Best diet for building muscle

[28 cm unbuffed]

Hey guys, I'm vegetarian (still eating eggs, because I fucking love eggs and diary products, like cottage cheese or milk to supplement protein) and I'm looking for a best diet to build muscle mass this year.

Btw - what are best vegetarian products, that you would suggest to build muscle mass aka get protein from?

Also - what do you think about going full vegan and if it's even worth to go to a gym with this kind of diet.

I weight about 70 kg right now and I would love to get to 75 kg. This is how I look right now: 

https://www.instagram.com/p/B672Yu7lyAHK9-Fr5yznP3BdasTDc0FmES7fgU0/

Edited January 5, 2020 by 28 cm unbuffed

[LfcCharlie4]

If you wanna go vegan and build muscle more than possible. 
 

2 guys on YouTube to check out Jon Venus and Brian Turner, both began “bodybuilders” but not competitive.

[28 cm unbuffed]

@LfcCharlie4

Thanks a lot for recommendations, they are big, didn't expect that from vegan bodybuilders lol.

[Vipassana]

On 1/5/2020 at 3:17 AM, 28 cm unbuffed said:

I'm vegetarian (still eating eggs, because I fucking love eggs and diary products, like cottage cheese or milk to supplement protein) and I'm looking for a best diet to build muscle mass this year.

If you stopped eating meat for ethical reasons then I would encourage you to go vegan. Building muscle mass on a vegan diet is certainly possible & "more rewarding" in my opinion because you are able to bust through myths that surround the fitness industry & set an example for other people.

The information that surrounds the fitness industry is VERY misleading... specially the "required protein intake for mass". 'They' have basically used a bunch of buzzwords to instill fear into the general consumer who wants to lose or put on some weight. The context in which marketers use the words "carbs", "protein", "supplements" .etc. baffle me.

Throughout 2019, I spent countless hours watching fitness youtubers & attempting to find a regime for myself  where I can build muscle mass without having any dietary restrictions such as having to intake 'x' amount of protein & having to eat 'x' amount of calories every single day. 

I went vegan a couple years back for ethical and health reasons. I managed to shed off 30+ pounds of fat gradually by doing a bunch of cardio & eating more plant based foods but it was only last year, I wanted to start putting on mass. I found myself in quiet a predicament when I started my initial research into "how to build muscle".

Basically, My fitness goal didn't seem to align with my lifestyle choices. Firstly, I was eating a diet that consisted of smoothies & some cooked food without paying attention to my protein intake but now I was told that I need 100 grams of protein per day to build muscle. Secondly, I wanted to reduce my sleep quota from 8+ hours to 4-6 hours which entailed that I follow a mostly raw vegan diet and eat less food so that I can spare the body with more energy since digestion requires most of our energy but the conventional opinion is that you need at least 8 hours of sleep for recovery and increase protein synthesis. Thirdly, I wanted to 'cleanse' my body which, for me, entailed extended periods of fasting. As you can see, I had multiple conflicting desires.. yet I wanted to accomplish everything mentioned above. 

It has been about 9 months since I began to go to the gym consistently  with a break in between. My largest break was for 2 months when I went to Nepal in the summer. My record says that I have been to the gym about a 100 times since march 2019 up until the beginning of this year. 

I have managed to recompose my body in the last 9 months although I haven't gained a lot of weight. My weight has maintained around 130 lbs however I've lost a bunch of fat & gained some muscle. I have gotten twice as strong (on the compound lifts) all while periodically doing prolonged fasting, intermittent fasting, one meal a day, doing a juice feast for a month, being on 'calorie deficit', without really following a strict daily protein intake. etc. I slowly let go of the desire of getting immediate results which made it possible for me to let go of any constraints & explore this whole field empirically. 

My diet has been changing frequently over the year. I was once eating a block of tofu, few cups of lentils, multiple tablespoons of peanut butter and a cup of nutritional yeast per day to fulfill my protein intake... now I am eating a bunch of fruits, some nuts & some grains everyday. I even tried vegan Keto for a while. Through out this whole time, My progress has neither advanced radically nor deteriorated. I am pretty much surrendered to go through this process gradually without expecting immediate results. 

I want to verify for myself the things I have heard from other people & they are:

1. I don't need to eat excess amounts protein to gain mass. (0.4*per lbs of body weight is enough)

2. I 'HAVE' to sleep 8 hours in order to gain mass. (as of now, I am sleeping an average of 6 hours)

3. Calorie surplus is a must for weight gain.

4. Fasting causes muscle loss.

5. Carbs are more important for muscle building.

The ultimate deception that I have encountered with my research is the phenomena of protein. If you look into the absorption rates & availability of protein sources then you will discover that animal protein have a higher rate of turning into muscle tissue although a large percentage of it is released by the body as waste. Plant based products have a lesser rate thus most of plant protein goes into waste. Regardless of the source of your protein, most of the protein you eat will be wasted by the body & very little of it will turn into muscle tissue. This.. in a sense... debunks the whole notion of 'required protein intake' because... lets say... you eat eggs containing 100 grams of protein... 52 grams of the protein will not assemble into body tissue, it will be used as fuel or turned into waste matter. 

After much research, I came to conclusion that I must intake some protein in order to gain muscle mass but after learning the facts stated above ^ I was very hesitant to spend hundreds of dollars on protein powders, protein bars every single month. Soon, I discovered something called Super Amino 23. 

These protein supplements consist of all essential amino acids with the absorption rate of 99%. They are pre-digested & begin turning into body tissue in 23 minutes of consumption. They are 100% vegan and are derived from non soy based legumes. 

In the month of December, I in-took less than 5 grams of dietary protein per day and was taking a serving of super amino 23 everyday. I did not lose any muscle mass or overall body weight. 

I would recommend you looking into it. I now have very little resistant to eating intuitively because 'if' protein is a big factor to gaining mass then super amino has me covered. I can manage to eat just fruits, salads, & nuts without having to worry about any dietary constraints. 

Hope this helps! Also I would encourage you to explore different approaches to diet & fitness. I've recently been learning Ayurveda & they have a completely different approach to building mass. In short, they believe that there are certain foods that will help you gain weight without a caloric surplus. 

 

[TrynaBeTurquoise]

Theres no “best diet”, only quality foods and nutrient variety. After that it comes down to how much you are eating and your training.

Whether or not its worth it to go to the gym while being vegan is a separate issue from whether or not its worth it to exercise while being vegan (and the answer is 100% yes if you care about optimizing your health)

[28 cm unbuffed]

@Vipassana

10 hours ago, Vipassana said:

If you stopped eating meat for ethical reasons then I would encourage you to go vegan. Building muscle mass on a vegan diet is certainly possible & "more rewarding" in my opinion because you are able to bust through myths that surround the fitness industry & set an example for other people.

I stopped eating meat, not for ethical reasons or morality.

The way, that animals are treated nowadays, makes meat quality really bad - animals that suffer, have a lot bad hormones in their body, because of the fear and pain they had to go through (aka bad karma). 

About protein intake - don't know, gotta make a reasearch by myself, but I always was a believer of an amount of grams of protein, that you have to take * body mass, to make better results. Right now, I'm not even hitting the gym, I'm don't have any diet per se and I look fucking fantastic, I'm just too thin. 

Neverthelless - going to try out different stuff and find out on myself. 

 

[DivineSoda]

If that's the only reason you could buy the highest quality meat available, which would be pasture/humanely raised, grass fed, organic.. or go directly to a local farm.

Same goes for the eggs you eat. Buy pasture raised if you want highest quality/karma. 

Don't fall into the trap of diets. There is no one optimal diet. Everyone is different. Stick to high quality, nutrient dense food.. lots of variety, lots of vegetables, organic when you can afford it, nothing processed, minimal ingredients, make it yourself, hydrate well throughout day, move your body regularly, rip muscle in a functional way, rest properly. Good luck. 

[28 cm unbuffed]

@DivineSoda

Great advice, thank you, Lord Soda ?

[Rasheed]

On 1/7/2020 at 4:23 AM, TrynaBeTurquoise said:

Whether or not its worth it to go to the gym while being vegan is a separate issue from whether or not its worth it to exercise while being vegan (and the answer is 100% yes if you care about optimizing your health)

I could not get what you said. 

Person cannot train seriously and get gains while being vegan? That's funny. That's same as saying, person can't build muscle training with bodyweight...

Give your body sufficient amount of protein, carbs and fat. That's easy, both as a meat eater and non meat-eater + Supplements...

[28 cm unbuffed]

@Rasheed

Thanks for words of encouragement man, appreciate that truly.

Going to try my best, I need to start counting macros, never did that consistently in my life.

[Rasheed]

12 hours ago, 28 cm unbuffed said:

@Rasheed

Thanks for words of encouragement man, appreciate that truly.

Going to try my best, I need to start counting macros, never did that consistently in my life.

This is my opinion about Nutrition:

First of all word 'Diet' is BS. Diet means, we do it for certain period of time and that's it. Good Nutrition must become part of our lifestyle.

Key to that is consistency. If you can be consistent as a meat-eater, do that. If you can't be consistent as a meat-eater, and be consistent as a vegan, do that. 

If you do not want to eat meat but someone else told you that you should eat meat, guess what will happen? You will not be consistent, and you are going to suffer, just because you haven't made decision for yourself.

Key is finding what works best for you.

Also, my advice is to not turn veganism to ideology and don't identify yourself as 'vegan'. Let your consciousness guide you. What ego wants, is set of rules and ideology. If eating meat and animal products does not resonate with you, stop eating it because of that, not because you have to be 'vegan'.

 

There are people who just live off breath; liquids; and build muscle...

 Yogananda: 'Mind is the wielder of muscles.'

Edited January 13, 2020 by Rasheed

[LfcCharlie4]

@28 cm unbuffed You can defo build muscle while being vegan lol, pick up a high protein vegan cookbook or something. 

Here's one idea (not the healthiest meal) 

Soy mince, Kidney beans/ Black beans, lentils, peppers, carrots, garlic, onion, (anything else you like) made into a Chilli with Chopped tomatoes and veg Stock and of course spices and seasonings, it's really easy to make and you can serve it up with Quinoa/Rice and also have Broccoli/ Kale on the side to add greens. Obvs Soy mince is processed and not the healthiest. I made a big batch and it will last for 4 meals and probably cost me like £5, so £1.25 a meal. 

This could then be you lunch for the week or whatever, it takes some thinking but not that diifcult really.

[28 cm unbuffed]

@LfcCharlie4 Dude, you're a fucking pro or something. I'm not even close to that level, getting there. Thanks for a recipe though.

[fridjonk]

@LfcCharlie4 @28 cm unbuffed  Many vegan bodybuilders complain about lack of energy I've heard. At least maybe add some fish in there from time to time. 

[MAYA EL]

There is no "good bulking diet" because everyone responds differently to food and depending on your nationality you will respond good to some foods that others that are of a different nationality would respond terrible to so it takes some experimentation to find what works best but I recommend looking into blood dieting that will help you figure out a good starting point. 

Also a good general rule of thumb is take your lean body mass  and for every 1LB you should consume 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per day so for example if you are 100LBM then you would need 150 to 200G of protein a day  the amount of food you eat is very important because it doesn't matter how good your workout routine is your not going to build a bigger body if your body is only getting enough food to maintain it self.  And lastly your hormones are the most important aspect to gaining weight so making sure that your eating healthy is so important because if your hormones are off you can kiss the gains goodbye  . 

I speak from experience I was 149LB at 6% body fat fighting in the fether weight devion as a teenager  and by 21 I wanted to get big so I got into bodybuilding and by the time I was 26 I weighed about 220LB at 8% Body fat so around 70LB of musel so it takes time as well but its obtainable.  The hardest part for me was the amount of food I had to eat do to my metabolism being so high I had to eat 6000 calories per day  its was miserable at times especially when my boss that was 15lb bigger then me only had to eat 3500calories a day but when it came time to get lean he was doing 1hr of cardio a day 7 days a week and is all I had to do was shorten my rest periods between sets and I still got shredded faster lol .

[LfcCharlie4]

@fridjonk Veganism is often more than just food though it’s about minimising exploitation according to the official definition, so many probably aren’t looking to eat any animal products as it’s  often mainly for ethical reasons or becomes that eventually. 
 

In my case it was originally to reduce acne (worked wonders completely cleared my skin up) but is now more of a ethical thing, and it’s also improved my health and standard diet soooo much. 

[fridjonk]

@LfcCharlie4 Nice! I definitely want to try it one day for the fun of it. I guess you'd feel lighter on your toes?  

Days when i eat mostly veggies and peanut butter, i feel super light and clear minded. 

 

[LfcCharlie4]

@fridjonk Yes definitely, but defo do your research, I kinda fell into a shitty side of vegan YouTube (HCLF) and demonised fat and didn't take a B12 supplement for a while and I started when I was 15, but now there's so many areas of information it's amazing!

Also, about being lighter on your toes- defo! I've also recently changed my goals to my holistic fitness rather than just gaining muscle, for a more of an athletic muscular look if you get me? For me, it kinda is the best of both worlds of looking good, feeling good and being the healthiest I can be  

[fridjonk]

@LfcCharlie4 haha I'll make sure i do my research. 

23 minutes ago, LfcCharlie4 said:

Also, about being lighter on your toes- defo! I've also recently changed my goals to my holistic fitness rather than just gaining muscle, for a more of an athletic muscular look if you get me?

Yeah i'm with you there. 

[LfcCharlie4]

@fridjonk in terms of YouTubers 

Mic The Vegan covers nutrition in a light way, Brian Turner is an awesome vegan bodybuilder and Vegan Gains (while quite militant) does awesome debates with people and is also pretty huge himself. 
 

The best videos I find are the meal prep ones and learning about nutrition, as they give you lots of meal ideas (you’ll need them) and learn about why this helps etc, honestly, the average person is so uneducated on nutrition it’s unreal, people don’t realise what they’re putting in their bodies and I never realised either.