Beginner questions

[jordan1989]

Heyo everyone,I've been lurking for too long now. I am vegan for about 1,5 years and want to begin to become fitter now. I'm male, 1,83m, and 80kg.I started doing workouts at home because I'm on a budget and don't have money to go to the gym. So the first question: Do you have any advice for exercises or workout gear that is cheap but efficient?

Next topic: I have no idea how to count nutrition. I got the chronometer app, but I don't quite get it. Is it enough to count everything roughly? Bc e.g. not every piece of bread is the same size, or do i have to weight everything? And additionally, my wife cooks roughly half the time, how can i count the stuff she cooks ? And do you have any suggestions for cheap but good (and fairtrade) protein powder? Bc i guess that's the easiest way to make sure i get enough protein without interfering in my wife's cooking too much xD.

Thanks in advance!

 

[disciple37]

@jordan1989 Gymnastics rings, pull up bar, resistance bands. Check out the R/bodyweightfitness Recommended Routine. I’ve been doing it for a month, absolutely love it, definitely getting stronger and seeing my body change already.

If you want to go nuts with calorie counting, getting a kitchen scale helps, that way you can put in however many grams of whatever food it is. For stuff you didn’t cook yourself, you have to estimate, and you’ll get good at that if you start tracking your food. Another good way to go about nutrition is aiming for the Dr. Greger daily dozen or the Plant Proof vegan food pyramid. Both of those (Dr. Greger‘s website, nutritionfacts.org and the Plant Proof podcast/blog posts/instagram) were invaluable resources to me when I started off learning about plant-based nutrition. With respect to protein powder, poke around on Amazon for what’s cheap and fair trade, but I recommend some pea protein as well as some brown rice protein or hemp protein so that you have a reasonably balanced amino acid profile. Also snack on tempeh or edamame. Hope this helps!

 

[jordan1989]

@disciple37 Thank you for your reply. I will definitely check out the routine. I think I also have resistance bands. In what form do you snack tempeh? Isn't it just a block of it like tofu?

 

[disciple37]

@jordan1989 Yeah it's like a block. Maybe a little better nutritionally than tofu, more of a whole food (if you break it, you can sort of see the soybeans), and fermented (good for the gut, maybe more bioavailable), more protein and fiber by weight. I eat it raw or put in in smoothies because I'm lazy but there are countless ways to do it up.

 

[dawn16]

@jordan1989 Stick to basics, track your exercises and slowly add reps/sets (or try a harder variation), always progressively overload. A beginner doesnt need to count macros imo just try to have healthier behaviours about your food, add protein and veggies to every meal etc.

 

[jordan1989]

@dawn16 I wanted to start counting because I think my diet is quite healthy. But I would like to see some gains (for the first time, I've never been muscular at all). So I prolly just increase my protein intake and continue my training

 

[gonzalio]

@jordan1989 Response to second topic: You definitely don't have to track at all!

Roughly tracking your intake will only give you a rough estimate of your macros/calories. People are really bad at estimating what they are eating, or acknowledging how small things stack up. That being said, if you aren't concerned with calorie intake and just want to check for a week or two that you are hitting your protein target for example, it's probably fine to rough track.

I track my recipes - that means I'm weighing / measuring every ingredient as I add it, then splitting my final dish into equal portions. I tried doing this with Cronometer and had too many challenges, so I gave up and use MyFitnessPal. But, it's an annoying enough process to do to my own cooking - I can't imagine doing that to someone else's cooking! Could you do it? Sure, but be mindful of irritating your wife... or be satisfied with rough estimates, again.

No protein powder recs, but if protein is your concern (as opposed to calories), then I would suggest that you start with the rough estimates - measure what you can, guess the rest as close as possible, and decide if you need the protein powder from there. I find I only really need it if I'm eating at a deficit.

 

[jordan1989]

@gonzalio Yeah that's what I thought. I guess I start looking more closely at ingredients to get a better feeling about much they protein/cal/fat it has.
It was just my feeling that I probably do not get enough protein for gaining muscles (I think it should be roughly 1g for each of bodyweight?).
My idea was that I could just down a protein shake when my wife cooks and I have no control about the protein portion