Protein...and the non-meat eater!

Doolee

Please dont judge me or delete me from this forum when i say I dont eat meat!!!!

But heres the thing. Started working out with weights and muscle building/toning contraptions with a personal trainer twice a week and as i dont eat meat/poultry I've been getting protein from Whey Protein shakes, fish and eggs everyday. My results of my first assessment today, after 6 weeks showed a 4% body fat loss which I'm thrilled about, but the muscle mass had only increased by one.

So maybe its the protein thing.
But theres only soooo many eggs/whites and fish a girl can have in a week and as the diet is totally carb free, the usual way a vege would get all the amino acids etc would be by food combining lentils and brown rice or hummus and brown bread etc, cant apply to me. And so comes Tofu! Never a big fan but aparently its a complete protein, but I was wondering about the amounts you would need to get sufficent protein when on a diet such as mine.

So, I dont expect many sympathetic replies as its my choice but is there any other non meat eaters out there with any suggestions...but I wont hold my breath! BTW...i did find a website called Veganbodybuilders for all you who dont think it can be done.!

Thanks!

corkcomp

Doolee wrote: »

Please dont judge me or delete me from this forum when i say I dont eat meat!!!!

But heres the thing. Started working out with weights and muscle building/toning contraptions with a personal trainer twice a week and as i dont eat meat/poultry I've been getting protein from Whey Protein shakes, fish and eggs everyday. My results of my first assessment today, after 6 weeks showed a 4% body fat loss which I'm thrilled about, but the muscle mass had only increased by one.

So maybe its the protein thing.
But theres only soooo many eggs/whites and fish a girl can have in a week and as the diet is totally carb free, the usual way a vege would get all the amino acids etc would be by food combining lentils and brown rice or hummus and brown bread etc, cant apply to me. And so comes Tofu! Never a big fan but aparently its a complete protein, but I was wondering about the amounts you would need to get sufficent protein when on a diet such as mine.

So, I dont expect many sympathetic replies as its my choice but is there any other non meat eaters out there with any suggestions...but I wont hold my breath! BTW...i did find a website called Veganbodybuilders for all you who dont think it can be done.!

Thanks!

whey, fish (tuna and prawns have tons of protein) and eggs should do nicely IMO. if you have dropped 4% body fat and gained ANY muscle your on the right track, i dont think it is possible to drop fat quickly and add muscle quickly simultaneously, yep you can do both but at a much slower rate. I hope your not cutting out fruit and vegetables in the pursuit of low carb though. if you are veggie and follow a "no"? carb diet your limiting yourself somewhat

ragg

Whey Protein shakes, fish and eggs

A chicken is just a big egg - get eatin' :pac:

OK Seriously, you can explore non animal proteins, Chick peas, kidney beans, in fact any pulses usually have lots of protein. Sometimes i get sick of chicken, turkey, steak etc, so I make a veggie dish full of nuts & pulses.
There is some carbs in these, but they will be mostly fibre, which is WIN for a dieter and you can subtract fibre rom carbs to get usuable carbs - which is all you need to count

TommyKnocker

Hi Doolee

From what I have read on bulking, (which I am doing myself at present) the advice seems to be to consume 1g of protein for each pound of body weight. So do you reckon that you are getting this from your current diet.

Also I believe that it is much easier to lose body fat then it is to gain muscle, and it is probably harder for a female to gain muscle mass due to having less testosterone in their system then a male. So the fact that you have gained some muscle while reducing your body fat is a positive thing and I would say you are on the right track.

Also it's not the easiest thing to build muscle while at the same time cutting body fat at the same time. Folks new to training seem to start off like this, it's called newbie gains but it soon stops

Congrats on your results to date.


Best Regards,

M

InKonspikuou2

Soy meat or products with soy, peanut butter, cottage cheese, milk, tuna, nuts and beans are all good sources of proteins for vegetarians. Granted they aren't really complete meals but you can mix them around to add a bit of variety.

And why no carbs? The reason you probably lost weight but failed to gain much muscle mass is probably down to the lack of carbs. If you are on a ketogenic diet or something similar you generally deplete the glyocgen levels in your muscles. Early on in the diet it can appear to be fat loss but is really from muscle loss and dehydration, i.e. loss of water retention from the body. You can eat carbs and still lose body fat. Just don't go crazy on them. But trying to gain mass and cut body fat at the same time isn't the most productive way and can be difficult for a lot of people.

kumate_champ07

I dont get it, fish is a living creature that feels pain and has a more stressful/traumatic death than farmed animals, we dont drown cows till they die do we!?

why people think its ok to eat fish but not a cow amazes me

Brian?

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

I dont get it, fish is a living creature that feels pain and has a more stressful/traumatic death than farmed animals, we dont drown cows till they die do we!?

why people think its ok to eat fish but not a cow amazes me

Maybe they don't like the taste?

Doolee

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

I dont get it, fish is a living creature that feels pain and has a more stressful/traumatic death than farmed animals, we dont drown cows till they die do we!?

why people think its ok to eat fish but not a cow amazes me

Ok, thanks for the reply but I just want to get this comment out of the way before getting back on topic.
I choose not to be vegan, I choose not to be vegetarian even, (I'm pescatarian which means I eat fish but most people never heard of the word so I use the term vege). Without getting too engrossed in the debate, I think every little helps and at least I'm trying to do something right by animal welfare. So it would be nicer for you to say good for you, maybe some day you will take the extra step when youre ready.
I applaud you though, obviously you dont eat either fish or meat so good on ya.

But my main question lies around amino acids. If I dont food combine, is tofu a reliable source for essential amino acids and if so how much is enough to get the right amount.

Thanks for the reply. I mean no offence whatsoever....

Doolee

corkcomp wrote: »

I hope your not cutting out fruit and vegetables in the pursuit of low carb though. if you are veggie and follow a "no"? carb diet your limiting yourself somewhat

No I'm definatly not. I have a small handfull of berries with a little museli and yoguart in the mornings and thats it so maybe I was wrong to say No Carbs. I couldnt survive without green veg and have a personal addiction to all things green! Lucky for me

Doolee

B-Builder wrote: »

Folks new to training seem to start off like this, it's called newbie gains but it soon stops

Dam...though actually I knew that would happen...my target is more realistic for the following 6 weeks. Thanks for the advice!

BobbyOLeary

Doolee wrote: »

(I'm pescatarian which means I eat fish but most people never heard of the word so I use the term vege)

Sorry for being off-topic but thanks a million for that, I always wondered what the proper term was for folks who eat fish and not other meats. Congrats on the work so far.