The Vegan Bodybuilding Diet for Building Muscle
You have your training plan and you are already in a routine so that you can find time to look after your vegan bodybuilding Diet and thus support your already started muscle growth.
Maybe you have already noticed that the hunger from training has become a bit more. The logical consequence is then an increased food intake and thus the building of mass.
Unfortunately, this does not only consist of muscles but also a significant part of unwanted fat. For this reason, it is not advisable in the build-up phase, despite increased calorie consumption, to feast unrestrained or to be overly pampered with sweets.
Vegan Bodybuilding Diet 101
Step 1: Find out how many calories your body actually needs
For this I have tried several basal calculators on the net and lo and behold, they all seem to use the same formula and came up with very similar results.
Step 2: Keep a food diary for at least a week
There are different ways. The good old pen and paper or one of the many free calorie counting apps. Personally, I chose some fitness applications on the internet because the food database is very large and the individual nutrient categories are visible.
In addition, not only can a calorie target be set, but the proportion of macronutrients can also be entered as a target.
Here it is up to you how much patience and work you want to invest. The more detailed and honest you keep the diary, the better your plan should be about your eating habits and calorie consumption.
Step 3: Same metabolic rate and need for
Now you know how many calories you need daily and how much you eat on average. Time for reconciliation. Look at the difference.
If you have built up a lot of fat, then reduce your intake targeted by 100-200 kcal (possibly on fat and carbohydrates). Do not reduce too much at the beginning, radical reduction takes away the strength for training and it is usually not good for motivation because of the constant hunger and bad mood.
If you’ve had little or no fat, try increasing the calorie count slightly. For starters, you should be able to drink up to 200 kcal per day, which depends on your training intensity.
Here is a try. Every metabolism works differently. Give your body some time to react to the change. For nutritional experiments: at least 2 weeks.
Note: If you have money left over, in many studios you can also Have a genetic test is done in different pharmacies to find out which macronutrients have which effect in their own body. Then eliminates the tedious trial.
Step 4: Add the macronutrients in the correct dosage
Macronutrients, ie carbohydrates, proteins, and fat, are the building blocks of our vegan bodybuilding diet and our body needs them to build muscle.
The usual ratio in bodybuilding is 40% KH, 40% proteins, 20% fats. This ratio is indeed the classic, but still not undisputed. Consuming 40% of protein means i.d.R. that the recommendation of 1.5-2g protein/kg body weight is exceeded. Additional proteins are not normally dangerous (unless you drink too little), but they also have no added benefit.
Of pure curiosity, of course, I just tried it out? My conclusion: at 1600kcal I had about 180g of protein a day. At a weight of about 60kg, the recommended maximum would have been 120g per day. After four weeks and regular training, I did not notice increased muscle growth.
In addition, it is quite difficult to find suitable foods that are not too rich in fat or carbohydrates. Therefore, I have supplemented with Whey protein isolate, which in these quantities and in the long run the purse pretty strained.
Therefore the solution for me: 50% KH, 30% proteins, 20% fats.
In this step, you will find that the work from step 3 has really paid off. Slowly but surely you know which foods have which profile and what you can substitute where.
Step 5: Integrate findings into your vegan bodybuilding diet plan
The fine touch. By consistently keeping the diary you now have a good overview of your vegan bodybuilding diet and the nutrient profiles of the consumed foods. This allows you to plan your daily intake very well in advance.
If you are not too picky or do not insist on a daily changing lunch or dinner, you can prepare and portion your meal for the week ahead at the weekend. Then you have a high degree of control.
Vegan Bodybuilding Diet Nutrition Tips:
1: Drink
Also, a very controversial topic, to which one hears and reads many different opinions. On the one hand, the advocates of “drinking only when you are already thirsty,” on the other hand, the “I always have my water-people”.
I do not dare to judge what is right or wrong here. If you read through the different articles, it seems more like a question of faith. It is important to balance the fluid deficit that arises during training (everyone agrees).
One liter of water during a 1.5 – 2-hour workout should not be a problem if more is needed or more, then more. Calorie-free drinks – preferably still water – are recommended for the simple reason that you can then focus on the nutrients from your vegan bodybuilding diet while counting.
2: A Healthy Diet
For this, I almost refuse to write anything. I’m assuming that this article is read by vegan bodybuilders, people who have already learned a lot about the basics of nutrition, so they know that cookies and coke are not the best sources of high-quality carbohydrates.
Maybe one or the other has already stumbled upon the saying “As long as it fits your macros” (as long as it fits in your macros, also known by the abbreviation IIFYM). This approach propagates that it does not matter which foods cover the need for macronutrients.
Here I would like to refer to the common sense, which certainly determines the difference in fats between a fresh avocado and a greasy sausage, or in carbohydrates between a freshly baked potato and a bag of chips.
3: Timing: When to eat?
A frequently discussed topic is the times of food intake and, associated with that, the portion sizes. A common recommendation is to take 5-6 small meals a day. I was or am fortunate enough to be able to do so, but I assume that this is rather difficult for most people to do because of their work or family meals.
In principle, the timing, according to recent research, is not crucial for good muscle growth, but rather the total intake of calories and nutrients. So here you do not have to stress and squeeze as many small meals as you can into the day.
However, it’s important to build muscle in the morning after getting up (and if it’s just a bite). The body continues to work during the night and needs a lot of energy for regeneration, i. In the morning, the storage is empty and should be filled as quickly as possible.
The so-called pre-workout meal, 1.5-2 hours before training serves to provide you with the necessary energy. Here I pay attention to a good mix of carbohydrates and proteins.
After the workout, a high-protein meal should follow as soon as possible within one hour during the build-up phase. There’s absolutely no need for you to run to the counter immediately after a workout and pour a protein shake obsessively into you.
Although this phenomenon can be observed in many studios for amusement, but also here must be no stress. If you have a long way home, then you can take a snack before your workout or drink a shake.
4: No Count Day
As you may have noticed while reading, it is associated with a considerable effort to make a nutrition plan based on a diary. Personally, that was a lot of fun. However, one runs the risk of fixing oneself too much on the numbers and I was unhappy some nights because I had again exceeded my daily goal of carbohydrates by 2 Grams.
Too much perfectionism can certainly become an unhealthy obsession or, in extreme cases, an eating disorder. A good balance to the daylong nutritional plan is the “No Count Day”.
Many may well be familiar with the term “cheat day”, it means the same thing, a day when you eat all the delicious, sugary and greasy foods that you normally do not receive during the week.
Personally, I think the term “non-count day” psychologically cleverer than “cheat day”. Take one day a week and do not write down what you eat there. It is important that you do not stuff yourself, but enjoy moderate: sometimes a pancake breakfast, for example. or the second piece of cake for drinking coffee at nuts. Make sure that you eat proteins in the regular amount anyway.
5: The social component
Christmas is over again. Everywhere you are, now even as a vegan, cooked and baked with love. Unfortunately, Mum can not understand that her child eats so badly and worries.
As an athlete, you now have the opportunity to engage in endless discussions in which your opponent does not understand how to be so hard (“You eat only plants, and now that!”) Or where one meets with rejection because the food on holidays and holidays is now a social matter and it hails sanctions if one violates norms.
In my experience, it is much easier to get involved and to balance the very well-meant food with grandma or the Christmas party with colleagues the next day. Or just call out NoCountDays on the holidays.
5: The social component
Christmas is over again. Everywhere you are, now even as a vegan, cooked and baked with love. Unfortunately, Mum can not understand that her child eats so badly and worries.
As an athlete, you now have the opportunity to engage in endless discussions in which your opponent does not understand how to be so hard (“You eat only plants, and now that!”) Or where one meets with rejection because food on holidays and holidays is now a social matter and it hails sanctions, if one violates norms.
In my experience, it is much easier to get involved and to balance the very well-meant food with grandma or the Christmas party with colleagues the next day. Or just call out NoCountDays on the holidays.
Vegan Bodybuilding Diet The Conclusion
Become an expert in a vegan bodybuilding diet and watch your body and mind attentively. If you can invest the time and energy, then you will get to know yourself and your food. Through observation, I learned a lot about how my body responds to the supply of various nutrient sources.
With that, a few foods have disappeared from my diet and others have come along that my body can handle better (at least that’s how it feels).
Like exercise, diet is highly individualized. So do not listen to people who want to tell you something about “forbidden foods”. Everyone reacts differently. Therefore, the basic prohibition of individual foods, just like the 1000th miracle diet or “the nutritional plan that always works”, are rather critical.