how do you gain weight as a vegan?

barrymanilow

Hi nearly a vegan for a year now , feel great , love the food etc


One thing though , I have lost 2.5kg and I seem to be losing more .


This does not suit me .


I am involved in a sport that favors me being heavier.


How do those vegan bodybuilders and boxers do it ? I am eating all round me but cant hold the weight ?


Thanks



B

The_Honeybadger

Good fats like high calorie nut butters (yum), avocados, ground chia seeds in your porridge or smoothie, plenty of carbs like sweet potatoes etc. will keep your weight up.

If you do heavy training you need to eat a lot.

Tar.Aldarion

I wish I had this problem! Firstly, figure out what calories you expend every day with a calculator online. Then track your food to see how much calories you are actually eating.

There is a good forum here about vegan fitness https://www.reddit.com/r/veganfitness/
What do you normally eat for a whole day?


There's a famous Irish weightlifter that is vegan and he has a video about what he eats for his needs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHrysja5lYw

He mentions to increase fat intake if you want to put on weight and don't want as much volume.

Worztron

Add more nuts and seeds to your diet as they are calorie dense - also dried fruits such as raisins. I love peanut butter, chia seeds, flaxseeds.

davidjtaylor

Even as a long-term vegan, I have no trouble gaining weight. Maybe I should exercise more. :D

Murph76

barrymanilow wrote: »

Hi nearly a vegan for a year now , feel great , love the food etc


One thing though , I have lost 2.5kg and I seem to be losing more .


This does not suit me .


I am involved in a sport that favors me being heavier.


How do those vegan bodybuilders and boxers do it ? I am eating all round me but cant hold the weight ?


Thanks



B

´


Many people gain weight as vegans because thex start eating more carbohydrates...

henryporter

Murph76 wrote: »

´


Many people gain weight as vegans because thex start eating more carbohydrates...

That's my problem Planning next year (i.e. January 2019) to cut down on carbs so need to figure out a game plan as a lot of meals involve spuds/rice/pasta and a ton of sourdough bread!

auspicious

Check out Charity Morgan's vegan meals she creates for Tennessee NFL players. Those are some big guys in defense.
“When they realized that their production didn’t go down, their stats didn’t go down, they didn’t die on the field, they were like ‘sign me up’ because the food already looks and smells good,” Charity told ESPN. “Last year was a test run for a lot of the guys to realize you can be plant-based and successful.”

https://www.chefcharitymorgan.com/recipes/

pawdee

Eat another vegan.

s7ryf3925pivug

Lots of successful vegan athletes in sports that have a strong basis in strength.

If you eat lots of nuts you'll probably put weight on, one way or another

davidjtaylor

henryporter wrote: »

That's my problem Planning next year (i.e. January 2019) to cut down on carbs so need to figure out a game plan as a lot of meals involve spuds/rice/pasta and a ton of sourdough bread!

Let us know how you get on.

davidjtaylor

Murph76 wrote: »

´


Many people gain weight as vegans because thex start eating more carbohydrates...

I’d question ‘many’. I know of around 300 vegans and very very few are overweight.

So is eating more carbs your recommendation?

Gumbi

The key to gaining weight, as a vegan or otherwise, is to eat more calories than you consume. How is this achieved? It depends on the person, but typically concentrated sources of carbohydrates like whole grains or tubers are a good choice, or nut and seeds (or even more calories are nut /seed butters as they're more efficiently absorbed). But it's not the fat or the carbs making you gain weight, but the calories.

Tar.Aldarion

Yep, for instance I can easily eat a pot of hummus at one sitting and that alone is 600+ calories. Depends what people like.

auspicious

Where do you get your nut butters? Which is best value? Store bought or online.
Anyone eat plantain? Know where to get some? I heard it's delicious.
Any good hummus recipe?
Thanks.

igCorcaigh

auspicious wrote: »

Where do you get your nut butters? Which is best value? Store bought or online.
Anyone eat plantain? Know where to get some? I heard it's delicious.
Any good hummus recipe?
Thanks.

Meridian do a good range of nut butters, health shop should sell them. A bit pricey though.

Plantains didn't taste like anything to me, quite bland.

Hummus is very basic, you don't even need a recipe. Just whizz up chickpeas with plenty of tahini. Add some of the chickpea cooking water, lemon juice and a clove of garlic.

I like to use a preserved lemon instead of juice. Salt as needed, not too much. Olive oil if you want. Hummous on wholemeal toast is my fav breakfast.

You can vary it from there with herbs and spices.
Refrigerate before eating. The garlic and lemon will keep it fresh for a week in the refrigerator.

fleet

Not a vegan here, but learn to make your own power bars with nut butter.

300g oats
100g coconut oil (or whatever you bake with)
100g crushed walnut
100g crushed almonds
100g hazelnuts
100g mixed seeds
600g peanut/almomd/etc. butter
400g jar of your favorite jam

Roast the oats under a grill with the butter, set aside.
Roast the nuts and seeds the same way (or in an airfryer if you have one).
Mix the nuts and seeds, split the mix in half.
Line a baking / Pyrex tray with butter and pack in half the mix.
Layer on the jam and bake on 200 for a few minutes.
Layer on the rest or the mix and bake again.

When it's done let it cool fully. else it'll crumble.

Cut in to slices. Each 12cm by 4cm will clock over 500 calories.

Play with mix a bit, perhaps add honey etc. You could even add a vegan chocolate topping.

davidjtaylor

You can vary hummus by using other than chick peas, though they are the ‘classic’.

If I’m in the mood for a ‘hummus’ I’ll use any pulse I have to hand. I’ve even used beetroot.

If you get dried pulses, you can soak them in cold water for a day, rinse them and then sprout them for a couple of days, greatly increasing their nutritional benefit.

Then make a hummus using them raw. It takes a powerful blender to do this but the results are worth it.

Gumbi

Tesco have a cheap Tesco brand peanut butter, under 6 euro a kilo (only ingredient is peanuts). Bulk powders sell cheap nut butters. They always run sales of 25, 30, 33, 35 and 40%. I wait for 33-40% sales (they're on constantly) and buy in bulk (I buy cacao, nut butters, some supplements etc.). Shipping is only 4 euro.

Teddy Daniels

Most vegans I know eat piles of cabs

davidjtaylor

Teddy Daniels wrote: »

Most vegans I know eat piles of cabs

Must be quite taxing. :rolleyes:

SmartinMartin

davidjtaylor wrote: »

Must be quite taxing. :rolleyes:

Any lynk to that?

igCorcaigh

Just back from Lidl and saw that they're selling meridian nut butters. €4.90