Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Meat-eater giving veggie a shot
I've never eaten anything even remotely close to a vegan / vegeterian diet so this is a completely new experience for me.

I will try to update this log as often as i can, and feel free to come with suggestions and tips for me regarding anything at all!

My stats:
sex: male
age: 24
location: sweden
height: 176 cm (5 feet and 9,5inches)
weight: 80 kg (176 lbs)
chest: 107-109cm (42-43inch)
waist: 80-83cm (31-32inch)
thigh: 58-60cm (23inch)
upper arm: 40-42cm (16inch)
forearem: 33cm (13 inch)

(note that I've never tried to find my 1rm, i will rather post my latest heavy lifts)
deadlift: - (due to past injury i havent deadlifted for years)
partial deadlifts: 2*210kg (462lbs, this was however done in march; suffered a minor back injury in may and haven't dared lift heavier than 4*170kg (375lbs) afterward)
benchpress: - (I never flat bench)
incline benpress: 5* 80 kg (176lbs)
barbell rows: 10 * 110 kg (242lbs)
french press / skullcrushers: 5 * 55kg (121lbs)
barbelcurl (biceps): 5*50kg (110lbs)
seated military press: 5*60kg (132lbs; doing seated military press in smithmachine I tend to increase that number with +10-15kg (22-33lbs))
leg press: 12+*250kg (550lbs)
leg extensions: 8+*120kg (264lbs)


My goal for each day is to consume at least 250 grams of protein whilst trying to minimise carbs (seems to be the biggest challenge with vegs!). Since this is a first for me I will supplement with bcaa/eaa and whey proteins untill I find an economically sound vegan alternative!

So it begins...


*Disclaimer for spelling mistakes and whatnot ^^

Hi!
Welcome to the world of vegan!
I had a couple of diet tips for you:
1. A lot of vegan protein supplements are cheaper than whey, depending on where you are from, buying online can save you a lot of money. Try the store here, or other links from this site. www.bodybuilding.com also have a lot of regular specials (click store - select "protein" from side menu and choose either the "soy protein" or "plant protein" menu options). I also use a site called vitacost.
2. Make sure you vary your protein sources. Animal protein including dairy is naturally complete in it's essential amino acid make up. Vegan sources are NOT however if you vary your protein sources you'll still receive all the essential aminos you need to build/maintain muscle. You don't have to consume them at the same time, just make sure you vary throughout the day. A BCAA/amino supplement is great for this to, but I see you're already doing that
3. I prefer to keep my carbs low too. Although they are a great source of energy I generally only have them when I feel my body needs it, or before/after a big workout. If you want to up your protein but keep your carbs low,try tofu, tempeh, TVP and seitan (which is wheat gluten - VERY high in protein, but no good if you're allergic to gluten! You can also buy wheat gluten flour and make it yourself) Also a lot of mock meats are low in carbs too but it's always wise to check the label. Unfortunately to stay low carb you need to rely a lot more on man-made/processed foods which doesn't suit a lot of people who prefer to eat more raw/natural foods such as beans, legumes, lentils etc. Ultimately it's up to you.
4. I usually have chai bran, oat bran, whole flax seeds and protein powder mixed into oats every morning. These are fantastic for omega 3 and 6. Flax seed oil is great on salad but don't cook with it or you loose the essential fatty acids! I also make pizza bases, cookies, bars, bread, cakes etc with wheat bran, flax seed, flax meal, chai bran, psyllium husks, oat bran, wheat gluten and vegan protein powder... using a mix of some or all of these ingredients. Although not technically "low carb" they're very high in dietary fiber (which I've read you can subtract from net carbs to lower carb count, as the body cannot process insoluble fiber). They're also just good foods for vegetarians/vegans to have. You can also try some of the low-carb tortillas or bread flours available from health food stores or online, but check the ingredients - not all are vegan! But most are, and relatively high in protein.
Hope this helps!
Sim

Awesome reply! thx alot!
I will absolutely do a sweep of the internet supplement stores for cheap vegan protein alternatives!
For now all I've got at home is onion, soybean, yellow peas (split peas?) and various whey / bcaa powders. And some spices ^^ (got to have som luxury, right!)
I should be allright, protein wise, untill I've found an alternative for the whey; but i will make sure to keep in mind to vary as much as possible and not only eat my soybeans and yellow peas!
Also, seitan seems to be a real winner! Cheap and filled with protein

Yep seitin is my personal favorite!
There's no real flavour, but I see that as a good thing, you can add your own, so it never gets boring!
Its also very cost effective if you buy gluten flour and make it yourself - here's a website on how to make it - http://www.vrg.org/recipes/vjseitan.htm although I just add herbs, spices and water to the flour, roll into weird ball shapes and boil it in a bowl of water and soy sauce in the microwave for about 5 mins. Just remember though it expands A LOT when you cook it!
Also forgot to mention NUTS are great, along with green/leafy veg, but that kinda goes without saying

I will post a comment about the seitan later on this week (hopefully ^^) after I've tried it!

Furthermore I will add pictures to follow this log later tonight or tomorrow.

Two pictures of myself, taken a few minutes ago. I'm really excited to see what this change in my diet will do to my so-called "winter form".






I'm also testing a bean and pea stew/porridge/thing today!

The first batch of my cooked peas and beans wasn't much of a hit. And I took too much soy sauce for the seitan. Better luck tomorrow! ^^

I'm not sure if you are going to be doing any fast food but if you haven't tried it yet buger king has a delicious veggie burger. Here in the states the bk veggie used to be vegan but they now reformulated it to include eggs. I am including the link but a lot of it is in sweedish and since I cant read sweedish I cant say weather it is vegan or not.

http://www.burgerking.se/produkter/hamb ... ie-burger/

I will probably stay away from fast food, It simply doesn't make sense to eat a single meal for 60sek when I can get my entire daily nutrition need for less than half that cost ;D

I spent the entire last week being sick from a cold, but hit the gym again starting saturday:

back/biceps:
barbelrow: 100kg x 4, 4, 4, 4
pullups (palms towards body): bodyweight + 15kg x 4, 4, 4, 4
dumbellrows: 45kg x 5, 5, 5 (per arm)
cablerows: 75kg x 15, 14, 12, 12
rear delts(machine): 30kg x 12, 12, 12, 12
hammercurl: 25kg x 6, 6, 6 (per arm)

sunday:
chest, shoulder, triceps
incline bench: 80kg x 4, 4, 4; 85kg x 4
weighted dips: bodyweight + 15kg x 5, 5, 5
seated militarypress: 60kg x 4, 4, 4, 4
onehandedpushpress in t-bar: 15kg x 8, 8 (per arm)
lateral raises: 20kg x 10, 10, 10
explosive lateral raises with kettlebells: 10kg x 15, 15
seated french press in cablecross: 60kg x 12, 12, 12, 12

monday(today):
legs
leg press (low, narrow feet): 180kg x 4, 4, 4, 4
leg extensions: 100kg x 6, 6, 6
lounges with kettlebells: 10kg (per hand) x 16 (steps), 16; 16kg x 16, 16
leg curls (explosive): 60kg x 4, 4, 4, 4
calf extensions in legpress: 100kg x 12; 150kg x 12, 200kg x 12, 250kg x 12, 12, 12

Its been a minute since you've posted. How has your training been going? Are you still eating vegan or vegetarian?

-Dylan

T'was indeed a while ago since I last wrote!
I realised that being a vegan or vegetarian was not for me after a couple of months (hence why I haven't written; didn't feel quite right to continue when eating meat again), so I went back to eating meat! However, when money is short I usually fall back to a semi-vegetarian diet with lots of greens and whey.

My results was quite poor during my period of eating strictly vegan, but I've managed to rebuild my losses and right now I am actually sporting my best form ever. I am at 83kg (183lbs) with about 9% bodyfat (I'm going down to 7% this summer just for the hell of it!) and pushing my deadlifts towards 200kg (440lbs).

Do you compete or are you aspiring to compete?