Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Hello, I am 31 years old and live in Asheville, NC. 5 years ago I decided to change my life for the better so I quite smoking (cold turkey), went vegan, and never looked back. I did this for myself, for my 2 children, and of course because I want to live til I'm 120 years old!

I eat very well and feel healthy except I have about 15-20 pounds I need to lose. I gained this weight by quitting smoking and have been struggling with it ever since. Sometimes I will lose a few, then I just gain it right back. I go to the gym religiously 3-5 days per week, Mainly cardio (Turbokick, spin class, running) but am now incorporating circuit training 2-3 x's per week. Plus I hike in the mountains usually weekly.

I started my new plan yesterday which consists of eating an average of 1500 calories per day, 100 grams of protein (to start), and doing the Zig-Zag Method. Any tips or recomendations about this method would be great!

The first problem I seem to have is eating at least 100 grams of protein per day. As a 5 year vegan, I never cared about how much protein I was eating but now I am struggling with this because I don't want to eat more than ~1500 calories per day and I can't stand eating processed soy products. I have definately upped my tofu and tempeh intake, plus hemp protein powder. But I am still around 85-90 grams per day. Are there any vegans out there that get all of their protein from unprocessed fake meats? I would love to hear how you do it!

Thanks for reading and I am also looking for a gym buddy so if you are in the Asheville area, please let me know!!!!

I'm also interested in the zig zag method:)

I wonder if this is helpful? http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calori ... lator.htm#

OH, i just found your post on myfitnesspal

Thanks for the website, helpful!

I seem to be having the same difficulty. I also never used to keep track of the amount of protein i was getting daily until my trainer told me to aim for ~100g daily. Somedays I have a hard time getting enough protein in without eating something that is processed.I will also welcome any tips out there!

I'm no expert but from what I've read weight-lifting is at least as good as cardio for losing weight. You might also try high intensity interval training (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-inten ... l_training)