Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Hello everyone! My name is Elena, I'm 25 years old, I'm from Greece and I found the forum while googling about vegan bodybuilding.

I've been lifting for about 3 years now and it took me a long time to figure out how everything works, from training to nutrition and all that stuff that can be quite messy at every new beginning. I started lifting after going through a phase of 8 months having cut out meat from my diet but still consuming eggs, dairy and fish. I was searching online about vegism and vegetarianism, I couldn't stand the idea of animal cruelty. Unfortunately after some bad blood tests I was pushed by my family to go back to eating meat to up my iron and ferritine levels and I thought that if it is so, I will do it by following a classic bodybuilding diet.

Almost 3 years after, I've reached to a point where I don't feel as happy and complete with all that. I've been rejecting meat, dairy, fish and eggs and going for fruits, veggies, legumes, cereals, grains and trying to learn stuff about how to combine my love for fitness and weights with a plant based nutrition and this time do it the right way. I've reached to the conclusion that all that really matters is doing what you love and what makes YOU happy no matter what anybody else thinks and says. I've been told a lot of times that the only way to build muscle and shred fat is by following a traditional bbing diet with animal protein in every meal etc. I don't really believe that it's the only way.

I want to believe that 2017 will be a year of change, positivity, health and love. I really want to do the step and I think I'm in the right place! I will search the forum to learn more about vegan bbing and I would really appreciate any help given in this journey!

Happy new year to all, nice to find you!

welcome, why dont you start a training and food journal, they are lacking here these days but a good way for people to connect

I will do it soon because it's been a couple of weeks now that I don't go to the gym, I only do some cardio here and there since I have exams for my degree coming up in February and because I'm working on weekdays, I don't have that much time to combine everything. Thank you though!

You don't need to eat animal protein...but you do need to add a complete protein supplement or you will probably struggle to gain any muscle. (this is an enthusiast site for vegans wanting to gain muscle...and protein requirements are higher in that context)

I would agree, at least as a starting point you should follow traditional BB macros, but you can do that with a vegan COMPLETE protein supplement. (any reasonably good quality protein should have an animo acid profile available)

jmf wrote:You don't need to eat animal protein...but you do need to add a complete protein supplement or you will probably struggle to gain any muscle. (this is an enthusiast site for vegans wanting to gain muscle...and protein requirements are higher in that context)

I would agree, at least as a starting point you should follow traditional BB macros, but you can do that with a vegan COMPLETE protein supplement. (any reasonably good quality protein should have an animo acid profile available)

I know that someone who wants to build muscle has higher needs in protein than those who don't but I have also seen many people following high carb and moderate protein and fat diet as well. I haven't done any research on that to be honest...

I have bought a soy protein isolate from myprotein (since here in Greece we're not so educated on veganism and for those who are interested, they should check and order stuff online) and I used to get one scoop after my workouts. I also started by combining foods like legumes and rice, adding broccoli to my meals... I also LOVE fruits, either fresh or dehydrated. So I would like to see how I could combine everything to make a daily plan that would both suit my preferences and my training goals. I definitely don't believe in the necessity of animal protein in our diet, I'm ahead of that.