Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

So yeah I need to start my cut diet and I want to replace the following with vegan alternatives that are similar in protein and calorie profile and do not come from legumes (leafy veggies?):


Tuna
Macharel
Chickenbreast

And just generally whatever non legume options that are high in protein? Once I have these thinsg in place, I can post my Cut diet for everyone to follow

Legumes are a great source of protein and your best bet to get in enough lysine (the most limited amino acid in a vegan diet), but if you really feel you must cut them out, then quinoa is good as are nuts (and nut butters) and whole grains like oats,millet and wild rice. Limit anything processed - although many prefer to take a protein powder which are a highly processed food.

I highly recommend a 'green smoothie' for breakfast. I throw in about 2 cups of spinach or kale along with fruit and flax and chia seeds (for omega 3). 2 cups of spinach has only 2g of protein... but calories for that protein are only 14. You get a lot of other benefits from spinach or kale tho.. like vitamin k and iron. The fruit in the smoothie (vit. c) ensures you absorb the iron.

Here is a good article on nutrition for the vegan athlete.

Stcalico- beneficial as always- thanks! That green smoothie sounds good, going to have try it ASAP once I invest in a proper blender! Would you (or anyone else) happen to have a list of the nutritional value of non legume vegetables?

collard greens and kale are supposedly protein rich ( at least per calorie, not volume ), i think other leafy greens are too, broccoli is, i think asparagus has some protein, like 8 grams for a bunch of spears, i think some sprouts are rich in protein, though i guess they are alot of legumes, uh there's more that i just can't think of right now
you could also try a chlorella/spirulina powder, from what i understand they are just dried & powdered kelp, rich in micronutrients + protein- nut sure how unprocessed you want it, i have no experience with it so just give it a google- i think they are mainly taken for general health rather than protein though

Muchidna, thank you for the good tips!

I looked for a clear and manageable list containing the basic nutrion value pr 100 g/vegetables and couldn't find one. So I made one myself. Here's an easy nutrition value list of 100 + vegetables of which the most protein rich have been marked with light green. Since I can't add pdf, word or any other type of files except jpeg, I've uploaded it for you to download at :

http://www.speedyshare.com/r36Wz/Most-p ... tables.pdf

I'd recommend looking at the percentage of calories from protein, rather than amount of protein per 100g. The limit to how much food you eat in a day is their combined calories, not combined weight. So, considering that calories are the limit, you will want to know what food has the highest protein available, in the lowest calories. That way, you will be getting maximum protein in relation to your calorie limit. A food can be light in relation to its protein, but its total calories could be high, and so that food might not be as good as it seems.

That's a good point- thanks for the tip Richard! Will havd that in mind for future research. The vegetables I've marked as the most protein rich are however also amongst the lowest in total kcal (had that in the back of my mind as well, 2000 kcal/day is like half of my usual daily intake, so can't afford to be careless meh).

And in case you want to try adding legumes again, I heard that the Truroots Sprouted Bean Trio available at Costco is much easier on the digestive system than some of the other legume options.
Just don't go overboard... some people's systems take longer to adjust.

you could try making seitan, it's made of wheat gluten if you can handle that, the gluten contains 75%+ protein, and if you cook it right, it tastes great, in stir fries and stuff as a meat replacement, or just to eat on its own as a snack, it's like... very very very chewy, dense bread, boiled

Do you eat hemp seeds? Thoughts?

Came across this chart so thought I would share. Buckwheat is an impressive protein source!

I bought some buckwheat awhile back and the girl at the checkout asked me what it is used in and I replied 'I don't know'. I finally tried it in a lentil recipe yesterday to replace another grain I didn't have ... had no idea I was getting so much protein.

Here is a better chart. It is more realistic about buckwheat. Too bad, but I guess buckwheat was a bit mushy anyway.

I like to eat soba noodles, which are half buckwheat flour, half whole wheat flour. Tastes way better than quinoa pasta. If you aren't gluten free, it's a good way to add some protein to some pasta meals.