Here's an email I sent to a student interested in a vegetarian approach to losing bodyfat. In this case the student wants to lose bodyfat and maintain/gain muscle. Vegetarians have it pretty easy so long as they eat eggs and dairy. Eggs are simply king of the protein universe and allowing whey protein drinks makes it so easy to get the days supply of protein. Vegans can pull this off too but they will be challenged! Vegans will strive to get proteins nearly every meal but will have to be careful not to overload on the carbs. Here's the email:
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I strive to eat small meals and have some sort of protein in almost every meal. I try to eat protein only early in the day because it helps curb the appetite and has a myriad of other benefits that I have experienced, ranging from cognitive to physical. . I try to get all of my carbs from fruits and veges. When it comes to weight loss foods like crackers, rice cakes, fake meatfoods, low-fat chips and pretzels are the absolute worse things to eat. I respect vegetarianism and as a yogi am also concerned with ethical treatment of life. I almost completely avoid factory farmed animals and spend the extra money to get ethically raised beasts. Here's that outline!
Meal #1 Protein + Veges
2-3 eggs any style + large portion of veges - I typically add bell peppers, onions and some sort of green such as baby spinach
Meal #2 Protein shake - some sort of whey protein is good + any kind of fruit you like. I prefer frozen strawberries/blueberries because of the convenience, taste and low calorie content.
Meal #3 Any low-sugar cereal you like + almond milk. No fruit! the cereal itself is already a carb so we'll save the fruit for later
Meal #4 A meal that combines 2 or more foods to create a perfect protein. Do you know the difference between complete and incomplete proteins? If not google it and we can talk about it later. Impotant stuff for vegetarian athletes. A good meal at this time would be rice and beans. I eat wild rice and not white/brown rice. IMO Brown rice is a scam and not that much different from white.
Meal 5 - Big Salad! All raw, as many ingredients as you can get together. Go for different colors and at least 5 different veges. Add as little dressing as you can tolerate! You can use beans but be moderate with them because they are healthy but starchy. I always add nuts as they will help with the digestion of the greens. Raw nuts are best but if it helps go 50% raw 50% roasted until you get used to raw :)
Meal 6 - This is the end of the day snack meal and will provide your muscles with enough sugar/glycogen for the next 12-24 hours depending on your activity level. It can be all carbs if you want so long as you keep your portion moderate. I typically eat fruit (fresh or dried), sweet potatoes/yams, sometimes protein bars. Grace has apples and almond butter almost every night. At least until they pulled almond butter from the shelves!
Meals 3, 4 and 5 can be eaten in a different order but meals 1,2 and 6 should be eaten at their proper times
Let me know if you have any questions. Please get information from different sources and find out what works for you:
P.S. I also tend to plan cheat meals. Motivation has proven to be limited so we eat whatever we want 2-3 meals a week.
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