Sun Warrior Protein
and Muscle Gain

A remarkable quality about Sun Warrior Protein is that it contains Gamma Oryzanol. Sun Warrior Protein is made from bio-fermented raw sprouted whole grain brown rice (with the bran and germ). The Japanese have been using and studying this natural compound for years. Gamma Oryzanol is found in different parts of rice, in particular the rice germ and rice bran. What the Japanese have found is that Gamma Oryzanol increases muscle mass, is a potent anti-oxidant and is very effective in healing ulcers, lowering cholesterol, and other conditions. Gamma Oryzanol is used by some athletes based on early reports that suggested it enhances muscle growth and sports performance. According to numerous studies, Gamma Oryzanol produces these benefits by increasing levels of testosterone, growth hormone, and other anabolic (muscle-building) hormones.

On a basic level, protein is needed to provide the essential amino acids necessary for GH synthesis. Protein is utilized by the growth hormones to build muscles. Protein is made up of amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of your muscles and muscle tissue. Without them, it would be impossible to build, repair or even maintain muscle tissue.

Sun Warrior Protein contains all 9 essential and non-essential amino acids in a perfectly balanced Amino Acid Profile. In fact, our comparison by an independent lab test confirms that Sun Warrior Protein is equal or higher in some cases than the amino acid profile of egg, whey, and beef (please refer to the website for amino acid profile comparison charts).

Sun Warrior Protein is living and more potent and absorbable than non-living animal proteins. Most athletes take high amounts of animal based protein that is not usable for the body and is actually acidic creating intestinal toxemia and other disturbances. Because Sun Warrior is predigested with bio-fermentation and natural enzymes, it has a 98% to 99% digestion efficiency. It’s completely hypoallergenic.

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Check out my feature on Sun Warrior’s new site at http://www.sunwarrior.com/experts/athletes.

Be Defiant!!!

Christy

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Sun Warrior really is a godsend, and an incredible product. I highly recommend it. I use it several times a day! Even if it weren’t raw vegan, it is still far superior to whey or other proteins out there on the market.
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And the incredible Raw Beauty, Lauren Michelle Kinsey, also known as Sweet Raw La-La on her VERY popular blog, Awakening Raw Beauty, was kind enough to include me in her “Raw Built Body Project”. Her site is wonderful and extremely informative. Here is the link to my post:

http://laurenkinseynaturalbeauty.wordpress.com/2009/11/17/an-update-from-christy-duffell-seguin/

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Today was a three-workout day, but comparatively very easy. Rob and Shannon said they want me to recover and rest this week, as I have done all I can do to prepare my physique, and they want me rested and on my A-game come this Saturday. I did really bust it on back and arms, though. I was jelly by the time I was done. The cardio was a piece of cake!

We leave for Florida on Thursday morning. I will keep you as updated as possible!

And THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! To all of you who have shown interest in Team Defiance and have sent me some incredible comments. My heart is filled to bursting with gratitude for each and every one of you, and just knowing that I somehow make a positive difference in the life of others is the best gift I can get. I am humbled and honored to be a part of your life. And I promise to keep working hard and hopefully inspire others to be the best they can be.

Be Defiant!

Christy

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I am fortunate that I found a compatriot on YouTube—RawVeganBodybuilder, aka Giacomo Marchese.  His videos are great and he’s a super guy.  I asked for his advice since he has been competing as a raw vegan already.  And coincidentally, we have contests on the same day!   How cool–two raw vegan bodybuilders competing on the same day, on different coasts, as his contest is in Oregon and mine in Georgia.  Good luck Giacomo!

Today, I practiced posing and basketball drills.  I can’t do any cardio this week, because that would cause me to retain water under my skin.  Normally I hate doing cardio but naturally I don’t think I am lean enough, so I am dying to work out!  I had an orange when I first woke up, then a big salad with greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, beets and celeriac root, with a few Brazil nuts and some of my homemade salad dressing–just a little bit.  It has sodium in it, so that will have to go later in the week.   Around lunch, I had a spirulina superfood smoothie made with fresh raw almond ‘mylk’, chocolate Sun Warrior protein, spirulina, Elements for Life Blue Green Algae, stevia, and a tablespoon of UDO’s oil.  Pre-workout, I made my delicious chocolate ‘Muscle Mousse’ of avocado, chocolate Sun Warrior protein, water and a dash of Celtic salt.    Yum! 

The workouts are totally different this week.  Since I am trying to deplete my muscle glycogen in the carb-depletion phase, I am supposed to change to a high-rep workout without going to failure.   The goal is just to work the glycogen out of the muscles so they will be depleted and hungry for carbs later in the week.  Hopefully, they will just soak up the carbs when I ingest them again, and will fill out nicely and be full of water, drawing the water out from under the skin into the muscles.  This is what causes that really ‘dry’ hard muscular look you see in competitors.  It’s not a normal look, and can usually only be achieved for one day.  The trick is to make that day the same day as the contest.  It’s easy to ‘miss’ and look better the day before, or even more commonly, the day AFTER the competition.  Many competitors will come in flat and smooth, and after they lose, go out and eat in frustration–and then wake up the next day looking like a winner.  The human body is difficult to predict and manipulate!

After my workout, I had another big salad, some Spicy Lime Cilantro Soup, and Vanilla Sun Warrior mixed with water & 5 grams L-Glutamine.

I was talking with a fellow competitor at the gym tonight, and we were discussing how easily we could shed bodyfat, water, etc.  just by manipulating our macronutrient (carb, protein and fat) intake, cardio, and weight training.   That led us to wonder how people have such a hard time losing weight and just seem to not have any idea what to do.  It reminded me of something I read yesterday, that the most dangerous ‘disease’ is IGNORANCE.  Most people just don’t understand how their body works or how profoundly food affects their bodies.  I can see my body change after each meal!  Any bodybuilder can.  A single food–even a single nutrient like sodium–can mean the difference between winning and losing.  The only cure for this ‘disease’ is education.  We aren’t born with an owners’ manual.  We have to SEEK the knowledge and make it a priority in our life.  Health is our only true wealth!

I am really happy I am doing this.  I am definitely learning alot about how raw foods affect the body, in detail under the microscope of competition.  It’s a great learning experience.  I did it the conventional way before, and I always felt so awful!  I was ravenous, desperate for sugar, exhausted, fighting uncontrollable cravings, headaches, cramps, etc.  This time, I feel great!  I have so much energy tonight, with no cravings or detrimental effects so far.  (I have a feeling the sodium depletion later this week will kill me, though.   I love my Celtic salt and Nama Shoyu!)  I do miss my fruit, and can’t wait to get back to my green smoothies.  But it’s not a bad ‘craving’ feeling, though.  I just wish I could have my smoothies.  I can make it for a few days without them, but I will be blending like a mad woman on Sunday!

I am watching the National Championship Basketball Game between UNC & Michigan State.  What a disappointment!  I was hoping MSU would really make this a good game, but they are getting blown out of the arena.  Bore-ring!

I will update you on how things are going.   Right now I feel great, with good energy and excitement.  I am looking forward tomorrow to having a critique of my posing, with great advice and instruction by a master.  I need this, and am eager to learn.   I am sure he will pick me apart, but that’s the only way to improve.   I also need to pick up a few final things to get ready with.

This weekend, I will have wireless internet access in our hotel room, so I will update you from the show too!

Until next time, stay Defiant!  Fight for your health.  Defeat ignorance, and learn about your wondrous body.  Every cell in your body is more complicated and sophisticated than a city of a million people!  We are an amazing creation, and we have an innate infinite wisdom that is constantly leading us to better health, if we will just let it–and not fight our own inner physician!  Fight the conventional medical doctors–not your Infinite Intelligence inside your own body!

BE DEFIANT!

Christy

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Today, I started with a Spirulina Smoothie made from 8 oz coconut water, the meat from one Thai coconut, handful of spinach, 1 tbs coconut butter (Artisana–yum!), 1.5 Tbs Spirulina, 1 Tbs raw carob, 1 tsp Elements for Life Blue Green Algae, 1/2 tsp Elements for Life Cordyceps, 1/2 tsp Elements for Life RevitaPhi, and stevia to taste (I used 2 packets), and blended it all up.  Not too bad, but definitely not as tasty as my normal addictive spirulina treats.  Can you tell this is a major superfood smoothie?    I figure I need the superfoods to preserve muscle while cutting the calories, sodium and sugar.

Lunch was broccoli, coconut water and a little pineapple blended into a smoothie.  It was OK, even though I was wishing I could use more pineapple and a banana.  Then it would have been really tasty.  I got really hungry in the afternoon, and ate a LifeForce Cacao bar, which is delicious and fairly low fat, sugar, and sodium.   Next week I won’t be able to do that, though.  I also had a tablespoon of UDO’s oil for pre-workout energy.  I am taking a tablespoon of that every day now.  They did a study where the athletes lost bodyfat and gained muscle by using the oil so that sounds good to me, and the body still needs SOME fats no matter what.

I worked out with intervals tonight, alternating shoulders with high rep leg intervals, like lunges, step-ups and leg extensions.   After the workout, I made a ’savory’ smoothie, which is really more like a soup.  I used a few cherry tomatoes, a few baby carrots, spinach, lovely fresh basil, 1/3 of a red bell pepper, 3 cloves garlic, 2 large celery stalks, 1/2 lemon peeled and tossed in whole, and water.  It was pretty good, actually, but would have been a lot better with some Celtic salt or Nama Shoyu!   

My assessment of my condition is that I am definitely improving in definition.  I can see more abs, and more veins are coming out.   Practicing posing last night, I felt I could definitely see more cuts.   It’s hard to tell, as the lighting differs so much from one place to another.  

Next week, I plan to carb deplete Sunday through Wednesday while drinking a lot of water to flush my body of any water-retaining substances, and then slowly carb load until the contest.  This protocol is supposed to shed the water from under the skin which obscures muscle definition, and force the muscles to ’suck up’ the water to make them nicely full and pumped.  I have been studying material from several books and former competitors, and I am attempting to take their suggestions and adapt them to a raw foods protocol.  For example, where they cut carbs by eating a lot of chicken, I plan to eat a lot of leafy greens, spirulina, superfoods, and Sun Warrior protein.   I feel nuts would have too much fat, plus my body doesn’t do well on too many nuts.   I will most likely be a salad-eating fool next week!  (And the savory green smoothies of course.)  For carbs, I plan to sprout some grains like barley and quinoa and use those to carb-load.   On Friday night,  I will eat a special meal to try to get the muscles as full as possible.  The suggested meal is a steak with Heinz 57 sauce for some sodium, so I am thinking I will make my Living burgers, which are kind of like a hamburger and have Nama Shoyu in them, which would do what the 57 would do.   My biggest fear is coming in flat, and retaining too much water. 

I plan to eat a lot of celery and asparagus, as those foods are awesome for diuretic effects.   This is just what I am thinking.  Again, this is an experiment.  If I see something not working, I may call an audible and change the protocol.   And I may find that in the future, I may want to add some nuts and that the ‘good’ fats in nuts don’t react in the body like what we normally ingest as fats.  But, knowing how I have reacted to nuts in the past, I will most likely be avoiding them like the plague for the next week.   But I plan to eat the heck out of a nut-based dessert on Easter Sunday when this contest is over!  I may eat the whole thing–with lots of dates, nuts, fruits, etc.  Maybe I will make my White Chocolate Cheezecake, maybe a Pecan Pie Cheezecake, or maybe something chocolate–who knows?

I have to share these two videos with you.  They were sent to me by a Facebook friend, and they are powerful.  The journalists didn’t pull any punches and they definitely called out some big brand names who are knowingly exposing our most vulnerable babies and toddlers to very harmful chemicals.  And all in the name of a germ-free, clean house……

Part One

Part Two

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DEFY these chemicals and toxins.  Buy holistic, chemical-free cleaners.  And not from big name brand companies, either.  Do not support them in their efforts to ‘look green’ when they are still just profit-crazed toxin-mongers.  Look for the truly organic cleaners from companies who truly care about your children and the earth, while still creating products that clean.  Many of the ones I use actually work a LOT better than the toxic stuff. 

More updates to come!

Be Defiant!

Christy

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Today, I started with hosting the Senior Alliance this morning, serving Mexican Quiche and Apple Cobbler to people who had no idea what Living Foods are, and probably didn’t really WANT to know.  But I converted quite a few!  I met some wonderful people and enjoyed the meeting very much.   The Senior Alliance is a networking group that I created many years ago for businesses that serve the seniors in our communities to gather, meet each other and create referral relationships to help grow their businesses and help more senior citizens.  It’s a lovely group of caring people.

Then at lunch, I had the distinct privilege of speaking at the Shaw Industries plant’s Lunch and Learn.  What a wonderful, large crowd we had, and everyone was just delightful.  I thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone, and made some great new friends.  I really appreciate the opportunity to share about raw foods, and was blown away by the interest in raw foods, and how receptive the employees were to the idea.  If nothing else, I hope everyone starts making their own Green Smoothies!  There’s literally nothing healthier than Green Smoothies on the planet.

Right after lunch, I had a real estate listing presentation.  I was in competition with other agents, but I won!  Yay!  So I have some delightful new clients and a wonderful home that will be going on the market at a great value. 

Then I finally got to eat — I made my favorite pre-workout meal:  An avocado blended with water, raw honey, chocolate Sun Warrior protein, and raw cacao nibs.  Yum!  Gotta love a muscle-building chocolate mousse!  Michael and I worked back and biceps today, although I am focusing more on just cutting right now, so I was doing much lower weights and high reps, with super-slow reps to really FEEL the muscle contraction.  Then I did cardio afterward.  I did the stair machine for a while until my ADHD kicked in, and then I had to get off and do something else, so I went in the empty aerobics studio and just kickboxed to some rockin’ tunes for a while.  That’s much more fun! 

Then for my post-workout smoothie, I actually made one without fruit.  It wasn’t terrible.  I used a couple of carrots, cilantro, collard greens, parsley, red bell pepper, a lime and celery.  If I had garlic on hand it would definitely have been better.  I resisted adding sea salt, even though I wanted to so badly.  I have to cut down on sodium and fruit sugars for the next week and a half.  My whole goal now is to get rid of any water retention to ‘harden up’ and get ripped for the contest.  It’s now 11 days away!

Then when I got home, I was thrilled to find an awesome package in the mail.  My competition swimsuit and costume had arrived!!!  Kira Jones of Vandella Costumes (www.VandellaCostumes.com) made them for me and just did an AWESOME job.  I was thrilled.  The costume is adorable and the swimsuit is absolutely fabulous.  I would put it on any stage in any competition.   She truly did a professional, outstanding  job.  I will post pics when I don’t look like something the cat dragged in, like I do right now.  The suit is a shimmery purple fabric overlaid with teal-blue glitter and trimmed in Swarovski crystals.  It glitters like nobody’s business!  I love it.  I LOVE to ‘glittah’!!!

I am off to get some much-needed sleep now.  I love you all, and I am so happy I get to share my fabulous, beautiful day with you.  Blessings, love and light to you tonight and tomorrow.

Until next time, Be Defiant!

Christy

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Now I don’t know what he weighs and I don’t know if he does either.  The gym we used to go to had one of those doctor’s scales (with the little slide bar) right at the front entrance.  You couldn’t keep him (or anyone else) off that stupid thing.  It seemed that people were drawn there like a  moth to a flame.  Not me.  He had to make me get on it.  I couldn’t care less what a scale says.  All it measures is the pull of gravity.  It doesn’t know if gravity is pulling on fat, muscle, bone, or heavy cross-trainer shoes.  

Pivotal has scales somewhere, but they are the small kind that looks like a bathroom scale.  So now he doesn’t jump on it every day.  And he is making such great progress!   I have never forced him into being totally raw like I am, but he has gravitated more and more to it, and now is really into it.  And it shows!  He is very, very lean.  His little love handles are totally gone, and he has definitely put on muscle.  I am completely biased and have always thought he was totally hot anyway, but he is definitely getting hotter! 

But I digress….back to the shoulder workout.   I will outline the whole thing in a minute, but have to tell you about ‘crybabies’.   A couple BIG guys at the gym were telling me about a great delt developer which is basically an isometric (meaning static, or just holding a weight in one position) exercise.  You stand up with a heavy dumbbell in each hand, and then with arms straight, lift the bells out to the side just about 1/3 of the way up to shoulder level—and hold them in that position for 30 seconds.   That may be the longest 30 seconds ever!   We did 3 of those to burn out at the end of the workout.  I know why they call them ‘crybabies’.  We were crying for the 30 seconds to be over with!

Tonight’s Shoulder Blast:

• Warmup on recumbent bike
• Hammer Strength press, 4 sets, 1 warmup, 3 working sets.  I got 45’s on my last two sets, for 10 & 8 reps.  Yay!
• Smith Machine front presses, 3 sets, 50-60-&60 lbs. with the last set dropping to 50 for a burnout
• Superset of lateral dumbbell raises and Overhead ‘pulses’, 3 sets with 15 lb bells.  The pulses are a limited range of motion press that really keeps the pressure on the lateral deltoid
• Arnold presses, 3 sets, 20 lb bells
• Superset front raises with a 25 lb plate and upright rows with 40-lb bar, 3 sets, 10 reps  both exercises.
• ‘Crybabies’ 3 sets with 25 lb bells.   Ouch!

Simple post workout smoothie tonight was spinach, banana, kiwi, pineapple, L-glutamine, & Sun Warrior Vanilla Protein.

I made a heavenly superfood smoothie for lunch today.  I believe this would be served as breakfast in Nirvana!  1 & 1/2 Tbs Spirulina (of course!), 1 young Thai coconut flesh and water, 2 bananas, 1 tbs carob, 1 tbs raw cacao, 1/2 tsp Cordyceps, 1/2 tsp Blue Green algae, 2 droppers of vanilla liquid stevia–blend until a creamy concoction of pure bliss!

My breakfast green smoothie was awesome as well—-mango-strawberry!   Yum!  With dandelion & laciniato kale, & fresh aloe vera.

I can definitely tell I have dropped some bodyfat.  I can see it in my lower back, particularly.   I have seriously cut back on nuts and fats.  I am not in full precontest deprivation mode yet, and I may not go too drastic.  I am feeling my way through.  If I feel I need to drastically change before the contest then I will change my diet even more.  The contest is April 11th, so I am about 3 weeks out now.  I have upped the cardio a lot too.

I hope you have an awesome day.  Make it a great day!  You can choose to be happy, no matter what, and you will attract good things.  Make a difference in someone’s life today.  Ask yourself, “How can I make a difference today?” and it will change your focus completely, and new opportunities will open for you.  

Be Defiant!

Christy

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Here is the question:

Christy,

I’ve been dabbling in raw foods for a few months and I really feel this is where it’s at! I really want to develop into a raw vegan bodybuilder, but there is no information on EXACTLY how to do this.

I’m 5′2″ and weigh 130 which is about 20 pounds over what I should weigh. How can I go about getting the fat off without sacrificing the muscle I built?

I guess what I’m really asking is how do you develop an eating plan based on raw foods that really supports muscle growth? I have a supply of the Sun Warrior protein, but other than downing green smoothies every few hours, how do I structure what I eat?

You are the ONLY female raw vegan bodybuilder I have run across and I would love to be able to do what you are doing with the raw food lifestyle.

How should I go about getting started?

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My answer:

Wow! Your answer would require a book! Let me see if I can sum it up for you. First of all, thank you so much for such a great question. Your are correct–there is very little information on raw vegan bodybuilding, especially for women. I am experimenting myself, as I have no guidance either. This is new ground we are breaking and new trails we are blazing!

You will definitely shed the bodyfat on the raw diet. You may lose some muscle at first also. There will be a detox process and muscle may be lost. I did lose some at first while I was detoxing from my former diet and lifestyle. Be patient with yourself. Give it time and trust your infinitely intelligent body! Your bodyfat has come from years of eating cooked and processed food, and your body is most likely acidic. It doesn’t turn around overnight. Your body must flush out all the toxins and become healthy to begin to build quality muscle.

Some people do really well just getting all the protein they need from food, and they have no problems with large amounts of nuts for great protein. That doesn’t work for me. If I eat too many nuts, I have really bad facial acne breakouts. I still eat them, but in moderation. The Sun Warrior has been great for me! I needed some supplementation, I believe. I talk to other raw bodybuilder females who don’t use any supplements at all, and vehemently oppose getting nutrition from anything but raw food. I am in the middle on that issue. I found that the Sun Warrior triggered an immediate improvement in my physique, and continues to do so, and definitely has helped me increase my strength. You can find a few RVFB on various raw forums. Search around–Alissa Cohen has one, and Steve Pavlina is another.

The key is to find out what works for YOU. You are completely unique from me or anyone else. I had to experiment to find the right nut level (which is much lower than I would like it to be, as I love nuts more than a squirrel!). If there is one absolute, no discussion, no argument class of food that you MUST consume, it is LEAFY GREENS! The leafy greens are very high in protein, iron, calcium, magnesium, vitmains, minerals, phytonutrients, and even Omega 3 fatty acids.

You already have a good start with the green smoothies. I am big on salads with mixed greens and veggies, and I add various nuts and seeds–walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and hemp seeds are my favorites. All are high in protein, especially hemp. I make my own raw salad dressings, and strategically add ingredients I know I need, like olive oil, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, avocados, etc. I even try to build muscle with desserts! Like my Sweet Potato Pie, for example, which has pumpkin seeds, Brazil nuts, and Sun Warrior Protein in it. Tonight, I am experimenting with a mocha fudge ‘brownie’ made with figs, sprouted barley, chocolate Sun Warrior, carob, raw cacao, coffee extract, and (yes I know this isn’t technically raw!) very strong brewed Teecino for the liquid. There’s only about a cup in the whole thing, so I don’t think it’s enough to make a difference. I will let you know how it turns out!

I make a lot of my raw entrees based on nuts and seeds, also. Earlier this week I made Taco Wrappers, which are made up of several items, such as Taco ‘Meat’ made from walnuts, Cashew Sour Kream, Brazil Nut Cheeze, My ‘World Famous Stupendously Awesome’ Guacamole, all wrapped up in purple cabbage leaves. Yum! That’s a lot of nuts, but each wrapper has such a small amount in it that I don’t have any problems. I also make ‘meatballs’, ‘meatloaf’, ‘burgers’ and ‘barbecue’ from nuts and portobello mushrooms.

The last two weeks before the contest I will really cut down on fruits and fats more than I have already, and I will do a Green Smoothie cleanse. They will be more ’savory’ smoothies which are based on non-sweet fruits like cucumbers and tomatoes, as well as more veggies. I like to throw in garlic and onions to make them more of a green “Energy Soup”. But I keep my body fat low anyway, so I don’t have huge amounts to lose.

This is my first contest since going raw, so all this is still an experiment for me! I have found little, if any, guidance on how to prepare for a contest with raw food only, so I am basing my protocol on what I know has worked for me in the past. I notice that I put on fat when I have too many nuts and nut-based desserts, but I shed it quickly when I cut down on the nuts. I don’t have a problem with avocados, though, so I keep those in my diet, just not as many. I find a Green Smoothie cleanse strips bodyfat like magic. Basically, you just drink a Green Smoothie for every meal, or when ever you want one. I also read how Apple Cider Vinegar helps flush fat, so I am adding a tablespoon to my water bottle in the morning and evenings. Also, squeezing fresh grapefruit juice. Again, I am experimenting, so please don’t take this as set in stone. Plus your body may react completely different from mine! My concern is cutting out too much fat and then coming in ‘flat’ for the show, instead of having nice full muscle bellies.

One major point to remember is that muscle growth is in response to the stimulus of resistance from weight training, not really from the food. You can eat perfectly, but if you aren’t challenging yourself to lift heavier each time (still keeping great form of course!), then the muscles won’t grow. You must lift heavy and tear down those muscle fibers so that the body will be stimulated to rebuild them bigger and better.

I know this is a short answer to a deeply involved question, so I hope this is helpful. I am also posting it as my blog entry tonight. I appreciate your question, and I think the information may be helpful to many people. Thank you so much for writing. I wish you all the best on your raw journey. It is as much a personal development and spiritual journey as it is a food journey. You will detox not only physically, but emotionally and mentally as well. Be prepared, be tough and Be Defiant! You will come out a champion on the other side!

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And here is another great Green Smoothie for you today!  Mmmm…..Mango-Pineapple!

Be Defiant!

Christy

Click here to view the embedded video.

Wow, did we ever kill legs today!  I am already sore, but that’s partly because I was doing plyometric leg exercises last night for my cardio intervals, so my legs were already pre-exhausted.  I still got my heavy leg press, though!

Leg Workout:

• Warmup on recumbent bike for 12 minutes
• Leg press:  4 sets:  1 medium intensity with 385 for 15 reps, then 2 sets of 475 for 8 reps.  Last set was 475 for 8 reps, and then drop to 385 for 8 more reps.  What a burn!
• Stiff-legged deadlifts, 3 sets of 12 with 95 lbs
• Smith Machine lunges, 3 sets increasing weights, reps at 12 to 15 each leg
• Hamstring Curls on the isolateral Hammer Machine.  I needed a spotter to get through these!  Definitely left it all out on the floor today.
• Calves–ouch!

MAKE it a great day today!  Misbehave, cause a ruckus, and Be Defiant!

Christy

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The site will have a great new home page with links and pictures, and I will be able to add much more content and links to the pages.  I hope to be offering you some great products–both free information and for purchase–in the near future.   So please bear with me as I learn and experience growing pains, because it will all be worth it in the future.

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We were supposed to get a great snow yesterday, and it didn’t happen here.  I was so disappointed.  I have always loved the magical beauty of that beautiful blanket of white snow.   Of course, living in the South where it is generally 60 degrees all winter, snow is a fun novelty.  I completely understand how it can be horrible if you have to live with it much of the winter.   My nephew is 10 and my niece is 6, and they finally, for the first time EVER, got to see a truly great snowfall yesterday.  They live just outside of Athens, GA, and it snowed 7 inches there.  They went sledding for the first time and had a blast.  Unfortunately, they also lost power and heat, so that part wasn’t fun at all.  I wish I could have been there to see them, and do some sledding myself.  I used to go crazy when I was growing up and it snowed.   We had great hills near our house and I would play all day.  It sure did snow a lot more back then.  I remember that 3 years in a row it snowed or ‘ice-stormed’ on my birthday when I was growing up.  

But we got SHAFTED here!  No snow at all.  It did start coming down in big flakes last night, but they only lasted 20 minutes, and didn’t even stick.  But in the typical panic mode of Southerners faced with snowfall, all schools, government, businesses, etc had already been canceled.  So we wasted an entire beautiful sunny day.  It’s hilarious.   The folks here absolutely lose their MINDS if it even thinks about snowing.  They run to the grocery store for milk and bread (horrors), and if it actually does snow, it seems that they implant their heads firmly up their behinds and then attempt to operate a motor vehicle.   South Carolina drivers are bad to begin with (Note to those unfamiliar with SC:  turn signals are optional equipment on the vehicles, and a red light is merely a suggestion), but the incompetence reaches a crescendo if a flake of snow falls.  Ordinarily, they would be out like on a Sunday drive, creeping along and holding up traffic, usually in the fast lane of the interstate.  But if it starts to snow or really get treacherous with ice, that’s the time they pick to do their best NASCAR imitations, speeding and trading paint.  That’s why Michael and I stay home.  We know how to drive in snow and ice.  We just want to keep the cars in the garage to protect them from the demolition derby that is a South Carolina snow day.

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As usual, Michael and I hit a hard back workout, since it’s Monday.  I love working back on Monday for some reason.  Maybe it’s because I usually rest on Sunday, but I did intervals on the stationary bike last night, with dumbbell shoulder exercises during the recovery periods.   And last Sunday, when I flashed back to high school and ran sprints and bleachers, I pulled an ab muscle.  It was better by the weekend, but I pulled it again helping my father put out hay for the cows on Friday.   And then I strained a hip flexor doing my bodyweight workouts Saturday.  Hmmmm….I think my body is telling me I am 40!  Ha-ha!  Not really, I have always managed to hurt myself over the years.  That stupid ab pull is aggravating.  It hurts every which way I move.   I was afraid I would have a hard time working out, but the back exercises didn’t bother it at all.  Now tying my shoes, that’s another story.  Go figure.

Back workout:

• Warmup on elliptical, until the pulled ab muscle screamed enough to make me quit
• Pullups, wide grip for three sets and neutral grip for three sets
• Seated close-grip rows.   I actually got 100 pounds for 6 reps on my last set!  That was a benchmark for me.  Four sets of 12, 12, 10 and 6 reps with increasing weight.
• Wide-grip lat pulldowns, 3 sets of 12
• Dumbbell rows, 50 lb bells, 3 sets of 10 each arm
• Rear delt flyes, 3 sets of 12
• Reverse-grip low rows on Hammer machine, 3 sets of 12, 10 & 10 reps, increasing weights
• Cable bicep curls, isolateral, 3 sets of 10
• Hammer dumbbell curls, 1 set with 17.5s, dropping to 15s, and then 2 sets with 15s

Wow, that was a long workout tonight.  It was good too.  I really felt my back working.  For our post-workout smoothie, we had banana, mango, vanilla Sun Warrior protein, fresh-from-the-farm organic spinach and water.  Yum!

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This morning, I tried a superfood smoothie that Mike Adams posted on NaturalNews.com.  It was an avocado, raw cacao powder, carob, green ’superfood’ powder, stevia, and an Asian pear.   I also added cordyceps mushrooms (from Elements for Life), coconut water, and chocolate Sun Warrior protein.  It was surprisingly delicious.  I love avocado and chocolate, though.  One of my favorite pre-workout meals is to blend an avocado, chocolate Sun Warrior, and honey or stevia to taste with enough water to make a thick pudding.  Yum!   Chocolate pudding that builds muscle and burns fat—cool!   Try it sometime!  Avocados are SOOOOOO good for you.

I will miss you all until I can post again.  Please be sure to visit and see the new look for the site.   Please give me your feedback and suggestions. I would love to hear from you!

Have a fabulous day, and misbehave until we meet again—Be Defiant! 

Christy

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I even had one fellow order the same food on the spot for pickup next week.  So that was great!   Many of the people who sampled were initially very resistant to the idea of raw vegan cuisine, so they were shocked when they loved the food so much. I served Mexican ‘Quiche’, a gorgeous organic mixed-greens salad with Cilantro Vinaigrette and Spanish Avocado Dressings, and an Apple Cobbler for dessert.  I made up the quiche on Friday, and was pleased when it turned out so well.  It was really creamy and delicious, and several even commented they couldn’t believe it didn’t have any meat in it.  They were really surprised to find out it didn’t have any eggs or dairy in it, either!

I have managed to get in some good workouts in the last few days.  Friday, Michael and I had an excellent shoulder workout, very heavy.   Michael was caught up at work yesterday, so I had to do legs on my own.  Since I didn’t have a spotter, I decided to do a plyometric workout with high intensity intervals, to burn some bodyfat as well as work legs.  My show I am planning to compete in is April 11th, so I am starting now to work on losing the bodyfat and get ripped!  In a couple of weeks, I will get really serious about diet and probably go on a green smoothie cleanse for about a week.  Then I will start to cut down on fruit (    ) and eat more vegetables, especially things like asparagus, which are great cleansers and diuretics to help shed any excess water.

I have to have a costume for one segment of the contest, which is kind of like a modeling segment and we are supposed to wear a costume that represents a sport or hobby.   I had to think on this a while, but with my background, it wasn’t too hard of a decision.  I used to be BIG-TIME into basketball.  I mean, I lived and breathed basketball in high school.  I practiced hours a day, and was really good at shooting and ball-handling.   I just wish I was six feet tall instead of 5′4″.  Believe it or not, I was not the point guard.  I was the ‘power forward’ even at my height.  First of all, our team was small–I was third tallest.  And secondly, I have always been blessed with great jumping ability.  I have an impressive vertical leap, and always won the long  jump in the track meets.   So I could get up and get rebounds pretty well.

So I have decided my costume will be a very sexy Harlem Globetrotter outfit.  The judges are still wanting to see our physiques, so it won’t be the big baggy shorts and tank tops like the real Harlem Globetrotters wear.  It will be more like hot pants and an athletic bra-type top.  But I plan to decorate a basketball as a prop and actually do a routine with it.  Let’s see if I can still do all those cool tricks and dribbling exercises like I used to!  I can spin the ball on my finger, and I was always good at the behind-the-back dribbling and all that.  So I thought that would be a lot of fun, and something different to stand out in the crowd.

Speaking of vertical leaps, in my workout yesterday, I really challenged myself on a couple of plyometric exercises.  We have several platforms that can be used for jumps, step-ups, etc.  They are metal with a rubber top, and I have seen a couple people miss on them and scrape their legs pretty badly.  I don’t want a big scar on my leg, so I had never really tried to jump on the higher ones until yesterday.  I sucked it up, faced my fear of busting my butt and hurting myself, and jumped. The first one I didn’t get it.  But then the second one, I did.  Then I made it through the first set of ten.  And then my mind was finally on board with me, instead of holding me back, (telling me it was too high, I was too old, I would get hurt, I couldn’t do what I used to do in high school, etc.).  I gained the confidence, and realized ‘I can do this.’  So the next two sets, I did really well and got twelve good reps each.   I really had to ‘Be Defiant’ and defy my fears and the negative self-talk from my mind.   And then once I did it, after that it was fine.  Still challenging, but achievable.  Face your fears, push yourself, and break through to new levels of achievement.

I was still kind of beating myself up for not being quite as ‘good’ as I wanted to be when a very tall gentleman walked up to me and commented “That’s impressive.  I know a lot of guys who can’t jump that height.”  I thanked him and said I was still feeling a bit wimpy, and then he told me he played college basketball, so after that I felt pretty proud.  It just showed me that sometimes we may not think we are doing much, but to other people what you are doing may be really impressive and inspirational.  That’s why it’s so important to be yourself, do what you can, stretch yourself to go farther and farther, and don’t worry about how you stack up.  You never know who you are inspiring. 

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Shoulder Workout (Friday):

• Hammer Overhead Presses
• Free weight Barbell Military Presses
• Standing Upright Rows
• Lateral Raises with Dumbbells
• Reverse Flyes with Dumbbells

Leg Workout (Saturday):

• Warmup with intervals on recumbent bike for 10 minutes
• Vertical jumps on platform, giant-setted with kettlebell squats on the balance board & stiff-legged kettlebell deadlifts, still on the balance board, 3 circuits
• High Step-ups holding kettlebell, supersetted with Kettlebell Squat Swings
• Giant Set of Squat Jumps, one-legged squats, and one-legged wall sits (30 seconds), all at bodyweight, 3 circuits
• Crunches on exercise ball between circuits
• Finished off with isolateral hamstring curls on the Hammer machine

Post-workout smoothie:  Apple, banana, kiwi, celery, kale, honey & Sun Warrior Vanilla Protein.

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This leg routine took a while to do, and I am very sore today.  My heart rate was really high during the intervals, so I feel like I ignited some fat-burning.  I am going to have to do more cardio now.  I have not been doing very much, because I am concentrating on gaining muscle.  I still won’t do long sessions.  High-intensity intervals are the best way to go!  These burn much more fat, over a longer time, while preserving muscle, and only take 15-20 minutes to do.

I don’t want to make this too long, so I will sign off for now.   Have a fabulous Sunday, and remember “To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world!”

Be Defiant!

Christy

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