Eggitarian Lean bulk

pannagaabhat

Hello Machers!

I'm a Eggitarian and a Student! So I find it extremely difficult to meet my protein goals while also having a balanced diet.

Any Recipes would be Gold!

Cheers

AnnPT77

I'm aware of the term "eggitarian", but I don't think it has a universal exact definition. I'm assuming it implies ovo-vegetarian? But I'm not sure what else might be included.

Background: I'm ovo-lacto vegetarian, have been for over 50 years. I do eat a lot of dairy, but I think at this point I could get adequate protein - with a relatively high protein goal - fully plant-based. I don't usually eat a lot of eggs, but don't avoid them either.

A lot of people will give you an answer that's a food list, but I don't think that's a full answer.

Here's a short list of things to consider including, though, if you don't eat much of them already: Tofu, tempeh, cooked soybeans, seitan. Since you eat eggs, eggs, obviously. If you eat dairy, plain Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and cheese, including some of the better-tasting 2% milk ones if you want to limit calories a bit.

The advice I'd give you is mostly not a food list or recipe source, it's a process for improving your protein intake while using a logging tool like MFP. The downside is that it takes a somewhat lengthy description, for which I apologize in advance.

Somewhere along the line, figure out your protein goal. For most people the MFP default goal is a reasonable starting point, unless they're trying to lose weight too aggressively fast. Since you're lean bulking, I'm assuming you have some extra calories in play, but maybe there are still limits to your calories thus potential constraints on nutrition. The MFP default is an OK-ish starting point for a vegetarian or near-vegetarian such as an eggitarian, but might not be enough for reasons that may become clear later, and someone bulking (assuming that implies a muscle gain goal) may need more protein than the default.

If you want to reasonableness-check your protein goal, there's a research-based calculator here:

https://examine.com/guides/protein-intake/

If quite overweight, a person can use a lower weight, such as healthy goal weight, in the calculator.

As an aside, the guide at that link has a very good section about protein intake for vegans/vegetarians, and to the extent that you may prefer to eat plant protein, those guidelines apply. Some fully-committed omnivores here will tell you that a person will need more protein as a vegetarian than an omnivore. That's true at the 50000 foot level, but the real issue is protein quality in terms of essential amino acid (EAA) completeness and bioavailability. Many plant sources are incomplete or less bioavailable. The guide has a more nuanced way of looking at that question. Loosely, plant-centric eaters probably need somewhat more protein than those full-bore omnivores, but the specific plant protein choices influence how much more.

Since you're trying to bulk, but lean bulk, I'm assuming you need to be calorie efficient, but that it won't be crazy-difficult to fit in the nutrition you need.

I suggested a short list of some solid protein source foods above, and many people will give you food lists. Here, there's also a thing that's pretty much the mother of all protein/calorie efficiency food lists:

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

You'll need to scroll past the mostly meaty/fishy things at the top of that linked spreadsheet, but eggy/vegetarian sources are in there. I'll point out that that list has a column that has a rough indication of protein quality. (You'd need to look further, such as with web searches, for more details.)

Let's go on to a suggested process. I'm going to assume you're logging your food here.

Review your food diary. Identify foods you're eating that have relatively many calories, relatively little protein, and that you can eliminate or reduce (frequency or portion size) to free up calories, without shorting other nutrition or torpedoing your happiness.

Using the spreadsheet in the thread linked above, or any other source, find foods you like that have more protein for those calories, and work those foods into your routine habits. Repeat that process, and over time your routine protein intake will creep up. I like doing it that way so I don't need to micromanage protein every single day: Once the habits are in place, it's more automatic.

For sure, try to include at least one major protein source in each meal, ideally an EAA complete and bioavailable source. But beyond that, try to find sides, snacks, flavoring ingredients and more that have a little bit of protein. That will add up through the day. There are veggies with more protein, grains with more protein, even fruits with some protein. Those sources tend to be less EAA complete or bioavailable, but varying the types may compensate somewhat for the completeness issue.

At the store, read labels. Find breads with more protein, maybe protein pasta, etc. I have rules of thumb for roughly evaluating protein in foods in the store. Your specific numbers may differ, but I think having rules of thumb is helpful. For myself, I figure that something that has no more than around 10 calories (from all macros) per gram of protein is a good individual non-meat protein ingredient. For prepared foods, like a frozen meal, say, I look for ideally around 20 calories per gram of protein, up to maybe 30 calories per gram if the food is desirable in other respects.

I'll say a little more about flavoring ingredients, because that's one thing some people aren't as attuned to. Vegans tend to use nutritional yeast to add a cheesy flavor to foods, and that has a reasonable amount of protein. Miso is another flavoring with protein. I also use peanut butter powder (a.k.a. defatted peanut flour) to add peanut flavor and a little protein to dressings, sauces, my oatmeal, etc. Those are some examples. We eat them in quite small amounts, but there's at least some protein.

Don't let people tell you whole nuts, nut butters or seeds are a good plant protein source. IMO, they aren't. They're nutritious foods, absolutely, but are better sources of good fats than protein. The calorie to protein ratio is quite high. For example, almonds are one of the higher protein nuts. 72% of their calories are from fats, only 14% from protein. It's like 164 calories for 6g of protein. That's not great, and they're not EAA-complete (particularly low in lysine and methionine), and not extremely bioavailable, either. Since you're bulking, these things may have some role for you, but I'd think not a big one since you're trying to lean bulk.

Protein powder can be a reasonable thing to use, especially at first while trying to get more protein from food. There are mixed-source vegan types that are reasonably complete/bioavailable, but if you eat dairy, whey protein would be better, or soy. I don't use protein powder or protein bars, etc., not because there's anything wrong with them in the abstract, but because I don't personally find them tasty or satisfying. Many people seem to enjoy them.

If you want to see what I eat as an ovo-lacto veg - not that I think I'm a stellar example  - my diary is open to MFP friends. If you send me a friend request, I'll accept, and you can look at my diary. Sometimes I skip a few days, but there's data out there in droves at other dates, since I've been logging most days for nearly 10 years. MFP friends can also DM each other, and I do answer questions about how I combine the foods in my diary or similar. I'm maintaining, but at relatively high calories for my (non big, female) size.

The closer you are to actually fully plant-based in your eating, the more you may need to also pay attention to some nutrients other than simply protein. I think protein is pretty easy, TBH. I'm talking about things like vitamins D, B12, iron, calcium, etc. If you eat dairy and since you eat eggs, some of those would potentially be well-covered. Details about food choices matter.

For the other nutritional issues, I'll link another source I think is pretty good, also aimed at vegans but with useful info for anyone eating mostly plant-based, too:

https://veganhealth.org/

They have better than average info about the micronutrient side of things, too. The site's content is from registered dietitians who are themselves vegan, and it's much more science-based than some of the silly advocacy sites out in the blogosphere.

I hope something in there helps. If you have follow-up questions, please ask.

Best wishes!