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5 Proven Vegan Fat Loss Strategies for Lasting Success

2 August 2024

Unlocking the Secrets of Vegan Fat Loss: Top Tips for a Leaner, Healthier You

If you're seeking a leaner, more sculpted physique, it’s crucial to shift your focus from merely losing weight to specifically targeting body fat. Contrary to popular belief, simply shedding pounds doesn't equate to a healthier or fitter body. What you truly want is to reduce body fat while preserving lean muscle mass.

Let’s explore effective strategies for fat loss on a vegan diet, combining nutritional wisdom with practical tips to help you achieve your fitness goals.

Why Focus on Fat Loss Instead of Weight Loss?

Weight loss often misleads people into thinking that reducing overall body weight is the end goal. However, fat loss, coupled with maintaining or increasing lean muscle mass, is the true key to transforming your body composition. The goal is to shed fat while keeping your muscle tone intact, which leads to a leaner, more defined physique.

5 Proven Tips for Vegan Fat Loss

1. Maximize Food Volume with Vegetables

Vegetables are your key to successful fat loss. Packed with fiber and low in calories, they help you stay full without adding extra calories. Build your meals around plant-based proteins like tofu and legumes, and fill your plate with vegetables that offer high volume and low calories. Here are some of the best vegetables for volume:

  • Spinach: Low in calories and high in nutrients, perfect for salads or as a base for dishes.

  • Broccoli: Rich in fiber and water, making it a great filling option.

  • Zucchini: Versatile and low in calories, great for stir-fries and as a pasta substitute.

  • Cauliflower: Can be used as a rice or mashed potato substitute, adding bulk with fewer calories.

  • Bell Peppers: High in vitamins and low in calories, ideal for adding crunch and flavor.

Check out our YouTube Video on volume eating:

2. Simplify and Prepare Meals in Bulk

For effective fat loss, consistency is essential. Simplify your meals and prepare them in bulk, ideally over the weekend. This approach eliminates the daily hassle of cooking and helps you stick to your nutritional goals. By preparing meals ahead of time, you can save approximately 3-5 hours each week that would otherwise be spent cooking or deciding what to eat. Try meal prepping dishes like tofu stir-fries or high-protein overnight oats so you’re set for the work week, making healthy eating easier and less time-consuming.

Pro Tip: Using glass jars are a great way to meal prep so your food doesn’t absorb plastic toxins.

3. Avoid Hidden Calories

Hidden calories in certain foods can undermine your fat loss efforts. Common vegan foods that might seem healthy but can have hidden calories include:

  • Granola: Can be high in sugars and fats, making it calorie-dense despite being a common health food.

  • Avocado: While nutritious, it's calorie-rich, so portion control is crucial.

  • Nut Butters: Easy to overeat due to their calorie density, even though they’re a healthy fat source.

  • Salad Dressings: Many dressings contain added sugars and fats that can significantly increase the calorie count.

Any type of oil drastically increases your caloric intake (1 TBSP of oil is 120 calories).

4. Utilize Intermittent Fasting Wisely

Intermittent fasting can help with dietary adherence and hunger management, but it’s not a magic bullet for fat loss. It’s particularly effective because it can help control calorie intake by reducing the window of time during which you eat. Many people tend to overeat in the evening, so limiting eating times can prevent excess calorie consumption. Experiment with fasting windows to find what works best for your lifestyle and needs, but remember, it's most beneficial as a tool to manage overall calorie intake rather than a standalone solution.

Pro Tip: Use Intermitting Fasting as a tool, not a diet.

5. Set a Step Goal for Increased Activity

Non-exercise activity (NEAT) plays a crucial role in your daily calorie expenditure. Aim for 10,000 steps a day to boost your calorie burn. Additionally, incorporate other daily activities that might not require much thought but contribute to calorie burning:

  • Taking the Stairs: Instead of the elevator.

  • Walking During Breaks: Use work breaks for short walks.

  • Standing While Working: Use a standing desk or take standing breaks.

  • Household Chores: Activities like cleaning, gardening, or playing with pets can add up.

  • Parking Further Away: Opt for parking farther from your destination to get more steps in.

Pro Tip: Make walking fun by inviting your friends or family. Put it on your calendar for a recurring outing!

Additional Health Benefits of a Vegan Diet

While effective fat loss is a significant goal, a well-planned vegan diet offers a wealth of additional health benefits that extend far beyond just shedding pounds. By focusing on whole, plant-based foods, you not only support sustainable fat loss but also significantly improve your overall health. Here’s why:

Improved Heart Health

A vegan diet, rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes, can lead to better heart health. Plant-based diets are low in saturated fats and cholesterol, reducing the risk of heart disease. Foods like oats, beans, and avocados are known for their heart-healthy properties, including lowering blood pressure and improving cholesterol levels.

Reduced Inflammation

Chronic inflammation is linked to various health issues, including arthritis, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Vegan diets emphasize anti-inflammatory foods such as berries, leafy greens, nuts, and seeds. These foods are rich in antioxidants and phytonutrients, which help combat inflammation and promote overall health.

Lower Risk of Chronic Diseases

Adopting a vegan diet can lower the risk of several chronic diseases. Research suggests that plant-based diets are associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, and obesity-related conditions. By prioritizing whole, plant-based foods, you enhance your body's natural defenses and improve your overall health profile.

Enhanced Digestive Health

A diet high in fiber from vegetables, fruits, and whole grains supports a healthy digestive system. Fiber promotes regular bowel movements, prevents constipation, and supports the growth of beneficial gut bacteria, which is essential for optimal digestion and absorption of nutrients.

Increased Energy Levels

Consuming nutrient-dense plant-based foods can boost your energy levels. Unlike highly processed foods, whole plant foods provide a steady release of energy and essential nutrients, helping you feel more vibrant and less fatigued throughout the day.

Better Skin Health

A diet rich in vitamins and antioxidants from plant-based foods contributes to healthier, glowing skin. Nutrients like vitamins A, C, and E, found in fruits and vegetables, help combat free radicals and support skin repair and rejuvenation.

Sustainable Health Benefits

A vegan diet is not only beneficial for your personal health but also for the planet. By choosing plant-based foods, you reduce your ecological footprint, as plant-based diets generally require fewer natural resources and produce less greenhouse gas emissions compared to animal-based diets.

Summary

Incorporating these five proven tips into your vegan fat loss strategy can help you achieve your goals while enjoying a variety of health benefits. By maximizing food volume with vegetables, simplifying your meal prep, avoiding hidden calories, utilizing intermittent fasting wisely, and setting a daily step goal, you'll not only support effective fat loss but also enhance your overall well-being.

A well-planned vegan diet goes beyond just losing weight. It offers a host of additional benefits, including improved heart health, reduced inflammation, and a lower risk of chronic diseases. By focusing on whole, plant-based foods, you’ll feel more energized, support your digestive health, and contribute to a more sustainable lifestyle.

Embrace these practical tips and experience the comprehensive advantages of a well-rounded vegan diet. Your journey to better health and successful fat loss starts with these simple yet impactful steps.

Your Next Steps for Effective Vegan Fat Loss

Ready to take your vegan fat loss journey to the next level? If you’re looking for personalized support and expert guidance, we’re here to help.

At the Vegan Superhero Academy, we’ve helped over 2,250 vegans just like you achieve their health and fitness goals. Our 1-1 coaching program offers tailored plans, dedicated support, and a vibrant community to ensure you stay on track and succeed.

Click here to learn more and join our supportive community today!

OUR ACADEMY MEMBERS AT THE 2023 VEGAN SUPERHERO RETREAT.

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The Vegan Gym

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Why Vegans Need Muscle (Longevity Science)

In this episode of The Vegan Gym Podcast, Leif shares actionable tips to overcome phases of low motivation. It can be tempting to take the easy path, but as Leif explains:

“The more hard things you do in your life, the better your life becomes.” 

Joined by Dr. Daphne Bascom, Leif covers his top 5 motivation-boosting strategies, offering expert insights and practical advice.

Tune in to discover how to stay motivated, push through challenges, and achieve your fitness goals as a vegan.

 
 

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Discover the Anti-Aging Power of Dr. Greger's Diet

Eat Like Dr. Greger for 7 Days and Transform Your Health

Ever wondered what it’s like to follow a nutrition expert’s diet? I did just that!

I embarked on a 7-day journey to eat like Dr. Michael Greger, renowned physician and one of the leading researchers in the world, and now I’m sharing my experience with you.

Let us know what you think! Leave your comments on YouTube.

Why This Challenge?

Inspired by Dr. Greger’s latest book, How Not to Age, I decided to take on his anti-aging diet for a week. This diet is packed with a variety of low sodium, anti-aging foods, and focuses on a vegan diet that’s also low in protein. The idea is to promote longevity and overall health through nutrition.

What’s in Dr. Greger’s Anti-Aging Diet?

Dr. Greger’s diet is all about incorporating a plethora of plant-based foods that have been scientifically proven to slow down the aging process. Here are some key components of his diet:

  • Daily Dozen: This includes a mix of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains.

  • Extra Anti-Aging Foods: These are newer additions based on Dr. Greger’s recent research. They include some unusual but incredibly healthy options.

Day 1: The Beginning

Starting off, I was both excited and nervous. The diet required me to slash my salt intake and cut my protein intake in half. This was a significant change, even for someone who has been on a vegan diet for a decade.

Day 2: Adapting to New Foods

One of the biggest challenges was incorporating new foods like mushrooms, which I’ve never liked. However, knowing their health benefits, I tried my best to find ways to enjoy them.

Day 3: The Low Protein Challenge

A major aspect of this diet is its low protein content, which made me wonder about its long-term effects on muscle building and strength.

Day 4: Finding the Right Balance

By mid-week, I was starting to enjoy some of the new foods. However, keeping the sodium intake low remained a challenge.

Day 5: Unexpected Benefits

I noticed a drop in my blood pressure, likely due to the low sodium diet. This was an encouraging sign that the diet was working.

Day 6: Getting Used to It

As the week progressed, I started to get used to the diet. The low sodium and low protein intake were becoming manageable.

Day 7: Wrapping Up

By the end of the week, I felt healthier and more energized. The variety of foods kept things interesting, and I made some long-term changes to my diet.

Why You Should Try It

If you’re interested in vegan weight loss strategies, a fit and healthy lifestyle, or simply want to know more about the benefits of a vegan diet, this challenge is for you. It’s an excellent way to explore new foods and learn about effective and practical tips for vegan weight loss.

For full details, make sure to watch the full video above.

Get the Full List and More!

Want to dive deeper? Get the full list of Dr. Greger's anti-aging foods, the health benefits for each, and the evidence that backs it. Plus, check out our free nutrition calculator to get your custom plant-based nutrition targets.

Dr. Greger’s anti-Ageing Foods

Get the full list of Dr. Greger's anti-aging foods, the health benefits for each, and the evidence that backs them.

Click here for the list.

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Get your plant-based nutrition targets in 2 minutes with our FREE Nutrition Calculator!

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Dr. Michael Greger: The Shocking New Research On Diet & Longevity

In this interview, Dr. Michael Greger shares his most shocking discoveries from his latest book, How Not to Age.

Let us know what you think! Leave your comments on YouTube.

You can purchase Dr. Greger’s new book, How Not to Age, here.

Dive into Dr. Michael Greger's Insights on Diet and Longevity

Dr. Michael Greger has dedicated three years to researching and writing one of the best books on health and diet. Despite the challenge of confronting long-held beliefs, his work is crucial. As the founder and director of NutritionFacts.org and a New York Times bestselling author, Dr. Greger brings a wealth of nutrition expertise. This post will explore his latest findings on diet and longevity and why a plant-based diet is key to a longer, healthier life.

The Impact of Diet on Longevity

One of the most significant revelations from Dr. Greger's research is the extent to which lifestyle choices, particularly diet, influence longevity. He notes that only about 15% to 30% of our lifespan is determined by our genes. The remainder is shaped by how we live our lives. Dr. Greger highlights studies showing that plant-based diets can significantly slow the rate of aging.

Autophagy: The Body's Cleanup Crew

Autophagy is a vital process in the body that acts as both a salvage operation and a garbage disposal, picking up nutrients and clearing away debris. Dr. Greger explains that fasting is commonly associated with autophagy, but it often requires several days of water-only fasting to be effective.

Fortunately, there are other ways to boost autophagy, such as exercise and consuming certain foods. Foods like coffee, which contains chlorogenic acids, and wheat germ, rich in spermidine, can activate autophagy without prolonged fasting.

The Role of Zombie Cells in Aging

Zombie cells, or senescent cells, are cells that have stopped dividing but are not entirely dead. They release inflammatory compounds that contribute to aging. Dr. Greger emphasizes the importance of preventing cells from becoming prematurely senescent. This can be achieved by minimizing DNA damage through a diet rich in antioxidants, such as green tea and cruciferous vegetables.

Additionally, certain food compounds, like fisetin found in strawberries and quercetin in capers, have been shown to have senolytic effects, helping to clear out these harmful cells.

The Dangers of Excess Weight

Dr. Greger describes research that states that even modest weight gain affects longevity. Being just 11 pounds overweight can lower life expectancy by 30 minutes per day, comparable to smoking two cigarettes or drinking two pints of beer daily.

The most dangerous fat is visceral fat, which wraps around internal organs and releases inflammatory substances. Thankfully, this fat is also the first to be lost through diet and exercise.

The Power of AMPK

AMPK is a pivotal enzyme that serves as an energy regulator in the body, akin to a fuel gauge. Dr. Greger likens it to having the potential of "exercise in a pill." Enhancing AMPK can be achieved through exercise, calorie restriction, and specific dietary interventions, such as consuming vinegar or barberries.

Protein and Longevity

Dr. Greger further explains that elevated insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels are linked to shorter lifespans. Lowering protein intake, particularly from animal sources, can reduce IGF-1 levels. Conversely, plant proteins do not provoke the same increase in IGF-1, rendering them a healthier option.

Reducing protein consumption to recommended levels can also decrease levels of mTOR, an enzyme that accelerates aging.

Supplements: Are They Necessary?

While Dr. Greger initially considered recommending a variety of supplements, his research led him to a different conclusion. Most supplements, including resveratrol and NAD boosters, did not demonstrate significant benefits in his studies.

Instead, Dr. Greger advocates for obtaining nutrients from whole foods and spices, such as turmeric, amla, black cumin, and long pepper.

Conclusion

Dr. Michael Greger's exhaustive research provides compelling evidence that diet plays an essential role in longevity. Adopting a plant-based diet, engaging in regular exercise, and making informed lifestyle choices can significantly enhance our prospects of living a longer, healthier life.

For those inspired by Dr. Greger's work, watching his video and utilizing our free vegan nutrition calculator can be excellent next steps toward better health.

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Balancing Your Hormones, Menopause, Omega-3s, Spreading Veganism, & More | Dr. Neal Barnard

Dr. Neil Barnard is a professor of medicine, the founder of the Barnard Medical Center, and the president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, all while constantly writing new books.

How does he get it all done? 😅

Let us know what you think! Leave your comments on YouTube.

Here are some highlights from this powerful interview with the legend, Dr. Barnard.

The Power of a Plant-Based Diet

Switching to a plant-based diet can revolutionize your health. This isn't just about weight loss; it's about preventing and even reversing diseases. Dr. Barnard emphasizes that if you're not eating meat, your arteries can open up again, making diseases reversible. This is crucial because many health issues, including high cholesterol and high blood pressure, are diet-related.

Practical Tips for Transitioning

To successfully transition to a vegan diet, start with small steps. Spend a week exploring plant-based options you could enjoy. Oatmeal with cinnamon and raisins, pancakes without butter, or scrambled tofu instead of eggs can be excellent choices. After a week, you’ll have a list of foods you like. Then, try a three-week test drive, eating vegan all the time. Most people notice significant changes in their weight and overall health within this period.

Addressing Menopausal Symptoms with Diet

Menopause can bring various symptoms, but diet can help manage them. Dr. Barnard's research shows that a plant-based diet, low in oils, and includes soybeans can significantly reduce hot flashes.

Steps to Follow

  1. Adopt a Plant-Based Diet: Eliminate animal products.

  2. Keep Oils Low: Reduce intake of high-fat plant foods like avocados and peanut butter.

  3. Include Soybeans: Half a cup of mature soybeans daily can be particularly effective.

Combating Hormonal Imbalances

For conditions like hypothyroidism and PCOS, a plant-based diet can be beneficial. Research suggests that hypothyroidism is least common in vegans. Ensuring adequate iodine intake, such as through seaweed, is also essential. For PCOS, a diet similar to that recommended for diabetes, which focuses on whole plant foods and low in added oils, can be transformative.

The Role of Omega-3 Fats

Omega-3 fats are crucial for health but should be consumed cautiously. High levels of omega-3 have been linked to an increased risk of prostate cancer, so it's important to try to get these fats from whole foods like flaxseeds and chia seeds rather than supplements.

Personal Care Products and Health

While diet is the primary focus, it's also wise to avoid certain substances in personal care products. Aluminum, found in many deodorants, is a neurotoxin and should be avoided. Opt for aluminum-free options to reduce exposure.

Conclusion

Adopting a plant-based diet offers numerous health benefits, from weight loss to reducing menopausal symptoms and managing hormonal imbalances. Practical steps like starting with small changes, keeping oils low, and including soybeans can make a significant difference.

Additionally, being mindful of personal care products can further enhance overall health.

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Mikey's LIFE-CHANGING Vegan Transformation

Mikey's Inspiring Journey

Meet Mikey, who once weighed 257 pounds. He reached a point in life where he felt hopeless about his future, but today, he has a healthy body, a hopeful outlook on life, and a passion for helping others achieve similar transformations.

Join the conversation - leave a comment on Youtube.

From Unhealthy Eating Habits to Wellness

Mikey's upbringing did not prioritize nutrition. Growing up on Pop-Tarts, candy, and other unhealthy foods led to a lifelong struggle with weight. He dreaded sports and often found solace in food. His diet primarily consisted of fast food, including frequent visits to McDonald's and Domino's. Mikey's self-esteem suffered as he felt undeserving of friendships and social activities because he didn't like what he saw in the mirror.

The Struggles of Being Overweight

Everyday tasks were a challenge for Mikey. Simple actions like tying his shoes caused physical discomfort. His morning routine involved avoiding reflections, picking oversized clothes to hide his body, and showering in the dark. Mikey hated the person he saw in the mirror and actively avoided photos. He eventually accepted that he would always be overweight and would never enjoy physical activities like others.

The Turning Point

Mikey tried numerous methods to lose weight, including crash diets and diet pills, but nothing worked. A pivotal moment came when doctors warned him about his dangerously high blood pressure caused by diet pills. Determined to make a change, Mikey decided to commit to veganism and joined the Vegan Superhero Academy, seeking a transformation he believed he couldn't achieve on his own.

Joining the Vegan Superhero Academy

When Mikey joined the Vegan Superhero Academy, he weighed 257 pounds and had a body fat percentage of 42%. Completing even a half-mile on the treadmill was challenging. VSA provided not just coaching but also mentorship and a supportive community. Coach Andrew offered honesty, motivation, and friendship, all of which played a crucial role in Mikey's journey. The encouragement from the vegan superhero community inspired Mikey to push through challenges and reach his goals. 💪

The Transformation: Weight Loss and Mindset

Before joining the Academy, Mikey doubted his ability to achieve many things, such as running a marathon, hiking a mountain, or maintaining a vegan diet. He didn't think he belonged in a gym or could complete multiple strength workouts each week. Committing to workouts and nutrition was difficult, but Mikey reminded himself that being overweight and unhappy was even harder.

The Results: Health and Wellness Achieved

Six months into the program, Mikey lost 74 pounds and reduced his body fat percentage to 22%. His muscle definition and overall physical health dramatically improved. More than just numerical metrics, Mikey's journey was about feeling better, looking better, and achieving things he never thought possible. He now enjoys intensive workouts, hikes steep mountains, and most importantly, loves the person he sees in the mirror.

Mikey's transformation story emphasizes the profound impact of veganism and the Vegan Superhero Academy, celebrating a healthier, happier life.

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Beat a VEGAN in Push-ups, Win $200

We went out in public and challenged random meat eaters to beat us in a push-up competition. The rules were simple: Beat our highest number of push-ups, and win $200 in cash!!!

Let us know what you think! Leave your comments on YouTube.

We believe that fitness and fun go hand in hand, and what better way to combine the two than with a little friendly competition? The Vegan Push-Up Challenge was born from a simple idea: challenge the notion that vegans are weak. Spoiler alert – we’re not!

It wasn’t just about seeing who could do the most push-ups; it was about starting a conversation. And that we did! From debating the merits of plant-based proteins to sharing our favorite workout playlists, the event was a melting pot of ideas and energy.

Being vegan isn’t just about what you eat; it’s a holistic approach to health and vitality. And trust me, when you’re fueled by plant power, you can achieve some pretty amazing feats. Whether you’re a soon-to-be vegan 😉 or a seasoned vegan, we all have something to learn from each other and plenty of room to challenge ourselves.

So, next time you hear someone say vegans are weak, just smile and invite them to a push-up contest. Who knows? They might just walk away not only with a newfound respect for a plant-based diet but also with a couple of new vegan recipes to try out.

Keep pushing the limits and spreading the joy of vegan fitness. 💪

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The Top 5 Vegan Nutrition Mistakes

Veganism is a lifestyle, not a diet.

But, whether you went vegan for your health, the animals, the planet, or a combination of all three, what you eat plays a major role in how you look and feel.

If you’re new to the plant-based lifestyle (or even if you’ve been vegan for a while), it can be challenging to navigate a new set of nutritional principles and easy to develop habits that are detrimental to your long-term health and fitness goals.

I want to help you avoid that. 

In this article, you’ll learn how to avoid five of the most common nutrition mistakes that prevent vegans from accomplishing their health and fitness goals.

Here’s a quick breakdown of those mistakes:

1. Assuming all vegan products are automatically healthy

2. Consuming too few (or too many) calories

3. Believing that "clean eating" will build your dream body

4. Not eating enough protein

5. Overlooking supplementation

MISTAKE 1: ASSUMING THAT VEGAN PRODUCTS ARE AUTOMATICALLY HEALTHY

There is plenty of scientific evidence that proves vegan diets are healthier than non-vegan diets on average.

For example, the EPIC-Oxford study, which has studied 65,000 men and women over the last 30 years to determine the long-term effects of diet on human health, has shown that a vegan diet is associated with around a 50% reduction in risk of high blood pressure, significantly lower levels of blood cholesterol, a 25–30% reduction in ischaemic heart disease, 19% reduction in cancer risk, and a 30–40% reduction in risk of type 2 diabetes.

But just because vegan diets are healthier on average doesn’t mean that all vegan foods are automatically health-promoting. 

After all, Oreos are vegan!

Generally speaking, however, the more calories you consume from whole plant foods instead of heavily processed vegan products, the more nutrients you will consume and the healthier your diet will be.

My general recommendation is that you consume at least 80% of your daily calorie intake from whole plant foods. This can include everything from raw fruit and leafy greens to cooked rice, legume-based soups, curries, oatmeal, sushi, and way more! 

It’s important to remember that the term “whole plant foods” does not mean that the food must be raw or cooked without added flavor. It simply means that you are consuming plants as close to their natural state as possible.

However, there is nothing inherently wrong with consuming processed vegan foods in moderation. 

After you have biased at least 80% of your daily calories toward whole plant foods, you are welcome to spend the remaining 20% of your daily calories on more heavily processed foods like vegan mock meats, dairy imitations, snacks, and sweet treats as you can see in the diagram below.

 
80/20 Rule for vegan calories
 

While processed vegan foods are less healthy than whole plant foods, they typically don’t contain most of the unhealthy compounds found in animal foods like cholesterol, trans fatty acids, heme iron, hormones, antibiotics, and more.

And while your body does need cholesterol to make certain hormones and build cells, you don’t need to consume dietary cholesterol from food because your body inherently produces all the cholesterol you need. 

In fact, many would argue that you’d be best not to consume dietary cholesterol, which is only found in animal products, given that dietary cholesterol has been linked to a wide range of cancers and Alzheimer’s disease.

Beyond cholesterol, trans fats are another category considered to be a serious risk factor to cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Trans fats have also been associated with symptoms of depression, lower testosterone in men, and dementia. 

Artificial trans fats produced from vegetable oils were banned in the United States in 2015, which means the only major dietary source of trans fats today are those that occur naturally in animal products.

It is commonly thought that people who eat plant-based diets may be more prone to iron deficiency. But it turns out that they are no more likely to suffer from iron deficiency than people who eat animal products. In fact, there is even research to suggest that people who eat plant-based diets actually get more iron than those who eat animal products. 

However, there is a difference when it comes to the type of iron. The iron found in plants is non-heme iron, whereas the iron contained within the blood and muscle from animal flesh is known as heme iron.

Heme iron consumption has been associated with a 27% increase in the risk of coronary heart disease, a 16% increase in the risk of type 2 diabetes, and a 12% increase risk in cancer for every milligram of heme iron consumed per day. In fact, researchers can tell how much meat a cancer patient eats by analyzing a biopsy of their tumor. Heme iron consumption has also been associated with an increased risk of stroke.

Not only do processed vegan meat and dairy alternatives not contain cholesterol, trans fat, or heme iron, they also don’t contain any hormones or antibiotics.

While you should be mindful of how much saturated fat and sodium you are consuming through heavily processed vegan foods, the point here is that processed vegan foods, while considerably less healthy than a vegan diet centered around whole plant foods, are certainly an improvement over an equivalent diet of heavily processed non-vegan foods.

Lastly, it's important to note that vegan products are 100% better for the animals and the environment. 

That’s a win-win-win for your health, the animals, and our planet!

MISTAKE 2: CONSUMING TOO FEW (OR TOO MANY) CALORIES

Many people who try veganism and then revert back to eating animal products claim that they felt tired or had low energy. 

But is this a fair critique of an exclusively plant-based diet, or is it possible that other factors may have played a role in these complaints? 

At first glance, one might be tempted to divert this unwanted attention toward any potential flaws in the vegan diet and make the claim that sleep and stress play a pivotal role in your energy levels. And while it’s always a good idea to optimize your sleep habits and manage your stress levels, it’s unlikely that this select group of vegan drop-outs all experienced a coincidental decrease in sleep quality upon their adoption of a vegan diet. 

Assuming sleep quality and stress levels are unchanged, then the most likely reason some people have reported feeling lethargic or low-energy following the transition to a plant-based diet is because they simply weren’t consuming enough calories.  

Calories are your body’s main source of energy, which means, if you don’t consume enough calories on a daily basis, then you’re simply not going to have enough energy to live vibrantly and train with intensity. 

But, to be fair, this is an easy mistake to make. 

Generally speaking, the caloric density of plant foods is significantly lower than that of animal products, so you need to eat more volume to get the same number of calories. 

Or maybe you’ve made the mistakes of simply removing all of the animal products from your diet without replacing them with new foods like tofu, tempeh, beans, whole grains, a beautiful array of new vegetables, and a modest amount of nuts and seeds.

And if you are having trouble eating enough calories to meet your needs, don’t limit your intake of fruits and vegetables. Instead, focus on increasing your intake of wholesome higher-calorie foods like nuts and seeds, avocado, and dried fruits.

At the same time, there is a general misconception that going vegan is a good way to lose weight. Eating more plants generally does help people lose weight, but depending on what you eat, it is just as easy to gain weight eating plant foods as it is to gain weight eating animal products. 

If you are consuming more calories than you burn every day, even if you are eating lots of fruits and vegetables, then you will gain weight regardless of which foods you are consuming.

In other words, if a daily intake of 2,200 calories is what it takes to gain weight for a smaller female, it doesn’t matter if you reach that caloric target by eating peanut butter and banana sandwiches or eating steak and eggs. 

For that reason, I would recommend tracking what you eat for a few weeks to anyone making the transition to a vegan diet simply to make sure you are eating about as many calories as you burn every day. 

This is called eating at caloric maintenance, and it’s a good place to be as you give your body time to adjust to a new eating pattern. 

Then, if you’re feeling great and have plenty of energy a few weeks into your new vegan diet, you’ll know you can continue around caloric maintenance for sustained results. Or, you can either lower your calories to burn fat or raise your calories to start building lean muscle more optimally.

MISTAKE 3: BELIEVING THAT “CLEAN EATING” WILL BUILD YOUR DREAM BODY

Many vegans have fallen prey to this idea that you can simply “eat clean” to build your dream body by consuming all of your calories from healthy, nutritious foods. 

And, there is some degree of truth to this since healthy, nutritious foods support the development of a healthy, lean physique, but it’s not quite as simple as relying exclusively on the “purity” of your foods.

More specifically, there are two primary nutritional drivers that dictate every physique endeavor: calorie intake and protein intake.

If you burn 2,000 calories per day, but somehow manage to eat 3,000 calories of raw fruits and vegetables, you might have perfect blood work (which is wonderful) but you’re not going to be losing any fat.

Conversely, if you burn 2,000 calories per day and eat 1,600 calories of junk food, you will lose weight. And if you keep your protein intake high enough while consuming fewer calories than you need from vegan junk foods, you can lose almost exclusively body fat.

Weird, right? 

As counterintuitive as it may seem to many, it’s true. You can gain fat by eating “clean” and you can lose fat while eating mostly junk food. It all comes down to your overall caloric consumption. 

Also, don’t forget the importance of resistance training! Paired with proper protein intakes, resistance training is the primary driver of new muscle growth. 

But to put a nice bow on the topic of “clean eating,” I want to reiterate that I recommend people get at least 80% of their daily calories from nutritious, whole plant foods that they enjoy. 

The remaining 20% of your calories can come from more processed foods. For instance, if you love chocolate and vegan pizza, then include a bit of both of those foods in your diet. It will likely serve you well in terms of sustainability and enjoyability. 

Personally, I get about 90% of my daily calories from relatively unprocessed, nutritious plant foods, but I’m not afraid to eat a bit of my favorite processed foods from time to time. 

For those who may be new to this idea, this way of eating is known as flexible dieting.

MISTAKE 4: NOT EATING ENOUGH PROTEIN-RICH FOODS

According to U.S. and Canadian dietary reference intakes, the recommended daily allowance for protein is 0.36 grams per pound of body weight (0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight) for healthy adults. 

This amount is defined as “the average daily intake level that is sufficient to meet the nutrient requirement of nearly all [~98%] of healthy adults.” This means that as a bare minimum, a 180-pound person only needs 65 grams of plant protein per day. As long as you are eating a calorically sufficient diet, this recommendation is extremely easy to meet.

However, many decades of research and anecdotal evidence have proven that active people, particularly those who lift heavy weights regularly, need more protein than the average person.

Studies from the University of Western Ontario, the Exercise Metabolism Research Group, and McMaster University all agree that the ideal range to aim for is 0.7 to 0.9 grams of high-quality protein per pound of body weight (1.5 to 2.0 grams per kilogram of body weight) to maximize muscle growth.

That means that a 180-pound person who performs somewhere between three and six hours of formal exercise per week would benefit from a protein intake of approximately 144 grams per day. 

More practically speaking, this person could easily split that protein target into three whole meals of 36 grams of protein per serving and a post-workout protein shake to meet their needs. 

But what happens when you don’t consume enough protein on a daily basis? 

Simply put, you won’t be building muscle as effectively as you could.

So if you’re serious about your vegan muscle-building endeavor, you would be wise to consume protein within the recommendations featured in the graphic below.

The most common sources of vegan protein for people looking to add size to their frame are tofu, tempeh, seitan, TVP, legume-based pasta, protein powders, and certain whole grains like Ezekiel bread.

 
 

MISTAKE 5: OVERLOOKING SUPPLEMENTATION

Although a wholesome plant-based diet has been proven to be the healthiest diet in the world, most vegans would benefit from taking certain supplements. 

This, however, does not in any way make the vegan diet inferior to other dietary patterns, and it is well known that most omnivores would also benefit from supplementing with these nutrients of focus. 

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 is not made by plants or animals but rather by microbes that blanket the earth. 

All vegans should supplement with vitamin B12. 

Dr. Michael Greger, one of the world’s leading experts in nutrition, recommends consuming at least 2,000 mcg (µg) of cyanocobalamin once each week, ideally as a chewable, sublingual, or liquid supplement taken on an empty stomach. 

You can also consume B12-fortified foods like nutritional yeast, but there is no defined upper intake level of B12, so many experts advise that you err on the higher side of consumption. 

But B12 supplementation recommendations vary depending on the demographic. Those over 65 years of age should take at least 1,000 mcg (µg) of cyanocobalamin every day. 

Children also have different needs. 

Bonus Tip: If you’re experiencing deficiency symptoms, the best test is a urine MMA (methylmalonic acid) test, not a serum B12 level test.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Another thing to pay attention to is your intake of omega-3 fatty acids. 

The three omega-3 fatty acids are ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). All three are critical to human health.

DHA, in particular, is a primary structural fat in the human brain and eyes, representing about 97% of all omega-3 fats in the brain and 93% of all omega-3 fats in the retina. 

Vegans cannot easily obtain any direct sources of EPA or DHA without supplementation, but we can convert ALA from plant foods like flax seeds, chia seeds, and walnuts into EPA and DHA. However, these conversion rates are quite low and likely not enough for optimal health. 

In healthy young men, approximately 8% of ALA can be converted to EPA and 0-4% of ALA can be converted to DHA. In healthy young women, the conversion rates are slightly higher, which is thought to be the result of higher estrogen levels. Women can convert approximately 21% of ALA to EPA and 9% of ALA to DHA.

While this might be enough for survival, nutrition authorities recommend an additional 250 milligrams a day of pre-formed EPA and DHA. The word “pre-formed” simply means that it comes in the actual form of EPA and DHA, not the converted form from ALA. So, in addition to consuming ALA from whole plant foods, we should consume 250 milligrams of pre-formed EPA and DHA every day, which can be obtained from algae oil in supplement form. Thankfully, algae-based supplements don’t contain all of the toxic contaminants that fish oil supplements do, so there’s no need to worry about supplementing with omega-3 fatty acids when you get them in plant form. 

Vitamin D

If you don’t get adequate sun exposure, you should aim to consume 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily, ideally alongside your largest meal of the day. 

But, it is worth nothing that you can also get adequate amounts of vitamin D with sensible amounts of sun exposure. The only catch is that you should have your arms and legs exposed in a tee shirt and shorts. 

As a general guideline, aim for 15 to 30 minutes of midday sun (15 for those with lighter skin and 30 for those with darker skin). During the winter months, if it is too cold in your area of the world to wear a tee shirt and shorts, then it’s best to supplement with 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily.

Calcium

It’s advised to consume at least 600 mg of calcium daily via calcium-rich plant foods (preferably low-oxalate dark leafy green vegetables), which include all greens except spinach, chard, and beet greens.

Make no mistake, all of those aforementioned foods are very healthy, but my point here is that they are not good calcium sources due to their oxalate content.

Other Micronutrient Considerations

Iodine, iron, and selenium are three additional micronutrients that warrant particular focus in any well-designed diet. 

To make sure that you are getting enough iodine, I recommend incorporating seaweed as a snack or into Asian dishes like miso soup or vegan sushi. Or, if you don’t like seaweed and don’t use iodized salt, then you can take a 150 mcg daily iodine supplement. 

To make sure that you are getting enough iron, you should aim to combine foods rich in iron (such as tofu, edamame, soy nuts, and dark green vegetables) and vitamin C to increase absorption. Additionally, all menstruating women should get checked for iron deficiency anemia every few years since iron is lost through their monthly menstruation cycles. 

To make sure that you are getting enough selenium, I would recommend eating a daily Brazil nut. Or, as always, you can consider taking a supplement if you don’t consume enough dietary sources of selenium.

Summary

  • If you’re new to the vegan diet, don’t make the mistake of assuming that all vegan foods are healthy simply because they’re vegan. After all, Oreos, Fritos, and Sour Patch Kids are all vegan, but I doubt too many people are convinced those foods are the long-lost secret to health and longevity. 

  • Another common mistake of vegan dieting is consuming too few calories. By nature, many whole plant foods are much less calorically dense than animal products like beef, pork, salmon, eggs, butter, and milk. So before you go shaking your fist at a plant-based diet due to unexpected lethargy and irritability, be sure to track your calories for a few days to make sure you’re consuming enough food to support your daily activity. 

  • Don’t fall for the “clean eating” rumors. Although it will always be a wonderful idea to consume a large percentage of your daily calories from whole plant foods, “clean eating” in and of itself will not hand you fat loss or muscle-gain results. To be successful in any effort to lose fat or build muscle, you must strategically manipulate your overall caloric intake and your daily protein consumption. 

  • And to that point, be sure you are eating enough protein. Although people who don’t resistance train need much less protein than those who do, there are a host of positive health benefits associated with a diet high in plant protein. And for those to pack on as much muscle as possible, be sure to keep your protein intake around 0.8 grams of protein per day per pound of body weight. 

  • Lastly, don’t make the mistake of skipping supplementation where necessary. The most common nutrients of focus in the context of a plant-based diet tend to be vitamin B12, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, calcium, iodine, iron, and selenium.

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10 Vegan Fitness Myths

You’ve probably heard all kinds of fitness myths throughout your life like “you’ll gain fat if you eat late,” “you can spot reduce body fat,” or “you need to do a lot of ab exercises to get a 6-pack.”

Are these types of claims actually true and proven by science?

By the end of this article, you’ll know for sure. We’re taking a closer look at these 10 biggest fitness myths of all time:

MYTH 1: CARBS MAKE YOU FAT

False. Eating too many calories makes you fat.

A study from the Department of Nutrition at Arizona State University found no major differences in fat loss, muscle loss, or overall weight loss between low-carb dieting (~5% calories from carbs) and high-carb dieting (~40% of calories from carbs) when protein intake was equal.

Based on the current metabolic research, low-carb diets do not appear to yield any fat loss benefit over high-carb diets.

In a study analyzing the effectiveness of low-fat versus low-carb diets, researchers from the University of Glasgow concluded, “Differences between low-fat and low-carb diets are marginal. Optimizing adherence is the most important factor for weight loss success”.

Low-carb diets are a sham. Don’t follow them.

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MYTH 2: EATING LATE MAKES YOU FAT

There is some truth to this actually, but many people overemphasize the detrimental effects of eating late by proposing that all calories consumed past a certain time of day turn intro body fat.

In general, it is better to finish eating a few hours before going to bed, but you’re not going to get fat from eating late. It mostly comes down to energy balance: calories in versus calories out.

But if you follow a schedule that allows you to eat a majority of your calories earlier in the day, you’ll likely experience slightly accelerated fat loss compared to eating more of your daily calories in the evening.

MYTH 3: IF THE SCALE GOES UP FROM ONE DAY TO THE NEXT, THEN IT’S BECAUSE I GAINED FAT

This is NOT true.

Daily fluctuations in your body’s water balance, eating schedule, training schedule, sleeping schedule, and stress levels can mask fat loss for a short period of time.

Let’s say that from one day to the next, you “gain” one pound according to the scale. This is totally possible even if you are focusing on fat loss and doing everything right (maintaining a caloric deficit, exercising regularly, etc.)

Well, it takes approximately 3,500 calories of excess consumed energy to gain a pound of body fat. So if you burn 2,000 calories per day, you would need to eat approximately 5,500 calories to gain a pound of body fat in 24 hours. That is the ONLY way you can possibly gain a pound of body fat.

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Daily fluctuations are mostly due to changes in your body’s water balance. A gallon of water weighs around 8.3 pounds.

Measurement errors can also play a role in masking progress. To limit day-to-day body weight fluctuations as much as possible, I highly recommend that you weigh yourself at the same time every day, preferably in the morning before you eat or drink anything.

But even if you weigh yourself every morning at the same time, your body weight can change due to numerous factors. So if you nailed your diet and training the day before, but the scale shows an increase in body weight, don’t stress. It doesn’t mean you gained body fat.

This is why I recommend that you don’t worry too much about day-to-day fluctuations, but rather track your weekly average body weight. Weekly averages offer you a clearer picture of your progress. To do this, you could weigh yourself every day and then calculate your weekly average body weight every Sunday morning. If you find your weekly average body weight dropping every Sunday, then you’re progressing.

All of this being said, please don’t let the scale define your progress. It is simply a measuring tool to make sure you are heading in the right direction. Always remember that your main goal is to improve your body composition, not lose weight.

MYTH 4: WOMEN SHOULD TRAIN DIFFERENTLY THAN MEN

At the end of the day, both men and women want to improve their body composition by reducing body fat and building muscle. And when it comes to the optimal training approach to improving body composition, there is no evidence that says women should train differently than men. Regardless of your gender, heavy compound weightlifting should be your primary training focus.

Many dieters do understand the importance of resistance training but tend to believe that lifting light weights for tons of reps is the key to getting lean and toned. This is completely false.

Performing countless repetitions with light weights does not improve leanness, muscle separation, muscle density, or vascularity. High-repetition, light-weight training also doesn’t burn more calories in comparison to a training program with fewer repetitions centered around heavy weights.

In a study conducted at Ball State University, researchers analyzed the body composition and performance differences between a high-repetition, light-weight training program, and a low-repetition, heavy-weight training program in healthy women. The 34 women in this study were randomly assigned to one of three groups:

Group 1: Performed high-repetition, light-weight training with minimal rest between sets.

Group 2: Performed a heavy-weight strength training program with most of their repetitions between 70% and 90% of their one-rep max (1RM). Note: Your 1RM is the maximum amount of weight that you can lift with proper form for an exercise. If your 1RM on deadlift is 200 pounds, then lifting weights between 70% and 90% of your 1RM would mean that you are lifting between 140 pounds and 180 pounds.

Group 3: Performed no resistance training. This was the control group.

In 24 weeks, Group 1 shredded 3.3 pounds (1.5 kilograms) of body fat and gained 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram) of lean muscle. That’s not too bad. However, Group 2 blew their results out of the water by shredding 8.8 pounds (4 kilograms) of body fat and gaining 7.3 pounds (3.3 kilograms) of lean muscle.

Group 2 also demonstrated greater increases in upper and lower body maximal strength, increases in muscular power and speed, and increases in high-intensity local muscular endurance. This study proves that heavy-weight strength training is far more beneficial than light-weight training for women who want to shred fat and get toned.

As illustrated by this study, there are enormous benefits of resistance training for women, but the idea of lifting heavy weights is often met with concern. In my experience, many women tend to refuse lifting weights altogether, or they lift weights that are so light that they will never be challenged and will never make progress.

The major fear that holds most women back is that they don’t want to get “big” and “bulky” by lifting weights. But in reality, naturally low testosterone levels prevent women from looking manly.

Women, you must understand that you simply do not have the right mix of hormones that enables men to get big and bulky. Men typically have about seven to eight times as much testosterone as women, yet it takes years of heavy weight training and proper eating for us to get big and bulky.

The super muscular women that you see on the cover of bodybuilding magazines use tons of supplements to achieve their physiques. In many cases, they also use drugs. So you’re not going to lift weights one day and look like the Hulk tomorrow. Your body will slowly change over time and you can always alter your exercise program or meal plan if you get to a point of muscularity that you do not want to cross.

MYTH 5: YOU CAN SPOT REDUCE BODY FAT

The only way to make a particular area of your body leaner is to reduce your overall body fat percentage, which will reduce fat everywhere on your body. This is a function of diet more than anything else.

Another thing you need to know is that people’s bodies are different in terms of where they lose fat first and more easily, determining which areas are more stubborn and last to lean out. Unfortunately, the areas that take the longest to get lean are usually the ones people are most concerned about: the abdominal area in men and the pelvic region, thighs, and butt in women.

There is no supplement, device, or any other trick to spot reduce body fat in a particular area. None. Zero. It is NOT possible, so just focus on healthy overall fat loss.

MYTH 6: WHEN DOING CARDIO, YOU WANT TO GET YOUR HEART RATE INTO THE “FAT-BURNING ZONE”

Cardio machines often show pretty graphs indicating where your heart rate should be for “fat burning” versus “cardiovascular training.” You calculate this heart rate by subtracting your age from 200 and multiplying this number by 0.6. If you keep your heart rate at this number, then you’ll supposedly be in the “fat-burning zone.”

There’s a kernel of truth here. You do burn both fat and carbohydrates when you exercise, and the proportion varies with the intensity of exercise. A very low-intensity activity like walking taps mainly into fat stores, whereas high-intensity sprints pull much more heavily from carbohydrate stores (specifically your glycogen stores).

At about 60% of maximum exertion, your body gets about half of its energy from carbohydrate stores and half from fat stores (which is why many “experts” claim that you should work in the range of 60–70% of maximum exertion). In the short-term, this means that you will burn slightly more body fat. But if you maintain a moderate caloric deficit in the range of 15-30% for more than a few days, then you burn through your glycogen stores.

The average human can store about 500 grams of glycogen in skeletal muscles and about 100 grams of glycogen in the liver, which overall yields approximately 2,400 calories of stored energy. Once you burn through those 2,400 calories of glycogen, and continue maintaining a caloric deficit which means that your body will quickly burn ingested carbohydrates, then your body will be forced to rely on burning stored body fat for energy. 

Furthermore, studies conducted by Laval University, East Tennessee State University, and the University of New South Wales have shown that shorter, high-intensity cardio sessions tend to result in greater fat loss over time than low-intensity sessions. Research has also shown that high-intensity training is more muscle-sparing than low-intensity cardio.

MYTH 7: YOU HAVE TO DO CARDIO TO GET LEAN

Numerous studies have proven that cardio alone does not have any fat shredding benefits. This is because dieters who engage in regular cardio tend to eat back the calories they burn.

Doing cardio can certainly help you burn fat when combined with a proper diet, but if you eat too much, your body will simply replace the burned fat with the excess calories you’re feeding it. This is exactly what happened in a study conducted by researchers at the University of Kansas.

Women who engaged in regular cardio (four sessions per week that burned an average of 440 calories per session) saw no changes in body weight or body fat percentage after 16 months! The men in this study fared slightly better, shredding 10.8 pounds (4.9 kilograms) of body weight in 16 months by doing regular cardio (four sessions per week that burned an average of 670 calories per session). But even at that rate, it would take you 30 months to shred 20 pounds!

This research indicates that it is simply too easy to eat back all the calories that you burn from cardio. And this is something that most cardio-focused weight loss programs seem to struggle with.

The typical cardio routine that I see dieters follow goes like this: they burn a few hundred calories in an hour of grueling torture to “earn” the right to eat a bit more food or have a slice of cake after dinner, desperately hoping that their efforts will eventually yield results. This is equivalent to saving up a few hundred dollars from a job that you hate just to buy something that you don’t need, desperately hoping that one day you will be rich.

The only possible outcomes from this approach are lost time, frustration, and no results. The better approach is to burn a few hundred calories with an hour of intense weightlifting. Weightlifting will help you to shred fat while also building, or at least maintaining, lean body mass.

MYTH 8: YOU DON’T NEED TO COUNT CALORIES IF YOU EAT HEALTHY FOOD (COMMONLY KNOWN AS “CLEAN” EATING)

Many vegan dieters tend to think that you can just “eat clean” to lose weight by consuming all of your calories from healthy, nutritious foods. There is a degree of truth to this, since many healthy, nutritious foods are incredibly filling and have low caloric densities. In fact, I practice clean eating myself, and highly recommend it. But don’t fall prey to the illusion that clean eating will be the savior to your fat shredding struggles.

If you burn 2,000 calories per day, but somehow manage to eat 3,000 calories of raw fruits and vegetables, you might have perfect blood work (which is awesome!) but you’re not going to shred any fat. However, if you burn 2,000 calories per day and only eat 1,600 calories of junk food, you will lose weight.

Remember the fundamental principle of fat loss: you must eat fewer calories than you burn to shred fat. This holds true regardless of the foods you consume. To prove that energy balance is the only thing that matters for fat loss, Professor Mark Haub from Kansas State University conducted a weight-loss experiment on himself in 2010. He started the experiment at 211 pounds and 33.4% body fat. Over the course of two months, he lost 27 pounds on a junk food diet of Twinkies, Doritos, and Oreos.

Of course, I don’t recommend that you adopt a junk food diet to shred fat. Fat loss shouldn’t come at the expense of your health. But his experiment reinforced the fundamental law of fat loss. It doesn’t matter if you just stick with “clean” whole foods, if you don’t maintain a caloric deficit, then you will not shred fat.

One gram of carbohydrate found in kale contains the same amount of energy as one gram of carbohydrate found in maple syrup. That’s because one gram of carbohydrate is always going to be worth four calories, regardless of food source. This is why so many vegans fail to shred fat by simply “eating clean.”

By eating nutritious plant foods, they give their bodies an abundance of micronutrients, which is fantastic. But they also feed their bodies an abundance of calories, which stops fat loss. You simply cannot rely on “eating clean” to achieve your fat shredding goals. Nutrient-dense foods are optimal for your health, but that doesn’t mean you can eat as much fruit as you want.

MYTH 9: GLUTEN-FREE IS HEALTHIER

A gluten-free diet is only healthier if you have a diagnosed gluten sensitivity or celiac disease. Gluten is not harmful to other people. Companies know people think gluten-free is healthier, so they put gluten-free on their label and triple their price to make more money. And often there are fewer nutrients in these gluten-free products. So unless you have a diagnosed gluten sensitivity or celiac disease, you do not have to consume gluten-free foods.

MYTH 10: YOU HAVE TO DO LOTS OF AB EXERCISES TO GET 6-PACK ABS

False, you need to have a low body fat percentage. And the only way to get a low body fat percentage is to burn fat, which requires that you consume fewer calories than you burn for some length of time until you reach your desired level of lean-ness. That’s why people say that abs are made in the kitchen.

With that being said, if you want strong abs that “pop,” then you definitely want to do ab training. But the trick is actually adding extra resistance, not just doing bodyweight ab exercises.

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Pretty amazing, right?

Even better: it actually exists!

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How to Burn Fat & Build Muscle At The Same Time (Vegan Body Recomposition)

What is Body Recomposition?

The term “body composition” refers to the proportions of lean body mass and fat in the body. Lean body mass simply refers to everything in the body that isn’t body fat, including muscle mass, organs, and bone.

Generally speaking, a healthy body composition tends to possess higher percentages of lean body mass, and lower percentages of body fat. The better your body composition, the leaner and more ripped you are.

The trick to building a strong, fit, athletic body is pretty simple: for most people, that means burning fat and building lean muscle. Some people say that it’s possible to do both at the same time while others say it’s not. So what’s the truth?

The Truth About Body Recomposition

Let me begin by saying this... Most people cannot EFFICIENTLY shred fat and build lean muscle at the same time. But it is possible to do both at the same time if you know exactly what to eat and how to train based on your body composition and your goals.

And here's proof that it is possible…

Agata

For example, a client of ours got a DEXA scan on March 17th of this year right before beginning our program, and then got another DEXA scan on June 19th right after finishing our 90-day Vegan Superhero Academy coaching program.

And her results were pretty phenomenal! She shredded 24.7 pounds (11.2 kg) of body fat in 90 days. Pretty awesome, right? That is amazing in and of itself, but here’s the kicker…

Her body weight only dropped by a total of 13.5 pounds (6.1 kg). So how could her body weight only drop by 13.5 pounds if she lost 24.7 pounds? Because in that same 90-day period she gained 11.2 pounds (5.1 kg) of lean muscle mass.

Todd

Another client of ours, Todd, recently accomplished similar results. He got down to 9% body fat and got ripped abs at 48 years old. According to his body composition tests, he shredded 23.5 pounds of body fat while gaining about 6 pounds of lean mass in 79 days.

To get results like these, it really comes down to nailing your nutrition. When you are trying to accomplish a body recomposition goal, then nutrition is the most important part. Of course, you also have to progressively overload your muscles and give your body a reason to build muscle mass through resistance training. With the right nutrition plan and training program, you can burn fat and build muscle at the same time.

The Math of Body Recomposition

The First Law of Thermodynamics

If you are in a caloric surplus, you will be storing net energy. If you are in a caloric deficit, you will be losing net energy. Because fat and muscle tissue are separate systems, it is possible to lose fat due to the caloric deficit while building muscle due to the progressive training and sufficient protein.

But when analyzing body recomposition, the most important factor is the amount of calories you are consuming.

So how many calories do you need to burn to lose fat? Well, one pound of body fat weighs 454 grams. Approximately 85 to 90% of this weight can be attributed to stored triglycerides that can be burned for energy (the rest is water and cellular machinery) (1).

This means that you have roughly 400 grams of stored triglycerides in each pound of body fat that you must burn to lose one pound of fat. Since each gram of pure fat contains nine calories, this means that it takes about 3,600 calories of cumulative burned energy to lose one pound of fat.

And how many calories do you need to consume to gain lean muscle mass? An estimated 2,500 to 2,800 excess calories is needed to gain one pound of lean mass, though there is not any hard scientific evidence to determine an exact number. This has the effect of actually increasing your perceived deficit without having a significant impact on one's hunger levels.

So to lose body fat you need to be in a caloric deficit of 3,600 calories over time to lose 1 pound of body fat. And if you are also building lean muscle mass at the same time because your fitness and nutrition are really dialed in, that will increase your perceived deficit because your body needs to take excess calories from the food you’re eating to synthesize more muscle tissue. So you can potentially increase your rate of fat loss while also building muscle tissue.

The 3 main things that you MUST do to shred fat and build lean muscle

Vegan Body Recomposition Secret #1

To lose fat and build muscle, you must focus on fat loss.

In other words, you must maintain a caloric deficit to shred fat as it is not possible to shred fat while maintaining a caloric surplus. However, your body CAN build muscle in a caloric deficit (2).

At the same time, it is possible to be too aggressive with your caloric deficit, which will slow your metabolism and result in lost muscle mass (3). There’s a sweet spot that you need to maintain between burning fat and building muscle.

I’d recommend about a 15-20% caloric deficit, which will help you shred fat rapidly, but also put you in a position to build lean muscle at the same time. You just need to be sure that you are following the exact right diet and training routine.

Vegan Body Recomposition Secret #2

You must maintain a high protein diet.

Now there is nothing wrong with consuming a low protein diet, but if you want to shred body fat while gaining lean muscle, then you need to follow a high-protein diet. In a 2016 study, researchers at McMaster University split up 40 subjects into two groups (4):

Group 1 (the low-protein diet group): Researchers randomly assigned 20 subjects to a low-protein control diet (1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day).

Group 2 (the high-protein diet group): Researchers randomly assigned the other 20 subjects to consume twice as much protein as the low-protein group (2.4 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day).

All subjects from both groups performed resistance exercise training combined with high-intensity interval training for 6 days per week. The researchers also provided all meals and beverages for the participants to consume throughout the intervention period (with the exception of water). They all followed a caloric deficit of 40%. In other words, they ate 40% less calories than they burned every day.

Over the course of the 4-week trial, the low-protein group shredded 3.7 kilograms (8.2 pounds) of fat while the high-protein group shredded 4.8 kilograms (10.6 pounds) of fat. So the high-protein group had a slight edge in fat loss, but there wasn’t a huge difference. This isn’t surprising as a high-protein diet has been shown to increase fat loss, preserve lean body mass, and maintain your metabolism.

But here’s the true power of a high-protein diet when it comes to body recomposition. The high-protein group gained 1.2 kilograms of muscle (2.6 pounds) while the low-protein group only managed to maintain their lean muscle mass. Again, there is nothing wrong with consuming a low protein diet, but if you want to shred body fat while gaining lean muscle, then you need to follow a high-protein diet.

So how much protein should you consume?

A 2014 meta-analysis conducted by researchers at AUT University in New Zealand provided a systematic review of 6 studies with energy-restricted, resistance-trained adult subjects (5). They found that people maintaining a caloric deficit while trying to build lean muscle must consume between 1.05 to 1.41 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass (2.3 to 3.1 grams of protein per kilogram of lean body mass).

Your intake should be scaled upwards with the severity of your caloric deficit and leanness. In other words, the larger your caloric deficit and the leaner you are, the higher your protein intake should be. Lean body mass is everything in your body that isn’t fat (i.e., organs, skeletal muscle, water, and bone).

Vegan Body Recomposition Secret #3

When it comes to building muscle, there is one scientific principle that matters more than any other. It’s called progressive overload.

Your muscles must be given a reason to grow bigger and stronger. They don’t just grow because you want them to. They grow because they NEED to grow to handle the stresses that you are placing them under. In other words, you have to lift heavier and heavier weights over time. That’s how you progressively overload your muscles, which is the fastest way to build muscle.

The way I like to do this is with heavy weights at the gym. And I like to focus on exercises like the squat, deadlift, and bench press. But you can do this at home with resistance bands or sandbags too.

In fact, Todd and Agata accomplished most of their results while working out at home with minimal equipment. I should also add that you want to keep cardio to a minimum because too much cardio affects your body's ability to grow muscle.

factors that will determine whether you are able to build muscle in a caloric deficit

There are 4 main factors that will determine how efficiently your body is able to build muscle mass in a caloric deficit, while also shredding body fat.

  1. Your level of proper training experience. Meaning, the less proper training experience you have, the more likely you are to be able to build lean muscle. For people with more than 2 years of proper training experience, I recommend that you focus on cycling between periods of cutting and bulking because trying to build muscle in a deficit may result in you just spinning your wheels and making little progress.

  2. The higher your starting body fat percentage, the more likely you will be able to build muscle in a caloric deficit because you’ll have lots of body fat to lose.

  3. You maintain a moderate caloric deficit, about 15-20%. So no crash dieting where you’re in a caloric deficit of 50+% as this will make it very difficult to build muscle while you are shredding body fat.

  4. You maintain a high protein diet, somewhere between 0.7-1.0 g/lb of bodyweight depending on your body fat percentage.

How do you know if you are burning fat and building muscle at the same time?

The only way to know for sure is to track your weight and body fat percentage. In other words, you need to know exactly how your lean mass and fat mass are changing over time. The only way to know this for certain is to take regular body composition tests. The best one of these is DEXA.

However, as we’ve mentioned before, you can also get an idea of how things are going with more accessible measurement methods: taking progress pictures, weighing yourself, and taking body measurements regularly.

If you are already relatively lean, increases in your arms and calves and decreases in your waist and hip measurements are a good indication that you are building muscle. If the scale is dropping at the same time and your midsection (particularly your abs) is becoming more defined, then it’s likely that you are building muscle at the same time. But that’s not a very scientific approach, so there’s a lot of gray area there.

I would highly recommend getting regular body composition tests if you are really serious about body recomposition.

Summary

  • You CAN shred fat and build muscle at the same time

  • Your body recomposition results largely depend on your level of training experience. How much of your natural potential have you already accomplished?

  • You MUST maintain a caloric deficit to achieve body recomposition. It doesn’t have to be an aggressive deficit and should be scaled upwards with your body fat percentage. The more body fat you have, the higher your deficit can be.

  • You MUST maintain a high protein intake to support muscle growth.

  • You MUST focus on progressive overload with your training. Focus on lifting heavier weights over time - really push yourself!

THAT'S A WRAP! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING THIS ARTICLE!

Do you have any questions about body recomposition? Please post them in the comment section below and I'll answer them! 👇

Your vegan fitness trainer,

Leif

The 5 Laws of Vegan Fitness

People love to complicate fitness.

  • “How many minutes after my workout do I have to consume protein or risk losing all of my gains?”

  • “Will I burn fat faster if I consume 57% of my calories from carbohydrates or 58%?”

  • “How many grams of BCAAs should I consume during my workout for optimal gains?”

  • “Is it healthier to have a 10-hour feeding window or a 12-hour feeding window?”

I could go on and on, but here’s my point...

Most people seem to want to figure out step 99 of their fitness journey before they’ve taken the first step. Fitness really isn’t that complicated. If you understand and implement these 5 Laws, you WILL accomplish your goals.

Law 1: Calories MATTER

Your body must adhere to the Law of the Conservation of Energy, which states that the total energy of an isolated system is constant. Energy can be transformed from one form to another, but it can neither be created nor destroyed.

All the caloric energy that you consume must be either converted into energy that your organs and muscles can use to function or stored for future use. Eat fewer calories than you burn to lose weight and eat slightly more calories than you burn to build muscle.

Both fat gain and fat loss are controlled by energy balance, which equates to the difference between your caloric intake from food and your caloric expenditure. This is the fundamental principle of fat loss. No “revolutionary” diet, dietary supplement, training approach, or anything else will ever replace the need to focus on energy balance for fat-shredding purposes.

In fact, your energy balance, which is essentially calories consumed versus calories burned, is vital to the achievement of all fitness goals - whether you are working to shred fat, build muscle, or maintain your physique. Anyone who tells you that calories do not matter when it comes to fat loss or muscle growth has absolutely no idea what they are talking about and you shouldn’t listen to anything they say.

The First Law of Body Composition: A Caloric Deficit is Necessary for Shredding Fat

You must burn more energy than you consume to achieve meaningful fat loss (1). This is called a caloric deficit. Over the course of a period of time (usually measured on a daily basis), a caloric deficit is achieved when the sum of calories burned is greater than the sum of calories consumed.

However, it is crucial that you avoid starvation dieting. It is possible to be too aggressive with your caloric deficit, which will slow your metabolism and result in lost muscle mass (2). While reducing fat, our aim is to avoid reducing muscle mass as much as possible.

Use our Free Vegan Nutrition Calculator to find out how many calories you should be eating to meet your health and fitness goals! In just 2 minutes, we’ll break down exactly how much protein, carbs, and dietary fat you should include in your daily meal planning.

The Second Law of Body Composition: A Caloric Surplus is Necessary for Muscle Growth

Contrary to shredding fat, you must consume more energy than you burn to achieve meaningful muscle growth. This is called a caloric surplus. Over the course of a day, a caloric surplus is achieved when the sum of calories consumed is greater than the sum of calories burned.

If you don’t consume enough calories, you will struggle to gain muscle. In simple terms, this is because your body is physiologically wired to prioritize survival over all else. It will allocate energy resources towards maintaining basic bodily function first.

Since building larger muscles ranks very low on your body’s priority list, you must ensure that it has enough resources remaining once all other physiological requirements are met. This is achieved by maintaining a consistent caloric surplus.

In more technical terms, a caloric surplus increases your body’s ability to synthesize skeletal muscle proteins, increases anabolic hormone levels while decreasing catabolic hormone levels, and improves workout performance which in turn fuels strength progression and muscle growth (3).

The best way to maintain a lean physique is actually to increase your muscle mass. Muscle is very energy-hungry, so the more muscle mass you have, the more calories your body will burn. In other words, it gets easier and easier to stay lean and fit!

Law 2: Protein MATTERS

According to U.S. and Canadian dietary reference intakes, the recommended daily allowance for protein is 0.36 grams per pound of bodyweight (0.8 grams per kilogram of bodyweight) for healthy adults (4). This amount is defined as “the average daily intake level that is sufficient to meet the nutrient requirement of nearly all [~98%] of healthy adults.”

This means that as a bare minimum, a 180-pound person only needs 65 grams of plant protein per day. But recent research has shown that even that number might be high. But whatever the bare minimum target actually is, you will surpass it as long as you are eating a calorically sufficient diet.

How Much Protein Should You Eat to Shred Fat?

To ensure that your body burns fat and not your lean muscle mass as you’re following a caloric deficit, you must consume a high-protein intake. A large body of evidence suggests that a low-fat, high-protein diet increases fat loss, preserves lean body mass, and maintains your metabolism (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12). Maintaining your metabolism is especially important to long-term fat-shredding success because your metabolism tends to decrease as you shred fat.

Your exact protein target depends on the intensity, duration, and frequency of your training program. Here are my general guidelines for target protein intake:

How Much Protein Should You Eat to Build Lean Muscle?

Many decades of research and anecdotal evidence prove active people, particularly those who lift heavy weights regularly, need more protein than the average person.

Studies from the University of Western Ontario, the Exercise Metabolism Research Group, and McMaster University all agree that the ideal range to aim for is 0.7 to 0.9 grams of high-quality protein per pound of body weight (1.5 to 2.0 grams per kilogram of body weight) to maximize muscle growth (13, 14, 15).

Here are my recommendations for protein targets:

These numbers might sound high but trust me. When you are working your butt off in the gym to gain muscle, you want to be sure you are getting all of the protein you need so you aren’t leaving any gains on the table.

Law 3: Micronutrients MATTER

Macronutrients (protein, carbs, and fat) have the most direct impact on your body composition. But it doesn’t really matter if you are lean and ripped if you’re unhealthy on the inside. That’s why micronutrients matter just as much as macronutrients.

Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals. Vitamins are necessary for energy production, immune function, blood clotting, and other functions. Minerals play an important role in growth, bone health, fluid balance, and several other processes.

It’s not all about macronutrients (protein, carbs, and dietary fat). You must eat a wide variety of wholesome plant foods. Supplements do have their place, but you shouldn’t be relying on them to get your micronutrients.

I have been working with a vegan nutritionist and she prescribed a vegan multivitamin to help me boost up a few vitamins that were a bit low in recent blood work. But she said that I just need to add a bit more variety into my diet with the fruits and vegetables that I’m consuming. She said that the multivitamin would probably only boost my levels by around 4% after 6 months of consistent use.

Supplements can help, but they are NOT the answer. The simplest advice that I can give you is to eat the rainbow. Also, check out Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen:

Learn more about Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen.

Learn more about Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen.

However, given our modern lifestyles, some important micronutrient shortfalls need to be corrected. For example, vitamin B12 is not made by plants; it’s made by microbes in the soil.

The three supplements that most vegans would benefit from taking are:

  1. Vitamin B12

  2. The omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA (from algae)

  3. Vitamin D

But the only way to know for sure what your body needs is to get blood work done.

Law 4: Focus on resistance training

When it comes to your exercise program, you need to focus on resistance training. It doesn’t matter if you’re using resistance bands, barbells, dumbbells, sandbags, bodyweight… you just need to focus on progressively overloading your muscles with resistance training over time.

Most people understand why resistance training is necessary for muscle growth, but it’s also necessary for preserving lean muscle if your goal is fat loss. And here’s a study that really proves this point...

Researchers at Pennsylvania State University designed a study to examine the physiological effects of a weight-loss dietary regimen with or without exercise (16). The researchers randomly placed 35 healthy men into one of four groups: 1) a control group, 2) a diet-only group, 3) a diet plus cardio group, and 4) a diet plus cardio and heavy resistance training group.

Their findings were remarkably close to findings published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The Pennsylvania State University researchers observed an average lean body mass loss of 31% in the diet-only group and an average lean body mass loss of 22% in the diet plus cardio group. While adding cardio on top of a diet may reduce lean body mass loss, 22% is simply unacceptable.

But have no fear, the Pennsylvania State University researchers found that the inclusion of heavy resistance training three times per week resulted in nearly complete preservation of lean body mass. Through the 12-week study, the diet plus cardio and heavy resistance training group shredded 9.57 kilograms (21.1 pounds) of body fat while only losing 0.33 kilograms (0.73 pounds) of lean body mass.

In other words, 97% of the total weight loss for the resistance training group was pure body fat, while a mere 3% can be attributed to losses in lean body mass. And despite maintaining a caloric deficit, the resistance training group also significantly increased their maximum strength in the bench press (+19.6%) and squat (+32.6%) in just 12 weeks.

Numerous other studies have proven that resistance training helps preserve - or in some cases increase - lean body mass during periods of moderate caloric restriction (17, 18, 19, 20, 21). And this holds true regardless of age or gender (22).

So what about cardio?

Numerous studies have proven that cardio alone does not have any fat shredding benefits (23, 24). This is because dieters who engage in regular cardio tend to eat back the calories they burn. Doing cardio can certainly help you burn fat when combined with a proper diet, but if you eat too much, your body will simply replace the burned fat with the excess calories you’re feeding it.

This is exactly what happened in a study conducted by researchers at the University of Kansas (25). Women who engaged in regular cardio (four sessions per week that burned an average of 440 calories per session) saw no changes in body weight or body fat percentage after 16 months!

Before we completely shun cardio, let’s consider what the word “cardio” actually means. Cardio is short for cardiovascular training, and it functions as exercise for your heart and lungs. So obviously, improving cardiovascular fitness will lead to substantial health benefits.

I recommend that you do at least a little cardio (i.e. cardiovascular) to maintain optimal health, but the focus should be on resistance training. The only exception to this rule is if your main fitness goal is cardiovascular endurance because you are training for a marathon, triathlon, or a similar endurance event.

Law 5: Allow your body adequate rest and recovery

When you lift weights, you cause tiny tears in the muscle fibers, known as microtears, which the body then repairs. One of the things you want to achieve with your workouts is an optimal amount of micro-tearing in the muscles. Not so much that your body falls behind with repair, as this stunts muscle growth, but not so little that you miss out on potential gains.

While many people under train and thus under damage their muscles, many people also over train and over damage them. If you over damage your muscles by working out too much, then your body will fall behind in repairing your muscles and you will struggle to build muscle and strength.

So, how much should you lift?

I lift five, sometimes six, days a week. Each workout takes around 75 minutes, sometimes more, sometimes less. But the amount of time you spend in the gym isn’t a great metric to follow because it doesn’t really correlate with results.

For example, you could spend 60 minutes in the gym on the flat bench press hitting 5 lightweight sets with 10-minute rest periods between sets spent scrolling Instagram. Obviously, your results would suck.

Instead, VOLUME is the most important metric. Volume, or the number of total reps performed, is the main determining factor in your muscle and strength gains. If your volume per week is too low, you will struggle to gain muscle and strength. If your volume per week is too high, you’ll face problems related to overtraining (more on this later). Get the volume right and you’ll make gains faster than ever.

According to the latest research, the optimal volume appears to be in the range of 60 to 180 reps per major muscle group per week. The heavier the training, the fewer reps you should do every week.

Sleep is KING

Getting enough sleep is crucial for muscle recovery/growth and fat loss, not to mention general health. Research has shown that sleep deprivation can cause muscle loss, and it has also been linked to muscular atrophy (26, 27).

One study conducted by the University of Chicago found that when 10 healthy men reduced sleep for a week from about 9 hours per night to 5, their testosterone levels dropped by up to 14% during the day (28).

It’s also known that insufficient sleep decreases growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-1) levels, which play important roles in maintaining muscle mass (29). When you sleep, your body releases high amounts of anabolic hormones such as testosterone and IGF-1. When you have short or interrupted periods of sleep, the release of these crucial hormones takes much longer, which disrupts the body’s ability to repair and build muscle during sleep.

Sleep also diminishes the level of catabolic hormones, namely, cortisol. Levels of cortisol – the stress hormone – remain elevated whenever you don’t get a good night of sleep. This is bad news for your gains. Sleep deprivation has quite a few other negative effects as well, including decreased fat loss, increased risk of chronic disease, reduced physical performance, and more (30, 31, 32).

That last point is important. When you don’t sleep enough, it negatively affects your performance in the gym. If you ever go to the gym feeling tired and sleepy, chances are you won’t be doing half as much work as you normally would.

If you are busting your butt to nail your nutrition and training, then getting less than 6 hours of sleep per night, you are fighting an uphill battle.

Use our Free Vegan Nutrition Calculator to find out how many calories you should be eating to meet your health and fitness goals! In just 2 minutes, we’ll break down exactly how much protein, carbs, and dietary fat you should include in your daily meal planning.

Summary:

Law 1: Calories MATTER

Both muscle gain and fat loss are controlled by energy balance, which equates to the difference between your caloric intake from food and your caloric expenditure.

Law 2: Protein MATTERS

A large body of evidence suggests that a low-fat, high-protein diet increases fat loss, preserves lean body mass, and maintains your metabolism.

Law 3: Micronutrients MATTER

Micronutrients matter just as much as macronutrients. You should aim to look and feel both great on the inside and the outside. Check out Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen.

Law 4: Focus on resistance training

It doesn’t matter if you’re using resistance bands, barbells, dumbbells, sandbags, bodyweight… you just need to focus on progressively overloading your muscles with resistance training over time.

Law 5: Allow your body adequate rest and recovery

If you don’t recover properly, which mainly means dialing in your weekly training volume for all of your major muscle groups and sleeping 8+ hours per night, then you’re going to get really frustrated with slow progress.

Should Vegan Athletes Take Creatine?

When you think of creatine, you may think of a supplement meant to help you gain muscle and strength.

You may have even heard that vegans can especially benefit from taking it.

But what is creatine? Does it actually do what it claims to do? And above all, is it a supplement that’s safe and worth taking?

The following article will give you the low-down on creatine and help you figure out whether you should give it a try for yourself.

An Introduction to Creatine

Creatine is a compound that’s naturally present in your body. A small percentage is stored in your brain, kidneys, and liver, but the largest amounts are stored in your muscles (1).

The amount of muscle creatine can vary from person to person and depends on various factors, including diet. The type of food that contains the most creatine is meat, which shouldn’t come as a surprise since other animals also store creatine in their muscles.

This may be one reason why vegetarians, including vegans, tend to have lower levels of creatine than meat-eaters (2, 3, 4).

That said, eating animals is not the only way to boost creatine levels — and definitely not a necessity. Our bodies can also produce creatine internally from the amino acids glycine and arginine, which many plant foods contain.

Creatine supplements containing zero animal derivatives are another way to boost creatine levels. Plus, supplements are a much more effective strategy to increase muscle creatine levels compared to eating meat.

 
Now Sports Creatine Monohydrate
 

That’s because a person would have to eat 2.8 pounds (1.3 kg) of raw meat each day (or twice that amount if cooked) to get the same amount of creatine found in 5 grams of supplement (5).

Other factors which can influence the amount of creatine stored in your muscles include the total amount of muscle mass you have, the type of training you do, and your hormone levels.

Summary: Creatine is a compound naturally found in the body and mainly stored in muscle. Vegetarians and vegans tend to have lower creatine levels than meat-eaters and supplements are the best way to increase levels.

How Does Creatine Work?

Creatine works by providing your muscle with a quick source of energy.

It does so by boosting the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a molecule that stores the energy that your cells need to function. The higher the amount of creatine present in your muscles, the quicker ATP can be produced and used by your muscles to contract (6).

Simply put, higher creatine levels in the muscles help your muscles recover more quickly between sets. This lower fatigue generally means that you can fit in more sets or reps during the same training session, both of which can equate to better results (1, 7).

This reduced recovery time is especially useful during repeated short bursts of intense exercise, which require quick replenishing of your muscles’ energy stores. For instance, during weightlifting, sprinting, soccer, rugby or hockey.

In addition, creatine also acts in key cellular processes which can help increase muscle mass, strength, and recovery (8). 

For instance, creatine supplementation may help reduce protein breakdown and increase anabolic hormone levels in your body, both of which can promote muscle strength and growth (9, 10).

Creatine supplementation also appears to boost muscle repair and muscle water retention, both of which may also lead to improved muscle recovery and growth (11, 12).

To learn how to boost your post-workout recovery even more, click here.

Summary: Creatine works by providing the muscle with a quick source of energy. Higher creatine concentrations in your muscles can help increase muscle mass and strength. These creatine stores also help to improve exercise performance, especially during short bursts of high-intensity exercise.

Effects on Muscle Mass

Creatine is one of the most effective and well-researched supplements when it comes to growing muscle (13, 14).

Even taking creatine for as little as a week can produce significant effects. It’s important to note that most of the increase in muscle mass in the first few weeks of supplementation comes from water retention in the muscle. However, over a longer period of time, muscle fiber growth also increases (11).

Several studies support this notion. For instance, in one study, participants given creatine increased their muscle mass by an additional 4.4 lbs (2 kg) following a 6-week training program than those given a placebo (15).

In another, older individuals given creatine in combination with a muscle training program experienced significantly greater gains in muscle mass than a placebo by the end of the 14-week study period (16).

In weightlifters, creatine intake during a 12-week training program increased muscle fiber growth 2 to 3 times more than training alone. The weightlifters taking creatine also gained 5 more pounds (2.3 kg) of muscle than those given the placebo (17).

Not many studies have been done on the effects of creatine on vegetarians and vegans. However, in one study conducted by researchers at St. Francis Xavier University, around half of the participants were vegetarian and there were even three vegans.

The individuals in this study were given either a creatine supplement or a placebo and put through an intense 8-week weight training routine focused mainly on the upper body.

All participants who received creatine gained more muscles than those given the placebo, regardless of their diet. However, the vegetarians gained the most muscle — around one additional pound (around 0.5 kg) more than the non-vegetarians (4).

Summary: When combined with weight training, creatine can help individuals gain more muscle mass. This effect may be especially strong in vegetarians and vegans.

Effects on Strength and Exercise Performance

Creatine can also help improve strength and exercise performance, especially during short bouts of high-intensity exercise.

Squatting

According to a review of 22 studies, training with creatine may result in 8% more strength, a 14% increase in weight lifting performance, and a 43% higher bench press one rep max compared to training without creatine supplementation (18).

But this meta-analysis only scratched the surface of the more than 300 studies that have investigated the effect of creatine on high-intensity exercise performance.

Around 70% of these 300 studies report significant improvements while 30% found either no effects or effects too small to be significant. None of these studies found negative effects of creatine supplementation. Of those which found a positive effect, improvements in maximal power and strength ranged from 5% to 15% (19). However, creatine offers generally fewer benefits for low-intensity or endurance-type exercise (7, 20, 21, 22, 23).

Again, few studies exist on creatine intake in vegetarians. However, those which do exist tend to find similar results to those above (2, 4).

Summary: Creatine, when taken in combination with training, increases strength and high-intensity exercise performance. However, it has limited effects on low-intensity or endurance-type exercise.

Other Beneficial Effects of Creatine

In addition to its beneficial effects on exercise listed above, creatine may also have a wide range of positive health effects. The most researched include:

  • May help reduce symptoms of Parkison’s disease (24, 25).

  • May lower blood sugar levels and prevent diabetes (26, 27, 28).

  • May improve brain function and memory, although not all studies agree (29, 30, 31, 32).

  • May reduce fatigue during sleep deprivation (33).

Summary: In addition to having positive effects on muscle, strength, and performance, creatine may also provide the additional health benefits listed above.

Creatine Type and Dosage

Scoop of creatine

Several forms of creatine can be found on the market. The most common, and best researched, is creatine monohydrate.

You may come across claims that other forms of creatine are superior to creatine monohydrate. However, no studies actually support this notion (34).

The amount of creatine monohydrate you need to optimize muscle, strength, and performance gains depends on the type of loading protocol you choose.

  • Quick loading protocol: 0.1 grams of creatine monohydrate per pound of body weight per day (0.3 g/kg of body weight per day) — or you can take 5 grams four times per day — for 5-7 days, followed by 3-5 grams per day thereafter.

  • Longer loading protocol: 5 grams of creatine monohydrate per day taken for 21-30 days followed by 3-5 grams per day thereafter.

By the end of either loading protocol, you’ll end up with around the same amount of creatine in your muscles. However, as the name implies, the quick loading protocol achieves this in 5-7 days rather than 3-4 weeks.

To maximize creatine absorption, try mixing your supplement with a source of carbs, for instance, juice. Absorption is slightly improved after a workout when insulin levels are elevated (35).

Summary: Creatine monohydrate is the best-researched form of supplementation. Dosages depend on whether you choose to follow a quick-loading or longer loading protocol. By the end of either loading period, your muscles will contain similar total amounts of creatine.

Creatine Safety

In terms of safety, it’s worth mentioning that creatine is considered one of the safest supplements on the market. It’s also one of the most well-researched.

For instance, one study investigated 52 blood markers following creatine supplementation for close to two years. Researchers found no adverse effects (36).

Despite fears that creatine may harm the liver and kidneys, no scientific proof of negative effects could be found in healthy adults sticking to the recommended creatine doses (36, 37, 38).

That said, if you already suffer from liver or kidney issues, you might want to check with your healthcare practitioner before taking this supplement.

Moreover, despite many anecdotal claims of the contrary, creatine supplementation appears to have a positive influence on muscle cramps and dehydration (39).

In fact, some studies even show that creatine may reduce the risk of dehydration and muscle cramps during exercise in hot conditions (40, 41). 

Several medium-term studies have also been performed and continuous creatine intake for up to four years shows no negative effects (36, 37).

That said, few studies have investigated safety effects passed four years. Thus, long-term safety cannot be guaranteed since long-term effects are not currently known. Longer-term studies are needed.

Summary: Creatine use is generally considered as safe in healthy adults following the recommended dosages. Continuous intakes for up to 4 years appear to have little negative effects. However, studies looking at longer-term effects are still needed.

The Bottom Line

Creatine is a safe and effective supplement with various proven benefits for strength, muscle mass, performance, and even health.

Creatine levels appear generally lower in vegans and vegetarians. Thus, active vegetarians and vegans seeking to grow muscle or increase strength and exercise performance may particularly benefit from creatine supplementation.

That's a wrap! Thank you SO MUCH for reading this article!

Before you do anything else, please check out Alina's plant-based nutrition tips at her website: morethanjustveggies.com. She also offers nutrition consultations. If you are interested in working with a vegan sports dietician, please contact her here: www.morethanjustveggies.com/contact.

Was this article helpful to you? Please be sure to share this article with your vegan fitness friends by clicking the share buttons below! I'd really appreciate it and so would your friends!

The Definitive Guide To Losing Weight and Getting Shredded on a Vegan Diet

Aside from the physical struggles, losing fat and getting lean is tough on a mental and emotional level. It requires careful planning, hours of meal prep and training, intense commitment, and an iron will.

I learned this first hand when I competed in an online 90-day physique challenge held by YouTuber Christian Guzman.

The rules were simple: submit a before and after video and the most impressive transformation wins.

I didn’t win the competition, but I went from pudgy to ripped and achieved the best physique I’ve ever had. I also learned a lot through the process and wrote this article to share these lessons with you.

But first, I want to show you my transformation…

On March 6th 2017, I entered the competition at 182 pounds (82.6 kg). For reference, I’m 5 feet and 11 inches tall. Here’s the physique I started with…

Vegan shredding before picture Leif Arnesen The Vegan Gym

On June 3rd 2017, 90 days later, I finished the competition at 161.5 pounds (73.3 kg), more shredded than ever.

Vegan shredding after picture Leif Arnesen The Vegan Gym

If you doubt this transformation, I don't blame you! There is a lot of BS in the fitness world.

But I assure you this is a 3-month transformation (89 days to be precise). I didn't actually gain any muscle during this period, I just burned body fat. The lighting helped as well to give me an extra shredded look. Here is my before/after video with proof. The video on the laptop that I am holding up in my before video is Christian Guzman's launch video for the Summer Shredding 2017 Challenge, which was uploaded in March 2017. And I hold up an iPhone in my after video clearly displaying the date June 3rd.

In just 3 months, I chopped more than 20 pounds off my already-fairly-lean physique, which equates to an average weekly weight loss of 1.6 pounds.

And my strength didn’t drop at all, indicating that most of this weight loss was bodyfat.

How did I accomplish this?

Well, it required a lot of hard work and mental fortitude, but I learned that having the right plan makes things much easier.

In this article, I will tell you everything you need to know to lose fat and get lean – even shredded if that is your goal.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

  • How many calories you should be eating to lose fat with ease

  • Why macros matter (even more than calories!)

  • My favorite shredding meals (that each take less than 10 minutes to make)

  • The best exercises for losing fat and getting shredded

  • Why you don’t have to kill yourself with cardio to lose fat

  • How much protein you should be eating

  • Shredding advice from two top bodybuilders (Rebecca Unruth and Zack Staver)

Before we begin, I've been working on creating a course called Vegan Meal Planning Mastery. If you are a visual learner and would like to learn how to create your own meal plan to lose fat and build muscle while eating the vegan foods you love, then you must check it out here: Vegan Meal Planning Mastery course.

I’m running an Early Bird $37 Special for this course, which will officially launch on August 28th. This price will only be good until August 28th.

Okay, now let's begin!

How To Eat To Shred Fat

When your main goal is to lose body fat while maintaining muscle mass, diet and exercise are both important. But, I’d argue that diet is far more important. In this section, we’ll cover the basics about dieting for fat loss.

Caloric Deficit for Fat Loss

You must burn more energy than you consume to achieve meaningful fat loss. This is called a caloric deficit (i.e. consume less calories than you burn).

The size of your caloric deficit and the length of time you maintain it determines how much weight you lose. Every pound of pure body fat that is metabolized yields approximately 3500 calories, thus a daily caloric deficit of 500 calories theoretically results in fat loss of approximately one pound per week if the weight loss comes entirely from body fat.

However, eating very little, known as starvation dieting, isn’t ideal for weight loss. If your caloric deficit is too extreme, your metabolism will slow, you will lose muscle along with fat, and you’ll really hate the process.

In a study of bodybuilders during the twelve weeks before competition, male competitors reduced their caloric intake significantly during the latter half and subsequently lost the greatest amount of lean body mass in the final three weeks. This study is just one of many that suggest diets yielding weight loss of approximately 0.25 to 0.5% of bodyweight weekly may be superior for lean body mass retention compared to more aggressive diets.

How do you achieve steady, sustainable fat loss? You should maintain a caloric deficit of approximately 20% to lose fat while preserving lean muscle mass, energy levels, hormone production, and general well-being. In other words, you should eat about 80% of your total daily energy expenditure.

Why Macros Matter More Than Calories

Macronutrients, often referred to as “macros,” are substances required in large amount in the human diet. There are three primary macronutrients that the human body needs in order to function properly: carbohydrates, fat, and protein.

Regardless of the sources foodwise, 1 gram of protein contains 4 calories, 1 gram of carbohydrates contains 4 calories, and 1 gram of fat contains 9 calories.

Many of the most respected vegan medical professionals (Dr. Michael Greger, Dr. Garth Davis, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Dr. T. Colin Campbell, and many others) do not advocate a specific macronutrient ratio. The ones that do tend to recommend a high carb, low protein, low fat diet with an 80/10/10 split (80% carbs, 10% protein, 10% fat). However, their recommendations do not necessarily reflect optimal dietary approaches to achieve specific physique goals.

A plethora of nutritional research indicates that a high carb, high protein, low fat diet is optimal for gaining and preserving muscle mass. This can be accomplished on a healthy, whole food, plant-based diet with perhaps some protein supplementation depending on your specific goals.

Because your specific macro intakes matter, you should focus on them instead of simply focusing on calories.

For example, let’s say that your total daily energy expenditure is 2,500 calories. Your total daily energy expenditure is simply the number of calories you body burns in a day to function and perform exercise.

If you want to shred body fat, your daily calorie target should be 2,000 calories (2,500 calories x 0.8) to efficiently burn fat.

Of these 2,000 available calories, you need to determine how many grams of carbs, protein, and fat to consume to give you the best chance of achieving your physique goals.

While calculating your macros is simple and straightforward, the process takes a bit of work.

You can calculate your macros accurately with our vegan nutrition calculator. We make it easy by doing it for you right in Facebook Messenger.

Macros are calculated for all clients of The Vegan Superhero Academy. You can apply for the VSA program here!

How Much Protein Should You Consume on a Cut?

To ensure all your weight loss comes from body fat, higher protein intakes are required to help preserve muscle when on a caloric deficit.

A joint study conducted by AUT University, California State University, and the University of Illinois found that caloric intake should be set at a level that results in bodyweight losses of approximately 0.5% to 1.0% per week to maximize muscle retention.

With this caloric deficit, the study concluded, “most but not all bodybuilders will respond best to consuming 2.3 to 3.1 g/kg of lean body mass per day of protein, 15-30% of calories from fat, and the remainder of calories from carbohydrate.”

A meta-analysis led by the same AUT University researchers provided a systematic review of 6 studies with energy-resisted, resistance-trained (> 6 months) adult subjects.

The AUT University researchers reached the same conclusion as the previous study: protein needs for energy-restricted resistance-trained athletes are likely 1.05 to 1.41 grams per pound of lean body mass (2.3 to 3.1 grams per kilogram of lean body mass) scaled upwards with the severity of caloric restriction and leanness. Lean body mass is everything in your body that isn’t fat (i.e., organs, skeletal muscle, water, and bone).

A study from the Exercise Metabolism Research Group at McMaster University concluded that strength athletes on a caloric deficit should consume as much as 0.82 to 0.91 grams per pound of body weight (1.8 to 2.0 grams per kilogram of bodyweight per day), depending on the extent of the deficit.

A study from the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Birmingham examined the influence of various dietary protein levels on lean body mass and performance during short-term periods of caloric restriction in athletes. Their findings indicate that young healthy athletes need approximately 2.3 grams per kilogram of body weight for maintenance of lean mass during short periods of caloric restriction.

Collectively, these studies suggest you should consume 0.82 to 1.40 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass (2.3 to 3.1 grams per kilogram of lean mass) when dieting to shred fat.

Please keep in mind that these recommendations are for serious strength athletes and bodybuilders. If you do not compete in strength or physique contests, then you likely don’t need that much protein.

Here are my general guidelines for protein consumption:

Approximate Protein Requirements for 3 Types of People - The Vegan Gym (thevegangym.com)

If you follow the high carb mantra in most vegan health circles, these protein requirements probably seem way too high.

But trust me. I’d rather hit my protein and be safe than risk burning any of my hard-earned vegan muscle gains while I’m on a caloric deficit.

For example, if an experienced weightlifter (4+ years of weightlifting experience) loses just a single pound of muscle while shredding, it could take 2 to 6 months of intense weightlifting to gain that pound of muscle back during his/her next bulking period!

Assuming five 1-hour workouts per week, that single pound of muscle could take upwards of 135 hours of intense weightlifting to gain back!

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather eat a bit more protein than I probably need to avoid losing any muscle instead of killing myself for 135 hours in the gym just to get back to my pre-shredding lean body mass.

Yes, hitting 1.1 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass while on a caloric deficit is a challenge. It requires careful planning and most likely protein supplementation.

Protein powders simplify your life and allow you to eat plenty of healthy fruits and vegetables while still hitting your high-protein macros.

My Favorite Shredding Meals:

I’m a pretty simple guy. I can eat the same things over and over again. Two of my favorite meals – that I usually eat every day during a cut – are Berry Protein Oatmeal and Jerk Tofu Taco Salad.

These recipes are filling and packed with protein and micronutrients to make you lean and feeling like a million bucks.

Berry Protein Oatmeal

Berry Protein Oatmeal - The Vegan Gym

Ingredients:

  • Quick oats (I use 50 grams during a cut)

  • Naked chocolate pea protein powder (I use 60 grams during a cut)

  • Frozen berries (I use 300 grams during a cut)

Nutrition facts: 615 calories, 86 grams carbs (54%), 48 grams protein (31%), 11 grams fat (15%)

Note: I cook the quick oats in water and I do not add any non-dairy milk. If you do need to add some, I would recommend you try low calorie soymilk for the added protein boost.

Jerk Tofu Taco Salad

Jerk Tofu Taco Salad

Ingredients:

  • Organic tofu (I use 450 grams – weighed uncooked – during a cut)

  • Shredded cabbage (I use 200 grams during a cut)

  • Kale (I use 200 grams during a cut)

  • Refried beans (I use 100 grams during a cut)

  • Salsa (I use 150 grams during a cut)

  • Balsamic vinegar (I use 20 grams during a cut)

Nutrition facts: 750 calories, 72 grams carbs (36%), 69 grams protein (31%), 30 grams fat (33%)

Note: The most important part of this recipe is cooking the tofu correctly! Click here to learn how I make delicious, crispy, oil-free tofu.

How To Exercise For Fat Loss

How many people have you seen that spend hours on the treadmill every week, yet never get lean?

How many people have you seen who seem to only lift weights and never do cardio, but are ripped?

What gives? Everybody knows that cardio is required to get lean and weight lifting is just for getting bigger muscles, right?

Not exactly.

Your body fat percentage is primarily determined by your diet. Doing cardio does burn fat, but if you eat too much, your body will simply replace the fat lost with the excess calories you’re giving it.

Weightlifting actually burns about the same amount of calories per hour as low-intensity cardio, but it also burns more calories after your workout, known as “the afterburn effect.” The muscle you build as a result also helps keep you lean because it increases the total amount of calories that your body burns while at rest.

What Are The Best Exercises For Building And Maintaining Muscle?

Just like I recommend for building muscle while bulking, you must emphasize heavy compound weightlifting in your workouts to maintain muscle mass while shredding as a natural weightlifter.

What exactly is a compound exercise?

A compound exercise is an exercise that involves multiple joints and muscle groups. If you maintain proper form and do not overtrain, heavy compound exercises are not harmful to your body.

The best compound exercises are the squat, deadlift, bench press, dip, row, and overhead “military” press.

Deadlifting

These exercises are highly “functional” meaning that the strength you develop from them is far more applicable to daily life than targeted isolation exercises like bicep curls.

For example, lifting a heavy 100-pound box will be fairly easy if you are repping out 300-pound deadlifts in the gym.

No matter who you are and what your fitness goals are, compound exercises deserve far more attention than isolation exercises.

What Makes Compound Exercises So Effective?

Because compound exercises employ multiple muscle groups and allow you to lift heavier weights through a large range of motion, compound exercises better progressively overload your muscles than isolation exercises. And the more you can progressively overload your muscles (with proper rest), the faster they will grow.

Although compound exercises are most effective at building muscle, isolation exercises are really important too. Without isolation exercises to fill in the gaps, compound exercises can create imbalances in the mass and strength gains of your muscles.

To avoid imbalances, I use isolation exercises to target muscle groups like biceps and calves that are difficult to hit in heavy, compound movements.

For example, if all you did for leg training was back squats, you’d likely develop an imbalance between the strength and size of your quadriceps (the prime muscle group in the exercise) and hamstrings (the secondary muscle group in the exercise). In the long-term, the result of this imbalance could be hamstring injury or knee problems.

A well-designed weightlifting routine for strength and aesthetics includes both compound and isolation exercises.

Depending the muscle group I am training, compound movements comprise about 60 to 75% of my lifting routine while isolation exercises fill in the remaining 25 to 40%.

How Much Should You Train?

For the first 9 weeks of my cut, I lifted weights 5 to 6 days a week for 50 to 75 minutes. For the last 3 weeks, I ramped this up to 6 days of lifting per week with five 45-minute StairMaster sessions per week.

But the amount of time you spend in the gym isn’t a great metric to follow because it doesn’t really correlate with results.

For example, you could spend 60 minutes in the gym on the flat bench press hitting 5 lightweight sets with 10-minute rest periods spent scrolling Instagram.

Obviously, your results would suck.

Instead, volume is the important metric. Volume, or the total amount of total reps performed, is the determining factor in your muscle and strength gains.

If the volume of your training for each major muscle group is too low, then you will struggle to gain size and strength.

If your volume is too high, then you’ll run into problems related to overtraining. You have to bring the intensity, but take rest days and be careful to not overtrain.

Get the volume right and you will be able to gain muscle like clockwork over time.

According to various experts and studies, optimal volume appears to be in the range of 60 to 180 reps per major muscle group per week. The heavier the training, the fewer reps you should do every week.

Since I focus on heavy compound lifts in the range of 75 to 85 percent of my one-rep max (1RM), I stick to the lower range of the 60 to 180-rep spectrum. I usually lift around 60 to 80 total reps per major muscle group per week.

Should You Do Cardio To Burn Fat?

While I recommend cardio for its many health benefits, if you’re willing to be strict with your diet, you can get lean by that alone and not even bother with cardio.

That being said, I do like cardio because I find it easier to increase my caloric deficit with cardio than by eating less. I feel deprived when I don’t eat a certain amount each day.

Still, I keep my cardio to a minimum because I frankly don’t like it and research indicates that it inhibits muscle growth.

In a 2016 study conducted at the Academy for Sports Excellence in the UK, researchers divided 30 resistance trained men into 4 groups and they completed a 6-week training program in which they trained 3 days per week. 

Group 1: Only strength training 3 times per week

Group 2: Strength training 3 times per week and endurance training (treadmill running) once per week

Group 3: Strength training 3 times per week and endurance training (treadmill running) 3 times per week

Group 4: Didn't train at all (control)

At the end of the program, Group 1 and Group 2 had the highest lower body strength increases, but Group 1, the strength only training group, had a significantly higher lower body power increase than all the other groups. Upper body strength increased similarly in Groups 1-3.

What do these findings tell us?

If muscle growth and strength are the primary goals, then you should keep cardio to a minimum.

HIIT vs. Steady State Cardio

If you decide to include cardio in your training routine, you have a few options. You can do high intensity interval training (HIIT) like sprinting or you can do steady state cardio like hitting the stair climber, treadmill, or elliptical with low to moderate intensity.

So which type of cardio is best for fat loss?

A 2017 meta-analysis showed similar reductions in body fat from HIIT vs. steady state moderate intensity cardio when protocols were matched for energy expenditure.

This indicates that personal preference should be the determining factor in which form of cardio to perform from a fat loss standpoint. Importantly, cardio should only be considered a supplement to enhancing fat reduction as neither type of cardio produced clinically meaningful reductions in body fat.

As I’ve said, reducing calories through diet should be your primary focus in getting lean.

What About Fasted Cardio?

I don’t want to get into a huge debate about whether fasted cardio does or does not have a place in anyone's shredding program, but I personally have never done it myself or for my clients. I don't see a reason why I would ever implement it, unless future published research changes my mind.

As it now stands, current research shows that fasted cardio does not cause any significant improvements on weight loss or body composition versus fed cardio.

If you prefer to do your cardio very first thing in the morning for personal/schedule reasons that is absolutely fine, just be aware that you're not doing some magical form of cardio that is going to help you lose more fat than non-fasted cardio.

If you still prefer fasted cardio, I would at least recommend some type of branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) or pea protein shake either before and/or during cardio to help maximize muscle retention.

Should You Take Supplements?

I’ve left the supplement section for last because I think that it is the least important. Hard work and diet produce 99% of the results. Depending on your goals and current level of fitness, you might consider using supplements, but keep it to a minimum.

Beyond my regular supplements – I take vitamin B12, zinc, DHA/EPA, iodine, and vitamin D (only during the winter months) – here are the supplements I take while shredding:

Protein Powder (I take this all the time)

A high-protein diet is absolutely vital for building muscle and maintaining lean body mass when dieting. You don’t need protein supplements to gain muscle, but considering how much protein you need to eat every day to be “safe” in maximizing muscle protein synthesis (MPS) response, getting all your protein from whole food can be impractical.

If you want to learn about the best vegan protein powders for building and maintaining muscle, check out my article: What is the Best Vegan Protein Source for Building Muscle?

Pre-workout

I don’t usually take a pre-workout because I think they are pretty bad for you, but it was a huge struggle to drag myself to the gym on a caloric deficit, especially toward the end of my cut when I was doing 45 minutes of StairMaster 5 times per week. If you need a boost of energy, there are healthier alternatives (e.g. coffee).

BCAAs

According to current research, the required “leucine threshold” to maximize muscle protein synthesis is somewhere between 3.2 and 4.4 grams (for most people). This is easily reached with a soy/pea protein shake and some tofu. However, I believe BCAA supplements are beneficial during a caloric deficit (particularly at low body fat) or during fasted training as a muscle sparing strategy.

If you have a few minutes, check out my article on BCAA supplementation: Should You Take A BCAA Supplement?

BCAA pic

Tracking Your Progress

In order to know for certain whether you need to make a change or not, you MUST weigh yourself on a daily basis. Doing so is the only way you will know for certain whether your health and fitness approach is succeeding in reaching your goals. I recommend you weigh yourself at the same time every day (preferably morning) and track your weekly average weight to ensure you are consistently losing weight over time.

Additionally, you must track your calories and macronutrients. The best method I’ve found to track these is an app named Cronometer. I highly recommend Cronometer over other fitness apps such as MyPlate and MyFitnessPal as it tracks your micronutrients as well as individual amino acids in the free version.

Advice From The Shredding Experts

Rebecca Unruth, IPL Bikini Pro

Rebecca Unruth, IPL Bikini Pro

How tall are you?

5'5"

What is your approximate pre-cutting weight?

121.5 lbs

What was your most recent stage weight?

116 lbs

What are your staple cutting foods?

Bananas! I rarely go a morning without my banana smoothie and salads too. You can add protein, carbs, and fats, whatever you want into a salad to make it work for your prep. And you can eat a ton that way.

What is the most difficult part of contest prep?

For me personally it was my schedule. I was working two jobs, going to school 5 days a week with a few surgery rotation days, and trying to train 4-5 days a week. It got rough and I ended up slacking a bit towards the end of prep when finals came around. 

What’s your favorite cheat meal after a competition?

There's a local breakfast place near me and I would always get their tofu scramble and sweet potato hash browns! So amazing!

Do you have any tips for people starting their first contest prep?

Do what works for YOU! A lot of people see what other girls are doing for their prep and try to mimic that but every body responds differently. I did the complete opposite of what I've ever learned about prep. I kept eating carbs in abundance but I kept it super clean, fruits, veggies, rice, quinoa, and potatoes. It worked for me so I went with it.

Follow Rebecca on Instagram: @beccau.fit

Zach Staver, NPC Competitor

Zach Staver, NPC Competitor

How tall are you?

5'6"

What is your approximate pre-cutting weight?

188 lbs

What was your most recent stage weight?

148 lbs

What are your staple cutting foods?

My staple cutting foods are vegan protein ice cream, big salads, flatbread pizzas, and puffed rice cereal.

Did you do cardio when cutting?

I use cardio as a tool for weight loss I only implement it when needed. If my calories become too low to where I feel I don't have enough energy to function well I will add cardio in instead of dropping more calories to break weight loss plateaus.

What is the most difficult part of contest prep?

The most difficult part of contest prep is mentally and physically feeling horrible day in and day out at different times of the day. You go through many highs and lows and battling them is hard. Also when you get really lean you're constantly cold so that was a huge struggle.

What’s your favorite cheat meal after a competition?

I don't believe in the term "cheat meal" it provides a negative connotation and leads people to often times over eat or have quilt associated with a certain meal. No food in moderation is bad for you and I follow a flexible dieting lifestyle so I can fit in any "cheat" foods daily into my caloric goals. I had no urges to have a cheat meal after my show I simply just wanted more food. I went to a restaurant but that was just to spend time with family, to me I just wanted more of the food I was already eating.

Do you have any tips for people starting their first contest prep?

Give yourself more time than you think you need. All too often people think they're bigger or less fat then they really are and they don't realize the amount of weight that's needed to cut to actually be stage level leanness. Also I'd tell them to trust the process and not get too bogged down by little fluctuations. Take it slow and make sure you're maintaining as much hard earned muscle as possible.

Follow Zach on Instagram: @veganmeathead

Final Thoughts: Adjust Your Plan Based on Your Results

If a weight loss program gets you results, but cannot be sustained over the long term, then it is not the right program for you.

Let’s be honest, everyone wants to look and feel great, but we don’t want to achieve our goals with a daily regimen of tasteless slop and tortuous workouts.

What we really want are diet and training plans that are enjoyable, effective, and sustainable. The goal here really isn’t short-term fat loss, the goal is to create a healthy, sustainable, fit vegan fitness lifestyle.

If your body is responding well and changing as desired, just keep doing what you are doing.

Need some help to get in the best shape of your life?

You can apply for The Vegan Superhero Academy online personal coaching program here.

That's a wrap! Thank you SO MUCH for reading this article!

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Should You Take A BCAA Supplement?

Article Summary

Are branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) worth taking? Is there scientific evidence that they help to build or maintain muscle mass?

Suffice it to say that there is a lot of conflicting research on the topic of BCAA supplementation. After you cut through the marketing BS and BCAA manufacturer-funded garbage studies, there’s still a pretty muddied scientific stance on BCAA supplementation.

On the whole, however, BCAAs likely fall short of their marketing hype. You simply do not need BCAA supplements to build muscle because many vegan foods like tofu and pea protein are abundantly rich in BCAAs (and far less expensive!)

Although diet and training are by far the most important drivers of muscle growth and fat loss, BCAAs do have their place in a proper bodybuilding regime.

According to the latest research, BCAA supplements are beneficial in two specific circumstances:

  1. Supplementation during a serious caloric deficit in which you are at a low body fat percentage and struggle to get enough protein (specifically the amino acid leucine).

  2. Supplementation during fasted training as a muscle sparing strategy.

Please read the rest of the article to learn everything you need to know about BCAAs.

What are BCAAs?

There are nine essential amino acids – the building blocks of protein – that must be consumed in your diet because your body cannot produce them. Three of these essential amino acids – leucine, isoleucine, and valine – are called branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) because of their branched molecular structures.

While most amino acids are broken down in your liver, BCAAs are primarily broken down in your muscle and therefore believed to improve exercise performance and reduce muscle breakdown, particularly during fasted training.

Leucine, in particular, is the MVP of muscle protein synthesis (MPS) because of its star role in building muscle and reducing muscle breakdown.

Should You Take BCAA Supplements?

If you are skeptical of the supplement industry, you have good reason to be.

Bodybuilding supplements are not regulated by the FDA and are often backed by loose pseudoscience. It is alarmingly easy to get a supplement on the market.

But if you look around at various fitness YouTube videos, BodyBuilding.com forums, and “broscience” blogs, you'll find plenty of bodybuilders who swear by their use of various supplements.

Don’t buy into the hype. Many of these same people sell supplements or have been brainwashed by jacked steroid users who shill supplements as their secret to getting ripped.

To be fair, BCAA supplements are one of the most useful, research-backed supplements on the market. There are many studies that tout the legitimate benefits of consuming BCAAs. But don’t be fooled by poor study designs and manufacturer-funded research.

For example, there is plenty of research demonstrating the benefits of BCAA supplementation for subjects following a caloric deficit or consuming low-protein diets.

The most widely cited pro-BCAA supplement study was conducted in 1997 with thirty-one competitive male wrestlers who followed a moderate caloric deficit for 19 days.

The researchers found that BCAA supplementation, in combination with the subjects’ low-protein, energy-restricted diets, induced significant and preferential losses of visceral adipose tissue (i.e. fat) and allowed maintenance of high levels of physical performance.

All this really tells us is that we should use a BCAA supplement if we are consuming less protein than our bodies need during a period of caloric restriction to avoid muscle catabolism.

A meta-analysis of BCAA supplementation literature arrived at the same finding: BCAA supplementation in combination with a moderate caloric deficit has been shown to optimize fat losses without losing muscle or strength.

Again, this isn’t very helpful information. If you aren’t consuming enough protein during a caloric deficit, ingesting amino acids in the form of a BCAA supplement will obviously help you maintain lean body mass.

What we really need is a study that analyzes the effects of BCAA supplementation for resistance-trained athletes consuming high-protein diets!

Thankfully…there are two such studies!

In one of the most comprehensive studies on BCAA supplementation, researchers at Baylor University analyzed the effects of eight weeks of heavy resistance training combined with BCAA supplementation on body composition and muscle performance of 19 non-resistance-trained males.

The researchers concluded that BCAA supplementation failed to alter body composition, muscle strength, or muscle endurance.

Another study from Leeds University analyzed the effects of L-leucine supplementation alone (not all three branched chain amino acids) on strength, lean tissue mass, and fat mass of 26 untrained men following a non-energy-restricted diet during a 12-week resistance training program.

As a brief aside, L-leucine is simply the left rotated form of the amino acid leucine. The body more easily absorbs left rotated amino acids, which are also commonly called “free form” amino acids.

Just like the Baylor University study, researchers found no effect of L-leucine supplementation (4 grams per day) on body composition over the twelve weeks of resistance exercise training.

But in partial contradiction to the Baylor University study, the Leeds University researchers did find improvement in the L-leucine group subjects’ 5 repetition maximum (5RM) strength for five out of the eight exercises tested. The percentage total 5RM strength gains were 40.8% and 31.0% for the L-leucine and placebo groups, respectively.

If you’ve seen BCAA ads stating that a 4-gram daily dose of L-leucine has been shown in a clinical study to increase 5RM strength by over 40% in just 12 weeks, then this is the study they are using.

While this is technically a correct statement, you should take it with a grain of salt. The subjects were novice weightlifters with zero prior training experience. Furthermore, the placebo group experienced a similar, albeit lower, explosion in strength gains over the same 12-week period (31.0% vs. 40.8%).

The study concludes that 4 grams per day of leucine supplementation may be used as a nutritional supplement to enhance strength performance, but these findings aren’t necessarily applicable to experienced strength athletes.

So although there’s a pretty muddied stance on BCAA supplementation in the scientific literature, we can reach a few conclusions from the peer-reviewed studies above:

  1. BCAA supplementation is an effective muscle sparring strategy if you are following an energy-restricted diet (i.e. a caloric deficit). BCAA supplementation might also enhance strength performance.

  2. If you are consuming enough BCAAs from dietary protein (including protein powder), then supplementing with BCAAs is unlikely to provide additional benefit.

  3. Leucine supplementation alone appears to be nearly as effective in stimulating muscle protein synthesis as when all branched chain amino acids are consumed.

When You Should Consider Taking a BCAA Supplement

You’ve likely heard that if you do too much cardio, don’t ingest enough protein, or if you over train, then you risk cannibalizing your muscle.

While there is truth to these concerns, the science isn’t quite so simple. Your body breaks down and utilizes free BCAAs in your muscle first before your body cannibalizes muscle tissue. Your body takes these BCAAs and converts them to glucose through a process called gluconeogenesis (GNG) and uses the glucose for energy.

This process ensures BCAAs do have a muscle sparing action, but this is only helpful in certain situations, namely, if you are in a moderate caloric deficit or engaging in fasted training.

Specifically, the benefit of free form BCAA supplements lies in their ability to quickly flood the blood stream and muscles with high amounts of BCAA, especially leucine, to prevent muscle catabolism.

While your body absorbs amino acids from vegan protein powders (like pea protein) rather quickly (it takes around 45 minutes after consumption before your body begins to extract and absorb amino acids from protein powder), the ingestion of 5 grams of BCAAs from protein powder does not create the same metabolic response as the ingestion of 5 grams of free-form BCAAs from BCAA supplements.

Taking a BCAA supplement before intense cardio, particularly fasted cardio or cardio while following a caloric deficit, will help to preserve muscle mass.

For example, a study from the College of Charleston showed that BCAA supplementation in trained individuals performing resistance training while on a hypocaloric diet maintained lean mass and preserved skeletal muscle performance while losing fat mass.

Although informative, it is worth noting that the subjects didn’t receive a normal dose of BCAAs. The BCAA group received a whopping 28 grams of BCAAs daily (14 grams pre-workout and 14 grams post-workout) while the placebo group received 28 grams of a carbohydrate/electrolyte supplements (14 grams pre-workout and 14 grams post-workout).

Personally, I rarely train fasted and only use BCAAs when I drop below 10% body fat during a cut. While I maintain nearly all of my strength and muscle mass during deep cuts, I cannot attribute my lean body mass (LBM) retention to BCAA supplementation. I carefully plan my diet and training to achieve these results.

Even if you are following a caloric deficit, you can get all of your BCAAs from high-protein vegan foods to prevent muscle catabolism.

For me, supplementing with BCAAs is just to be safe so I don’t risk burning any of my hard-earned vegan gains during a caloric deficit. If an experienced weightlifter (4+ years of weightlifting experience) loses just one pound of muscle while cutting, it will likely take 2 to 6 months of intense weightlifting to gain that pound of muscle back during his/her next bulking period! I'd rather play it safe and supplement with BCAAs to ensure I am doing everything in my power to maintain LBM.

I have also experimented with leucine supplementation for the purpose of LBM retention during cuts, but cannot directly attribute any positive benefits to it either.

Doesn’t BCAA supplementation assist in reducing exercise-induced muscle soreness?

Nope, current research doesn’t support this common belief. A study funded by MusclePharm Corp (a manufacturer of BCAA supplements), which was surprisingly unbiased, found that BCAA supplementation does not reduce muscle soreness, nor does it appear to aid in attenuating the reduction of muscular performance following intense resistance training.

What You Should Take Instead of BCAAs

There is plenty of research that proves raising BCAA levels (leucine in particular) before and after exercise helps us build more muscle and maintain lean mass. However, there is little evidence that consuming BCAAs through supplementation is more effective than a high protein diet.

I think this excerpt from a review of BCAA research literature sums it up well:

“No data support the finding that oral supplementation with amino acids, in contrast to dietary protein, as the source of amino acids is more effective.”

If you are in a caloric surplus and eat enough protein, particularly leucine, you do not need a BCAA supplement. See my general targets for protein consumption in the table below.

How Much Protein Do Vegan Bodybuilders Need

The truth of the matter is that there are plenty of high-protein vegan foods and less expensive vegan protein supplements that are loaded with BCAAs.

For example, pea protein powders can be as high as 20% BCAAs by weight, surpassing even most whey protein powders!

Essential Amino Acid Profiles of Popular Vegan Protein Powders

On top of that, every 30 gram serving of pea protein gives you the required amount of leucine that is optimal for muscle growth, which is about 2.5 grams for the average male bodybuilder.

This is what makes pea protein such a great protein source! It is packed with essential amino acids, especially BCAAs!

What Are The Best Food Sources of BCAAs?

BCAAs are found in a number of protein-rich foods, including quinoa, pumpkin seeds, alfalfa seeds, kidney beans, tofu, sesame flour, and sunflower seed flour. One of the best sources, however, is pea protein concentrate, which has one of the highest concentrations of leucine compared to other vegan protein sources.

As previously mentioned, leucine is a particularly important amino acid because it acts as a trigger for muscle protein synthesis (MPS). Most plant proteins have a relatively low leucine content, which reduces their anabolic properties. Therefore, it is very important to consume a variety of high-leucine foods.

A 100-gram serving of pea protein concentrate has about 9.2 grams of leucine compared to 0.8 grams of leucine in 100 grams of dry quinoa, 0.7 grams of leucine in 100 grams of tofu, 1.6 grams of leucine in 100 grams of pumpkin seeds, and 0.7 grams of leucine in 100 grams of kidney beans.

The Bottom Line on BCAA Supplementation

There is no doubt in the scientific literature that adequate levels of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) are vital to building muscle, improving strength, and maintaining lean mass. However, there is little evidence that consuming BCAAs through supplementation is more effective than a high protein, BCAA-rich diet.

That being said, if you are at a low body fat percentage (less than 10% for men and less than 15% for women) and following a moderate caloric deficit or training in a fasted state, then BCAA supplements might be beneficial. I use and recommend CleanMachine BCAAs.

Clean Machine BCAAs

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How Much Protein Do Vegans Need To Build Muscle?

It’s time to finally put the vegan protein debate to rest.

A high-protein diet is absolutely vital for building muscle and strength.

While it might be possible to build some muscle with a relatively low protein intake around 10% of total calories, a plethora of sports nutrition research and anecdotal evidence proves you are fighting an uphill battle.

But still there remains so much confusion and controversy about this topic!

For example, there was once a vegan who told me I could get all of my protein from bananas and that I should not worry about it.

Sure, fruits and vegetables have protein, but I have yet to see someone with impressive banana gains...

How Much Protein Do You Need To Build Vegan Muscle?

According to U.S. and Canadian dietary reference intakes, the recommended daily allowance for protein is 0.36 grams per pound of bodyweight (0.8 grams per kilogram of bodyweight) for healthy adults. This amount is “the average daily intake level that is sufficient to meet the nutrient requirement of nearly all [~98%] of healthy adults.”

As long as you are eating a calorically sufficient diet, this recommendation is extremely easy to meet.

However, many decades of research and anecdotal evidence proves athletes, particularly those who lift heavy weights regularly, need more protein than the average person.

Still, the truth is that I can’t tell you exactly how much protein you need. Only expensive nitrogen balance testing can tell you for sure. However, when it comes to fitness, people tend to fall into one of three groups. Here’s my simple chart:

How Much Protein Do Vegan Bodybuilders Need

If you are bulking - which means that your main fitness goal is to gain muscle and strength - I recommend you consume 0.9 grams of plant protein per pound of body weight per day (2.0 grams per kilogram of body weight per day).

I know, I know. This number probably sounds really high. And it likely is higher than necessary even if you are following an intense weightlifting regime.

But trust me. When you are working your ass off in the gym to gain muscle, you want to be sure you are getting all of the protein you need to be sure you aren’t leaving any gains on the table. At the same time, you don’t want to go overboard.

Let’s Take A Look At What The Research Says

As I will cover in the following paragraphs, numerous nutritional studies indicate that a high carb, high protein, low-fat diet is optimal for muscle mass and strength gains.

This can be accomplished on a healthy, whole food, plant-based (WFPB) diet with some protein supplementation depending on your specific goals.

A study by the Exercise Nutrition Research Laboratory at the University of Western Ontario confirmed that regular exercise increases daily protein requirements by as much as 100% vs. recommendations for sedentary individuals.

Given that the recommended daily allowance for protein is 0.36 grams per pound of body weight (0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight) for healthy adults, the researchers suggest 0.73 to 0.82 grams per pound of body weight per day (1.6 to 1.8 grams per kilogram of body weight).

A study by the Exercise Metabolism Research Group at McMaster University found that protein intakes in the range of 0.6 to 0.82 grams per pound of body weight per day (1.3 to 1.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day) consumed in 3-4 equal amounts each day will maximize muscle protein synthesis. The researchers suggested that experienced athletes likely require less protein.

A study from the McMaster University Medical Center concluded that athletes working to maximize bulk and strength while resistance training should consume foods with high biological value with a maximum protein requirement of approximately 1.7 grams per kilogram of body weight per day (0.77 grams per pound of body weight per day).

While protein is vitally important for muscle hypertrophy, there is very little support for the super high protein intakes recommended by traditional bodybuilding diet plans (e.g. > 2.5 to 3.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, or > 1.14 to 1.36 grams per pound of body weight).

So as things stand right now in the scientific literature, if you are serious about gaining muscle and strength, and you want to be safe in terms of consuming enough protein to promote that muscle growth, then the ideal range to aim for is 0.73 to 0.82 grams of protein per pound of body weight (1.6 to 1.8 grams per kilogram of body weight), understanding that this is just to be on the safe side.

So why do I recommend 0.9 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight (2.0 grams per kilogram of bodyweight per day)?

As I discussed in last week’s article Animal VS. Plant Protein: Which is BEST for Muscle Gains?, studies prove that gram for gram, animal-based protein is more effective at building muscle than plant-based protein.

Although the bodybuilding studies cited above do not specify the protein source used for analysis, I am assuming that most of the protein was animal-based (likely with whey protein supplementation), therefore I am adding 15% more protein to compensate for the lower digestibility of plant-based protein sources as we discussed in the previous sections.

I know it can be difficult to hit 0.9 grams of protein per pound of body weight (2.0 grams per kilogram of body weight per day) while eating only whole foods, especially if your diet is high in raw plant foods.

But I’d like to take a second to repeat something I said earlier:

I know, I know. This number probably sounds really high. And it likely is higher than necessary even if you are following an intense weightlifting regime.

But trust me. When you are working your ass off in the gym to gain muscle, you want to be sure you are getting all of the protein you need to be sure you aren’t leaving any gains on the table.

If you are not supplementing your diet with protein powder, you will definitely have to plan out your meals and focus on high-protein foods. Protein powders simplify your life and allow you to eat plenty of healthy fruits and vegetables while still hitting your high-protein intake.

How To Train to Take Advantage of That Protein

Without the proper lifting routine, it doesn't matter how much protein you eat. If you hit bicep curls for 10 sets of 30 reps and chug 5 protein shakes a day hoping to become jacked, you need a reality check.

Many gym goers make the mistake of doing way too much volume and focusing too much time on isolation exercises.

Whether your goal is to shred fat, maintain your physique, or bulk, you must incorporate a lifting routine focused on heavy, compound weight training.

What exactly is a compound exercise?

A compound exercise is an exercise that involves multiple joints and muscle groups. The best compound exercises are the squat, deadlift, bench press, dip, row, and overhead “military” press.

These heavy compound lifts form the basis of my typical weekly workout routine.

If you dedicate yourself to following a high-protein, whole food vegan diet and a proper weightlifting routine focused on heavy compound exercises, I promise you’ll make muscle and strength gains faster than ever!

Are you getting enough protein?

Try our FREE Vegan Nutrition Calculator to be sure you’re giving your body the nutrients it needs to meet your goals!

That's a wrap! Thank you so much for reading this article!

Was this article helpful to you? Please be sure to share this article with your vegan fitness friends by clicking the share button below! I'd really appreciate it and so would your friends!