Vegan meal plans for working out
Posted by Charbot Kimzoid on Oct 02, 2009 · Member since Feb 2008 · 3769 posts
I just want to know what your diet is like when you're working out. I have recently been eating crap and I want to kick that and eat better. I can exercise all I want, but if I eat more calories than I burn, nothing is going to change.
Let's hear it.
Hmm... I dunno how healthy you want to be, but you should check out the book "thrive" by brendan brazier. He is a professional vegan triathlete and has a book on nutrition. It's pretty good.
My mum is a personal trainer & she said you should have something with protein in it about half an hour after your workout. So maybe a vegan protein bar (I know there's recipes on here for some) or a wrap with salad filling and beans?
Personally I don't eat very different when I'm working out, just make sure that I have breakfast like weetbix or oatmeal.
Well it sounds like you pretty much understand it...
You need to eat good crap and not eat as many calories.
So basically if you want to loose weight you need to up your cardio, still incorporating weights and reduce your calories. You need to figure out what your caloric intake is to maintain your current body weight... I'd put it in but you can just google it.
Then reduce it by 500 calories a day. But not EVERY day or your body will go into starvation mode. After 3 days of doing it, go back to the regular amount to maintain current body weight. The thing that sucks about weight loss.. is most of the time you need to keep a food journal.
If you don't want to do that.. Then just skip one of your usual snacks that you normally have...
I've lost over 50# and that's what I did. This was before I was vegan...
Other tips:
Substitute stevia for sugar you can bake with it up to 400 degrees
Eat a salad for one of your meals.. a BIG ONE!
Eat lots of fiber - from spinach, oatmeal & whole grains, BEANS!
DRINK LOTS OF WATER
Drink yummy hot tea when you have cravings
Eat lots of protien - again with the beans, tons of good recipes on here... tofu, quinoa, protein shakes, fake meats, veggie burgers, etc.
For snacks, snack on low calorie things like chips and salsa, veggies and hummus, pretzels, celery and peanut butter, frozen grapes. Instead of regular potato chips, guac and fake sour cream on tortilla chips, chips with hummus, cookies.. Etc.. See you mix one high cal thing with one really low cal thing.
Oh and don't deprive yourself either. Still have a slice of cake or what not.. But in moderation.
Honestly, if you write things down you will loose. I'm telling you. Because you have to account for it. It's hard at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's easy.
These web sites
http://www.calorieking.com/
and
http://www.nutritiondata.com/
will help!
You have to want to loose more than anything else or it won't happen. And you have to believe you can do it!
If you have any other questions just ask! I love this stuff :)>>>
You need to eat good crap and not eat as many calories.
So basically if you want to loose weight you need to up your cardio, still incorporating weights and reduce your calories. You need to figure out what your caloric intake is to maintain your current body weight... I'd put it in but you can just google it.
Eat a salad for one of your meals.. a BIG ONE!
Eat lots of fiber - from spinach, oatmeal & whole grains, BEANS!
DRINK LOTS OF WATER
Eat lots of protien - again with the beans, tons of good recipes on here... tofu, quinoa, protein shakes, fake meats, veggie burgers, etc.
For snacks, snack on low calorie things like chips and salsa, veggies and hummus, pretzels, celery and peanut butter, frozen grapes.
Oh and don't deprive yourself either. Still have a slice of cake or what not.. But in moderation.
Honestly, if you write things down you will loose. I'm telling you. Because you have to account for it. It's hard at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's easy.
The above stuff pretty much worked for, but with one little exception. I actually increased what I was lifting... by a lot. As much weight as I could handle for 12-15 reps per exercise. I was doing a LOT of cardio and basically getting nowhere. With the addition of (what I consider 'major') weight lifting; I dropped another 6lbs and a total of 6-1/2 inches of fat!!
I really didn't eat a crazy amount of protein either.... maybe 10-20g more than what is recommended for my height/weight since my activity level shot up and I made a concentrated effort to eat something within 30mins of lifting.
CK ~ If what you're doing now isn't working DEFINITELY switch it up!! :-)
I feel like posting, even though I can't help.
I gained 10 pounds after going to the gym. I'm obviously eating wrong. What I've come up with is that instead of coming up with a snack for after the gym, I save a portion of my lunch and eat it after the gym on my commute ride home. I haven't perfected it yet, but (even though I usually don't eat flour products) I'm thinking of stuffing half of a whole wheat pita with greens and beans. That way I'll have a complete protein from the bean & pita and even more protein from the greens. If it works, I'll let you know.
Have a look at veganbodybuilding.com. They have some really good tips for vegan athletes, especially if you're lifting weights and whatnot.
Thanks for all of the help, but I'm really looking for examples of what you eat when you're working out. For instance:
Last week:
small handful of raw almonds for breakfast
a banana an hour before exercising
hemp protein shake 30 minutes after exercising
about a cup's worth of pesto on whole wheat pasta or vegan zuppa toscana (soyrizo and potato soup with spinach) 2 hours after protein shake
tacos / pissaladière (without black olives) for dinner
I need better dinner ideas. This week, we are getting back to better dinners: eggplant pomodoro with roasted rosemary potatoes and vegetable korma over brown rice. Other than that, does the rest of my meal plan look ok?
I think it looks ok. I would up the vegetables/fruit. I like to make sure I have veggies as most of my lunch/dinner.
Although, isn't a cup of pesto a lot? Isn't pesto pretty much pure oil? That could be a lot of calories, careful! Instead of pesto would put some veggies in the pasta and marinara sauce.
This week I'm having;
Breakfast - Oatmeal with bananas, soy milk, and walnuts
Meal 1 - Apple with peanut butter
Meal 2 - Rice cakes with chickpea/edamame spread on them
Meal 3 - Baked sweet potato (before workout) with maybe something on it
Meal 4 - Wrap with hummus, peppers, tomato, etc
Meal 5 - Something else
However, I don't have good dinner ideas, so I don't know if that helps. I do best with small snackish meals all day.
Although, isn't a cup of pesto a lot? Isn't pesto pretty much pure oil? That could be a lot of calories, careful!
Ha, I typed that wrong. I just had about a cup's worth of pesto pasta. I will say that I do not put a lot of olive oil in my pesto, either.
:P ;D
If you have time for cooking that thrive book is really good. I'm lazy with the cooking though, so I eat mostly convience type foods. and I don't relaly like salads much. Let me try to remember what I ate for the past couple days:
Monday:
breakfast: bagel & tofutti, banana, coffee & soymilk
lunch: vegetable soup
snack: clif bar
dinner: butternut sqash raviolis with pesto sauce
workout: an hour yoga fusion type class
snack: protien shake & an apple
Tuesday:
breakfast: pb & j on wheat with a pear, coffee & soymilk
lunch: couscous with a bunch of veggies on top
snack:half a clif bar & small bag of chips
workout: ran 3.5 miles with a friend
dinner: broccoli, brown rice & a spring roll
snack: cantalope & hot chocolate
Today:
breakfast: granola & soymilk (and coffee)
snack right now: cantalope
lunch will be pesto pasta & veggies
if i need a snack itll be the other half of yesterdays clif bar & some fruit
I won't really workout out today, probably will take the dogs for a long walk
dinner is going to be smart ground tacos
if i have a snack itll be popcorn probably
I also drink a lot of water every day & take vitamins. Particularly iron, B vitamins, calcium, magnesium
Hmm... I dunno how healthy you want to be, but you should check out the book "thrive" by brendan brazier. He is a professional vegan triathlete and has a book on nutrition. It's pretty good.
Brendan Brazier is going to be at the Whole Foods in Pasadena on Monday, Jan. 4. You should come.
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/arroyo/storecalendar.php
Monday, January 4th
Live Seminar and Book Signing with Brendan Brazier
6:30pm Complimentary
Join us as we welcome Brendan, creator of VEGA (whole foods nutritional line), Pro Ironman Triathlete and one of only a few professional athletes in the world whole diet is 100% plant based! Brendan's talk will be based on his acclaimed bestseller, Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports in Life. Visit his website: http://www.brendanbrazier.com/.
Please RSVP to eval(unescape('%64%6f%63%75%6d%65%6e%74%2e%77%72%69%74%65%28%27%3c%61%20%68%72%65%66%3d%22%6d%61%69%6c%74%6f%3a%73%70%61%72%72%2e%6d%61%72%6b%65%74%69%6e%67%40%77%68%6f%6c%65%66%6f%6f%64%73%2e%63%6f%6d%22%3e%73%70%61%72%72%2e%6d%61%72%6b%65%74%69%6e%67%40%77%68%6f%6c%65%66%6f%6f%64%73%2e%63%6f%6d%3c%2f%61%3e%27%29%3b')) or at the Customer Service desk.
Just a question, what is your goal, are we talking weight loss, building muscle or both? when I am very disciplined with my workouts and meal plan my day looks something like this:
7 am (or your normal wake up time)
7 15 am green tea, apple or orange and piece of toast with peanut butter (lightly)
8 am workout (cardio)
9am vegan protein shake
11am 1/2 cup walnuts or almonds
12 30 - 1pm large spinach salad with avocado, sprouts, cukes,toms, raisins and flax with a balsamic dressing or a mustard/vinegar dressing
and slice of whole wheat toast
3pm snack hummus and veggies
dinner no later than 6 30 (you need three hours min. for you food to digest or else it will metabolize into fat while you sleep, and all that work is down the drain)
my favorite dinner options are:
veggie burgers on whole wheat rolls with mashed avocado for a spread, sweet potatoe fries
enchiladas stuffed with yellow squash, broccoli, red and green peppers, refried black beans(fat free) and brown rice, one per person is more than enough and they are sooooo good!
tofu or seitan stir fry with as many veggies as you can fit in the pot and brown rice, use braggs liquid aminos in place of soy sauce and a tablespoon or two of vegan stir fry sauce and you've got an awesome meal.
I would do cardio 3 times a week and eat lighter on those days,
on the days you strength train do something like this:
7am wake up
7 15 a green tea, apple/orange/pear, bowl of high fiber cereal with banana
(i like weetbix for cold cereal and half a cup or oatmeal mixed with half a cup of bran for hot cereal)
8 am work out
9 am-930 a vegan protein shake
11 am snack nuts with soy yogurt
lunch lentil soup and large salad of your liking or veggie with hummus, spinach and you fav veggies, drizzled with balsamic vinegar
3pm snack
dinner options:
ratatouille with whole wheat pasta or brown rice
vegan chili with corn bread
chana masala
this is what works for me , although lately i've been slacking!
just remember to drink water with every meal and in between as well, keep portions small and make veggies the largest part of your meal and never fall prey to late night snaking!
GOOD LUCK!
Just a question, what is your goal, are we talking weight loss, building muscle or both? when I am very disciplined with my workouts and meal plan my day looks something like this:
7 am (or your normal wake up time)
7 15 am green tea, apple or orange and piece of toast with peanut butter (lightly)
8 am workout (cardio)
9am vegan protein shake
11am 1/2 cup walnuts or almonds
12 30 - 1pm large spinach salad with avocado, sprouts, cukes,toms, raisins and flax with a balsamic dressing or a mustard/vinegar dressing
and slice of whole wheat toast
3pm snack hummus and veggies
dinner no later than 6 30 (you need three hours min. for you food to digest or else it will metabolize into fat while you sleep, and all that work is down the drain)
my favorite dinner options are:
veggie burgers on whole wheat rolls with mashed avocado for a spread, sweet potatoe fries
enchiladas stuffed with yellow squash, broccoli, red and green peppers, refried black beans(fat free) and brown rice, one per person is more than enough and they are sooooo good!
tofu or seitan stir fry with as many veggies as you can fit in the pot and brown rice, use braggs liquid aminos in place of soy sauce and a tablespoon or two of vegan stir fry sauce and you've got an awesome meal.
I would do cardio 3 times a week and eat lighter on those days,
on the days you strength train do something like this:
7am wake up
7 15 a green tea, apple/orange/pear, bowl of high fiber cereal with banana
(i like weetbix for cold cereal and half a cup or oatmeal mixed with half a cup of bran for hot cereal)
8 am work out
9 am-930 a vegan protein shake
11 am snack nuts with soy yogurt
lunch lentil soup and large salad of your liking or veggie with hummus, spinach and you fav veggies, drizzled with balsamic vinegar
3pm snack
dinner options:
ratatouille with whole wheat pasta or brown rice
vegan chili with corn bread
chana masala
this is what works for me , although lately i've been slacking!
just remember to drink water with every meal and in between as well, keep portions small and make veggies the largest part of your meal and never fall prey to late night snaking!
GOOD LUCK!
thanks for the great post. you eat very similar to me. only thing I am missing is the cardio. what do you do. I do yoga and palates and know I need cadio. any good suggestions for someone who hates cardio with no gym or treadmill and hates the cold. I know im doomed. but my jeans are getting tight need to do something.
I can exercise all I want, but if I eat more calories than I burn, nothing is going to change.
This is not true. Exercising to loose weight is not about burning calories on the spot then and there... it is about speeding up the metabolism. To "burn off" a large meal you would have to run on a treadmill for 10 hours. However regular exercise (about an hour 3 times a week min) raises your metabolism so you burn more calories throughout an entire day, even if you on the couch.
Demeiter, I'm in the same boat as you, cadio is my absolute LEAST favorite thing to do.. so i usually try to get to the gym twice or three times a week and get on the elliptical machine and listen to a book on tape that I really am into for about 30 - 45 min. and if I really feel like I just dont have it in me to do the elliptical I'll walk on the tredmill with the incline as high as it can go for about 20 min, I find that it gets my heart rate up to about 150, which for me is my ideal BPM for cardio.
what have you been doing for workouts?