Hello, viseu-ga!
I ran a personal training business for several years and can tell you
there are as many dietary opinions as there are strength trainers!!!
Since I am not a nutritionist, I will refrain from designing a menu
for you. Instead, I have provided some references that should give you
a good cross-section of information pertaining to vegetarian strength
training.
From the little you shared, your eating habits don't seem to need too
much work. However, you could probably benefit from more fruits and
vegetables as well as lean proteins like fish and skim milk dairy
products. Fast food often has far more fat than necessary.
As for a training regimen, I think that "ipfan-ga" provided an
excellent routine in the comments section and it is very similar to
what I would have suggested. I asked about your swimming workout
strictly to evaluate how many calories you might be using during
cardiovascular work. If, in fact, you are swimming often enough to rob
your body of the necessary calories to build extra muscle, you will
have to eat more to provide the nutrition to build mass. I don't
suggest that you drop the swimming, since I am a diehard advocate of
both cardio and strength training for overall fitness. Besides, I am a
swimmer myself and could never imagine giving it up!!!!
As you read through the following references, keep in mind that
bodybuilders keep a much stricter training diet than you might prefer.
A strict bodybuilder would never dream of swimming off their precious
few calories, nor would they allow their body fat percentage to creep
very far up into the teens, even during the "off" season. Therefore,
read through the following articles with "your" goals in mind.
BASIC NUTRITION FOR VEGETARIAN BODYBUILDERS
=============================================
From "20 Questions About Vegetarianism," by Renee Cloe.
http://bodybuilding.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fprimusweb.com%2Ffitnesspartner%2Flibrary%2Fnutrition%2Fvegetarian.htm
How much protein do I need, anyway?
------------------------------------
The Recommended Dietary Allowance (R.D.A.) for protein is 0.8 grams a
day per kilogram of bodyweight. (Divide your weight in pounds by 2.2
to get kilograms.) Athletes may require more protein, but the amount
is small (1.0 to 1.5 grams per kilogram of bodyweight), an amount
easily obtainable from a vegetarian diet."
"Excess protein consumption can cause a variety of problems including
bone mineral loss, kidney damage, and dehydration. Your body can only
use so much protein, the excess is either broken down through
oxidization, placing an enormous strain on the kidneys, or it is
stored as body fat. Neither option is particularly desirable."
What?s the difference between complete and incomplete proteins?
----------------------------------------------------------------
"Animal protein contains all nine of the essential amino acids, so it
has been referred to as a "complete" protein. The nine essential amino
acids can also be found in plant proteins, however no single plant
source contains all nine of them. Therefore, plant protein has been
referred to as "incomplete."
"It was once widely believed that vegetarians had to carefully combine
plant protein sources in each meal in order to obtain all nine
essential amino acids. However, scientific studies have shown that the
human body can store essential amino acids and combine them as
necessary. So, while combining beans and rice, or peanut butter and
bread produces a complete protein, it?s not necessary to consciously
do this at every meal. If you eat a varied diet and adequate calories,
combining proteins is not an issue."
==
"Nutrition." Craig Walker's Health and Fitness Web Page
http://www.geocities.com/craigscottwalker/nutrition.html
Though this article is not focused on Vegetarian Strength Training,
it provides an excellent overview of nutrition and muscle-building. An
excerpt follows:
"In order to build muscle, along with a good weight training program,
you need good nutrition. When you workout, microscopic tears occur in
the muscle tissue. In order to rebuild the torn muscle, your body
needs protein. Most experts recommend eating approximately 30g of
protein within an hour of training. After training, your body also
needs carbohydrates for fuel. In the above section, I mentioned that
carbs are the bodies preferred fuel source. After a workout, your body
has used most of your carbohydrate energy and will use protein for
fuel if your don't feed it some carbs. Now, you want the protein to be
used for repairing and building muscle, rather than energy, so carb
up! Foods high in protein include eggs, fish, meat, low fat milk
products, and so on. Foods containing good quality carbohydrates can
include bagels, rice, potatoes, bananas, apples, and so on."
"After you know how many calories you need per day, you need to
determine the composition of your diet. For building muscle, a diet
composed of 60% carbohydrate, 20% protein, 20% fat is best. Don't get
caught up in all the high protein diet stuff. Nutritionists agree that
between 0.7g and 1.0g of protein per pound of body weight is plenty
for even competitive body builders. For a typical male, you can get
this amount without even trying."
"Don't let your fat intake drop below 20%. Your body actually needs
vitamins and minerals only found in certain fats in order to maximize
muscle growth, and is also essential for healthy skin, etc. Next, the
standard 3 meals a day is not going to be enough. Your body needs a
constant 'flow' of nutrients and protein for optimal growth. Depending
on your size, the body can only absorb around 30g of protein at a
time. So if you only ate one big meal a day consisting of 100g of
protein (a lot of steak and milk), the body would still only absorb
about 30g of that protein, the rest would go to waste, after putting a
lot of strain on the kidneys. However, if you ate several (5 or 6)
small meals each day, each rich in nutrients and protein, your body
will absorb almost all of it. A good rule is to eat every 3 hours,
which adds up to 5 or 6 meals a day (depending when you go to bed and
how much sleep you need). No later than one hour before going to bed
(your 6th meal), try to only eat protein, no fat, no carbs. Tuna is an
excellent choice. An average can has just over 30g of protein, 1g of
fat or less, and 1g of carbohydrate or less. This is because your body
doesn't require much energy while you sleep. The average active person
will burn under 50 calories per hour in their sleep. 50 calories is
equivalent to eating about 2/3 of an apple! So don't go loading up of
food before bed. It's most likely going to turn to fat."
"Besides your post-workout meal, breakfast is the most important meal
of the day. Your body has just gone 9 hours or so without food, and
needs fuel for today?s workout as well as for continuing to build and
repair torn muscle from the last workout(s). I usually have All Bran
or Oatmeal with a chopped banana and skimmed milk, an apple, an egg,
some peanuts, and yoghurt. Maybe a weird combination for some of you,
but it is a great nutrient dense meal to start the day, especially
before a 8:30 class. I've hit all the food groups (grains, fruits &
veggies, dairy, and meats & alternatives). It is approximately 95g of
carbs, 20g of protein, and 10g of fat. A great 550 calorie way to
start to the day!"
"Try to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables, grains, low fat dairy
products, and lean meats. Minimize or eliminate other junk foods. Go
ahead and eat that donut once in a while if you want. If you're
training hard several times per week its not going to cause fat
storage, but just think, "you are putting low grade fuel into a high
performance sports car". Finally, drink lots of water. 8-10 glasses a
day is usually good enough. Those cups of coffee don't count. Water
means water. Not coke. Its 70% of your body and helps in hydration,
transportation of nutrients, and blood flow. Again, don't just read
this information, this is just to get you started. The more you read
and learn about your body, the better you'll be able to use it."
A link to Scott Walker's sample Body Building Program:
http://www.geocities.com/craigscottwalker/programs.html
===
From "Vegetarian Body Builder and Powerlifter FAQ."
http://www.geocities.com/alanmcclure3/#gain
(Go to the site for a thorough overview of topics, including numerous links)
To Gain Muscle Mass and Strength:
"Gaining muscle requires your body to be in an anabolic state. This
means that the hormones that nurture growth in the body such as
insulin and testosterone are at a particularity high level. When
hormones that are catabolic are at a high level such as cortisol and
estrogen, then your body is not able to build muscle. Your body is in
an anabolic state when it is receiving excess food and energy.
* So to gain strength and mass you need to have a caloric increase
from what your body needs just to maintain its weight.
"Generally a person can maintain his/her body weight by consuming
around 15 calories per pound of lean body mass. So if you weight 200
and have 10 percent body fat then your lean body mass is 180 and you
would need about 2700 calories per day to maintain that weight.
If you want to gain mass, you would need a few more calories per
pound. So 17 or 18 calories per pound would allow you to gain mass.
This comes to 3240 at 18 calories per pound. So to gain mass at this
weight eat an average of 3240 calories daily."
* "The problem with this is that you will also along with muscle mass
gain some fat too. This is because of the anabolic process I mentioned
above. This is how the body works. You can not have your cake and eat
it too. However, you can trick your body. To do this, on the days when
you lift heavily eat more than your average number of calories. So,
instead of 3240 you might eat 3500 or 3600. Then on the days when you
have little activity at all, eat less than your average. So you might
eat 2900 or so. On moderate intensity days eat about your average of
32 or 3300. This way, you are giving your body the excess calories
when you know that it needs them and when it doesn't you restrict the
calories. This is known as zigzag dieting. Your body will actually
have a higher metabolism because of the exercise and extra food it is
getting, so you will have a smaller chance of gaining fat on the
non-active days, and on the active days the calories are used for
muscle mass and energy. Do not think you can trick your body into
gaining muscle mass without extra calories. It will not happen unless
1. You use drugs, which I hope is not the case or 2. You are a
beginner and your body hasn't gotten much use for a while. Only in
these two cases can you lose fat and gain muscle mass at the same
time. Otherwise, to gain mass follow the details above. And also
remember to zigzag your food throughout the day too so that you eat
more food before heavy activity, and less when you will be relaxing.
The zigzag method works on both the weekly and daily level, so use it
and get big and strong. Lastly don't forget your protein in addition
to normal caloric intake."
===
For a nutritional breakdown of pre-packaged vegetarian foods, see:
High Protein Foods from the Vegetarian Bodybuilder
http://ksteveh.tripod.com/protein.html
===
"Vegetarian and Vegan Bodybuilding," by James Collier BSc. Muscle Talk
http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/vegetarian-bodybuilding.asp
(See article for two vegetarian weight-gaining sample meal plans, one
incorporating dairy products, and one without.)
"It is often said that you cannot be a successful bodybuilder and
vegetarian. Well, I know lots of folk who build great physiques on a
vegetarian diet, it just takes a little more consideration, especially
in regard to protein quality. Now, here I am talking about proper
vegetarians, i.e. lacto-ovo vegetarians, not those folk who eat tuna
and still claim to eat a vegetarian diet!"
"Generally, vegetable proteins are of poorer quality than animal
proteins. Milk and egg proteins can be eaten, so you may still take
advantage of HBV proteins. The key to obtaining good protein quality
lies in combining different protein sources."
"True vegans will avoid all products of animal origin, so an adequate
bodybuilding diet is really difficult. For a vegan bodybuilder, a
strict regimen will need to be followed, especially to ensure that a
varied diet is still consumed. Remember also that many quality
supplements are derived from animal products, for example creatine,
whey protein and meal replacement powders (MRPs), so you will have to
avoid these. If you are in doubt about any product, check with the
manufacturer. As there are so many exclusions in the vegan diet, I
strongly feel that isolated soya protein is an absolute must for the
vegan bodybuilder."
"Other great protein sources which vegetarians and vegans can enjoy
are mixed beans, baked beans, hummus, tofu, quorn, textured vegetable
protein (TVP), soya, coconut, oat and rice milk, and many more. Often
these products do have a reasonable carbohydrate content too, useful
for gaining weight, and are low in fat. Vegans would be wise to
include seaweed or a vitamin B12 supplement daily, as without animal
products their diets may be insufficient in vitamin B12."
===
From "Protein in the Vegan Diet," by Reed Mangels, Ph.D., R.D.
http://bodybuilding.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vrg.org%2Fnutrition%2Fprotein.htm
(Please refer to article for other nutrition tables and references cited)
"Some Americans are obsessed with protein. Vegans are bombarded with
questions about where they get their protein. Athletes used to eat
thick steaks before competition because they thought it would improve
their performance. Protein supplements are sold at health food stores.
This concern about protein is misplaced. Although protein is certainly
an essential nutrient which plays many key roles in the way our bodies
function, we do not need huge quantities of it. In reality, we need
small amounts of protein. Only one calorie out of every ten we take in
needs to come from protein (1). Athletic performance is actually
improved by a high carbohydrate diet, not a high protein diet (2).
Protein supplements are expensive, unnecessary, and even harmful for
some people."
"How much protein do we need? The RDA recommends that we take in
8/10ths of a gram of protein for every kilogram which we weigh (or
about 0.36 grams of protein per pound that you weigh) (1). This
recommendation includes a generous safety factor for most people. When
we make a few adjustments to account for some plant proteins being
digested somewhat differently from animal proteins and for the amino
acid mix in some plant proteins, we arrive at a level of 1 gram of
protein per kilogram body weight (0.45 grams of protein per pound that
you weigh). Since vegans eat a variety of plant protein sources,
somewhere between 0.8 and 1 gram of protein per kilogram would be a
protein recommendation for vegans. If we do a few calculations we see
that the protein recommendation for vegans amounts to close to 10% of
calories coming from protein [For example, a 79 kg vegan male aged 25
to 50 years. His RDA for calories is 2900 calories per day. His
protein needs might be as high as 79 kg x 1 gram/kg = 79 grams of
protein. 79 grams of protein x 4 calories/gram of protein = 316
calories from protein per day. 316 calories from protein divided by
2900 calories = 10.1% of calories from protein]. If we look at what
vegans are eating, we find that between 10-12% of calories come from
protein (3). This contrasts with the protein intake of non-vegetarians
which is close to 15-17% of calories."
"So, in the US it appears that vegan diets are commonly lower in
protein than standard American diets. Remember, though, with protein,
more (than the RDA) is not necessarily better. There do not appear to
be health advantages to consuming a high protein diet. Diets which are
high in protein may even increase the risk of osteoporosis (4) and
kidney disease."(5)
Table 1: Sample Menus Showing How Easy It Is To Meet Protein Needs
Protein (gms)
Breakfast:
1 cup Oatmeal 6
1 cup Soymilk 9
1 Bagel 9
Lunch:
2 slices Whole Wheat Bread 5
1 cup Vegetarian Baked Beans 12
Dinner:
5 oz firm Tofu 16
1 cup cooked Broccoli 5
1 cup cooked Brown Rice 5
2 Tbsp Almonds 3
Snack:
2 Tbsp Peanut Butter 8
6 Crackers 2
TOTAL 80 grams
Protein Recommendations for Male Vegan 63-79 grams
[based on 0.8-1 gram of protein per kilogram body weight for
79-kilogram (174-pound) male]
"What about combining or complementing protein? Doesn't that make the
protein issue much more complex? Let's look at a little background on
the myth of complementing proteins. Protein is made up of amino acids,
often described as its building blocks. We actually have a biological
requirement for amino acids, not for protein. Humans cannot make nine
of the twenty common amino acids, so these amino acids are considered
to be essential. In other words, we must get these amino acids from
our diets. We need all nine of these amino acids for our body to make
protein."
"Eggs, cow's milk, meat, and fish have been designated as high quality
protein (1). This means that they have large amounts of all the
essential amino acids. Soybeans, quinoa (a grain), and spinach also
are considered high quality protein. Other protein sources of
non-animal origin usually have all of the essential amino acids, but
the amounts of one or two of these amino acids may be low. For
example, grains are lower in lysine (an essential amino acid) and
legumes are lower in methionine (another essential amino acid) than
those protein sources designated as high quality protein."
"Frances Moore Lappe, in her book Diet for a Small Planet (7)
advocated the combining of a food low in one amino acid with another
food containing large amounts of that amino acid. This got to be a
very complicated process, with each meal having specific amounts of
certain foods in order to be certain of getting a favorable amino acid
mix. Many people got discouraged with the complexity of this approach.
Actually, Lappe was being overly conservative to avoid criticism from
the "Nutrition Establishment." She has since repudiated strict protein
combining, saying "In combating the myth that meat is the only way to
get high quality protein, I reinforced another myth. I gave the
impression that in order to get enough protein without meat,
considerable care was needed in choosing foods. Actually it is much
easier than I thought" (8).
"We recommend eating a variety of unrefined grains, legumes, seeds,
nuts, and vegetables throughout the day, so that if one food is low in
a particular essential amino acid, another food will make up this
deficit (9,10)."
===
From "Vegetarian Strength Training - Part 2," by Mike Mahler.
http://www.vegsource.com/articles/mahler_weightlift2.htm
(Read the article in full if you want to learn more about Mike's eating plan)
What to eat to Gain weight?
"One of the biggest problems that people tell me about on a vegan diet
is the difficulty in gaining muscle. They usually state that they
could not find enough high calorie sources to consume to put on weight
rapidly and got discouraged. The bottom line is that they were not
consuming enough protein and fat. To gain weight rapidly, eat 1-1.5
grams of protein for each lb of lean bodyweight. Thus, if you weigh
200lbs and have 10% bodyfat, eat 190 to 285 grams of protein per day,
every day. Start off on the lower end of the scale and work your way
up."
"Next, get an ample supply of quality fats in your diet. Almonds,
sunflower seeds, walnuts, and pistachios, are all high quality sources
and are loaded with both protein and fat. Also, add a tablespoon of
flaxseed oil to your salads and protein shakes. Next, unlike the
weight loss advice, eat several servings of rice, potatoes, and bread.
The key to gaining weight rapidly is an abundance of calories. Thus,
do not hold back and have 6-7 high quality meals a day. Also consider
having a protein shake before and after workout as well as before
bedtime. When you go shopping load up on tofu, tempeh, lentils,
avocadoes, nuts and seeds, and high calorie fruits such as bananas,
tropical fruits, and try adding some coconut milk to your routine as
well."
DETERMINING CALORIE INTAKE
============================
To get a rough estimate of the number of calories you need to
"maintain" your body weight, use the "Weight Maintenance Calculator
for Men":
http://www.caloriecontrol.org/calcalsm.html
Realize that this is your maintenance level. To gain muscle weight,
you will need to eat over and above what is required for body
maintenance at a moderate or heavy workout level.
==
If you want to go to the trouble of trying to figure out what your
daily caloric intake has been so you can modify your menu, you can use
the calorie counter from the Nutritional Food Database:
http://www.global-fitness.com/foods/?partner=ghf
(Try to put together a sample eating plan for a normal week before
you change your diet to see what your normal calorie range has been)
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
=====================
"Body-Building - Meatless Muscle," by David Faircloth. European Vegetarian Union.
http://www.european-vegetarian.org/evu/english/news/news002/meatless_muscle.html
"Vegetarian Bodybuilding," by Kristin J. Reisinger. Beyond Muscle.com
http://www.beyondmuscle.com/bodybuilding-13.html
You might be interested in ordering a copy of "Muscle Menus Vegetarian"
http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/vegetarian-bodybuilding-recipes.asp
Join a Vegan Weighlifting Chat Group
http://bodybuilding.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fgroups.yahoo.com%2Fgroup%2FVeganWeightlifting
========
I hope you can put the information I have provided to good use. There
are a number of good strength training sites on the internet. A
comprehensive training regimen coupled with the necessary (and
well-balanced) calories to gain bulk should turn you into the muscular
hunk that is just waiting to break free!
Have Fun!
umiat
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