Vegetarian/Vegan male body building/toning. (1 Viewer)

[Just Click It]

Before I officially start this msg, I want to ask the sane reader to ignore all the people that will inevetably (sp?) flame me on this thread just because of the title. Saying that, I've heard all the arguments and comments against being vegetarianism and their colourful adjectives, and I've never been impressed. If you are thinking of flaming or arguing that I MUST for what I believe (lets not go into that) is full of shit, do yourself a favour and don't waste your time.

Hey! This is aimed at the vegetarians/vegans out there (I'm a vegan)... people with a good working knowledge of what to eat for muscle gain, etc.

I've been recently putting on a bit of muscle, though I'm becoming greedy and I want more! What I've been doing is going on an approximatly 3 - 1 month cycle - e.g. 3 months of relativly high protein diet and 1 month of a relativly high fat diet (though no where near the amount a health freak omni eats though... haha!) I've done this from the fact that you need fat to gain muscle, but you also need protein to build the muscle in the first place. Am I doing the right thing by this? Right now, I have about 1-1.5 more milimetres of fat on my stomach then usual (I usually have next to nothing)... and in the coming weeks am aiming to get rid of that by upping my protein and eating less fat.

Seconly, though still related to the above paragraph, I've been having a regular sized spoon of linseed oil with whatever food (breakfast, lunch or dinner) raw... that is, not heated up. 60% of that is either Omega 3 or Omega 6. My question is... should that be enough oil (aka fat) to last me the whole day, or should I cut down on that kind of consumption (I also drink the so good with all the vitamins, minerals and good fats in it (5 essential thingy... it has a purple covering)) even when I am on my fat part of the cycle.

Anyone wanna take bets on how many insults I get before I get a decent answer? I reakon 7-8 posts...

 

[mr_brightside]

-insult-

Do you like lentils?

 

[alby]

i wouldnt have a clue about the first bits, but with the linseed oil, its not really "fat" as such. its the good fat caus its got omega in it (which's in fish and other good stuff..brain food), and its also a vegie fat.
on the other hand, i wouldnt have a clue how much oil/fat is the rdi for a vegie/vegan. ask you gp or maybe try & find something online

 

[Just Click It]

-insult-

Do you like lentils?

Hahah! I like your answer. Lentils have become tastless to me because of the number of boxes of cans of them I've consumed... I eat them, but it isn't because I like them. It's more because their good for you

on the other hand, i wouldnt have a clue how much oil/fat is the rdi for a vegie/vegan. ask you gp or maybe try & find something online

Alrighty! I'll try and find this out. Thanks.

 

[Skeeta]

yeah i mean most people trying to put on muscle eat about a zillion kilos of chicken fish and eggs, but since your a vegan/not vegetarian it rules all three out.

I'd recommend protein powder - you can buy it at any healthstore.. although they usually make it into a shake (with milk) and i dont know what it would be like in any other liquid. I also dont know what its made out of- it might have animal products in it, but thats just something to check out.

 

[mr_brightside]

Hahah! I like your answer. Lentils have become tastless to me because of the number of boxes of cans of them I've consumed... I eat them, but it isn't because I like them. It's more because their good for you

spose youve got a point about liking them

 

[Just Click It]

First, congrats on being a vegan! I know it sounds silly, but seriously you've made a good choice for your health. (Does a reverse insult (compliment) count as an insult?)

Can I just point you to the link in my 'location' profile that provides heaps of ideas for vegan meals?

Also:

http://www.vegcooking.com/index.asp

is a great vegan resource - if they don't have what you're looking for email them and they'll give you some useful links. I found it when I was looking for advice on how to stock my pantry and how to prepare balanced meals.

And also -

if you want a really great vegan cookie recipe that is COMPLETELY awesome - I've not had one person try it who hasn't thought it's anything other than wonderful - PM me.

Are you a fellow veggie? And thanks for the words and website. I'll be sure to check it out! I'm kinda out of money atm, so when I do have some and I remember, I'll msg you ok? Until then, I'll live on my cans of lentils (amongst other stuff)

spose youve got a point about liking them

Haha! Do you eat them much?

WhAt!?!??? lol i dont get wat ur question is?????

I don't know what I am doing is good for me... like... the 3 - 1 month thing and the amount of linseed oil I consume every day.

 

[mr_brightside]

Haha! Do you eat them much?

Once in a blue, yellow and red striped moon

Theyre good in curries and soups though

 

[Just Click It]

I wish we could talk over msn! Unfortunatly, a virus decided to tamper with mine... and it won't sign in anymore! GRR!

If you're interested in deserts btw, I know how to make the ultimate one. Interested?

 

[Just Click It]

Once in a blue, yellow and red striped moon

Theyre good in curries and soups though

haha! Lentils in soup? I've often tried to do that... but they soak up too much water =(... especially if you get them dried first. They turn into a mush... haha! Though agreed... lentil curry is good

 

[mr_brightside]

haha! Lentils in soup? I've often tried to do that... but they soak up too much water =(... especially if you get them dried first. They turn into a mush... haha! Though agreed... lentil curry is good

Yeah I know what you mean.
Oh well. Its good if you make too much soup and want to make it smaller haha

 

[Just Click It]

Once in a blue, yellow and red striped moon

Theyre good in curries and soups though

haha! Lentils in soup? I've often tried to do that... but they soak up too much water =(... especially if you get them dried first. They turn into a mush... haha! Though agreed... lentil curry is good

 

[Casmira]

who gives a shit if you're a vegan?! jeez. but that does work against you putting muscles on, try protien shakes.

 

[transcendent]

I'm so tempted, so really am...

From what I've read, just eat 3 big regular meals and pack on the protein shakes or suppliments, best for about 30 minutes after a hard workout and with every meal.

...

VEGAN! ARGH!

 

[Always]

Protein shakes. They are relatively high-cal and... full of protein - perfect! Buy those protein powders and add a few scoops with everything. That should be more than enough protein, even for body building.

 

[Serius]

so now to business, if you arent against eggs, fish or other assorted animals that arent red meat, putting on muscle wont be that hard. Your next best bet is lentils combined with suppliments, the spoon of oil with every meal is excessive, try just one with breakfast, you could also try cod liver oil.

Its not exactly correct to say fat builds muscle, fat is simply an easy source of energy, and theres no reason to put on fat for a month, try a diet higher in fatty foods[vegetable fat? bah] and saturated fat if you can combine with the highest protein diet your lifestyle can afford.
can you eat pasta? theres some carbs right there for energy that you will need with your muscle building.

protein shakes should be combined with this diet, iam pretty sure most brands are animal product free, but it depends where they get their protein from.

 

[Casmira]

i used to tone down my meat input because most the food my mum cooks doesnt have alot of meat, in northen greece its more of a delegacy but when more and more meat was cooked i found it alot easier to do weights and situps and see results. vegan people are generally very thin the ones i know

 

[hYperTrOphY]

Why are you a vegan?

You can still be successful in your bodybuilding goals even though you are a vegan - I know of a few who are. However, I do think it will be more difficult.

I can't give specific food sources that you could consume as alternatives - but I'm sure such information wouldn't be too difficult to find online.

I wouldn't bother with cycling between high protein and high fat months - I dont see the rationale behind it. If you could explain your reason for doing so, that would help. Instead, create a diet with a good macronutrient ratio (P/C/F = 40/40/20 should be adequate).

With regard to the linseed oil, 1 Tbsp is enough per day. I would not have it in the morning though. Have it with your meal before bed.

 

[loquasagacious]

I can't be arsed finding the specific article but I have seen some vegan/vegetarian guides to bodybuilding on: www.bodybuilding.com

Hypertrophy is right, it makes no sense to be cycling between fat and protein you should be getting a constant source of nutriets if you want to build muscle.

Given this you are going to need to ditch the three big meals a day approach and eat smaller meals more regularly. Perhaps 6 meals a day eg breakfast(make sure this is large though - largest even), large snack (protein shake if this is following workout), lunch, another large snack, dinner, pre-bed snack.

In some ways you have a headstart as a vegan as you will likley already be eating good carbs/sugars. eg unrefined sugars as found in fruit and slow release carbs as found in wholemeal bread, brown rice etc. Also you will be getting lots of fibre, minerals and vitamins (and probably taking a multi-vitamin supplement) from the fruit and veg. If you arnt doing any of the above then start.

Now the problem that you have is that you will probably be getting lots of protein from grains, however these are incomplete proteins and need supplementing from your body stockpile of Branch-Chain-Amino-Acids (BCAAs) to become complete proteins that can be used to build muscle. Therefore I would suggest taking a BCAA supplement to aid this process.

And now we're left looking at what good protein sources there are, that you can take.

Tuna, Salmon, Lean beef, chicken, eggs and milk are all presumably out.

Though if you allow organic/etc any of the above then you should definantly be eating lots of it.

The problem that no one else seems to have picked up on yet is that protein shakes are basically whey protein mixed with either water or milk. And it may be of crucial importance to you that whey protein is a by-product of milk and so may be a 'no-go' for you. If you can take it then definantly do and think about taking a casseinate(a slower release protein) high one.

The good news is that there are some soy protein based protein powders which you can mix with water.

Then there are possibly other supplements to look at:

You should definantly be taking a multi-vitamin.
Linseed/flax oil (you may want to take this before bed to avert horrendous farting during the day...).
Creatine, I don't know where this is extracted from but if you can take it then you should. Take this before your workouts.
Water, 8L+ per day.
L-glutamine, again I don't know where this is extracted from however it should help your body recover from workouts better (which may be hampered by your vegan diet). Take this after your workouts.
Tribulous, this is an extract from a plant that boosts testosterone. Normally given your age I would'nt advise this, however given your diet which seems unlikley to be conducive to high testosterone you should take this. It will also help muscle growth.

Also you probably need to sleep more, at least nine hours a night. And its unlikley that you do but if you drink or smoke then cut this down/out.

Hope that helped.

 

[transcendent]

why does more sleep help?