My sample meal plan: 150+g of protein and <1,900 kCal. Great food, easily meal planned

[blognhadep2017]

Here is the breakdown of the basics of what I eat pretty much everyday. This does not include oils/fats, sauces, seasonings, and random additions which contribute to at least 200 calories.

On a typical (maintenance day or cut day) I'll skip breakfast and eat my lunch: White rice with lentils, frozen broccoli + sauce, one 20-25g serving of homemade seitan, and a piece of fruit typically apple or banana. I would also drink a truenutrition protein shake. This is what I bring to work with me because it is easily meal prepped way in advanced and frozen no problem.

When I get home, I would make sweet potato ~4 minutes in the microwave, add some baked beans to it once you mash it up a little bit, throw some veganaise or avocado and Sriracha. Then I would fry up half a block of tofu, throw some garlic onion etc sriracha and BBQ sauce on it. Then I'd probably eat another type of frozen vegetable and fruit as well as another protein shake with soy milk. And then I'd maybe eat another serving of my seitan.

If it is a workout day, I would start the day off with oatmeal and peanut butter, and definitely eat the second serving of seitan.

This has been the best spread of macros , highest protein to calorie ratio, limiting processed foods, limiting overdoing soy, tastiest, and inexpensive way for me to eat.

I recommend doing your own IIFYM, mine came out to be roughly 150g protein (~to my weight) 55g fat, the rest carbs. Calories over 200 of TDEE for workout days under 200 of TDEE for rest/maintenance days.

Hope this was useful to people!

 

[dawn16]

@blognhadep2017 Is that much protein really necessary? I thought .8 grams per pound of lean body mass? For me as a 70kg male at 10% that works out to be roughly 110g/ day. Should I up my protein?

 

[doublecheck]

@dawn16 You're getting plenty of protein at 110g if you're 70kg. .7g per pound of body weight is absolutely sufficient.

 

[dawn16]

A vegan diet is probably more protein-demanding owing to lower PDCAAS for plant vs meat protein.

 

[dawn16]

Aha I'm going to have to go and research what that is

 

[dawn16]

Basically a measure of digestability and amino acid content. Soy protein is great and scores a perfect 1.0 on the scale, basically like meat protein, but seitan/almonds/whole wheat score lower. Anyway, 0.8 g/lbs is probably sufficient regardless, but just something to be aware of.

 

[dawn16]

Aha thanks for the tailored tldr

 

[blognhadep2017]

@dawn16 Is it necessary? Maybe not. Does it hurt? Probably not. I'm a young guy with no medical problems, and drink lots of water. It is filling so I don't eat in excess for carbs. Do whatever you are comfortable with, I liked the macros set up where it was 1g/pound for workout days, and I don't always remember/get a chance to drink my second protein shake or eat my second serving of seitan, so it might average out to closer to 135. especially since my seitan is most likely not the full serving, it's hard to guesstimate when it's time to cut it into equal pieces.

TLDR: I shoot for high, chances are I go lower then calculated, which makes it okay

 

[dawn16]

@blognhadep2017 I also ate meat for 29 years with no medical problems. Kinda of irrelevant. You do not need that much protein, but go ahead what do I care.

 

[blognhadep2017]

@dawn16 The medical problems thing is reference to my kidneys being able to handle 100+ grams of protein. Thank you for your kinds words.

 

[scaredtodeath]

@blognhadep2017 It's not necessary. Do some research into how your body processes protein. There's a formula out there for how much you need.

 

[personalizedbook]

@dawn16 .64 g/lb of total body weight is the highest recorded beneficial dose.

 

[dawn16]

@personalizedbook Thanks so much for the link! Confirms my protein intake. @at 70kg max beneficial is 126g per day.

 

[personalizedbook]

@dawn16 Note that it's total bodyweight, not LBM.

 

[dawn16]

@personalizedbook I did notice, thank you.

 

[tampachristian]

@dawn16 That's what I was thinking too but I did the math and 153g out of 1672 calories equals to 9.15%.

 

[dawn16]

@tampachristian 10% of 1600 calories is 160 calories. Divide that by 4 calories per gram of protein in 40g of protein... Your protein is at 37.7% of your calories. As 153g of protein at 4 calories per gram is 612 calories from protein. And 1672 divided by 612 is approximately 37.7%.

 

[tampachristian]

@dawn16 Oh, damn. You're right. I forgot to divide by 4.

I just redid my IFFYM and I was told I should consume 119g of protein. It seems like a lot.

On Facebook, there's some great vegan bodybuilding groups and I've also noticed that the majority of these bodybuilders consume less than 100g of protein per day.

Damn you protein. Why must you be so complicated.

 

[blognhadep2017]

@tampachristian By no means am I saying that this IIFYM spread is right for you. Find out what you can handle, what you like and then see if it gets you results. If it does, then great!

 

[dawn16]

@tampachristian Common mistake aha. I used to get 125g per day and was on a 60:30:10 split at 1600 calories. I'm going to bulk now at 70:20:20 at 2200 calories and get 110g of protein per day. Just to treat lower amounts of protein. BTW it's easy to hit protein without supps. Look into legumes, high protein pasta beans and spinach.