At the very least, it has been totally compatible with building strength and endurance! Hey Vern, thanks for sharing your story. Not so different from mine, except that I was already a runner. And I became so much stronger as a runner after I became vegetarian.

Glad to see you have a blog to help spread the word! Fitness Model Competition I am entering 1 possibly 2 fitness model competitions this Oct 23rd or Nov 6th and am going to enter as a Vegan. I will keep you posted on my progress and my workouts — lots of weight training and endurance cardio.

Wish me luck! Matt- I love your blog! I am also a vegan runner. I was a runner before I was vegan but I think the 2 go perfectly hand in hand. I am also a blogger, residing in San Diego. Where do you live? Thanks for all you do!! Love your blog. I am new to the world of vegan and running.

Hi I am a football player and I want to eat more vegetarian meals. I am concerned about lower protein amounts in my foods. This article will help me to know that it is possible. Do you have some tips for this?

possible vegetables that help facilitate this better. Hershel Walker is vegetarian now, right? And hemp is good for smoothies and energy bar recipes. lots of helpful tips. I think for the most part i eat well balanced meals of course without meat.

I am working on cutting out the cheese and eggs though. The last time i attemped that it was cold-turkey and very hard. Now that i have more control over things i think i can do it.

Thanks for the post! Hi Matt! I have been reading your blogs for a few months and they are so encouraging. So I have been on vegan diets off and on and he mentioned your blog and I instantly became a fan. I find it hard to live without my precious dairy, but I finally stopped eating meat.

I have been feeling so much more energetic and I have just been feeling so good. I now view food in a totally different light. Keep up the good work and keep those blogs coming!

The problem that I am having is that I am seriously disorganized and desperately need comprehensive, step by step daily balanced meal plans breakfast, lunch and dinner on the same page s that will fit a large family budget.

Through much research, I am learning that an alkaline diet is the healthiest type of diet. I also know that even good fats are not good for you when they are over-consumed — yet there is a huge emphasis on the fattier foods in the rew cookbooks that I have purchased thus far.

Your help in this matter would be tremendously appreciated! I need a diet that will not only help our weight to balance out properly, but give me and my family the athletic stamina and endurance we need. I also need one that contains recipes for making your own protein powders if those are necessary for athletes.

Can you please help me or at direct me to someone who can? She makes her hubby protein powders. Hi Matt, I became a vegetarian when I joined the Seventh Day Adventist church but have never found website like this. Amazing meals. Thank you so much. What is the dish that is up at the top with the garbanzo beans, Spanish rice, jalapenos, pintos, and guacamole?

One of our Doctors at the Loma Linda Hospital is a vegan and still performing surgery at age 93!! Thanks hope to hear from you.

I have been a vegetarian for 17 years and I ran my first half and full marathons this last year all on vegie power.

I eat most of the things on your list of course. Heavy into bean and rice combos while training to ensure complete proteins. I also love fat free cottage cheese. Are there any supplements that people would suggest as vegetarians? Great post! I have essentially been a vegatarian while saying I was a pescatararian for about 2 yrs.

Now am pretty much vegatararian. I still eat sashimi tuna a couple of times per wk but really tiny amounts. I am running faster than ever and mt new love is vegan thumbprint cookies- weekend treat and unsweetened chocolate almond milk.

Emma my baby dog is not happy!!! This site totally saved me! NMA rocks :. I was just curious: what is the name of the dish in the photograph at the top, and do you have a recipe for it? It looks gorgeous! Thanks 🙂. Hey guys im a long distance trail runner and I just recently went vegan.

I eat very very healthy and get my proteins from soy and beans and humus mostly so im not sure where I am going wrong. Any ideas?? I like your non-preachy flexible approach. For me, cutting out dairy made a bigger positive change than cutting out meat.

I call it a flexitarian approach, and I see it as a do-able road to veganism in the near future. Thanks for a great web site. would someone please help me!!!!!!

The way I did it was gradually. The main thing is to switch how you approach food. Even a slight shift towards a healthier diet is a step in the right direction.

I started by making my diet more healthy: Lower my intake of corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and other processed ingredients. Then I lowered my meat intake to one meal a day, then a few times a week.

I removed all pork from my diet at first. I eat almost no red meat. I still eat chicken and fish every now and then, and because I eat chicken so rarely, I opt for the more expensive, but real meat from the whole foods market. I take a multivitamin to boost my B12, calcium, etc. I notified my doctor of my dietary switch so he can monitor my health.

Where am I now? I am buying less from the standard chain supermarkets. Buying more healthy choices from the whole foods markets and farmers markets. Down the road, I may cut out all meat, all supermarket food, all processed food.

I just need to move myself towards those goals. I read more about diets and food. There is a lot of misinformation on the Internet and in books. Use your best judgment, and stay in tuned with your body to know what seems right for you.

I loved this—especially the part about how much to eat. No one ever listens. Another great post Matt, it can be frustrating trying to explain it to doubters that you can run and lift weights well on a meat free diet and take it to vegan also - the mainstream is very much controlled by upbringing and perceived ideas that straying from the norm creates fear and insecurlty in some people.

Cheers, ZAC. and most important, how can I keep myself healthy and strong? No meat or dairy or eggs and ZERO issues with energy at all. Fruit, veges, some grains usually wholemeal bread occas, quinoa, cous cous, nuts and seeds, i still use caffeine also , i use non gmo soymilk YES i was once ANTI soy- but with further research am not convinced its a problem in moderation on healthy people at all.

I use oat milk occas, rice milk, almond milk whatever floats ur non dairy boat :P. Keeping strong is a case of getting enough CALORIES and exrecise for your given desires.

I have a sub 4hr MARATHON in 12days and can stil lbench Enjoy the journey 🙂. Hi Matt, love your site. I was just wondering whether you recommend protein shakes for that extra protein boost?

There is a lot of information about the what, and almost none about the how much??? I think you should be more specific about the amount of every food group, mainly the fats and carbs. So im trying to go vegetarian purely bc I believe animal crultey is the most evil thing possible.

But I run cross country and play lacrosse. Will drinking whey protein with soy milk every time I go to the gym going to get me the same workout as when I was a meat lover???

Any tips on this? Much appreciated 🙂. I get my protein from avocados, nuts, broccoli, kale, etc. Most plant food contains protein, and all have fiber unless it has been processed out , so I lose nothing nutritionally, environmentally, compassionately from avoiding animal-based food.

This site has been such a huge help!! I am not a runner but I am a competitive roller derby player who wanted to give up meat a few months ago. I have learned so much here. I have been a meat free athlete for 3 months now and I feel GREAT!! I feel light on my skates and have plenty of energy to get through all my team practices.

As a vegetarian I would say that the staple foods are definitely things I keep, especially quinoa. I love it. I prefer to eat that over rice and I feel as though it works the same as rice and it taste so much better.

I like to cook it with vegetable broth instead of water because it adds a lot more flavor to the grain. Hi there, I have on the contrary very different experience… I was very devoted vegetraian for many years even vegan at some point and eventually I started to eat meat due to poor endurance, constant fatigue, low iron… etc… I noticed massive difference in my performance, increased endurance in sports and quicker recovery after sport, improved skin and generally increased feeling of wellbeing.

If I do not eat meat for few days even though I still have plenty of protein from nuts, and milk, eggs etc I tend to get very sore afer any physical activity, get muscle pains and fatigue… for me eating meat was a return to health.

Having said that I am not a massive meat eater and I still get a lot of my protein from vegetarian resources. Why I am saying all that is to emphasise that we are all different and our bodies react differently to various diets so diet which is great for some, is not that great for others.

could someone tell me why soy should be limited? Is there something bad about soy, like high fat in relation to other protein sources? or is it a gmo thing? What should i eat….. and the main thing is that i am a pure vegetarian and also a state level athlete. Hi there I am just wondering if this can be done gluten free as well, the food regime I mean of course.

I am still working out whats gluten free and whats not at the present, cheers thankyou. I become a much better cyclists after switching to a plant based diet. People still ask strange question when you tell them you ride km and you are a vegan, but somehow more and more of them are taking a keen interest.

Be the change and all that. Thanks a lot for your article. Thank you. Way late to the party, but a fellow blogger sent this article to me recently. Great post. Best, Jane. Hi Matt. As usual all your content is awesome, and stands the tests of real life.

have never felt better, nor looked better or back. thanks for the magnificent content as usual, and for being an inspiration for my ongoing unbelievable life change, and probably for many others as well.

com Thanks again for your content and approach. would love to see all of you there. I have turned vegetarian in last few years out of choice- to lead a more healthy life.

My ability to be fit, recover from fatigue, happiness in life has only been better. Hi, Great site. Have tou any advice? All the best JRusso from Portugal. With staple foods, high-protein vegetarian foods, nutrient … […]. Great, straightforward article.

I would add that blue-green algaes like spirulina and chlorella are also excellent sources of plant-based protein. Thanks for sharing! I try to limit our soy intake and we also try to maintain a dairy-free diet.

Your resource has been such a huge help to us! I have switched to a vegetarian diet after having some intestinal issues over the past six months. For a long time, I was considered about effects that switching over would have on my body. I have always been athletically inclined, but lately, I have found myself getting tired after running or lifting weights.

It looks like I need more protein in my diet. Thank you so much for keeping up this incredible website full of great resources.

I really appreciate website like these and i will always share it around so others can be more informed. What are the best items you recommend for high protein? you have rightly pointed out that it is effort intensive but I have failed to replace my meat with anything substantial even after repeated efforts.

I have turned vegetarian in last few years out of choice and I am very happy now ,Now I can feel the change I recommended my sister also to follow this 🙂. I hate how everyone believes you simply NEED to eat meat in order to be an athlete.

There are plenty of options that allow you to get the protein you need without eating animals. This sure is a great read and comes at a time when diversification on the source of proteins is very important.

We are now in the know. Thanks for sharing. I was also an athlete in the past, I was sometimes vegetarian, which is great if athletes know vegetarianism properly, so this article will be very helpful for them. I am thankful I found this, I go back and forth on a vegetarian diet; my hardest problem is at some point I just start eating sugary items, candy, cakes, and I think to myself this is less healthy than putting meat back into my diet and taking sugar out.

She says I eat too much protein and drink too many sports drinks and my diet is not as healthy as I think it is. So how to encourage him to eat protein based food and how to combine fats and proteins in his everyday meal.

It is a big challenge. But suggest me protein rich , energy and stamina building diet in vegetarian since am a football player and into boxing. I decided i would give vegetarian nutrition a trial for 6 months and after 3 months in and being not able to lift my arms or legs let alone run 10kms or do a weights session or compete in surf lifesaving comps and be my generally high energetic, high stamina and fast paced person i came to the conclusion that for me, no meat in my diet was not sustainable nor an acceptable quality of life and a way to continue with.

so i had a decent sized steak first night in of my reversal and within 24 hrs i was up and about and running, not 10 kms, but running and reasonably active. my mood stabilized and so did my energy.

not sure how you all got your energy, strength and stamina you speak of through vegetarian, vegan or plant based. i am glad i gave it a go and i will continue to be more vegetarian then i used to be but for me i need red meat for certain vitamins and minerals i can not get any other way, esp with my high athletic and busy lifestyle.

Great post Matt. That staples section is great. I loved the way you have organized so much information in one crisp post. This helped me so much! I am an endurance and sprint runner. I used to eat a lot of meats for my diet as an athlete to keep me fueled, but since I switched to vegetarianism I have been feeling very weak on my runs due to not knowing what foods I need to eat to help fuel my body.

This really helped!! Frazier has a variety of blog posts, podcasts, and products for purchase where he details his […]. I used the last book to become a vegetarian, now get me to a new level.

If post-menopausal women want to develop lean mass, then follow exercise with protein to get that anabolic stimulus that estrogen used to give us. The information that I found in the book did not address this growing segment of the athletic population.

Well this is very interesting but I still question the needs of a menopausal woman over 70 who is an athlete what are their specific needs most of the time we only hear about people who are younger and male.

The nutritional needs and hormonal needs a women who are older beginning from 55 and even reaching into the hundreds varies greatly from man and that information is very difficult to come by. Personally I would be very interested in any articles that show the nutritional values and benefits of going on a plant-based diet for anybody over the age of 70 who is a woman.

Supplements Workout Nutrition Vegan Athlete Diet Vegan Meal Plan High Protein Vegan Foods Iron for Vegans Weight Loss Plant Based Diet Start Here.

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Member Login. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Meredith, you changed your blog name! Australians that may be at higher risk of nutritional deficiencies when following a plant based diet include:.

Careful attention needs to be paid to the quality, quantity and spread of protein each day, including adequate intake of leucine a branched chain amino acid to support recovery and adaptation from training. However, not all plant-based drinks provide an equivalent source of protein compared with dairy milk.

Source: adapted from Rogerson 1 Supplements likely required. Muscle creatine stores in vegetarian or vegan athletes is reduced as foods such as meat, fish and chicken that are rich sources of creatine are omitted in plant-based diets.

Supplementation of creatine to improve short-term high intensity exercise, muscle hypertrophy and strength may be warranted for some athletes.

Research suggests that muscle carnosine is lower in vegetarian and vegan athletes compared with omnivores. Beta-alanine supplementation has been shown to improve intracellular buffering and act as an antioxidant by increasing muscle carnosine stores however; further research is needed and with any supplement use, seek the advice of an Accredited Sports Dietitian.

Well-constructed and planned plant-based diets such as vegetarian and vegan can be successfully achieved; however careful consideration in some groups is needed to prevent nutrient deficiencies. Ongoing support and monitoring from your medical practitioner or accredited sports dietitian is highly recommended to ensure adequate dietary variety and information about plant-based products available in Australia to help meet daily energy and nutrient needs.

Grains, legumes, beans, tofu, lentils, quinoa, nuts, seeds, soy milk, soy yoghurt, split peas.