Hi,
I'm not looking to buddy up but I am a personal trainer who is a vegetarian. I don't know too much about your diet but its fairly easy to swap meat for non-meat protein, obviously easier if you are eating eggs and milk. I find the trick is to boost up the snacks with nuts, seeds, hummus etc. so the main meals can be majorly bulked out with vegies. Your workout plan sounds great - make sure you do get in enough calories to work with it though. If you lose weight too fast you are highly likely to put it back on. I guess it depends on your current and goal weight.

Best and hope you got something out of that,
Ellen

I am not a fan, but there are lots of ways to get protein in a vegan diet. Wheat Gluten - based and soybean-based foods (i.e. Tofu) are ways, but also from beans and lentils. Lentil and bean based patties are surprisingly good. :)

I'm not sure how you can go raw and be on a high protein diet unless it's based on a lot of nuts, but I do know of some raw vegans on YouTube that are raw and lean. Kristina Carrillo-Bucaram is one of them. She follows the 80-10-10 diet, and she also runs a co-op which makes it cheaper to purchase raw organic foods. Her diet choice may not be ideal, since she's very thin w/o a lot of muscle, but it might be because she's a heavy runner and running eats away at your muscle.

In any case, it's diet/lifestyle choice that you may want to consider. Joanne Gero also has some healthy options for raw vegan that want to lead an active lifestyle.

I add a cup of beans or lintels when I eat a raw meals.
Don't know if that is enough protein for that kind of work out routine...,wow!

Cosmo... do you have a recipe for bean burgers? I've only tried once and had to throw them out. thank you!

Hi Heather!

The best bean burger I made was using this recipe:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w7SBThUWm8

Unfortunately, I just went by sight and taste w/o measurements. I also left out the oatmeal. I found that it cooks well when you make thin patties, as the thicker ones do not cook all the way through...

I hope that helps! And yeah, bean patties can really be a hit or miss. I like the ones that require a lot of various ingredients. However, they can be more expensive to make. The batch does last a while though..

Oh and I did not use a food processor, either. Just my hands. Either way works fine :)

Also, MorningStar Black bean burgers are great store bought ones, if you don't mind eggs..

I don't mean to spam this thread.. I'm sorry. But what would I do without Google?

Here's the recipe for the Blue Plate Diner (Vegan Bean) Burgers:

Ingredients

1 can Garbanzo beans, thoroughly drained

1 can Black beans, thoroughly drained, liquid reserved

1 c quick oats

2 c water

c Japanese Panko

c flour

Tbsp Chili powder

1 Tbsp Lawrys garlic with parsley

Tbsp granulated onion powder

1 tsp Lawrys Seasoned Salt

1/8 tsp Pepper

1/8 tsp cayenne

c chopped celery

c chopped onion

http://rmcrayne.hubpages.com/hub/Vegan-Friendly-Veggie-Burger

*She recommends making them, thin, as well, but adds that they taste great even after being preserved, frozen :) I just kept mine in the fridge.

**Cosmo** thank you for the burger recipe. I've only tried making bean burgers the once and it wasn't good! I wish I was a better cook, that would make being a vegan so much better than just sticking with the same ole/same ole food each day. The only things I miss by being vegan are milk and eggs in cookies and cakes.. but then I don't miss those extra calories :) ... thank you lots!!!

Hi Heather!

No problem! I think I went a little overkill on the details and posts, but you're very welcome! LOL

Although, I'm not vegan anymore, I remember those days... And yes, they were hard. Turning vegan actually forced me to learn how to cook, LOL. Otherwise, I would have starved. And like you, I had so much trial and error. I basically ate pasta ALL the time! All kinds, mind you, but I lived on pasta and quinoa and rice. LOL.

I also found vegan cook books, like The Kind Diet, to be helpful. Vegan Blogs, ROCK. Believe it or not, you can get Vegan fast food (at Taco Bell), LOL. YouTube vids helped too. I basically took my favorite foods and made them vegan friendly. Like burritos and grilled (Daiya) "cheese" sandwiches. It does get easier, you just have to play around w/ it a bit. I didn't turn away from veganism because of boredom. I went on a cleanse that afterwards made me CRAVE meat, so I caved.. But for some reason, it's so hard for me to get back into it. I just prefer being vegetarian, for now. But it's really not as bad as you'd think. Best of luck to you! :0)

And even tho my diet sounds carb heavy... I still lost a ton of weight simply by getting rid of all meat and dairy, and exercising.

**Cosmo** ...thank you for all the great ideas... and love YouTube so will head there in a bit. I went from vegetarian to vegan very recently because of high cholesterol numbers, that are in the 500's, regardless of exercise or the vegetarian diet.

I started out being very gung-ho on The Fit For Life but just can't live without oil in salads, sugar in coffee, and salt, and store bought cookies and cakes. So I'm weaning down, slipping little by little, back to being a vegetarian.

On the menu today: Taco Bell xo

ps... I even ruined quinoa if that's possible. I'm making it today .. but this time following directions, haha

thank you again!

I apologise for not sighting sources as I'm a bit groggy this morning. (possibly from lack of protein, HA!)

Anyhow, I've read a few studies that indicate that those in the western world get many times the level of protein that they actually need, even while weight training.

Another study talks about protein levels and that excessive protein can interfere with the uptake of calcium.

I wouldn't fix a problem that isn't there. Stick with a good vegan diet and if you are worried, get your protein level checked every so often.

Hi!!!
I am Vegan and I exercise quite a bit.

I do P90X (you may be familiar with that) And I go to a gym and do Zumba and toning classes!.
I ride my bike, I roller blade, AND I have an elliptical machine at home.
I do just about anything I can as I get bored easy.

I am vegan and I am doing just fine.
I am building muscle.

I am much older than you though... I am 48.

You being so young, you should be able to Rock this so easy!