Lou
Forum Legend
It can happen. It happened to me.
I was very sick and lost almost 30 pounds in 2 months.
It's the same thing I have been saying from the beginning. You need to meet your calorie requirements.
Having difficulty getting enough protein
- Thread starter lonelyheroine
- Start date
I was very sick and lost almost 30 pounds in 2 months.
It's the same thing I have been saying from the beginning. You need to meet your calorie requirements.
Yep, good advice. Hemp seed is a complete protein ...
If you have any concerns about protein then a vegan protein powder is the way to go. But, yeah, as silva has already said if you're losing muscle mass after only 2 months then it might not be a protein issue .... if you're eating a good variety of plants every day then you should be getting your protein especially if you're eating tofu and other legumes.
But the OP didn't share any details, I looked over their posts and nothing was ever said about weight loss or calorie intake. They were specific about losing muscle
I wonder what happened with @lonelyheroine ?
They didn't seem to have a grasp on wfpb eating. So many endurance athletes thrive on plant based diets--and I specify whole food plant based because while they are under the vegan realm, they are more specific.
No, I'm not nit picking, I'm just pointing out that when you say vegan diet all that is no animal products, no suggestion of WHAT you eat or what you don't eat beyond not from animals
Lou
Forum Legend
Yes. I'm shooting in the dark. But I'm shooting in the most likely direction.
you don't lose muscle without losing weight. Not in the short term anyway. Although over decades ....
Me too. I hope she is alright. We see that sometimes here at the VF. Someone comes in with an issue and then disappears. But all kinds of things happen to people in real life so there is no telling.
Maybe. She did describe her diet:
"I eat beans and rice, as that makes a complete protein, tofu, oatmeal, soy milk and lots and lots of vegetables. Peanut butter is another item in my daily diet."
That does not indicate complete ignorance. IMHO, it's not the quality of her diet - but the quantity.
Yes! and also anyone in training Should know to monitor their diets. Even non-plant powered athletes keep tabs on protein and calories. Although some are misinformed or choose to ignore the best info. And the gym rats I talk to not only monitor their diets - but eat Too Much protein.
In an earlier post I brought up the Female Athlete Triad (FAT). Even with the little info she gave us I think she fits the description.
Female- check
Athlete - check
Restrictive diet - check.
For weight gain you should be consuming close to a gram of protein per pound of lean body weight (body weight minus fat). I'd recommend using Cronometer to keep track of your macros.
Lou
Forum Legend
First off welcome to the forum.
That is a common misconception.
Don't feel bad. I hear that repeated way more often than the actual fact.
At the most you need 0.8 g or protein per pound of body weight.
Most people need much less. The US RDA is 0.36. A study on body builders recommended 0.48. And 0.77 for body builders just starting out.
I think all of the recommendations round up or down to 1 gram of protein per KILOGRAM of body weight. So maybe this is how the misconception started.
A couple of things to keep in mind. More is not better.
Our bodies have no mechanism for storing protein. Excess protein is broken down into amino acids that circulate in the blood stream. Once the body figures out they are excess they are broken down into glucose. Then used for energy or stored as fat.
The breaking down of amino acids results in toxins (nitrogen compounds - like ammonia and urea) ending up in the blood which the kidney and liver have to work hard to remove. Some body builders have damaged their kidney by over consuming protein.
New research is indicating that we have a maximum rate of protein that we can absorb and utilize. This is still somewhat new but the number that seems to be best established is between 20 and 30 g of protein per meal. So probably anything above 30 per meal is just going to be wasted.
Oh, and I just thought of something. Grams of protein are a pretty good goal. But IMHO a better one is measuring protein as a percent of your total calories. I'm also a CronOmeter user. Some people think that 20/60/20 is ideal. I find it almost impossible and have lowered my goals to 15/60/25.
I always like to back up my claims. Below I've linked to an article that is one of the best on busting protein myths. The article itself is well referenced. And it's not that long. So if this is a topic of interest you should read the article.
I've also linked an article about too much protein.
Are you getting too much protein?
Protein bars, shakes and powder supplements claim to curb appetite, help with weight loss and build muscle. But what’s the real story?
www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org
VeganRachel
Forum Legend
You make a good point. I have seen several ex-vegan videos and article where they say their vegan "diet" (which means what THEY were
eating as a vegan) caused their teeth problems, tiredness, sluness, digestive problems and so on. I always find the first solution is to look
in the mirror and be honest to see what each individual is choosing, and therefore take steps to improve. Most ex's however casually blame
the vegan "diet" as a remedy and go back to eating animals. Cheers.
Lou
Forum Legend
I still don't think nutrition is rocket science but even so - so many people in the general population do have some kind of deficiency. Studies of the general populations have shown deficiencies from B to Zinc.
Iron, Calcium, and D are the most common and also the most problematic.
And for vegans there might even be more concerns. B12 of course comes to mind.
If you haven't done any research or gotten any advice its not that hard to being missing something.
Myles Sicuro
Newcomer
You could always try a protein powder supplement? Something like faba bean protein seems to be a great plant based solution. I've been using this one for around 2 years now and I love it.
Brian W
Conscientious Christian
VeganRachel
Forum Legend
--Vegan protein powders by SUN WARRIOR or raw and organic.
--Nimai Delgado and other vegans started a new company that sells vegan protein powders, called Vedge Nutrition, www.vedge.com
--Dr. Mercola sells pure power--vegan protein bars which are
actually very simply good and NOT sweet, 14g or protein in every bar with peanut butter.
--www.savetherainforestbar.com sells several vegan protein bars, use code ENDOFSUMMER25 for 25% off by 8/20.
Just my 2 cents..
--Nimai Delgado and other vegans started a new company that sells vegan protein powders, called Vedge Nutrition, www.vedge.com
--Dr. Mercola sells pure power--vegan protein bars which are
actually very simply good and NOT sweet, 14g or protein in every bar with peanut butter.
--www.savetherainforestbar.com sells several vegan protein bars, use code ENDOFSUMMER25 for 25% off by 8/20.
Just my 2 cents..
Myles Sicuro
Newcomer
It last me around 2 months. I exercise 7-8 times per week, with a combination of weights, running and cycling. It's a little expensive, but really convenient, taste great and helps with my macros. I use this one - Vegan Protein Powder Australia | Pure Plant Protein
Last edited:
I haven't seen faba beans around here. My health food store has fava beans- which might be a diffrent way to say the same thing, like Chickpea and Garbanzo Bean... but I really didn't like the favas.
Myles Sicuro
Newcomer
Yeah faba or fava is interchangeable. It's seems to be quite popular over here in Australia and it's all grown with the CSIRO kick starter initiative. Worth a read - Australian Plant Proteins: Optimised faba bean protein extraction
@Myles Sicuro Thanks! I sometimes tend to get into ruts in my diet where I tend to eat a lot of certain foods. These foods are healthy and tasty, but I really think it's best to have a lot of variety. I'm going to look around to see what herbs and seasonings bring out the best in fabas. They're quite interesting-looking- different from any other bean I'm familiar with.
ETA: I just started looking around, and some of the recipes for favas sound quite tasty- but they appear to call for green (fresh) fava beans- not the fully-mature dried brownish kind I tried out. In my experience, fresh green legumes (such as green peas or lima beans) taste quite different from when they're harvested fully ripe, dried, and shelled.
ETA: I just started looking around, and some of the recipes for favas sound quite tasty- but they appear to call for green (fresh) fava beans- not the fully-mature dried brownish kind I tried out. In my experience, fresh green legumes (such as green peas or lima beans) taste quite different from when they're harvested fully ripe, dried, and shelled.
Last edited:
