Best diet for building muscle/losing weight?

[britveganguy]

I admit that I am carrying a few extra pounds around my waist and would like to get into better shape. I have researched vegan fitness on several sites but there always seems to be a lot of conflicting information with regard to what to eat and which exercises to do.

Could anyone give me any suggestions here?

[Bowwowmeow]

Oh yes I read conflicting information all the time! Which may mean that some things work for some people and not others, depending on your own personal biochemistry.

I lost 75 pounds about 10 years ago and managed to keep them off. I gained them while vegan, and lost them while vegan, so I don't think it's the composition of the diet that really matters. I found the only thing that worked was making sure I maintained a calorie deficit every day. You have to use more than you take in, and I did not depend on counting the calories I burned through any added exercise, because I don't think these measurements are that reliable. Not as reliable as counting food calories.

So yes, I ate a reduced calorie diet, which was HARD, because I was hungry all the time. I know there are all sorts of plans to make you feel not hungry, and I tried a few, but it doesn't work. You have to maintain the calorie deficit, and this means eating less and getting used to being hungry. Exercise is important not for the calories you burn, though that will increase your deficit. It increases the rate at which you burn fat though, even while at rest. It also can have a hunger reducing affect. But you have to reduce what you eat. There seems to be no way around this.

I did make use of psyllium fiber drinks, not the flavored sweetened stuff, just psyllium husks from the health food store, 1 tablespoon in 12 ounces of water, a couple of times a day. Now I read that this sort of fiber may help absorb some fat. I don't know about that, but it kept my tummy full, which was what I was after. Just let the fiber absorb some of the water until it becomes a thick gel, and drink it. It doesn't taste especially good, but it doesn't taste bad either. I would recommend sweetening it with some stevia, and adding some lemon juice, but I am not sure you can get stevia in the UK?

As for actual bodybuilding, I know there is plenty of conflicting info about that too! I read Robert Cheeke's forum, veganbodybuilding.com I think it is called, on occasion. There are plenty of people there with good physiques, even a raw bodybuilder. I do work out with weights, but to maintain strength rather than build size, and I am not one of those people for whom building size seems to be a problem, so I don't eat a special diet for it.

I have read 80/10/10, and Doug Graham also has a pretty good physique, and he is raw. He says you don't need tons of extra protein. You need carbs to fuel your workouts, because it is the work, and then the recovery, that breaks down and the rebuilds new muscle, not diet. This makes sense to me. But then I am not trying to get big.

Good luck!

[britveganguy]

Thanks, some good advice there. I am sure Stevia is available in the UK, but not where I live so maybe I can get it via mail order. I'm not looking to get hug, more 'ripped and toned' if that makes sense?

I keep meaning to check out that Doug Graham book too, a lot of people seem to speak very highly of it.

[Gliondrach]

Some interesting things about protein in these links. The first one has tables which I can't copy to here.

http://www.denvervegfest.net/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=37:qbut-how-do-you-get-enough-proteinq&catid=16:nutrition&Itemid=20


http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/protein_myth.html

There's also good advice at the vegan bodybuilding and fitness site.

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com