Vegetarian diet - newbie please help

[Browneyes*]

Hii Everyone, i got some feedback, but i still need help on how my daily vegetarian diet routine should look, currently it is:

My average RMR is 1009 calories a day. and it says proteins should be 110-220 grams.

Exercise in the gym (8AM)- (without eating) Cardio (running on treadmill) for 30 min
and right after i come home and do turbojam exercises (which is the aerobics and strength training video)

Breakfast - Special K - vanilla almond (120 calories) around 10:30

Lunch - Sandwich on wholewheat bread, with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, light mayo, mustard, and italian sauce

snack - usually yogurt with pears, or strawberries

Dinner - either a veggie hot dog (the veggie weiner is 70 calories and the bun is 180) - or i have a fruit salad, or a sandwich again

I always drink 8 glasses of water throughout the day as well.

*****But i want to start eating 5 to 6 meals a day, and i need to know what those meals should consist of? and whether i should start drinking protein shakes before or after my workout and which one?

I want to tone up, and gain muscle and maintain my 110 pounds weight.

[coffeebean]

Hi,

I joined last week with a lot of questions about the Vegetarian diet and bodybuilding, protein, caloric intake etc. Go back a little in the nutrition forum and you may find the thread with many comments that might answer some of your questions.

Good luck.

[chalpin]

First of all, you need to eat more, like intake more calories. 1009 is not nearly enough if you want to loose fat and gain muscle. It also looks like a majority of your calories are from carbs. You need to balance this out with more protien/fat. I dont know where you are getting your protien info from, but in relation, I am 145 lbs. and need to intake 100-125 grams a day.

Are you against eating eggs? Or drinking whey/casein (SP) shakes? Soy is not an efficient source of protien. Protien will be the key in helping you reach your goals. Also, I would try to eat a little something before working out, like a more carb based meal, like and hour or so before, then an hour or so after you are finished, eat a protien based meal. Although, all meals should include fat, carbs and protien. For example, my daily ratios are 100-125 for protien, 200-250 for carbs and 30g or less of fat.

Oh, and one more thing. Get rid of that processed food! Special K is NOT as healthy as it is marketed as, although it is better than frosted flakes, etc. start eating a slow digestable carb, like slow cook oatmeal, grain cerial, irish oatmeal for breakfast; most of these are hot. Do NOT buy instant oatmeals. They are horrible. Also, make sure you are getting whole GRAIN bread, as opposed to whole wheat. Its not the same. And make sure there is at least 4g of fiber in eat slice.

Yeah, this is just my take. But please, start eating more.

[Wattsup]

I agree...

Special K actually contains high fructose corn syrup!!! The Kashi brand cereals are all pretty good and quite filling...as well as good 'ol Cheerios.

You absolutely need to eat more! Cottage cheese has a ton of protein, and the Friendship brand no salt has 16g per 1/2 cup and is only 90 calories. Eggs, tuna, fish, edamame is another great source of protein for vegetarians.

Have you tried tofu? There are many fun things you can do with it...

[giuliagoolia]

You need to get protein in with Every meal.
You want a total of 1gm protein/lb body weight, so if you weight 110lbs you want your total daily intake of protein to match that.

Personally, I think the majority if not all of that protein should come from complete sources.

If you will eat eggs and cottage cheese then you need to start eating both. They are great sources of complete protein as is skim milk, cheese, yogurt, tofu, and tempeh.

Whey protein is ideal for PWO.

here is a link to pre/post WO nutrition I think would be good for you read if you haven't already.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=272067

Also, try eating whole foods, ditch the processed stuff i.e. special k, veggie dogs.
a few great carb sources:
oats (old fashioned/steel cut)
barley
sweet potato
legumes (lentils, chickpeas, black beans)
brown rice
fibrous veggies
fruits

good fats:
olive oil, flax oil, walnuts, almonds, tahini

Also, you're not doing your body any favors at all by working out on an empty stomach, the only thing you'll acheive is muscle loss. Eat some carbs and protein before WO and after WO. and not sure if you are, but if you aren't you need to hit the weights if your looking to put on muscle.

and finally, if your wanting to add muscle realize that your weight isn't going to stay at 110.

[kja123]

Hi , I'm a vegetarian also and a very picky eater until i realized how important a good diet is in looking after your body. You do need to start eating a lot more protein filled foods to help build up your muscles.

I found that a lot of Quorn products have high protein, one of my favorites is quorn burgers :P. Lentils and beans are also very good source, as well as a whole lot of nuts such as Almonds, Brazil nuts and peanuts. In vegetables there is spinach, cabbage and broccoli.

And if you are not Vegan of course there is cheese, eggs, milk and yogurt.

I hope this helps )

[coffeebean]

Hi there,

I have been putting together meals for a few weeks now focusing on my pounds in body weight of grams of Protein a day. So, I weigh 125lbs and aim for the same in grams of protein. What has always gotten me stuck is the balance of percentages. I have found it takes some planning, prepreparation of several meals at a time but is not actually that difficult.

I have been using "Fitday.com" and find this very useful as it provides me a visual color coded pie chart with grams and percentages for all the food I eat. I can personalize it based on foods I eat as a vegi person. It is free so take a look at it and let me know if you find it helpful.

So for actual protein sources I have been using:

Protein shake in the morning (Met Rx right now until I run out then something recommended by gals here)
Baked marinated tofu (Comes in packages of two thick patties) I like it plain actually but also top rice, quinoa, and with it salads for a protein source at each meal.

Humus...made some the other night then calculated out calories per portion. I have a great recipe if you would like it.

Yves brand tofu dogs. Yeah this is kinda weird and processed but but they taste OK and are a quick 50 calorie snack with 10 g. of protein in each one!

Boca Burgers! Higher protein than Garden Burgers.

I hope this helps. I am working on combining grains, beans and so on as well to get complete proteins as well but these are sources I have been using a lot.

[R.T.B.]

I'm a vegetarian, and post my daily diets in my journal (look at sig)...hopefully that'll help you out

[Browneyes*]

Hi everyone thank you for all your help

I have now created a new plan for myself, let me know what you think

I have a protein shake in the morning before and after i workout

I don't like oatmeal at all, so is it okay to eat fiber cereal right after i drink my post protein shake or should i wait a couple of hours?

Lunch - Whole grain sandwhich, with lettuce, tomatoes, and veggie salami slices

Snack - i have yogurt with fruit

Dinner - i have a veggie hot dog without the bun and salad

snack - fruit ( usually cantelope, blueberries, strawberries, or pineapple)


Let me know what you think, if i should change anything, or if this is good????

[Deenus]

I'm an ovo-lacto vegetarian. It has been a tough road for me, too. Most vegetarian protein is starchy and therefore high in calories. As a result, I've cut most bread and dairy out of my diet, and I take calcium with my daily supplements. I make sure EVERYTHING I eat has protein in it; what I eat has to be highly efficient.

My trainer has set my caloric intake to 1700 - 1800 per day. I start the day with a protein shake with non-fat soy milk, then lunch, a protein bar in the mid-afternoon, then dinner, and then have a protein bar around 8pm to stave off the late night munchies. (Usually lunch consists of [in servings] 1 protein, 1 fruit, 1 non-fat dairy. Dinner is 1 protein, 1 vegetable and ALWAYS an extra large salad.)

Tidbits I live by:
I don't eat out unless I'm going to a restaurant that provides nutritional info that I have reviewed. My trainer has drilled this habit into my head. If you don't know what's in it, don't eat it!
I eat each meal at the same time every day. If I think I might get in a position where I'll get too hungry, I take a snack. This is especially important on heavy-lifting or long-cardio days.
I keep a food diary and calculate daily calories, fat, carbs and protein grams.
For family functions or get-togethers where a meal is involved, I always bring my own protein.
If you can find a way to get a personal trainer, girl, do it now! He or she will not only push your body. You'll be able to get some nutritional guidance to find out how many protein grams and calories you need to be getting a day for efficient muscle building or fat burning.

It's always hard to start a new food program. I'm very interested in what other people can add or advise.