Nutrition advice needed

Rich158

I'm thinking of making some pretty big lifestyle changes, and am going to follow a vegetarian diet, albeit with a limeted amount of fish and dairy products.

Does anyone have any advice as I want to start racing this year and am concerned that the lack of proteins derived from meat could have an adverse affect on my recovery, and lead to muscle loss. Any advice would be most welcome, as would any pointers towards usefull sources of information, there's loads of books if I search on-line, but how useful any of them would be is anyones guess.

thanks in advance

ben_davies66

I went vegetarian for a year last year and encountered no adverse effects. I made sure I consumed a decent amount of pulses, chick peas, lentils etc as a good source of protein. I found that many recipes that I had used previously could just be modified to incorporate chick peas etc in the place of the meat.
If still concerned you could drink whey protein shakes to make sure you are getting adequate amounts of protein.
The one thing I did find about being vegetarian (and a positive) was that I had to be adventurous so as not to let the food get boring, it also made me more conscious and aware about what I was eating.

Hope this is of some help

Rich158

Cheers ben, that's helpful.

I use Whey protein as part of my breakfast after my commute, although I would ideally like to break my reliance on this. I have read that I need to consume plenty of beans and pulses, and that they also need to be used in combination rather than isolation, in order to prevent muscle loss. I guess as with everything I do I'll approach this from a scientific angle, so I'd like to find a reliable scource of information that I can use as a reference point in order to develope the recipes I use at the moment.

Kléber

Eggs are good, and as said above try lots of beans, pulses and you'll be fine, protein wise. Look for some iron-rich foods too as red meat is a big source of iron. If you're eating fish, fresh tuna and sardines are good.

dennisn

Kléber wrote:

Eggs are good, and as said above try lots of beans, pulses and you'll be fine, protein wise. Look for some iron-rich foods too as red meat is a big source of iron. If you're eating fish, fresh tuna and sardines are good.

+1 On the eggs, milk(skim) & fish. Lots of good stuff there. If going vegetarian I would suggest a really good vitamin - mineral supplement also(with Iron).

Dennis Noward

Not Another Hill

20 years a vege. Quorn or Soya mince/products are good for protein and low in fat. Plus all suggestions above although I've never needed vitamin supplements. If you eat a variety of fresh fruit vege etc you won't need supplements.

Escargot

Is there a particular reason why you want to go vege ?

Personally I think it's tricky to go vege and still get your protein from foods that truly taste good but it is possible with a bit of thought. Of course your body will adapt to almost anything but I feel the most important thing is whether you will resent not eating chicken, turkey etc. if you really dont 'have' to in order to achieve your goals.

If you're really worried about losing muscle mass (I would be a little too) then buy yourself a decent set of scales which give you a muscle mass measurement. Argos have a Salter one on sale for £25 and whilst there is much debate as to their accuracy I find it very useful for monitoring relative changes.

If you want to ditch the whey (which is very expensive) and still want to supplement your protein intake then buy skimmed milk powder instead. Whilst protein powder is extremely convenient (I still use after a weights session) I now make my own morning protien shakes by lightly blending milk powder, oats, nuts, fibre, a banana and full fat milk. Even with full fat milk 500ml's is less than 3% fat so is not going to pile the fat on in a hurry. If you simply want a high protein breakfast then just don't blend and eat the above a museli instead.

Rich158

Escargot wrote:

Is there a particular reason why you want to go vege ?

Personally I think it's tricky to go vege and still get your protein from foods that truly taste good but it is possible with a bit of thought. Of course your body will adapt to almost anything but I feel the most important thing is whether you will resent not eating chicken, turkey etc. if you really dont 'have' to in order to achieve your goals.

If you're really worried about losing muscle mass (I would be a little too) then buy yourself a decent set of scales which give you a muscle mass measurement. Argos have a Salter one on sale for £25 and whilst there is much debate as to their accuracy I find it very useful for monitoring relative changes.

If you want to ditch the whey (which is very expensive) and still want to supplement your protein intake then buy skimmed milk powder instead. Whilst protein powder is extremely convenient (I still use after a weights session) I now make my own morning protien shakes by lightly blending milk powder, oats, nuts, fibre, a banana and full fat milk. Even with full fat milk 500ml's is less than 3% fat so is not going to pile the fat on in a hurry. If you simply want a high protein breakfast then just don't blend and eat the above a museli instead.

It's more ethical/animal welfare than anything, I'm making major lifestyle changes, no alchohol, giving up meat etc

I've got a tub of whey protein which was very good value from Holland & Barret, which I use with breakfast. I still eat dairy and fish at the moment so I can still get some protein into my diet, and I try to snack on fruit and veg during the day for essential vitamins & minerals.

I've not had a problem with taste as yet, I'm adapting recipe's I already know, ie chicken & lentil curry without the chicken, Chilli with chickpeas etc instead of mince, and I have a very good three bean caserole. I'm trying substituting meat with pulses and beans in most of my food which seams to be working fine for the time being.

Regarding supplements, I've always used multivitamins, although I may start giving them a miss as they're probably not needed. I also use Korean Ginseng and Rhodiola extract on a regular basis, although I'm not sure if they are of much benefit and are very expensive.

I guess it's just a case of monitoring my process and adapting my diet if I feel there are any problems. Thanks for all the advice

kingstongraham

If it's for animal welfare, you might want to check out the source of that "value" whey protein, and how well it was looked after.

I don't care much about cows, so I get stuck in as long as it tastes good, but you might want to find out. Myprotein has Soya protein as well as whey protein which might be worth investigating.

Rich158

KingstonGraham wrote:

If it's for animal welfare, you might want to check out the source of that "value" whey protein, and how well it was looked after.

I don't care much about cows, so I get stuck in as long as it tastes good, but you might want to find out. Myprotein has Soya protein as well as whey protein which might be worth investigating.

Yep, that was a concern, but I have a big tub of the stuff that I'm not about to throw away. Tbh if I'm eating dairy products then it isn't such a big issue as whey protein is generally a by product of the cheese making process. I am generally uncomfortable with the mass production methods of the dairy industry however, but going vegetarian is a big enough step at the moment. I guess thinking about it dairy makes up a very small proprtion of my diet, milk for my brekky and the very occasional cup of coffee or cheese sandwich so replacing it with soya milk wouldn't be a huge step. I couldn't give up honey though, and I'd miss fish more than meat.

If I carry on like this I'll end up taking the plunge and becoming a fully signed up vegan :shock:

funckchicken

i would stay away from soy protein sources if you can.

they lower your testosterone levels and can therefore potentially slow down your recovery time, amongst other things.

Rich158

funckchicken wrote:

i would stay away from soy protein sources if you can.

they lower your testosterone levels and can therefore potentially slow down your recovery time, amongst other things.

Cheers, that's just the sort of info I need

Escargot

Rich158 wrote:

Escargot wrote:

Is there a particular reason why you want to go vege ?

Personally I think it's tricky to go vege and still get your protein from foods that truly taste good but it is possible with a bit of thought. Of course your body will adapt to almost anything but I feel the most important thing is whether you will resent not eating chicken, turkey etc. if you really dont 'have' to in order to achieve your goals.

If you're really worried about losing muscle mass (I would be a little too) then buy yourself a decent set of scales which give you a muscle mass measurement. Argos have a Salter one on sale for £25 and whilst there is much debate as to their accuracy I find it very useful for monitoring relative changes.

If you want to ditch the whey (which is very expensive) and still want to supplement your protein intake then buy skimmed milk powder instead. Whilst protein powder is extremely convenient (I still use after a weights session) I now make my own morning protien shakes by lightly blending milk powder, oats, nuts, fibre, a banana and full fat milk. Even with full fat milk 500ml's is less than 3% fat so is not going to pile the fat on in a hurry. If you simply want a high protein breakfast then just don't blend and eat the above a museli instead.

It's more ethical/animal welfare than anything, I'm making major lifestyle changes, no alchohol, giving up meat etc

I've got a tub of whey protein which was very good value from Holland & Barret, which I use with breakfast. I still eat dairy and fish at the moment so I can still get some protein into my diet, and I try to snack on fruit and veg during the day for essential vitamins & minerals.

I've not had a problem with taste as yet, I'm adapting recipe's I already know, ie chicken & lentil curry without the chicken, Chilli with chickpeas etc instead of mince, and I have a very good three bean caserole. I'm trying substituting meat with pulses and beans in most of my food which seams to be working fine for the time being.

Regarding supplements, I've always used multivitamins, although I may start giving them a miss as they're probably not needed. I also use Korean Ginseng and Rhodiola extract on a regular basis, although I'm not sure if they are of much benefit and are very expensive.

I guess it's just a case of monitoring my process and adapting my diet if I feel there are any problems. Thanks for all the advice

Fair play. Best of luck with the changeover

I think if you still eat fish and go with a diet of pulses, beans and tofu (if you like it) etc. you will be fine. I eat a good portion of nuts most days as they're great for protein, fats and energy. Peanut butter is great too if you buy the organic stuff with no added sugar.

To be honest if you eat enough fresh fruit/veg and a wide range of other foods then you probably won't need any other supplements so best save your money.

Although a diet book I found the Food Doctor 7 day diet book very useful for learning how to get the balance right between carbs, protein and fat. It also goes into what complex carbs, sugars etc. are and how processing foods can be less good for you than you think i.e. making fruit smoothies is not a great as everyone believes. You can get it used from Amazon for a few ££ so may be worth looking into.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Food-Doctor-Die ... 477&sr=1-5

Best wishes and good luck