Despite conventional thinking, it is possible to be a vegetarian bodybuilder. It is also possible to lose weight and build muscle mass, strength and gain definition over time. Vegetarians fall into different categories: lacto-ovo eat dairy foods and eggs and some abstain from eating honey. Vegans do not consume any foods derived from animals. If you are a new vegetarian and a new bodybuilder, learn the basics to prevent nutritional deficiencies and injuries.
Calculate Your Total Daily Calories
Remember that to lose one pound, you must burn off through exercise or trim back your current diet by 3,500 calories. You could do that by retooling your diet and designing a training program to boost metabolism. Healthy adults should do at least 30 minutes of cardio five days a week. You would get the same benefit by doing 20 minutes of vigorous cardio, three times a week and two sessions of resistance training. If you are new to bodybuilding and want to lose weight, do three sessions of weight lifting and cardio most days, with one day off to rest.
Keep a Food Diary & Exercise Log
Consider keeping a food journal and an exercise log to track what you are eating and what you do. This can mean keeping two notebooks in your gym bag or logging information into your computer. Divide your daily calories into four or five smaller meals and one to two snacks. Eating this way ensures you have a level blood sugar and will be less likely to overeat.
Emphasize Whole Foods
The USDA created dietary guidelines that encourages people to eat whole vegetables, fruits, whole grains such as brown rice, millet, quinoa, oats, legumes, nuts, eggs, low-fat dairy foods and non-saturated fats such as olive, canola, flax and hemp seed oils. Vegetarians who eat eggs and dairy foods will be able to consume protein easily. Those who do not eat these foods can combine legumes and grains for a complete protein, as well as eat nut butters, soy foods, tempeh and supplement with protein powders made from pea and whole grain protein. Avoid the common pitfall of eating high-fat cheeses or highly refined carbs that can set off a "carb binge." Eating protein generally curtails this.
Consume Adequate Protein to Lose Weight
Vegetarians eat a plant-based diet but as a bodybuilder, be certain to consume at least half your body weight in grams of protein daily. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, consume about 75 gm of protein. You are more likely to lose weight and see gains in the gym if you eat some kind of protein with every meal and every snack. For example, breakfast can be a small banana, two slices of dry whole-grain toast and half a cup of Greek, nonfat protein that provides a whopping 24 g of protein. A hard boiled egg provides seven gm of protein. Two tablespoons of unsalted peanut butter on whole grain provides 20 g of protein.
Important Supplements for Vegetarians
The USDA recommends vegetarians to supplement their diet for vitamin B-12, iron, zinc and calcium. Women who no longer have a regular menstrual cycle may have too little dietary fat in their diet: consume essential fatty acids found in nuts, nut butter, flax seed and borage oils. Taking a multivitamin that includes vitamins A, C, D, E, selenium and zinc to help with recovery from strenuous training.
Consistent Resistance Training Burns Calories
Truthfully, if you consistently train with weights at least three times a week and eat a high-protein, high-fiber diet, most vegetarians trim down fairly quickly. This is because resistance training builds lean muscle tissue that have larger calorie needs. To build mass, divide your workouts into upper and lower body workouts for alternate days. For example, work the chest and back on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and legs on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Do ab exercises with every workout to stabilize and safeguard the low back with heavy lifting and include therapeutic stretching to help prevent injury.
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