21 F , needs help with protein intake and workout

K

kafs

New member
Hey everyone, I'm new here and could really use your help.

About me:

Goals: I want to trim down overall, especially my belly and face, and also get stronger. I know it's not easy to target specific areas!

Activity Level:
I'm not very active right now. Never been to a gym, and cardio wears me out pretty quickly.

Medical Conditions: I've got PCOD with cysts on my ovaries. I'm 21 F, height 5'1", weight44 kg, BMI 18.6, and 22% body fat according to OMNI calculator.

Diet:
I'm vegetarian and not big on milk. Usually, I have two homemade meals a day (2-3 chapatis , dal / sabzi , salad that's it .( no track of calories), skipping breakfast and opting for brunch and dinner. Snack-wise, it's mostly unhealthy stuff.

Looking for Advice:

I need to hit over 60 grams of protein daily for my goals, but I'm struggling to even hit half of that. I'm curious about protein powders, but whey and dairy are no-gos due to my condition. Soy's a bit tricky too because of the hormonal side effects. Any tricks to boost my protein intake?

Also,
I'm keen to build some muscle strength since I tire out easily (thanks to my lazy kid days). Any easy strength exercises I can do without stepping into a gym? Time's tight, and I'm not the most confident about hitting the gym.

Lastly,
I'm totally new to all this fitness stuff. While I'm okay with my look, that belly fat is bugging me. I really want to feel healthier and more confident. Any tips or advice would be awesome!

Edit: So, because of all that, my health took a hit, and I ended up losing a ton of hair from my scalp. Now, my hair is super thin and barely grows.
 
@kafs I feel like you're below your healthy BMI and can afford to grow 10-15 kgs of weight (hopefully muscle only)

Instead of trying to cut which will inevitably make you lose muscle (although women can strength train to stop it unlike men, you are not eating sufficient protein to compensate for your deficit). I'd recommend you to actually grow muscle and get stronger. r/bodyweightfitness was my entry into it. Use its wiki and check out BWF Primer and start with it asap. You can go to gym and do the same stuff of similar stuff. Do strength train twice a week and run (base running) twice a week.

Coming to protein intake, if diary is a problem, people usually take whey isolate (check of it works for you). If that doesn't work, you can go to brown rice and pea mix protein (there is no complete vegan protein except soya/quinoa/amaranth and out of which only soya gives you good protein macronutrient ratio which you don't eat and other two are mostly carbs). I'm not sure, if you cannot eat meat/eggs/diary/soya, how you'll be able to easily fullfill high protein ratio as most other stuff you get added carbs. Add legumes too. Maybe check out recipies at r/vegan but idk how much indian recipes exist.

I believe, since you are young, it's absolutely important to get reasonably and then reduce weight so as to not feel weak when you do so. If you choose to bulk, it's actually not that hard as a vegan (which you seem to be).

The most important thing you can do is add Quinoa and Amaranth (rajgira) as your main carbs. And every mean should be a kind of pulse chawal (chole, chana, rajma, toor, massor, urad, moong etc) I strongly believe that eat mix of these in a single meal. Everytime I make dal, I make it panchratna style.

Apart from all these, add fruits and veggies to get vitamins, sugar, fibre and minerals in your diet. A very small amount of dry fruits for essential fat. Avocado, I believe should be your every week (if you're bulking). Maybe coconut malai twice a week to get MCT.

I'm actually out of ideas and recommend r/vegan again. I literally eat meat twice daily and take whey, so this write up was a challenge for me. I'm heavy weight male whose trying to reduce weight.

Please read this article.
https://physiqonomics.com/fat-loss/
 
@gingerine Hey, thanks a bunch for taking the time to respond to all my questions! I'll start with a health checkup and then focus on boosting my strength with a clean bulk.

As for protein, I'm considering plant-based protein powder or adding some soy in mod, since I'm avoiding dairy rn. Since I'm not very active, my daily calorie burn is only around 1400, so I need to be mindful of my carb intake—foods like quinoa can really increase that. Also, I think adding workouts to my routine would really help boost this number and give me more options to try different meals & see what works best for me.

Lastly,Thanks again for your advice and for sharing those links!
 
@kafs Quinoa as a replacement to roti and rice will improve your protein profile and not increase your carbs unnecessarily. I say quinoa for a reason, it's one of 3 vegan sources which has complete protein. https://www.agropur.com/us/news/complete-proteins-and-their-benefits#:~:text=They%20contribute%20to%20the%20formation,production%20and%20regulation%20of%20hormones.

Adding complete protein through a varied diet is also possible. But Quinoa is fantastic in a sense that it'll replace low quality protein with high quality complete protein and you'll get that 10-15g boost in your daily intake by keeping your carbs constant. Whereas roti/rice gives similar amount of protein but is incomplete.
 
@gingerine Hello bhaiya can you please help me , I am 21M and my BMI is 15.5 my weight is 51kg , I have IBS I can not eat anything related to lactose I go to gym since 3months but unable to gain weight and muscle can you help me with designing my diet and workout, It would help me a lot.
 
@linalina56 Do you eat chicken or meat or eggs? Workout wise what I recommend above, the bodyweightfitness primer or recommended routine is good enough for everyone for a couple of years.

Gaining weight is just eating more. If that is hard, drink calories. Whatever you do, just enter value in my fitness pal for a couple of weeks. You'll know how much is what.
 
@kafs Hi
Idk if your budget allows.

You can have cosmix plant protein. It is easy on gut.
You can include steadfast collagen powder - have one packet daily, after 3 months you will see improvement in hair. It is non vegetarian but it is essential. It will also help in improving your gut health further.

Workout- unless it is yoga, you must have carbohydrates before it- donot do empty stomach- take a banana. And then do strength training.
Gradually build strength, gradually increase workout.

Further things you can include in diet- beetroot carrot juice, buttermilk after lunch, roasted chana for protein, 3-4 dates whenever you feel like snacking, fruits- 2 serving daily- have pomegranate/ apple must.
Gradually increase protein intake of diet. Try having paneer and see if it suits you, however it’s not recommended in pcos.

You can also do yoga, it will help you a lot regarding pcos.

I’m not good at designing workout plans. So in that I cannot help you. Do slow and controlled workouts, don’t do fast workouts for building strength.

Dm me for free links to video.
 
@bukola Hey, thanks a bunch for the advice! I'm definitely going to stick to cutting down on dairy for now. I've been hearing about Cosmix protein powder, but the reviews on Reddit are all over the place—some say it tastes chalky and doesn't really do much for health improvements, so I'm feeling pretty skeptical about giving it a shot. A ton of people have been telling me to try yoga first because it supposedly helps build up core strength and balance over time. I think I'll start there and then maybe move on to strength training. By the way, those videos you mentioned sound super helpful! Thanks a bunch in advance!
 
@kafs Hey, a doctor here. Although the first line treatment of PCOD is weight loss and looking at your BMI, it seems pretty low to me. Did you indulge in any vomiting or crazy fasting to lose that weight? Do you feel like not eating? Although you might want to get your hormones checked again.
 
@rich4u2 Hey, no, I haven't indulged in either of those activities. Lately, I just haven't felt like eating, which has caused me to lose weight over the past few months. Back in 2020, I was at my heaviest at 56 kg. Then, I dropped to 47 kg, gained back to 50 kg, and unintentionally lost weight last year. Now, I'm down to 44 kg again. My strength hasn't improved at all. I'm thinking of getting a full body checkup soon.
 
@kafs Your symptoms like hair fall are most likely due to anorexia according to me. Such low weight can also mess up hormones causing Functional Hypothalamic amenorrhea. Yes please get checked soon.
 
@rich4u2 Oh, my hair's been falling out(like they grow lengthwise, but there's no new hair growth from the scalp itself) because of a lack of vitamin D, and I was supposed to take vitamin D3 tablets for it. But I stopped because I noticed they were making me gain weight.
 
@linalina56 Hey I don’t think I can properly guide you on this. You should see a gastroenterologist who knows much more than me and will be able to guide you better
 
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