I am looking to build lean muscle on a vegan diet. Do you have any supplements or meal plan suggestions? Thank you.
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Is lean muscle a specific kind of muscle you are looking to build?
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It can be very difficult to get enough protein from a vegan. Plus they are usually stringy and tough. On the bright side there is usually a low level of fat. Just stay away from the ones that gorge on pasta and chips.
Also, you may need to supplement vitamin B as they tend to lack it in their diets.
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No, I should of said I’m looking to building muscle in general. I’ve trained for 6 years on a vegan diet and had 4 different trainers. None of them could give me advice on gaining while on a vegan diet. I was 145-150 and pretty fit, but I wanted a more muscular physique.
You’re just going to have to consume more food. There shouldn’t be a meal without added nut butters, coconut milk or other calorie dense food. Perhaps look at more fried items.
You may also want to have a protein supplement such as pea protein or other vile concoction.
As far as protein powders go a pea+hemp+rice-blend would be the most complete. I hear good things about a brand called dotFit if you don’t want to go the blended route. But if you do there are online vendors where you can concoct your own blend. Google “vegan protein optimizer”. @ me with your meal plan later. Would be interesting to see what you eat.
I can definitely show you what my meals are for this week. I think the biggest thing is I need to eat more and consider my protein/calories first and then my carbs/fats second. Thank you for the tip about the protein powder.
Thank you for the suggestion. Someone else suggested taking vitamin B complex. 
For health that’s something else but for making gains getting enough protein in and getting enough calories total and being consistent enough with it all is what you are after. Then weigh yourself regular so that you are gaining slowly.
If it’s a real bother to get in enough protein a supplement will be very helpful. My gf tried pea protein before and apparently it tastes like shit and has an unappetising texture to it
Otherwise off the top of my head: nuts, legumes, tofu, that fake meat bullshit in supermarkets, quinoa, spirulina and more
Please do
Yeast is also a good idea to get B12. Use it as a spice or sprinkle it on top of popcorn.
As a vegan you might also see results with creatine.
And I believe most EAA products are vegan so look into that for your Intra-workout nutrition
This week my meals are: Breakfast- oatmeal, fresh blueberries, with flaxseed Or chia seed pudding with cashew milk- a little bit of pure maple syrup for sweetness, coconut shreds and blueberries. I mostly been making the oatmeal for breakfast. The chia pudding is another option if I get bored with the oatmeal.
Lunch: chickpea salad ( similar to a chicken salad without mayo and mustard) over fresh greens.
Dinner: homemade ramen ( rice noodles) loaded with tons of veggies ( and mushrooms. I made my own broth for it and the recipe called for tofu, but I didn’t add it because I like to limit soy.
Snacks: apple with peanut butter
Macros/cals?
Yeah, if you want to build muscle, you gotta know what your macros are.
I think getting 150g+ of plant protein would be hard, but the good thing about plant protein is that that you get carbs and fiber with it too. Chickpeas, lentils, peanut butter, are all good choices. Hopefully you’re eating alot of oatmeal too.
4oz of meat is 20g protein, while 8oz of lentils is about the same. I think peas are also about the same. I’d eat lentils and peas by the pint glass.
Calories: 2044
Carbs: 247
Fats: 85
Protein: 88
Thank you. I need to add more protein.
I am on a vegan diet for 10 years now and never had problems building muscles. My protein intake is about 100-140 g per day. Try to avoid too much soy as it may have some estrogenic effects.
What does your diet like? Vegan diets interest me.
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I eat a lot of beans, brown rice, all kinds of vegetables, use to eat a ton of oat meal (stopped this recently in an attempt to raise my cholesterol), almond-cashew milk (10 g of protein per cup), fruits, nuts, pasta, kale salads… I think this covers most of what I eat. I also make sure I put a lot of olive oil in my food and I mix coconut milk in my protein drinks (I go through a can every other day), oh, and avocados.
Are we sure about this? I’ve read a lot of competing information about soy in terms of the effects of the phytoestrogens contained within it.
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