Looking for advice/guidance

[Wayne D]

Hello, I am a 19 year old from the United Kingdom who has only been a pecto vegetarian for several months. For most of my life I have always eaten the standard meats: ham, chicken, pork and fish etc. Although I've always possessed a faint guilt about eating meat, I really had no significant qualms about it. However, all of a sudden my conscience compelled me to give up eating meat, apart from seafood, and I have.

 

Although, when I think about it, I do not so much miss the taste of meat, more the protein that comes with it. Of course, I also know that the only meat I do eat is one of the richest sources of protein.

 

Now regarding my body building, although I don't know whether I'd class it as that, I am 6'2" and weigh roughly 72kg. I have to admit that recently I have seemed very lacking in passion regarding my training, I do not know if this is due to a lack of food or just apathy. First of all, I must stress that I am not trying to build muscle for competition, nor am I aiming for a prime Jean-Claude Van Damme-esque physique. I am quite skinny and looking to tone up and beef up my biceps somewhat.

 

 

Here is a typical example of my daily eating regime:

 

Breakfast (9am - 10am) -

- Banana

- Bowl of cereal such as Cheerios.

 

Lunch (11am - 12am) -

- Quorn meat substitute or fried egg sandwich

 

Dinner (4pm - 5pm) -

- Boiled pasta with any from: tuna, Quorn sausages, grated cheese.

 

Dessert (Straight after dinner) -

Varies a lot but is usually something like:

- Small trifle, piece of cheesecake, icecream and suchlike.

 

Snacks -

The snacks I have are random. They usually consist of a chocolate bar, but I only indulge in multiple chocolate bars and cakes on very rare occasions.

 

When I was at other bodybuilding forums, while I was still eating the other forms of meat, I was told to use heavier weights but do lower sets and make sure to do perfect form the best I can. But because I am not eating a huge amount of protein, this will surely have an adverse effect?

 

Please consider that I do not have the financial situation to splash out on supplements and expensive vegetarian meals.

 

I am looking for some general input and advice, bearing in mind the information I have presented you with regarding my physical and financial situation. Hopefully I can elaborate more about myself and my condition as we go along.

 

Thank you for your time

 

- Wayne D

[compassionategirl]

hey Wayne,

 

Thanks for your candor. Welcome to the board. My only advice is veganism neednt be expensive - many of the bodybuilders here dont supplement. They just eat good nutritious foods! And look at what you can achieve without supporting cruelty to animals:

 

viewtopic.php?p=34092#34092

 

So I encourage you to consider pushing your ethical disdain for meat to its logical conclusion and give up eating fish (which DO suffer as they suffocate and die), dairy (which directly supports the cruel and heart wrenching veal industry) and eggs (an industry which has no use for male chicks and discards them to typically suffocate to death in large plastic bags, among other animal abuses) Oh ya, one more thing about eggs - the contents of an egg is the MENSTRUAL WASTE of a hen. Eeewww!!!

 

Welcome to the forum. I am sure the guys will help you out with your questions soon. Stick around!

 

[jonathan]

Your diet is very low in calories/everything really.

 

I can sympathise with you in terms of weight gaining. I am 6ft 8" and when I started training I was 77kg. I now weigh around 113kg. In 2yrs 9months, all on a vegan diet.

 

Actually one of the cheapest forms of protein is pea protein isolate. Cheaper than any food infact. You can get it from www.myprotein.com for £5 a kilo, and its great.

 

I would basically suggest something like this for your daily food layout:

 

9am: Meal one (breakfast - toast/cereal/porridge)

 

10.30am: Protein smoothie (1 banana blended with 500ml pineapple juice, 20-30g olive oil, 30g pea protein)

 

12noon: meal two (lunch - something like curry with tofu, or anything really)

 

2pm: smoothie

 

5pm: meal three (evening meal. Make sure you get some protein, but dont worry too much)

 

7pm: smoothie

 

9pm: meal four (something light, like a spinach avocado salad with dressing)

 

11pm: smoothie

 

You can substitute smoothies for 100g of nuts or something of similar calorific content (700cal).

 

Regarding training, assuming that you are already trained to a degree, I recommend doing a program where you use compound exercises like squat, deadlift, bench, overhead press, bent over rows, shrugs as the basis. Use lower reps (8 reps or less), less sets, lift with higher intensity, and get lots of rest. Don't train more than 4 times a week, though 3 is better.

 

Good luck with it, plus you don't need fish

 

Jonathan

[bronco]

I would also think you need to eat more. Personally I find that a stready breakfast, like oatmeal, is essential for getting the apetite up for the whole day.

[Wayne D]

Thank you for all the input so far, much appreciated.

 

compassionategirl, I fully understand where you are coming from when you're urging me to become a fully fledged vegan, but I will do it when or if I feel ready to. It was a big step for me to give up the meats I have eaten for the majority of my life, excluding fish.

 

Judging from some of body builders here, it is hard to believe they have achieved such physiques on a vegan diet, and are not taking any performance-enhancing drugs. Although I do not wish to question their integrity, and I shall take their word for it. I think it is probably because at other body building forums it was emphasised how lean meat is imperative to achieving a muscular physique. So I've assumed that vegetarians and vegans will be debilitated by their lifestyles.

 

jonathan, thank you for the diet suggestion, definitely some food for thought, no pun intended. By the way, what kind of nuts would you recommend to eat? Also, it is okay to snack? I don't gluttonously eat biscuits, cakes and chocolate bars, but I am prone to having one or two every other day.

 

 

Also, something fairly significant I forgot to mention was that I suffer from scheuermann's disease (curvature of the spine). Although I do not have an extreme case, I still do suffer from back pain, and have been advised by a physiotherapist against exercises such as Upright Rows and other weight exercises that may be strenuous on my back.

 

Take care

 

- Wayne D

[CrispyQ]

Welcome Wayne. Head over to the recipes forum for some great tasting vegan meals -- most are whole foods & low cost. Here's another great site for recipes: http://vegweb.com/index.php?action=recipes

 

[Guest]

Hey Wayne...alot of people on this forum are large because of their diets. Many don't even take supplements of the vegan form...I don't and I'm still a muscular guy(to my dismay)...and nobody here is of a size thats improbable without clean training. I was a 60' shot putter that competed in some international competitions and I know dirty when I see it...I don't see any superheavyweight bodybuilders on here. Alot of the guys here that are really large aren't tall which makes packing muscle on easier...alot of the dirty guys you see on tv are tall and huge which is nearly impossible to do clean. Johnathon is a perfect example...he's a big guy but if he wants muscle like one of the shorter lifters on here he's gotta get alot of fat to go along with it. I had a ton of muscle and needed fat to get there and I'm 6'1" which is about middle ground for being able to pack on super heavy muscle...if your 6'3'' and up its a real chore to gain 5 pounds of muscle. Anyway I used to eat 300g of protein a day as a vegan and many here do the same...some even more than that! Many non-vegan bodybuilders don't come near that amount. Vegan protein sources are easier to digest and absorb so its really more likely to get big...the problem is that society has been blind to this fact and in general a small amount of people have given it an honest try. As for money I live on a vegan diet for a little over $4 a day(2 pounds about)...most of that food is organic and I could drop that down under $2 a day and keep it pretty healthy if I didn't care about my food being organic or slightly uninteresting. I was right around 300lbs when I turned vegan and due to my sport I chose to stay that way. I was also previously gourging my body with supplemnts(legal but not vegan)...when I went vegan I completely stopped supplementing and my maxes in the gym that seemed to be stopping points got blown away very quickly despite coming back from an injury and not lifting much.

[PETACANABIS]

Compassionate girl is taht true?? the content of an egg is menstrual waste of an hen???

 

that sucks dude grrrrr

 

i stop eating eggs 5 or 6 years ago and i didnt know that

 

lucky me ui am not eating that shit

 

 

animal liberation

human liberation

[andesuma]

Speaking of the egg industry... it should probably also be said that

over 20 million hens(in the US alone) die of prolapses.

Which means their reproductive organs are so sore and swollen they

are forced out of the hen & or caught in the hens PRIVATE AREA for

days, weeks or months, with no medical attention.. and they suffer & die this way.

 

Absolutely appalling.

 

 

 

If you're going to continue to consume dairy, fish & eggs until you feel comfortable with the transition to vegetarianism & hopefully veganism..

I would recommend looking into local farm animal sanctuaries(which sometimes sell left over eggs from the free-range chickens)

and natural food stores/CO-OPs to buy these products from.

(ie. buying sustainably harvested fish, as opposed to just any fish)

Or become friends with a local farmer that could sell you some

of these products(then you could maybe meet the cow you get your

dairy from, how cool would that be?!).

Also.. at least your conscience wouldn't be so heavy.

And you would be supporting progressive change, by buying local and organic.

 

 

here are some links that will hopefully help with your decision making:

 

http://www.hillside.org.uk/

http://www.farmanimalrescue.org.uk/

 

www.organicconsumers.org

www.notmilk.com

www.newstarget.com

www.madcowboy.com

 

 

 

Also, I just wanted to add I have been vegetarian my entire life, and vegan for over half of my life,

I grew up a dancer(12 yrs. +),

swimmer(I use to compete/race),

was into martial arts and kickboxing as a pre-teen, &

am currently a runner, and cyclist.

As well as a Pilates instructor(which is extremely

physically and mentally demanding).

I have rarely taken supplements(only recently do I take a superfoods one)

& I have never had a deficiency.

I have always been able to build muscle, endurance, and have been full

of energy.

 

 

 

So, break down your stereotypes & generalizations alittle bit

live, learn and grow. That is what we are here to do...

Glad you found this place!