Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

I have been a Vegetarian for a year now and have started weight lifting for a better body. I was athletic and really healthy when I was younger but have slowly slipped into too many bad habits. I am aiming to be 200 pounds (I am at 180 : 9 Oct, 2012) by my birthday next year.

When I started weight lifting I was at 155, I am 6 feet tall and have always been really lanky.

Well, I am eager to get to know some fellow Veg*n people who are a little more experienced than me for advice and stories. Especially some advice on a low maintenance diet plan. I live a very busy lifestyle and rarely ever have time to cook and I work at a restaurant as a server where the food is far from worth eating.

xyjames

Michigander here too! Welcome to the forum - your goals are definitely possible with smart eating and training. I had the same problem with finding time to eat healthy food since I'm a college student and work at the same time - it's possible, you just need to start getting in the habit of buying tubberware containers and precooking all of your meals on a single day of the week.

Thanks for the reply. Enjoying the cold air we've been having? lol
Eating healthy, for the most part has always come naturally. I always loved veggies and fruit. My issue really stems I think by what I eat and how much of it I eat. I eat to little of this and to much of that, it ruins the dietary needs. It happens, I think out of convenience. Like you said, "I had the same problem with finding time to eat healthy food since I'm a college student and work at the same time".

The preparing ahead of time sounds like a good idea actually! It will make things easier in the end.

xyjames

Welcome to the group xyjames. Sounds like you have made some good progress from when you started at 155 to now at 180.
Finding time to cook can be hard that's for sure. I try to always carry healthy snacks on me if possible like fruit, nuts and seeds, im hungry often. I'm 6'2 and around 165 i'd like to be 175 but I'm not as focused on body building as just getting stronger, faster, and staying fit and healthy in general.
Shakes and bars can be helpful and quick. Especially if you get yourself a shaker/blender bottle. I like Vega, Plant Fusion and Sunwarrior for shakes personally. I do like to eat whole foods whenever possible though. I started washing and re-using ziplock bags so I can carry snacks and don't feel back about using plastic.

-Dylan

It's Michigan... we ALWAYS have cold air, hahaha. Luckily I moved up here because I like the cold in the first place. Anyway, I totally understand your dilemma. I always eat healthy, but the problem comes from the fact that things that are easier to eat will almost always be eaten in higher proportions, aka nut butter sandwiches, cereal, oatmeal etc. It's pretty damn time-consuming to stand at a kitchen stove and stirfry your vegetables or cook some quinoa/lentils. So... like I said before, pick a solid hour one day of the week to cook a ton of food that can preserve in the fridge and feast on that throughout the week.