve Felt

This week has been quite interesting. Switching from all whey/egg based proteins to soy based proteins will do a number on your gastro intestinal tract. This is common with switching between different types of proteins and I had forgotten that this happened. Now that it’s been a week into using soy protein, my body is now getting used to the soy based protiens and is digesting it well.

As I said earlier, I have felt like I am eating all day, as I write this I’m eating another apple. This feeling however is a much different feeling than if I were eating meat and is difficult to describe. When meat is eaten there is almost the feeling of a lump in your stomach, it’s the difficulty that your stomach is having digesting larger portions of meat. It’s an odd feeling and one that you don’t really notice until you no longer eat the meat that you realize that feeling is no longer there. I can eat 900 calories more than I ate before and feel satisfied without feeling full to the point of almost feeling sick. I feel “lighter” in a sense, which is again difficult to explain. Everything I eat has a lighter feel to it than that with dairy or meat in it, even soy milk and almond milk has been easier to digest and drink than regular milk.

My Inspiration

I’ve been asked what inspired me to try this study out so I figured I would show you. It’s a video that hit theaters a few years back and made a lot of companies begin making “healthier” menus. It’s called “Super Size Me”. It’s a study/documentary that a man did for 30 days, he ate nothing but McDonalds food and if the cashier asked if he would like to super size the meal he would automatically do so. The movie changed the way I eat a lot of things and is one of the reasons I no longer eat fast food. I’ve embeded the video into this post or you can view it here.. Just a quick warning, there is some foul language used in the video so it may not be suitable for the kids to be around.

My other form of inspiration as I mentioned in the first week was the book entitled “The China Study” which discusses many studies that show the effects of animal products on our society. These range from cancer to heart disease to of course, obesity. I would highly recommend you read or listen to it. You can download it from audible here.

My Eating Regiment / Results

You can view my eating regiment by downloading the pdf I have linked to here.
As you can see the one thing that I have eaten quite a bit of is carbs, this comes not only from the cereal that I eat but I have been eating more wheat and whole grain breads as well as a lot of vegetables. I have been eating more fiber than ever, but the one noticeable thing is that I have had 0% cholesterol all week. Cholesterol is a by-product of animals and is not contained in any natural food items like vegetables or fruit. According to the American Heart Association you actually do not even need cholesterol in your diet, there were some concerns that sex drive and other physical problems would occur with a 0% cholesterol diet, but your liver actually creates all the cholesterol you need so there is no point to eat extra amounts of it.

If you view Saturday (February 13th), I ate 1,400 calories on top of what I normally eat. I normally go off of my regiment on Saturdays, this proved to be extremely bad for me this week. Once you begin to eat healthier your body begins to reject processed foods, especially corn syrup. Going off of the regiment this day made me so sick I will not be attempting that again.

I will be posting my workout regiment later this week in case you are interested in seeing it.

Here are the photos of me below, taken on Tuesday evening. As I mentioned earlier, the changes to the chest are not really visible as it is only a slight increase, but it’s still very impressive to see that so far the soy protein has not decreased muscle growth as some nutritionists say.

[caption id=”” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”Week 2: Flex, 30 Days of Strict Vegetarian Living: Week 1 Results”]

Week 2: Flex, 30 Days of Strict Vegetarian Living: Week 1 Results

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[caption id=”” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”Week 2: Relaxed 30 Days of Strict Vegetarian Living: Week 1 Results”]

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[caption id=”” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”Week 2: Side 30 Days of Strict Vegetarian Living: Week 1 Results”]

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Again if you have any comments, questions or suggestions feel free to comment below or email me at Jordanddunn@gmail.com.

30 Days of Strict Vegetarian Living, a health study

In a world of Atkins, South Beach, Low Carb, Low Sugar and Low Fat diets I began to get tired of all this “diet” garbage. I’ve been becoming a little obsessed with my health, reading nutrition books and watching documentaries. If you don’t do the proper research it can become so confusing and you may end up destroying part of your diet for another. So I’ve decided to do experiments of “diets” that I find interesting.

The first thing is first, I don’t believe in diets. I believe in lifestyles. If you eat to lose weight and that’s your only goal, you will always end up reverting back to what you were. You need to have a true change of heart, realize that your body is the most important thing you have on this earth and that you need to take care of it.

The change in my life that I have decided to tackle is the Vegan Strict Vegetarian lifestyle. Not because I hate leather and only believe in hemp clothing. I actually love leather and my loafers are very comfortable. I’m not here to debate the ethics of a vegan lifestyle. I’m here to see about the health of a vegan lifestyle.

My goal is in 30 days to see if there is a change in my muscle mass, my fat percentage, and overall well being. A couple of years ago there was a book written entitled “The China Study” and it discusses major upsides to a Vegan lifestyle, it claims there will be very little chance of cancer and many other diseases that leads to most american deaths. This book spurred on my interest to see if it will really change my life, for better or worse.

Now, here’s the goal. I have lost a considerable amount of weight and body fat percentage in the last nine months. Since losing this weight, I have noticed that I’ve become scrawny. My goal is to increase my chest and arm size without increasing my body fat percentage, (hopefully decreasing it). Many nutritionists have argued that only whey protein found in meats, eggs and other animal products is the way to gain muscle mass. I’m going to work in the direct opposite of what they are saying, using only soy and nut based protein to not only keep but increase my muscle percentage.

My current condition / diet

My current condition is stated below, I have had a lower caloric intake than what I will have this month due to wanting to lose weight and body fat compared to wanting to gain mass. So the stats will vary from what you will see farther down.

Current Weight: 150lbs

Current Body Fat Percentage: 10.5%

Bicep Dimension: 14in

Chest Dimension: 38in

Waist Dimension: 31in

Daily Caloric Intake: (roughly) 1,500 cal.

Daily Protein Intake: (roughly 140 - 180 g.

[caption id=”” align=”aligncenter” width=”512” caption=”Week 1: Flexed state”]

Photo of my first week in a Flexed state

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[caption id=”” align=”aligncenter” width=”512” caption=”Week 1: Relaxed State”]

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Changes to condition / diet

The changes are intended to increase the overall mass of my body. My goal overall (not just in this month but over a few months time) is to increase my chest size by 3 inches, my waist to decrease a half inch and my overall body fat percentage to decrease to 7.5 - 8%. In order to have this increase in mass my calories must change in order to help compensate.

Goal Body Fat Percentage: 7.5 - 8%

Bicep Dimension: 16 - 18in

Chest Dimension: 40 - 41in

Waist Dimension: 30.5 - 30in

Daily Caloric Intake: (roughly) 2,400 cal.

Daily Protein Intake: (roughly 142 - 244g

If you note, the program I’m on states I need a lot of protein which is very difficult to reach on a Vegan diet. Today I’ve had 2,400 calories while only reaching 140.8g of my protein allotment. This is another step to see which nutritionist is correct.

I will be posting my results on a weekly basis with weekly photo updates as well as a .pdf of my entire diet for the week past, including exact measurements of everything.

If at the end of this study I have found that my muscle mass has increased and overall well being has as well, I will continue to do Vegan living until I find a reason not to.

If you have any questions regarding the study please let me know at my email address JordanDDunn@gmail.com

Edit: I was informed that the correct term is not Vegan, but Strict Vegetarian. I have adjusted the blog post to reflect this change. Vegan is not only in food choices, but in your life style as well unlike the Strict Vegetarian which chooses to buy animal products such as clothes. Thank you for the info @playbackguru

jordanddunn

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