New vegan, weight lifter - need pointers

sweir1

Hi I'm Sarah! I'm a new vegan (still weaning certain things out of my diet) I'm having a hard time putting my meals together based on my macronutrient goals. I've been working with a trainer for the last 2 months but recently decided to do it all on my own and build my own meal plans.. As A VEGAN. So, if anyone has any pointers or any websites that have recipes and good food information for me to follow, it would be greatly appreciated!

MakePeasNotWar

You didn't specify, but as a fellow vegan, I'm assuming that your macro issues are protein related. (Mine always are.) I find I tend to max out at about 15-18% protein if I try to stick to whole foods, but if you are open to using protein powders and meat analogues it will be easier. I use protein powder most days, and probably eat veggie burgers and the like about 2-3 times a week.

I don't know any vegan bodybuilding sites off the top of my head, though I am sure there are some, but I do follow No Meat Athlete and I have read Vegetarian Sports Nutrition by D. Enette Larson about 1000 times. It's like my bible when I'm training. It even has a meal planning section near the back. I highly recommend it.

If you are having trouble getting to your protein target, my number 1 tip would be to learn to make seitan. It's cheap, versatile, easy once you get the hang of it (and baking/steaming methods are even easier than the traditional simmering technique), and it is much higher in protein than beans, tofu or tempeh (75-90%, depending on the recipe)

MakePeasNotWar

I also really like sneaking in protein rich carbs, like bean pastas (Tolerant is the brand I use, but I hear good things about Explore Asia brand as well), extra protein bread (with added gluten), and using quinoa or a higher protein whole grain as sides rather than white rice or potatoes.

Greens are another great source of protein; and one that I really don't eat enough. You'll have trouble getting the necessary volume from raw greens, but if you cook them down, you can eat a lot more without dying of boredom while trying to eat buckets of salad.

Sarauk2sf

Unfortunately, most vegan sources are not complete proteins, so try to get it from a variety of sources (so you end up getting all your EAAs - does not need to be in the same meal - just at some point through the day). Soy is a complete protein as is quinoa, nutritional yeast and hemp, although they are not that high in protein v calories. If you are having trouble meeting your protein goals and staying within your other macros, you may want to supplement with a Vegan protein powder. RawFusion by SAN is pretty good quality and reasonably priced (its pretty comparable from a $ perspective to whey). It also has a comparable protein to calorie ratio to whey and a better one than the more highly marketed vegan powders. I also believe it has more leucine in it than most other vegan powders.