Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

I want to know how I would go about designing a 100% whole foods vegan diet approach for training.

What I consider whole foods:
-Fruits
-Vegetables
-Grains
-Legumes
-Nuts/Seeds
-Blending whole foods is fine since it contains all the parts
-Nut butters are also fine as they contain all parts
-Cooked or raw is fine

Things I don't consider whole foods:
-Oils such as olive, hemp, flaxseed etc. (they aren't the whole food, they are missing components of the original source)
-Most protein powders with the exception of maybe hemp as it is just ground hemp seeds
-I would prefer to be SOY FREE if it can be helped


Essentially, I want to eat a 100% whole food diet with no technicalities and no/minimal supplementation aside from maybe hemp protein (with fiber included).

How might I go about doing this?

I am a 23 yr old male. I weigh 161.2 lbs @ 17.9% Body Fat. I am 5'11" medium build

First you gotta find out how many calories you burn in a day, so measure your food intake for a few days, monitor your weight, and see if it changes. Assuming your weight stays constant, then you know how much to eat. For the foods, I would shoot for:

1-2oz nuts/butters
1-2 cups beans/lentils/peas
1-2 cups grains
5+ fruits
10+ veggies

That should give you all the calories you need, depending on your size. Also make sure you get a good source of B12, calcium, and vitamin D, as well as using iodized salt. Good luck!

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Learning how to be compassionate, gain wisdom, and love life.

I do take a multivitamin and get outside when I can. I need to eat about 2800 calories a day according to the USDA calculator online. I don't really workout right now so my calorie burn is probably not too high with the exception of class days at karate (2x a week, mostly interval cardio type stuff). Would 15% protein be sufficient to gain muscle? That's about 100g at 2800 calories. I have felt quite pathetic muscularly since going vegan although my energy seems to pretty good.

I'm assuming those measurements are for dry uncooked foods?

DEFINITELY take a separate B12 supplement, preferably in methylcobalamin form. It's not worth the risk!

The amount listed was for cooked beans and 'cooked' grains, but grape nuts, bread, etc. are 'cooked' grains. So....

1-2oz nuts = 160-320 calories
1-2 cups cooked beans = 220-440 calories
1-2 cups cooked grains = 200-600 calories
5 servings fruit = 500 calories
10 servings veggies = 100-200 calories
TOTAL = 1200-2060 calories

That is a bit on the low side for your size, but I was thinking of a standard person trying to lose weight. You can easily up the nuts, beans, or grains, which would give you more calories. It's just a guideline to follow! Shoot for 20% of your calories from protein, although 15% should be fine unless you are trying to build serious muscle. As far as that goes, it really depends on your fitness goals. If you really want more protein, then add more calories into high protein foods like tofu, tempeh, beans, peas, quinoa, etc.

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Learning how to be compassionate, gain wisdom, and love life.