Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Hi there, Im 17 and have been vegan for a good bit over a year and bodybuilding for around 3 months now and have noticed next to no gains. I'm skinny and I am practically always hungry, this is a rough idea of what I've been eating but it does vary.

Meal 1: Porridge made with soy milk and nuts (usially peacan and cashews)

Meal 2: 2 slices of toast and peanut butter, 1 bannana

Meal 3: Varies but something like 2 baked potatos or tomato pasta, lentil curry, stir fry with tofu, falafuls etc..

Meal 4: Some kind of fruit usially bannana or apple, cashews and sometimes more toast and peanut butter

Meal 5: Similar to meal 3 but bigger portion, pizza once a week or so

Meal 6: Muesli with soya milk

Is there anything else I should be eating to help with bulking? Also I dont have any protien shakes/suppliments, would you recommend having and if so what types (any links for sites in UK would be apprecieted)?

Check out what others are eating in the training journals section.

hmm....initial thought when read your typical meals was 'where are the plants??!?!?!'

Being always hungry could be either:
- not enough nutrients (variety from lots of plants)
- not enough calories

Lack of progress with training probably means not enough calories.

Good spacing of meals. General rule would be to eat till your satisfied, not till you're full.

Me, almost have main staples with nearly every meal, and especially lunch and dinner. Eat spinach by the fist full. Filling, protein, micro-nutrients. Not calorie dense though. Bell-peppers. Lentils are good and you can be creative with them. Ditto with tofu (have you tried cooking down slices of it in a pan with your fav spices? makes a jerky like texture and for tasty sandwiches!).

Maybe keeping it kinda easy, if baked potatoes are med/large size...suggest cutting down to 1 and adding beans with it (black-beans on a potato is yum!), and some other veg.

Sounds a bit carb/starchy heavy to me. You can mix it up for not much $. Add some fruit to Meal 1....fiber fruit like apple for example. Keep fruit in with later meals too.

Also, can't tell from the meal layout, which meals are on either side of your workout? Need to fuel up before you workout, then replenish afterwards with some good nutrients and proteins (more spinach! haha!).

Just a few thoughts...might come up with others later or hit me up with response to remind me.....

Sorry for the late reply but thanks that was very helpful. I eat meal 4 about two hours before my workout, nowadays I have a protien shake after my workout then meal 5 afterwards. I'm going to add a lot more spinach to my diet, have been enjoying spinach and kale soup. Going to start eating fruit with most of my meals.