I need help converting my low carb high protein diet into a vegan diet

@faith11238206 Don’t listen to the people on here telling you that it’s impossible to do a low carb diet vegan. Do whatever works for you man. I powerlift and have done both low carb and high carb dieting vegan and both worked fine for me. There’s a book called “The Way of The Vegan Meathead” written by a vegan powerlifter who was on a low carb diet. I suggest checking it out as he included a lot of meal planning info in the book and provided meal plan templates.
 
@faith11238206 You could try looking into the diet plans on consciousmuscle.net. I’m by no means a bodybuilder, I just happen to follow him on Instagram so I don’t know how his program works. I just know he’s vegan and ripped AF.
 
@faith11238206 I highly recommend talking to a dietitian too. Dr Pamela Fergusson RD has PhD in Nutrition (and is a registered dietitian) and is an athlete herself. Once you get the hang of cooking plant-based meals, it gets really easy to hit your macros. On top of people recommending tofu, tempeh, and seitan, I highly recommend legumes/pulses like lentils and beans. A pressure cooker/steamer/Instant Pot also makes that transition so much easier. BUTTERY BEANS AF.

Also soy curls are bomb. They're whole soybeans that have been pressed and dried into chicken-like strips. I buy them by the bulk-sized box because they are so convenient and delicious.

Depending on how used to fibre you are, it takes your body a couple weeks to adjust to the uptick in fibre but you will be regular AF XD
 
@faith11238206 You can buy TVP, it's like a dehydrated soy-based ground beef substitute. It doesn't have much in the way of flavour or fat but it's super easy to use and really cheap.
 
@faith11238206 Good for you, man!

The game changers site has some suggestions for a transition as well as recipes you might wanna try!

Yeah, 2 hours to make a dish is all well and good on a weekend or when you wanna make something fancier, but definitely isn't practical for daily prep! (Though on the note of prepping, can't recommend doing meal prep highly enough!)

To ease the transition, I'd recommend making stuff you already make on an omni diet with vegan subs as your bread and butter meals, then gradually incorporate more meals made only with whole foods. Look at your grocery's frozen section with meat subs, you'll be amazed at how good most of them are nowadays (just check that they don't contain egg).
 
@faith11238206 Hey man your gains are awesome!

I was wondering, how come your abs aren't well defined at 9% BF while the rest of your body is? Do you have to get it lower or is it bad lighting?
 
@dawn16 This was a relaxed pose. Let me find one I took that day where I actually was flexing abs. In the mean time my Instagram is full of all my progress pics and has a bunch Of NPC competition(men's classic physique) pictures on it.

@nick_x_fitness
 
@faith11238206 Getting 250 grams of protein on a 2300 calorie whole food plant based diet is essentially going to be impossible as there's no whole plant food that dense in protein. Maybe with tofu but who eats only tofu. As someone who weighs 180 pounds I'd say 140 grams of protein is enough. That could be achievable on a cut without a protein powder but is still likely pretty hard.

I'm bulking on 3200 calories right now with around 140 grams of protein daily. I have not developed a strategy for cutting yet. 😅
 
@seatpost The best strategy for cutting is doing more aerobic exercise, not cutting your caloric intake.

If you want to cut some useless food then cut that peanut butter. :p
 
@faith11238206 The problem is that to want to be low-carb to begin with IMHO. protein is a nutrient often taken in way excess of our body's ability to use it. While carbs offer the best source of readily useable energy, without as many inflammatory effects as protein.
 
@faith11238206 I've found Cronometer.com to be very helpful in making sure I get all my nutritional goals, despite having immunity issues that prevent me from eating otherwise-healthy foods such as wheat and soy, in addition to "restrictions" of a plant-based diet. The app is free, easy to use, and lets you put in your own settings, recipes, custom foods, and weight-related goals. Throughout the day I add my foods and activities. It helps me keep a casual eye on what I need to add to hit my basic goals - nutritional yeast (or marmite if you can safely eat wheat/barley products) for B-vitamins; seaweed or an iodine drop to make up from what I'm not getting from wheat or animals; protein if I'm on the road and have only found salads and chips to eat for example.

I try not to fuss about getting 100% of everything every day. I generally (with very little effort) get around 130% of my daily protein, and probably go below 100% about once a year if I'm really off my game. Keeping your protein up is important for brain function, and for maintaining or improving muscle mass, which is why I'm more strict with myself on this one. B12 is another nutrient that is easy to get, but flushes very quickly from your system when you sweat plus it is used when you think, so you need to get a little at least 1-2 times a day, otherwise doctors have found brain scaring occurs after just short deficiencies in B12. Things like zinc, vitamin E, and selenium will sometimes drop below 100% for my weekly average, and I'll use that to remind me to take a supplement every few days, to keep my average intake somewhat level about the 100% mark. It's my understanding that they can linger in our body tissues for longer than B vitamins.

I actually try to use Cronometer to help me cut back on supplement use by noting what nutrient(s) I might be low on, and then cross checking what vegan foods have those nutrients, then try to learn to cook more of whatever will help balance my diet better. This trick alone has got me really into playing around with foods I didn't even know existed before I went vegan, and much more confident in the kitchen :)

There's a lot of great advise in here, but don't drive yourself crazy trying to change everything at once or trying to be perfect immediately! I've been doing this for 2 years with amazing health results, but I'm still eating too much fat/sugar/junk food (according to official guidelines) with only a vague adherence to a proper work out program. Focus on having fun exploring and learning what works for you! Treat this as an adventure, and it'll start to feel like one, even if it doesn't already. "Fork Over Knives" is both a documentary that you might be interested in watching since you were moved by the Game Changers, and a fantastic source for a whole food, plant-based diet. The "Minimalist Baker" is another really easy, fun source where you can use the selector system on the right to specify vegan recipes in the "special diet" section, and even search by specific ingredients you have on hand or would like to learn to cook with.

I guess someone should also warn you about beans. After going vegan I realized I should definitely be adding more beans to my diet. I went from having terrible/constant gas from dairy, to having a whole different kind of gas from beans. This passes over time as you develop new gut bacteria who are better able to handle the sudden influx of fiber. To help your body along, consider picking up dry beans (they're more eco-friendly anyway!), soak or even start sprouting them (there are instructions online, but sprouting will only work if they are fresh enough, otherwise they start fermenting which is also edible and good for you gut, but I personally don't like the flavor). Rinse and bring your beans to a simmer/boil for about 3 minutes, allow to cool for an hour with the lid on, then rinse, flavor/boil your beans for your recipe! When it comes to actually eating them start with a small dose of beans/lentils/legumes if you aren't used to consuming them. Start with a palm-full per meal or day at first, then slowly work your way up over maybe a week or so to however much you want/need to meet your nutritional goals, and your body will have less of a shock from the change :)

Oh, and before I forget! Check out HappyCow.net if you want to eat out. It's free, easy to use, and gives you an idea of what you can eat nearby, even if you're visiting a strange new country. Definitely quicker than sifting through non-vegan posts to find out how "safe" a place is to eat as, or get a preview of what they offer that omnivore sites might not mention.
 
@faith11238206 I would give your maintenance calories at try with a high carb approach.

You may see some water weight for the first week or so, but I think you would stabilize from there on.

1.6grams/ Kilogram of body weight has been the recommended dose I have seen for protein. (~ 146 grams for you)

A study showed little evidence to believe that more than that was necessary. Also anything more than that would most likely not be enjoyable/sustainable for most people (if you are looking at the bigger picture) eating vegan.
 
@faith11238206 You can absolutely do vegan keto. the idea behind keto is for health and if you want to play it safe Re: modern cholesterol/heart health beliefs you can adjust you protein up and your fat down without insanely changing your insulin response to your diet.

if you feel animal products contribute to your health issues, many people on keto are vegan. You can always start vegan keto and then adjust.

I recommend the "fat emperor" podcast. And reading the book "cholesterol clarity" when trying to formulate what will be best for your numbers. One idea is to get a calcium scan- that way, you can know if cholesterol is a big problem and then know what to focus on.
 
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