Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Hi there!
In mid training crisis at the moment!
I'm five weeks into training for a show. I was vegan up until I started training. My trainer and the owner of my gym keep telling me there is no way I am going to gain muscle mass and drop my body fat percentage if i'm not eating animal protein. That being said, my body is changing and i'm starting to see great results but I'm very aggressive with days with the protein I am eating.

My problem is that when I eat fruit later on in the day, I wake up the next morning feeling like crap.
My trainers keep telling me that it will metabolize into fat.

I'm currently at 14 percent body fat and 120 pounds. I need to lean down to 110 pounds and a much lower body fat percentage.

Everybody keeps telling me it's impossible to attain my goals being a vegan.
I want to prove them wrong i'm just so confused with diet!

Rach

It's unclear to me how you will prove anything about veganism when you have been getting great results as an aggressive animal eating carnivore... unless you are planning to lie? I'm a bit confused on the conflicting statements.

What part of the vegan diet are you confused about? Are you looking for protein sources other than animals? A google search will probably give you about 100 or so sources of plant proteins.

Are you certain your trainer is well versed in nutrition and qualified to give you nutrition advice? I would think that a person with even a miniscule amount of knowledge about diet would be aware that any food will metabolize into fat - but only if you eat more than you burn.

My advice would be don't believe everything anyone else tells you.. do your own research; make an informed decision and do what sits right with you. Buddha says this better:

"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it."

Yes it's more than possible as you will just have to look on the profile page of this site to see. I do have allot of questions,

The whole sugars metabolizing into fat argument is really not true. Definitely read Starch Solution, 811 diet, and the China study for information on that.

You should be able to get to your goal bf%, but I'd have to ask what your trainer is having you eat. Keep in mind though as well that a great deal of bodybuilding is the regulation of various hormones. You being a female may have a natural inclination to keep a moderate bf%. So it can be harder for females.

The diet my trainer/trainers want me to adhere to is 6 small meals a day - all of which consist of chicken, fish or eggs.
Im back to my vegan diet and I have so much more energy. Juicing all my greens, eating fruit, soaked nuts and beans.

Thank you for the suggestions on various diets. Just took a peak at the 811 diet - very interesting. It will harder for me to drop in bf% but i'm up for the challenge and to prove my trainers wrong that I can gain muscle and loose body fat adhering to a vegan diet!

It sounds like you have the answers to your questions I think. You say you feel best when on a vegan diet. Forget what your training is saying. Is he or she even a nutritionist? Let them know that you would like their help in the gym. What you eat is your part of the training. Or just leave food out of the convo with them if they can't be open minded to something they don't seem to know anything about such as a plant based diet. I also like to throw in running back for the Texas titans, boxing champ that recently beat pacquiao, several of the top mma pros and...gorillas, all vegan! So its more than possible to build lean muscle mass.
-Dylan