How do you gain muscle on a vegetarian/vegan diet?

808Danimal

I am currently an omnivore who will soon be transitioning to a vegetarian or possibly vegan (alkaline vegan) diet. I want to add about 15-20lbs of muscle, I’m 5’9” and at the time of this post am we inching in at 160lbs. What do I need to have in my diet ( calories, macros etc.) to achieve this goal...all advice is welcomed.

Thanks for your input.

Fuzzipeg

Vegetarian and Vegan diets tend to be higher in carbs because the proteins come with carbs. Peas, Beans and pulses, lentils, quinoa and things are good for protein. Nuts and other seeds too, nuts come with high fat levels but good fats though it could need to be watched.

I recently came across a vegan protein mix which was made from broad spectrum plants. I can't advertise, may be I can say for UK people, its a revolution from the pea and rice protein. The pack shows the different forms of protein and at 20 grams in a 30 gram serving its all to the good. its mixed with your vegan milk of choice though I tried it with water the other day and it was fine.

Please don't rush into being vegan take it as you feel able. It can be a really big change. All the very best.

808Danimal

Thanks for the info/advice, I’ll take what you said into consideration on my journey. I also didn’t know about the carb/protein ratio in the vegetarian/vegan world...thanks for the tip.

tlpina82

Assuming you eat real food, forget the macros. Protein is in almost everything. From Spinash to Beans, you will have protein.

What you need is heavy lifting and a surplus of calories to support your muscle growth.

Estimated by your height and weight, and moderate exercise, you need about 2200-2400 to maintain your weight.
The more you workout, the more you need to maintain weight.

In order to gain that much muscle, you will need to intensify your workouts, lift heavy and lift often. 6 times a week at least if you're really serious about it.
That puts your calorie needs to maintain weight up to about 3000.

The cool thing about know what and how to eat is that you feel your muscle is being supported by enough fuel, so you're not always fatigued.

---

Now... Regarding food.
A simple, yet very satisfying meal.
1 cup of rice, 1 cup of beans, olives 10-15, asparagus 200g , Broccoli 100g, mushroom 5-8 and 1cup of green beans is about 500-600 cals.
100g carbs, 10g fat, 32g protein - Now, if you consider that you will need that once you're lifting heavy, you will need at least 3000 cals to maintain and more to gain, you will meet the macro count without problems.

Don't over complicate things with ratios.
Good Luck.

watts6151

tlpina82 wrote: »

Assuming you eat real food, forget the macros. Protein is in almost everything. From Spinash to Beans, you will have protein.

What you need is heavy lifting and a surplus of calories to support your muscle growth.

Estimated by your height and weight, and moderate exercise, you need about 2200-2400 to maintain your weight.
The more you workout, the more you need to maintain weight.

In order to gain that much muscle, you will need to intensify your workouts, lift heavy and lift often. 6 times a week at least if you're really serious about it.
That puts your calorie needs to maintain weight up to about 3000.

The cool thing about know what and how to eat is that you feel your muscle is being supported by enough fuel, so you're not always fatigued.

---

Now... Regarding food.
A simple, yet very satisfying meal.
1 cup of rice, 1 cup of beans, olives 10-15, asparagus 200g , Broccoli 100g, mushroom 5-8 and 1cup of green beans is about 500-600 cals.
100g carbs, 10g fat, 32g protein - Now, if you consider that you will need that once you're lifting heavy, you will need at least 3000 cals to maintain and more to gain, you will meet the macro count without problems.

Don't over complicate things with ratios.
Good Luck.

Your maths is actually worse than
Your advice 😂

kimny72

808Danimal wrote: »

I am currently an omnivore who will soon be transitioning to a vegetarian or possibly vegan (alkaline vegan) diet. I want to add about 15-20lbs of muscle, I’m 5’9” and at the time of this post am we inching in at 160lbs. What do I need to have in my diet ( calories, macros etc.) to achieve this goal...all advice is welcomed.

Thanks for your input.

So whether or not you gain, lose, or maintain weight comes down to your calories.

Whether or not you build muscle comes down to eating enough (eating in a surplus will be faster, but eating at maintenance or a very small deficit is also a possibility), getting enough protein, and focusing on a well designed strength training program.

These threads may help:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also/p1

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

This is not at all my area of expertise, so whether your current stats are appropriate for bulking I'm really not sure, but putting on 15-20 lbs of muscle is a long term endeavor one way or the other. :drinker:

GaryRuns

I can't answer the question about veganism but I can say that you want to make sure you're getting about 0.8 to 1.0 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day. At 160lbs that means you'd want to get from about 130-160 grams of protein per day.

15-20lbs of muscle is a good amount of muscle and if you want to build it as fast as you can then you're going to have to be religious about your protein, train with a well structured, progressive lifting program, and be willing to live with some amount of fat gain. In an ideal world, for the average male, you're looking at 1-2lbs of muscle gain per month. That's ideal and average. Every person is going to be different and the rate of muscle gain is going to depend on how good your program is, how well you stick to your program, how good your nutrition is, your past lifting history, your age and your genetics, and probably some other factors I'm forgetting.

Chieflrg

I would suggest eating better quality protein with complete amount of EAA's spread throughout the day.

On average I suggest vegetarians eat more protein as well since current evidence suggests it is more optimal on average for those who are not carnivores.

A intelligently written program with adequate volume and recovery is also recommended.

rosebarnalice

You might find the "No Meat Athlete" (https://nomeatathlete.com/) of some help with your change in diet. Good recipes and training tips in blog and podcast formats

DaddieCat

I would suggest eating enough, eating enough protein, and lifting heavily for many years with a good program. That's really all that's gonna do it. I've been a longtime vegan and a long time lifter... it's not really much different than omni or other diets other than the actual foods. Pretty much everything else is the same based on my experience.

jspecies11

https://veganhealth.org/vegan-weightlifting/

If you are looking for some specifics, this may help with lots of solid research on this site. The advice to go slow and thoughtful on your journey is a wise one. Best of luck.

Cahgetsfit

Chieflrg wrote: »

I would suggest eating better quality protein with complete amount of EAA's spread throughout the day.

On average I suggest vegetarians eat more protein as well since current evidence suggests it is more optimal on average for those who are not carnivores.

A intelligently written program with adequate volume and recovery is also recommended.

What he said.

I use a vegan protein powder to supplement occasionally when I don't get all my protein from meats. I use that because normal whey protein gives me gas. Lots of gas.

There are heaps of vegetarian/vegan bodybuilders out there - go do a Google and you will see great results on plant-based diets. You may need to get creative with the protein to hit your macros though. Even something simple such as a scoop of vegetarian-version collagen (made from seaweed, not beef) in your coffee (or any other drink) will help you hit those targets.