vegan weight loss/muscle gain. What to eat?

3greyhorses

I could use some advice. I'm looking to lose about 30 pounds of flab and increase my muscle mass by adding weight training to my aerobic activities. How much do I need to focus on protein for muscle building? Everything with protein also has high calories. I can't lose weight without cutting calories, right? Any advice as to how to balance it all out?

janejellyroll

I'm not sure how you define "high calories," but I found tempeh, seitan, and tofu to be high protein foods that fit relatively easily into my calorie goal when I was losing weight. I also eat beans just about every day, mix them with vegetables and you can create a high protein meal that has a reasonable calorie count. If you like them, protein powders are another good option -- unsweetened rice, hemp, soy, or pea protein are all going to be relatively low calorie and can be used to create low calorie smoothies with plant milk and some fruit.

3greyhorses

Right, I eat all of those things. I guess my question is more about how much protein should I strive for if I'm adding weight training. I'm talking heavier weights (at least heavy for me!).

janejellyroll

3greyhorses wrote: »

Right, I eat all of those things. I guess my question is more about how much protein should I strive for if I'm adding weight training. I'm talking heavier weights (at least heavy for me!).

Relevant information for setting a protein goal would be whether you're male or female, your current weight, and how much (if any) muscle you're looking to add. Without knowing any of these, it's going to be hard to say.

Do you have a current goal? Do you know how much you're getting now?

AnnPT77

3greyhorses wrote: »

Right, I eat all of those things. I guess my question is more about how much protein should I strive for if I'm adding weight training. I'm talking heavier weights (at least heavy for me!).

A very generic common rule of thumb is one gram of protein per pound of lean body mass as a daily minimum. If you don't have a reasonable estimate of body fat percent (a BIA scale doesn't provide one), then 0.8g per pound of healthy goal weight is a way to approximate. That's generic, i.e., not specific to plant-based eating. (Some will recommend more, like 1g per pound of goal weight.) Plant-based eaters should, if anything, err on the high side. Because a higher fraction of our protein sources may have a less ideal complement of the essential amino acids, erring on the high side is a reasonable thing, IMO.

I'm ovo-lacto veg, but many of my protein sources are plant-based. At 5'5", female, goal weight in mid-120s pounds (and current weight in upper 120s), athletically active including strength training, age 64, I shoot for an absolute minimum of 100g protein every day, and usually exceed that. (I ate a bit less when I was losing weight more rapidly and had fewer calories to spend. I've been in maintenance for nearly 5 years, but am now ultra-slowly losing a few vanity pounds.)

Some rules of thumb that help me: I try to get meaningful amounts of protein (25g+) in every meal (I usually eat 3 meals, sometimes snacks.). For secondary foods in my meals, I look for enjoyable foods that have at least a litlte bit of protein, in preference to those with none. I like protein snacks (crispy chickpeas or broad beans, for example). A food - simple food, not prepared dish - with 10ish calories per gram of protein is, to me, a good protein source. I do use a fair amount of dairy that you wouldn't, and the rare egg, but use a lot of the plant foods Jane mentioned, plus prepared food products like chickpea/pea/lentil pasta or "rice", edamame or soy pasta, and that sort of thing. If you eat rice or wheat pasta, consider whether you might equally enjoy those, or grains with a little more protein (quinoa, for example; but there are many grains that have higher protein than wheat or rice. Some other things to consider, if you're not currently using them, are flavorful add-ins that have fairly calorie-efficient protein, such as nutritional yeast or defatted peanut butter powder.

Personally, I don't find protein powder or bars tasty or satisfying, so don't normally eat either one. If you like them, though, they're fine, too.

3greyhorses

AnnPT77 wrote: »

3greyhorses wrote: »

Right, I eat all of those things. I guess my question is more about how much protein should I strive for if I'm adding weight training. I'm talking heavier weights (at least heavy for me!).

A very generic common rule of thumb is one gram of protein per pound of lean body mass as a daily minimum. If you don't have a reasonable estimate of body fat percent (a BIA scale doesn't provide one), then 0.8g per pound of healthy goal weight is a way to approximate. That's generic, i.e., not specific to plant-based eating. (Some will recommend more, like 1g per pound of goal weight.) Plant-based eaters should, if anything, err on the high side. Because a higher fraction of our protein sources may have a less ideal complement of the essential amino acids, erring on the high side is a reasonable thing, IMO.

I'm ovo-lacto veg, but many of my protein sources are plant-based. At 5'5", female, goal weight in mid-120s pounds (and current weight in upper 120s), athletically active including strength training, age 64, I shoot for an absolute minimum of 100g protein every day, and usually exceed that. (I ate a bit less when I was losing weight more rapidly and had fewer calories to spend. I've been in maintenance for nearly 5 years, but am now ultra-slowly losing a few vanity pounds.)

Some rules of thumb that help me: I try to get meaningful amounts of protein (25g+) in every meal (I usually eat 3 meals, sometimes snacks.). For secondary foods in my meals, I look for enjoyable foods that have at least a litlte bit of protein, in preference to those with none. I like protein snacks (crispy chickpeas or broad beans, for example). A food - simple food, not prepared dish - with 10ish calories per gram of protein is, to me, a good protein source. I do use a fair amount of dairy that you wouldn't, and the rare egg, but use a lot of the plant foods Jane mentioned, plus prepared food products like chickpea/pea/lentil pasta or "rice", edamame or soy pasta, and that sort of thing. If you eat rice or wheat pasta, consider whether you might equally enjoy those, or grains with a little more protein (quinoa, for example; but there are many grains that have higher protein than wheat or rice. Some other things to consider, if you're not currently using them, are flavorful add-ins that have fairly calorie-efficient protein, such as nutritional yeast or defatted peanut butter powder.

Personally, I don't find protein powder or bars tasty or satisfying, so don't normally eat either one. If you like them, though, they're fine, too.

Thank you! This is very helpful

3greyhorses

janejellyroll wrote: »

3greyhorses wrote: »

Right, I eat all of those things. I guess my question is more about how much protein should I strive for if I'm adding weight training. I'm talking heavier weights (at least heavy for me!).

Relevant information for setting a protein goal would be whether you're male or female, your current weight, and how much (if any) muscle you're looking to add. Without knowing any of these, it's going to be hard to say.

Do you have a current goal? Do you know how much you're getting now?

50 year old female, CW 174, GW 140.
I haven't had my body fat measured in the past year, but despite my fairly active lifestyle, it's always been disappointing. Low muscle mass, high fat. I currently walk 45 minutes every morning and swim about 40 minutes 5x/wk. I usually also do a lot of work around my farm and ride 2 horses/day, but I'm recovering from a couple of injuries so am taking it easy for now. I used to run a lot and would like to get back to that at some point, too, but due to the injuries, I need some more time to get stronger. I have done weights in the past (several years ago) but was pescatarian at that time so didn't worry much about getting enough protein. I know the amazing benefits of weight training and am excited to get back into it....I just wish I had a home gym now that COVID is a thing.