vegan and having a hard time with macros

soulshine23

hi, this is my first post

any other vegans (or, i guess anyone can give input if you are having this as an issue as well...)
having a hard time balancing their macros?

every day my carbs are WAY over, can't seem to ever meet the protein, sugars are way over, often sodium as well, fat is thankfully usually under. the issue is with carbs/sugar and protein.

my macros are set at 30% protein, 35% fat, & 35% carbs.

i don't eat a lot of junk, the vast majority of what i eat is whole foods, prepared at home, and very little pasta, bread, etc.
most of what i eat are vegetables, fruits, tofu, beans, tempeh, etc. etc. i do have a glass of wine or beer each night which probably is not helping much, but i like to have an adult beverage with dinner.

any advice or helpful guidance? tia!

msleanlegs

Can you open your food diary? If you're eating tofu, tempeh and beans, I'm surprised you're low on protein. How many grams of protein are you trying to get in daily? Maybe 30% is too high a goal. If you really want to reach that 30%, you could supplement with protein powder, like rice or pea.

soulshine23

ok, i opened it... (embarrassed).

moustache_flavored_lube

Never fear he will be here to help soon

Riemersma4

resisting the urge to make an 'eat meat' comment. ;-)

I think that gettting enough protein/hitting macros can be tough for anyone.

I try to get some protein in every meal and i eat 5 or 6 times a day. When i do that, i make it. If i only eat 3 times a day, it is tough.

Eat lots of meals with some protein in each meal, or whetever macro you are missing.

Eggs, tofu, nuts

How strict are you? Whey protein ok? A scope in milk at every meal will get you plenty of protein.

Most people don't struggle with carbs or fat!

Good luck!

Cr01502

Eat nuts.

bokodasu

If you're vegan and trying to do 30% protein, you pretty much have to plan out every calorie. It's hard but doable. The short version: does it have equal or greater grams of protein than carbs? Eat it. Is it a leafy green? Eat it. Is it neither of those things? Then it's not your food.

What's a vegan deviled egg? Intrigued!

soulshine23

ok, that was helpful, i guess, knowing that most people struggle with the carbs...

i see a lot of posts where people pay great attention to their macros and seem to make it work...

i eat during the day not very concious of the macro part, more on the calorie part.

i realize 'eating meat' would probably make it easier to advise me to have some lean steak or whatever, but that isn't happening

i know the sources of protein, just can't seem to find ones that don't also come with a lot of carbs as well...

i don't mind a protein shake occasionally, but really i am trying to eat whole foods and not rely on supplements, etc.

thanks again.

_the_feniks_

If you are looking to supplement, try Vega's protein powder. When I was vegan, I struggled to meet my macros unless I planned every meal well in advance.

soulshine23

lol, vegan deviled egg in this month's vegnews magazine

turned out not so good... taste was right, not consistency (from what i remember of eggs 25yrs ago!). holy salty!

thanks again for the help.

soulshine23

i guess i should go thru all of the basic vegan sources of protein and make a list of the ones where the protein/carb ratio is better, and focus on eating them.

i am doing so good with not eating bread, pasta, etc... so going way over on carbs is a bummer, even if they are coming from veggies and fruits.

Tonika44137

My macros are 40/30/30 (C/P/F). I hit my protein almost every day..I eat eggs, nuts and soy products..I've learned to make alot of different dishes that are high in protein

bokodasu

If you are committed to eating both vegan and 30% protein, I'd say it's better to rely on a daily protein supplement than it is to restrict yourself to the extent that it takes to get that with whole foods. I've done it, and I don't think it's sustainable. Even if you could get it perfect physically, the mental side of it would probably be... less than ideal.

I roll my own protein powder mixes - it's usually cheaper and more flexible to get the single-ingredient ones and mix them the way you want. I also try to vary the sources for the different amino acid profiles. Hemp, pea, and soy are the big ones I use.

curiouspeach

Not that I am perfect, but I am a vegan as well, so might be able to give some advice. Your sugars issue probably comes from fruit - MFP doesn't differentiate between fructose and refined sugar; don't worry a huge amount about it, but maybe try to switch a couple of servings of fruit a day to veggies instead.

The protein thing - if you don't avoid gluten, the best (and tastiest) form of high protein food for vegans is seitan. It has bugger all carbs, and very low fat. If you make your own it is super cheap, and you can work some in to any meal, from salad to a tofu omelette. I just started making it, using a recipe from Robin Robertson, and love it!

Hope this helps a little, but if you'd like any more advice please let me know.

EDIT: I just checked out your food diary - your sugar problem is definitely fructose. Don't worry too much - it's not as bad for you as refined sugars.

s_wilson84

It depends on what your goal is for macros. The one's you listed at the generic ones that MFP assigns you. Those can be changed to fit your lifestyle. There is information out there that suggests that you can maintain lean muscle mass on as little as 10-12% protein. I tend to eat a lot of carbs but I try to stay away from as much processed carbs as possible. Most of my carbs come from vegetables, grains, and legumes. I don't even consume hardly any soy products or processed faux meats. I have been vegan since January 4th of this year and I have lost 30lbs and definitely toned up and gained lean muscle, and I'm not eating crazy amounts of protein. (THIS WILL CREATE A RUCKUS FROM THE BODY BUILDERS)

soulshine23

ok, thanks so much for all the replies!

i overdid it on the protein shakes a few years back, trying to get more protein while pregnant... if i never see a chalky pile of hemp protein powder again, that would be fine by me- however, it does give great protein, and i guess i could work it in for 1 meal replacement or a snack if i am careful with my calories that day.

i forgot about seitan. one of the issues is my husband is doing ww points plus, and i switched to MFP to see if they were basically the same thing. so, seitan may come in high for points, maybe that is why we are avoiding it... i am only alloted 26 ww points, so i run out easily and he has a lot more to play with.

sigh, i guess i just have to pay more attention to the numbers. be more careful of my fruit intake, and sodium is something i have ultimate control over.

i think i followed some TDEE/BMR thread about how to figure out how much your macros should be, but at one point, i think it was suggested that i up the protein to 40%, yikes. honestly i don't really have a clue what my macros should actually be, so not meeting or meeting them is somewhat of a moot point.

thanks again! i appreciate the input!

_the_feniks_

Praise Seitan! :devil:

curiouspeach

An "average" home-made seitan recipe is about 4 points for 4oz (100 grams) on Pro-Points; obviously that depends on your recipe, but I would say it's a good deal, considering it gives you 28 grams of protein

With regains how much protein you actually need - I've never heard of anyone who didn't have an actual eating disorder suffering from protein deficiency. Our diets pretty much contain enough for us to be healthy. If you are muscle building, your body should crave extra protein and let you know. I vary my ratios, day by day, in response to the kind of food my body asks for. It means some days I'm 50% of cals from protein (usually the day after exercise), and some days it's only 10-15%. You're unlikely to get sick from it, and the metrics aren't a big deal unless you're aiming for ketosis.

Good luck!

soulshine23

yes, as a vegan i was always told (from other vegans and vegetarians!) that we dont really need that much protein, and protein is easy to get on a vegan diet, which it is, it is just hard when you are adding macros into it. i think i always thought 60 was totally fine...

so i think i will tweek things by adding a protein shake, and paying more attention to carbs. there are lots of meals where my calories are coming from all vegetables, which is all carbs, so i just have to sub out some veggies for some other protein. i love cashews, almonds, etc. but they kill me on the calories, so i can't even go there.

thanks and praise seitan, lol

Lmans77

I would definitely do some thought/research on whether you really need 30% protein.

Are you having a hard time meeting goals and thats why you think you need 30% protein? I'm gonna go with s_wilson on this one.

pobalita

I'm training for a marathon and find it super hard to meet my protein needs for the day no matter how hard I try. I'm having to balance it out with protein shakes. I use True Nutrition's Vegan Optimizer formula (online). It's a balanced pea/rice/hemp formula - 23 grams of protein per 120 calorie serving. Best of all its super cheap - about $6 or $7 per pound and you can pick your own flavors and additives if you want sweeteners or vitamins. It doesn't taste too bad.

LOL. Now you all made me crave seitan. I guess I know what's for dinner tonight.