American (Vegan) Idol

I know, you see the blond hair and you’re thinking, man Brenda’s really coming along!  But no, this is my first blog entry where I am posting a picture of someone else.  (Proving that I am not an ego-maniac, as you may have suspected from all of the pictures of myself that I have been flaunting thus far).  But it would have to be someone pretty special to take the “cover” shot of this week’s blog from me.  Like Oprah yielding the cover of her magazine to Michelle Obama…  Yeah, you could say that Robert Cheeke is my Michelle Obama.  The parallels are uncanny really—they are both accomplished, intelligent, strong…

But why today?  Well I had the unique pleasure of having dinner last night with Mr. Robert Cheeke (the world’s most recognizable vegan bodybuilder).  After reading his book on Vegan Body Building and Fitness, I was inspired to become a body builder myself and to create this blog.  He has been a prominent image in my mind of success in what I am trying to do.  You could say that I have put him up on a pedestal in my mind as an “idol” of vegan body building.  But, I’m happy to report that in person, he is very down to earth and a genuinely nice guy.  His energy and enthusiasm (even though he was very tired from his book tours) and his stories of what he has done to accomplish so much as an author were even more inspiring!  Thanks again Robert!

Last night was a rest night for me from the gym.  But I did get lots of yummy vegan protein yesterday, as usual.  Here’s what I ate:

• Breakfast (37 g protein): smoothie with bananas, frozen cherries, blueberries, 2 oz frozen wheat grass (2 g protein), frozen acai packet with added protein (7 g protein), 1.5 cups soy milk (10 g protein), 1 scoop Vega Sport Performance Protein (20 g protein)
• Lunch (31 g protein): 2 slices toasted tofu bread (24 g protein) topped with 2 tbsp peanut butter (7 g protein)
• Snack: Builder’s Bar (20 g protein)
• Dinner (25 g protein) (at Native Foods): Soul Bowl with soy chik’n (15 g protein), red beans (5 g protein), brown rice (5 g protein), broccoli, cauliflower, and yams.
• Before Bed (45 g protein): 2 cups Kamut spiral pasta (40 g protein) topped with Earth Balance butter, garlic, oregano, basil and nutritional yeast (5 g protein)
• Total 168 grams of protein for the day!