Conflict b/t running and weights 20 male vegan

F

faithful35

New member
Hey everybody,

Just like the title says I'm a 20 year old vegan male in college. Running is one of my favorite things to do. I've been in 3 5k's and run in my neighborhood all the time. I don't know my exact run times off hand because I'm too lazy to check my run keeper app at the moment. But that's not my question. I've noticed that since I run and do a lot of cardio, I've lost a lot of fat over the years and people say that I look a little too skinny. I eat fairly well. Today so far I started off with an arugula smoothie with berries and other fruits. I had some pumpkin flax granola with almond milk soon after. Skating into lunch I had spaghetti/tomatoe sauce and a few other veggies with TVP soy protein-leftover arugula from my smoothie too. And for dinner I am planning on stir frying some kale with some kind of legume. How can I combo weightlifting with running and do both efficiently? I want to gain more muscle weight while running like I do.
 
@faithful35
people say that I look a little too skinny
Click to expand...

I'll only address the above part. My recommendation: Don't place too great of a value on others' opinions of how healthy you look. Especially if you live in an area where obesity is prevalent (much of the western world). Instead go quantitative: look at your numbers, i.e. weight vs height, run times/distances, strength gains, recovery times, etc.

Obviously, as a sanity check at the very least, still pay attention to the qualitative things you can't measure easily, such as your energy level throughout the day, skin health, etc. But rely on yourself for those evaluations; not others, unless they're doctors or other trained professionals who would have evidence to back up their evaluations of course.
 
@divewithchuck I just came back from a run today. My fastest average pace ever recorded on my Runkeeper was 9:22/mi as an avg pace. Now I know that doesn't seem very fast, but I've had some major improvement to when I started running. I was doing 10 min somethings. Generally on a good day, I feel pretty good. I really didn't get too much sleep last night b/c I was up late so I felt tired, but I'll be mindful of how I feel tomorrow. I'll take a look at my other numbers.
 
@ectolite Yeah I don't eat many of those. Except if I'm going to have a long workout and I need it to give me more protein than would normally be possible. I'm more of a "let's cook something" kind of guy rather than l"et's open this granola bar" But for a snack I'll often bring an apple with some nuts or whatever. I gotta find a good protein shake that isn't too bad.
 
@faithful35 I'm in a pretty similar situation to you. My only advice would be to make sure you're eating enough (I mean total calories). The idiots who say you can't run and build muscle are just that, idiots.
 
@dawn16 Yeah there's a lot of those people out there. Even at my job. I tell them I run and I do weights at the gym and they say "You're vegetarian? So you eat poultry then?" "And I'm like nope. No meat no fish." And everyone there thinks I'll die of some nutritional disease. Like "you really should supplement with some fish or tuna" They weren't teasing me. They were serious. But at the end of the day, I run and I feel great so I don't see the issue. I know on paper my blood tests are normal. My b12 is good and everything. I will increase my cals a little to see how I feel.
 
@faithful35 I'm 20, been a vegetarian for 7 years, vegan for 6 months. The number of people who've suddenly become nutritional experts in my presence is astounding...
 
@faithful35 Are you the type of person who finds it hard to put on fat and muscle? Because that can play a role.

My boyfriend has a very hard time putting on weight. He's upped his calories to over 3000 a day and has been lifting weights for almost 2 years. He still looks skinny, but he's not willing to eat the 4000+ calories it would take him to make significant gains.

He recently picked up biking and really loves it. His appearance no longer matters as much, just that he's having fun. He would have to eat a stupidly large amount of calories to juggle both.

If you aren't tracking your calories already, start with that. You'll also have to start eating high protein meals or preferrably take a protein shake if you want to see results faster when you hit the gym.

I just purchased Vegan Bodybuilding and Fitness by Robert Cheeke. He has a website (veganbodybuilding.com). The book may be a good resource for you when it comes to meal planning and planning.
 
@lone Yes I'd say I'm that type of person. I found that I have a very quick metabolism even before being a vegan or even a vegetarian. I'm not willing to eat that many calories either. That's a little crazy for me as I do feel full after most of my meals. I will start snacking on healthy foods throughout to add more calories. And I will check out that book on Apple iBooks and visit his site. I fid it difficult to track my calorie intake since I make a lot of home cooked food by hand, I guess i can estimate from the can of beans, servings of rice, etc. I normally just eat until I feel good. On a side note, runners and bikers in general look skinny. If you took a look at the Tour-de-france some of those guys looked thin as a toothpick lol! Thanks for the advice.
 
@faithful35 Bikers and endurance athletes tend to be pretty thin :)

My boyfriend snacks on nuts all of the time. He works in an office, so it's easy for him to eat. Dates are another high-calorie food you can snack on. You can start adding things like dates, nut butters, avocado and coconut oil to your smoothies to increase calories. You can try adding hemp, chia, other seeds and nuts to your granola. Setain may be another good option for you to add to your meals. It's packed with protein. It's also a good idea to keep bars on hand like Cliff builder bars or Vega.

Doing some of those things would require very little effort and make a bit of a difference.

My boyfriend has done a lot of reading on the subject of gaining weight. If you're interested, I can get him on here.
 
@lone What you mentioned was already a lot to take in to be honest, but I'll DM you if I have any questions and you can ask him. I like dates. They taste really sweet. I used to put it in my oatmeal. We stopped buying them for whatever reason, but I'll add it back to our kitchen. I'll download that book soon and eat more of the stuff you mentioned.
 
@faithful35 I used to do 5Ks while lifting and winning a few regional medals for it.

The key is to sprint rather than distance run, and keep your run times relatively low and 3x a week, whilst minimizing the time between lifts when in the gym, so it's 6x cardio a week.

If you're trying to bulk up and stay a runner, look into sprinting.
 
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