Diet - Any Vegans?

[Freddy]

Hi all,

 

what diets are you on? Like your normal diets and your diet during training camp (if you do) and weight cut.

And more important, are there any vegans out there? Is there anyone doing low carb and vegan, if so Id like to hear any experiences.

Im trying to tweek my diet a lot.

I hardly every east stuff like bread and pasta, I cook for myself and avoid all processed foods. I have carbs such as oats, fruits or a little rice in the morning or before training, but have veggies and proteins for the rest of the day.

When I have to go on a diet to make weight there is usually a point in time when I start deleting off any carbs, usually starting out with fruits and afterwards cutting out oats and rice. So its basically protein and fat left. However this is just a very short amount of time, like weeks and I take supplements like minerals and vitamins in addition.

 

Lately i find myself thinking about how low carb and vegan works with training. I am sourrounded by vegans, but they all eat a crazy amount of pasta, rice and other stuff I simply dont want to eat. Going vegetarian is not a problem at all. Im just such an egg and yogurt addict, I wouldnt know how to deal without it, hence I thought of doing a month trial and see how it goes - vegan and law carb.

 

Whats your ideas on that topic... whats your diets look like?

[Micc]

I'm constantly trying to lose weight, so I tried a lot of different diets. Most of them left me with no strenght to do any training. I even thought I'm exgagerrating my exhaustion and just have to pull through, but now I'm on a balanced diet leaning onto low-carb and I feel great. I eat less calories, but have more power than before. I plan to reduce the carbs, but with my weight I still have a long way to go on this diet, so I can't cut carbs at the beginning. I also supplement my diet with protein shakes and BCAA (the last one works MAGIC for me).

From what I know, eating a lot of pasta and carby stuff when you're a vegan is not healthy at all. I have a few vegan friends and when they started out they had always eaten a lot of carby stuff and that lead to them gaining weight. Then they have changed their diet, "learned" the healthy way of vegan eating and they lost weight and are now healthy.

They eat a lot of vegetables, but served in so many different ways! As far as I know there are already available cooking books for vegetarians and vegans, with healthy and balanced recieps. There are also a lot of cooking blogs for vegetarians.

You could also find some ideas for healthy vegan meals in the Indian cuisine.

As for training camp and cutting weight - I have no experience in that area. 

PS. Just after finishing this post, I've stumbled upon this blog on my facebook: http://www.cookingquinoa.net/recipe-index/and there are at least 5 or 6 more that frequently pop up in my newsfeed :)

There's also a Polish BJJ girl who shows her healthy fighter meals, it's in Polish but you can get the general idea from the pictures: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Clean-taste-Zdrowe-od%C5%BCywianie/754989324552962

[missmuaythai]

I am on a calorie based diet where I restrict my carb intake to after training sessions and limited portions. I supplement this with a carbohydrate based drink during training which gives me the energy I need and also aids in recovery at the same time. Your body does not store this as fat.

 

I highly advise against paleo diets in Thailand with this type of training. Your body needs the carbs, especially if you are trying to lose weight. carbs are not the energy, just make sure you eat them at the right times. I stick with oats, potatoes, sweet potatoes and sometimes rice.

 

Good fats are really important too. A good thumb of fats at each meal is a good rule of thumb.

 

I am all for balanced eating. no fad diets, just good healthy eating. Lots of veggies and protein, carbs at the right time.

 

This is just my personal opinion though.

[Darina]

Freddy, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but you're in Germany. Don't go vegan. Eat Magerquark for breakfast, lunch, and dinner - problem solved. Get it from Bioladen if you feel bad for the cows.

I'm not even joking, I eat at least 500g a day. Not because I have to, but because I love it. Some days I have to make an effort to eat other foods as well... And 500g is 60g protein from 300 kcal...And it tastes amazing if you mix it with fruit, nutella, or jam. Right now I also put oats, so that when I have to cut weight, I can just remove the oats and have 200 kcal less per day with no hassle. And you don't have to cook it, which means a lot to me, because even frying eggs is work.

In Japan I ate tofu and edamame a lot, they have similar nutrients to magerquark (edamame is even better for protein actually). I think you can buy lots of different kinds of tofu in Germany now, too. You can usually get edamame at least deep-frozen at asian grocery stores. Tofu and edamame make a great vegan salad topping.

[Freddy]

Carina,I absolutely love magerquark,I love on this together with eggs and harzer cheese. Because I east it every day I thought about cutting it down and substituting, seeing how vegan works. Apart from being freaking expensive if you eg buy soy yogurt it is nearly impossible to find something which that many proteins and is still healthy.

You might be right I might just stay with that!

[emma]

I'm not a vegan, but I try to keep a plant-based diet as much as possible (for both health and ethical reasons) and eat fish, seafood, eggs and cheese from time to time. I don't like to put myself in a box, but want to keep my diet as healthy and responsible as I can while reducing my impact on other animals. So, if I had to put a label on it, as much as I dislike to do so, I guess I would call myself a 'pescetarian'. This has been a fairly recent change for me, I've only had this diet for the last year or so and am still tweaking it for my training. Also, I'm currently studying modules in Nutrition for Sports and Exercise and Nutrition for Weight Loss as part of a diploma I'm doing, so I'll share a bit about what I do and how it works for me as well as what I'm learning at the moment. I'm by no means claiming to be an authority on this, so if anyone has any corrections to make to some of the information here, please share  :smile:

Protein (Plants vs. Animals)

Of course, there's the misconception that vegan/vegetarian diets lack sufficient amounts of protein, but that doesn't need to be the case. I eat a lot of lentils, chickpeas, beans, nuts and sometimes tofu for protein. This does mean that I have to cook for myself most of the time and take total control of my diet, though. The difference between animal protein and plant protein is that animal proteins are 'complete proteins', which means that they contain the full range of amino acids. They're also much higher in fat. Plant proteins are 'incomplete proteins', which means that you have to consume a range of them in order to have the correct amino acid intake. I see this as a bonus, it means I have to make my food more interesting. I try to keep my diet as colourful as possible, but also take an amino acid powder supplement which also contains a good amount of BCAAs (essential amino acids, not synthesised by the body but needed in our diets, make up a third of muscle protein and can be used directly as fuel by muscles) to make sure I'm getting everything I need. Plant proteins are obviously much lower in fat and higher in fibre than animal proteins, so that's a bonus. Occasionally, I also use Sun Warrior Vegan Protein powder, but it's rather pricey and I'm not entirely sure that I need it. Just a top-up from time to time.

Generally, most people need 1g of protein per kg of body weight per day, although those doing resistance training can require double that. 

Carbohydrates

My diet used to be a lot like what Freddy described. I would eat as few carbs as possible, but the ones I did eat were wholewheat versions and low GI options like sweet potatoes, oats, wholewheat pasta and brown rice. 

I hardly every east stuff like bread and pasta, I cook for myself and avoid all processed foods. I have carbs such as oats, fruits or a little rice in the morning or before training, but have veggies and proteins for the rest of the day.

I'm now experimenting with my carb intake. I think we're often led to believe that carbs are the devil and should be kept to a minimum, but when you're training a lot, I don't think you can afford to think that way. When training sessions last for an hour or more, a high-carb diet maximises your energy stores and improves your endurance. I find myself crashing when I don't eat carbs in the correct amount or at the right times, so I'm trying to incorporate the following strategies from my studies now (although this is focusing on fueling my training for optimum performance, not weight loss):

Carbs Before Training

Apparently, anything consumed 30-60 mins before training has no benefit on muscle glycogen (readily available energy stores). It is said that during the 2-4 hours before a high-intensity training session, we should consume an amount of carbs equal to 2.5g per kilogram of our body weight, in a low GI, slow-releasing form. When I do morning sessions, this poses a problem for me because I pretty much roll straight out of bed and into the gym at 7am and find it difficult to eat anything that early. 

Carbs During Training

If you're training for over an hour, consuming carbs during your session can postpone fatigue by 15-30mins. Good sources for this include sports drinks (you can make them yourself if you're worried about all the nasty stuff in the store-bought ones), energy bars and dried fruit. If you do choose to have carbs during training, timing is important because they may not be absorbed into the bloodstream until 30 mins after consumption. Recommended amounts are 70g of carbs per hour or 1-2g of carbs per minute. Anything higher than that will have no benefit during the session. 

Carbs After Training

In the 2-hour window after training, consume 1g of carbs per kilogram of body weight, in a form that is easily digestible and high-moderate GI to get glucose into the bloodstream as quickly as possible. During that window, energy stores can be replenished at a rate three times faster than normal, so consuming carbs then will avoid fatigue later on and optimise recovery. 

Apparently, a further 50g of carbs should be consumed 2-4 hours after training (although I usually find this difficult if I'm still full from before). 

Carbs Between Training Sessions

Recommended recovery rates are as follows:

- For low-moderate intensity training: 5-7g carbs per kg body weight per day

- For high intensity training: 7-12g carbs per kg body weight per day

-For extreme intensity training (4-6+ hrs a day): 10-12g carbs per kg body weight per day

The carbs I eat are still the same sources that I listed above, but I'm playing around with the amounts and times to see what works best. Weighing out my food is definitely a pain, but I'm trying to make myself do that now! As far as my general diet goes, I agree with what Missmuaythai said:

I am all for balanced eating. no fad diets, just good healthy eating. Lots of veggies and protein, carbs at the right time.

[Marnir]

Im a vegetarian, my issue is rather fighting to put on some weight, I seem to have pretty high metabolism. Working on it now, I have done it before so i know it can be done, but eating 6 times a day is quite a logistical challenge.

For those of you living in Thailand, how easy or difficult is it to eat vegetarian in Thailand while training? I'm hoping to go at some point, and this is one of my bigger questions for the trip.

[maybethestars]

Im a vegetarian, my issue is rather fighting to put on some weight, I seem to have pretty high metabolism. Working on it now, I have done it before so i know it can be done, but eating 6 times a day is quite a logistical challenge.

For those of you living in Thailand, how easy or difficult is it to eat vegetarian in Thailand while training? I'm hoping to go at some point, and this is one of my bigger questions for the trip.

 

From my experience at least its usually a surprise for people who come to visit Thailand how heavily Thai food is based on animal products. Not to say that its incredibly difficult, but when it comes to street food most of it usually consists of pork/beef/chicken mixed in. There are other dishes that are more or less vegetarian like som tum, but they usually have things like dried shrimps mixed in. I think it shouldn't be difficul though for you to ask ...the approximate thai term for vegetarian food is "jae" or "ah-han jae".

The one thing I can imagine you would have a difficult time with is fish sauce. Its made from the liquid from fermented anchovies and is used in place of salt in almost everything you would buy ready to eat. Otherwise the easiest options would probably be just cooking your own food.

[Marnir]

Thanks for the input Steph. I'm not super picky about my vegetarianism, especially not abroad, so I can live with a little fish sauce and such. But it's always nice to know what options are available.

[Flora]

Hi everyone :)
I'm new to this forum, I know the topics is a bit old but nobody seems to be vegan and since I am vegan I though about writing something. 
I am not training so much because I am studying for two degrees at the same time but I usually train 3 times/week for 3hours + an hour running / week with some 30min or shadow boxing or yoga.
My diet is really random, like my schedule, but when I train I always try to eat an hour before (something like bananas) and after training I make a big smoothy (with protein, some fat like almond butter and a lot of fresh fruits).
But what I found really helping was to drink coconut milk while training instead of water, it helped me train longer and feel less tired. 
Also I know he is a football player but the "300 pounds vegan" has a few tips on his page, but anyways, what Emma wrote are good advices! 
I have a friend training in Thailand right now, and he told me that he has no problem with food whatsoever, he was even surprise how easy it was.

[Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu]

Carina,I absolutely love magerquark,I love on this together with eggs and harzer cheese. Because I east it every day I thought about cutting it down and substituting, seeing how vegan works. Apart from being freaking expensive if you eg buy soy yogurt it is nearly impossible to find something which that many proteins and is still healthy.

You might be right I might just stay with that!

Hey Freddy, I was vegan for 10 years, but before I ever trained in Muay Thai. I just read this book by famed ultra-runner Scott Jurek and he's vegan. Lots of good recipes in here: "Eat and Run"