Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Ok, so I recently lost about 50+ pounds following a weight watchers points style diet. I'd like to lose about 15 more pounds but also begin some serious weight training/body building. What would you recommend in terms of protein intake. By body weight, I'd be at about 160 g/day. I'd find it pretty impossible to continue with my current diet while following that plan.

I'd been thinking to drop the diet (I don't like "dieting mentality" anyway), switch to a whole foods plan and up the protein and weight training. How do you think I'd do with dropping the last 15 lbs?

What are you following in terms of protein/carb/fat ratio? I noticed that you, Robert, started out several years ago following a body for life plan - would you recommend this to me for my present situation?

I admit, I'm very new to body scuptling/body building (while not so new to actually weight training) and any suggestions would be really "awesome" (that's for you, richard)

If you have protein shakes or protein supplements of some kind, it makes it much easier to get protein, because you don't really need to change the rest of your diet, you just have a couple of protein shakes a day to add however much protein you need.

I can't be of much use to explain how to lose weight and keep muscle as I am currently not doing that well. When I initially lost weight, I did it all wrong and just starved myself basically. I guess it's wrong to advise doing that, because you can lose muscle that way, when you really want to just lose fat. Await someone who knows shit to give advice on this subject

I have two HUGE containers of soy protein (supro) at home. The problem is that each scoop of powder (approx 30g) has 2 points. My diet only allows for 22 points a day. And, those two points don't include the two points for a cup of soy milk and 1 point per half banana. So...Bleh.

Math. Why does there have to be soooo much math!!!

Ahh... that sucks. But the diet you're following presumably isn't catering for weight-lifting?

Hi veganmadre

I think you've done a great job to shed 50 pounds!

I don't believe in this high-protein diet, especially not for the average person (maybe bulgaria´n olympic weight lifters on roids need that much!).
I'd suggest that you concentrate on eating healthy vegan, with not too much sugar and fat in it, and lots of fruits and veggies.

By starting to exercise, you should increase your metabolism so that you burn more calories. If you don't overeat, you'll be losing fat.

Concentrate on healthy food, don't overeat and work out. Try not to make a diet for a weight loss in a short period, but to maintain your weight or lose slowly, in a healthy way.

Counting calories or calculating protein/carbs/fat ratio sucks - it takes away the joy of eating! As you don't seem to have a serious issue with eating or overweight, you shouldn't need that.

And search the forum, there are lots of threads that treat similar subjects, you'll find more info i'm sure.

Feel free to ask anytime if you have questions or think the answers are insufficient

love and peace,
Daywalker


EDIT:
Two new posts while i was writing!
There don't have to be maths! Weight watchers is good to shed pounds, but i think for vegans there are better alternatives, especially when you've already lost the main part of your body fat. Life should be fun, and your diet should come naturally. Don't calculate! You don't have to calculate if you eat veggies instead of ice cream!
And once in a while vegan ice cream is not that bad...

It does give you extra points for activity/weight lifting but I haven't had success trying to apply them. I'm a free spirit! I need to move on to a new plan. Live a little!

I do exercise regularly - 6/7 days a week, I walk 4 miles. With leg weights. It works really well for me! I have asthma and have difficulty with running/jogging but I feel I get a better workout with speed walking, anyway. My main goal, really, is to tone up my arms and define my abs. My legs are toned. I want to sharpen them a little, but I'm looking to start weight training for my upper body.

EDIT:
Vegan ice cream is good. But, Veggies are AWESOME!

Careful with the leg weights! When I started exercising, I could get a good workout just by walking. After about 4 weeks, I needed something more, so I tried to add weight to my arms or legs, but the weight threw my balance off and put a lot of stress on my joints... knees, ankles, elbows and wrists, so I dropped the weights. You might not have this problem, though.

Dieting can be a good way to lose initial weight. This can reduce the stress on your joints and allow you to exercise more rigorously. (At 240 pounds, there is no way I could jog or run, at 220 pounds I can do some light jogging, at 200 pounds I will be able to run). But as a longterm plan, diets just don't work!

For the final push, shift your thinking from "weight" to % body fat, monitor your condition so it doesn't get worse, and settle in for the long haul with plenty of exercise, good food, a little romance, lots of sex, and you'll do just fine .

This is a big problem for people, mainly women when they read the scale. When you initiate a workout program, you tend to gain more muscle than you lose fat, which is better because muscle burns fat at rest. So ya, do not get caught up on the numbers game when it comes to weight.

I only recently heard about this being a problem...I've been doing it for several months now without issue...in fact, walking and walking with the weights has only helped my joints (especially knees!)

Perhaps you are using light weights. Generally people will just add on massive amounts of weight, which is the problem.

I've never been one to be obsessive about the scale - it basically comes down to how my clothes fit and eliminating problem areas. Given that I'm tall (5'8) with a large frame, .I realize that my numbers will be different - even at 200 lbs, I wasn't obese because of my lean muscle mass ( I had a complete profile at the gym I belonged to in Phoenix). On the opposite side of that, because I have a large frame, I want to avoid "too much bulk" and more definition...that's my intention with slimming down a bit more.

I have two sets of weights...5lbs for each ankle. When the 10lb set began getting too light, I attempted to double up (the 10lb per ankle sets I found were miserable bulking/uncomfortable, I love the fabric on the ones I have). When I doubled up, they dug into my ankles so badly that I had to take 2 days off to heal. So, now, I just walk with 5lbs an ankle.

Theres no such thing as women getting bulky, they have less than 30% the hormones men do. Perhaps it's just that being a women, you are really concious on how you look? And wow, at 200 lbs?! That is really crazy. You should join a fight club, my money is on you girl!