Meat And Milk Or Vegan? (gain Weight)

[TeaPack]

Hello, I struggle with gaining my weight. I started work out a few months ago and started eat much more than before, but according to some advices here not healthy. A lot of meat, milk, dairy products....high calory and fat food. My weight increased and my body shaped beyond my expectations.

There is one thread very similar to my problem: 

He gets advices to eat meat and dairy, but some people in other threads, not focuse to gain weight, advise to not eat meat

 

So I ask, is it possible gain weight without meat and dairy (as a vegan)? I like the "mental" effects related to vegan lifestyle, but on the other hand, how many food I need to eat to have good shape and not being so skinny? A lot of bodybuilders advice food protein others animal?

What should I eat to gain my weight and also maintain healthy lifestyle?

[Galyna]

Hello

I eat five times a day, small portions, trying to avoid sugar, only weekends. I do not eat bread.

[Dhana Choko]

If you go vegan and you do not eat any junk food, sodas etc. and eat a lot of vegetables and reasonable amount of vegetable protein and fats, you will lose weight. It is so easy to lose weight on healthy vegan diet.  You can even have some vegan treats once in a while and still say very healthy and normal weight. You can eat so much vegetables and great food and still lose weight. It is great.

Here are few great blogs for you to get some inspiration:

www.ohsheglows.com
http://simpleveganblog.com/
http://kriscarr.com/

[vizual]

Yes, it's quite easy to gain weight as a vegan. Of course, it's most important to eat foods you actually like to eat. Don't eat foods because people tell you they help you gain weight. The most easiest way to get in the most amount of calories will always be eating the foods you enjoy eating, simple.

Having said, there are vegan foods that will stuff you up because of the high fiber content as fiber fills up the stomach with increased volume. Especially vegetables and whole grain products will have a lot of fiber in them. An easy way to get in calories will be to make smoothies with fruit and maybe add in some sugar for extra calories. Also you can eat white pasta/white rice/white bread, these will fill you up less than the whole grain variants. 

[J. M. Wigglesworth]

Try looking at the nutritional plans of some vegan bodybuilders. They seem to be able keep a fair amount of mass although if you want to become a giant muscle balloon, it may be a little more difficult gaining weight as a vegan.

[Phocus]

@TeaPack It is definitely possible to gain weight for the purposes of bodybuilding or elite athletic performance on a vegan diet.  You're going to want to simply ramp up your caloric intake.  Include more: beans, peas, lentils, brown rice, sweet potatoes, and oats.  Following a plant-based diet you want to limit your saturated fat intake but that shouldn't be too hard.  There are very tasty vegan protein powders and I would also recommend adding in a smoothie each day.  Speaking of protein, athletes and body builders only need about 0.65-.75 grams of protein per pound of lean mass.  Mainstream fitness will tell you its way more (1-2 grams per pound) but that's just garbage to get you to buy their supplements...

I would also include nut butter, nuts and seeds as a part of your daily diet.  They are very calorie-dense and will help you pack on the weight.

Hope that helps.