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1. Not enough hours in a day to train enough to use all the extra vitality a HCLFV diet gives you. 2. N/A

Not got a particular physique I'm trying to copy, but a few of the people who have bodies I'd love to have one day... Not obsessed with bodybuilders' physiques, I appreciate them greatly but I would much prefer to look like Greg Plitt to be honest. If anyone has got a picture/video of his lats I'd love to see it because I've never seen his back. Greg Plitt (claims to be natty but can't be at that BF all year round) http://www.tootoned.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/GregPlitt-FRx-PerBernal-424.jpg Mischa Janiec (claims to be natural but I'm undecided, probably not) Not a Zyzz fanboy by any means, I find his cult annoying as fuck but can't deny he looked good http://cdn.simplyshredded.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/2-2.jpg

Any chance you could share your meal plan with me? Mirin' hard fella.

Just as a quick preempt I don't want to come across as an overly skinny guy who eats next to nothing wondering why he don't have 19" arms overnight. I'm not an ectomorph. I still make slight gains but I have been caught up with the idea of 'lean gains' in the past, and it was only when I realised this mindset was extremely limiting in terms of size that I also realised bulking on a vegan diet is not as easy I thought it would be. I was making gains; pleased with my progress over weeks, but looking back over a period of a few months, there's clearly not been enough going in. I just can't get enough calories from the quality whole foods I love to eat. My major carb sources: beans, oats, lentils, quinoa, rice, even brown pasta, bread etc.; I simply can't eat enough for me to put on weight and move above around 3500 calories and really add to my frame. If I didn't want to have a nice body and build strength, I would definitely be a fruitarian. That should give you an idea as to how much I don't like eating shit. I'm looking for ideas of less healthy vegan options (hurts to even say it) to help me get some serious size and thickness. I've studied my trusty Tesco vegan .pdf and found a few processed options, stuff like hash browns and there's a few frozen burgers available, but is this really the right way to go? I've seen people on forums who claim to blend a 700g tub of Swedish Glace vegan ice cream with a whole jar of peanut butter, and eat this every day. I mean that's 3500 calories on its own, but really? I don't have anything against processed food, I used to live off it before I became interested in fitness but now it's just not a part of my diet at all, other than tofu etc. and I don't want or feel the urge to go near it on the whole. If you'd like to share your favoured dirtier bulking foods, easy calorie sources etc. then I'd love to hear them. Cheers.

Going to have a go on Natures Whey purely for the value, the only thing about pea protein is the carbs which I'd like to avoid, although I can work my way around that. Sunwarrior seems the purest soy alternative, so I'll be using that for pwo with my creatine and if I like that Natures Whey I'll use that to boost my macros throughout the day. Cheers for the info, been scouring the web quite deeply and didn't come across that site.

Cheers for that mate, I might have a go with the flavoured pea protein, it's the first flavoured one I've come across. Just received my first KG of Sun Warrior today, hopefully it impresses me but I'm not holding my breath. Thanks alot for that third link buddy.

Sun Warrior rice protein seems like the only other viable option, at £40 a kilo it's extortionately priced, at the minute I get through a kilo of Soy pretty quickly, and that's at a tenner a kilo. Pea isolate seems to be slow digesting which pretty much defeats the object of post workout nutrition. Hemp has stupidly low protein content, and decent rice isolate is hard to source. http://www.aggressivehealthshop.com/1kg-sunwarrior-protein-chocolate-618.html Not sure about this, at the very bottom of the description.

Hi all. I'm 18 years old, 6' 3", 180lbs. Been vegetarian all my life and this year I decided to take my training seriously. I was weightlifting for about 6 months last year, but was completely clueless diet-wise and did more harm than good in the gym to be honest. Took the step up and became vegan this year, and I've been supplementing with Soy Protein Isolate for almost three months now as part of a weightlifting program and a fairly solid diet. Been hitting my macros consistently, with the biggest nutritional problem being excessive carb intake due to reliance on pulses and legumes. I've made good gains though and I'm very pleased with my current rate of progress. The main purpose of this post is to ask what people's experiences with Soy Protein have been, and which vegan alternatives are the best. I pretty much refused to buy into all the bigoted 'research' that claimed Soy Protein was some sort of danger to health when I started looking into vegan nutrition, with thyroid problems, increase in estrogen levels and lower libido being the main claims made by seemingly ignorant carnivores aiming to put down a legitimate source of protein for vegans. Although I can safely say Soy Protein is an effective supplement, coming up to three months of consumption; it has negatively affected me. I have experienced thyroid pain, lower sex drive and some slight impotency problems in the past few weeks. As an 18 year old male you can appreciate this sort of thing is difficult to miss and quite worrying. Decided I need to get off the stuff and I'm now looking into alternatives. Hemp protein, rice protein and pea protein seem to be the only viable options for powdered vegan proteins. Hemp being the most expensive, rice being hardest to find and pea apparently tasting the worst. None of the three seem to be available in 'flavoured' options such as chocolate/ vanilla, and after tasting unflavoured soy protein isolate I'm not keen on going down that road again. All three have decent protein content, none have an AA breakdown as good as soy and all come with about 10% carbs. Whilst I don't rely on powdered Soy Protein to hit my macros, financial restraints and inability to physically consume enough solid protein sources do sometimes leave me short and feeling sure I won't recover well enough. A good meal for me will be something like 40p/60c/5f. Not too sure where to go next, contemplating going onto whey, but to be honest I can't justify consuming anything from an animal, despite being only a vegetarian for my last 18 years I've never been that comfortable consuming dairy. As I got older and I realised what I was actually nutritionally consuming as well as having very strong animal-friendly morals I decided enough was enough and I'm feeling so much better (mentally and physically) now I'm vegan. My diet's so clean now too, the nearest thing to processed food I consume is tofu and protein powder. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Cheers.