Vegan Riders?
 

I am a recent vegan convert and I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how to stay vegan and be able to power a high-energy lifestyle. I'm pretty sure I manage to get enough whole proteins, I eat plenty of quinoa, haha. I am also VERY allergic to almonds, so I have to be very careful with my ingredients. I want to be sure that I am eating the correct combination of foods to avoid stagnating health progress (gaining muscle, getting leaner) without being excessive. Any vegan riders out there, show some solidarity and help me out?

Read up on it. You need to balance most veggie proteins. Something that has methionine like wheat.

Get some vitamins, or a B12 pill. Trader Joes has B12.

I'm not a veggietarian, but I eat a ton of sunflower butter. Good stuff.

thanks. I've done a lot of research, I'm not one to jump into something without knowledge. I was more asking cycle-specific information, first hand experiences. I eat very well balanced, and do take a supplement.

I've been a vegetarian for 4 years and the biggest concern I had initially was making sure I got enough protein. Besides possible vegetarian diet issues re protein (which you seem to have addressed), as most of us know protein is very important to recovery (30 grams w/in half an hour of hard exercise). Consequently I have a protein shake everyday, either after a hard ride or anytime during the day if not doing a hard ride.

Glad to hear there is more than one of us out there, haha. Yeah, my girlfriend is super into nutrition, so I get that part easy and without effort. Do you find that you have more energy? Since going vegan I feel like I can ride forever!

Have you lost weight since going to a vegan diet? That always helps.
I've always had decent endurance, so no real comparison. I remember reading once about vegetarian cyclists, and someone commented that if you look at the diet of top riders, its almost a vegetarian diet. Eating a lot of meat is tough to digest, the grains/veggies of a vegetarian diet are easier and more nutritious for an athlete. I became one for ethical reasons, but had already been decreasing the amount of meat I was consuming.

David Zabriskie rode the last Tour de France as a vegan:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/american-will-be-first-cyclist-to-ride-a-vegan-tour-de-france-2304496.html

There is quite a bit of online information about his diet. However . . . Macronutrients are divided into three classes: carbs, protein, and fat. We need a more-or-less specific number of grams of protein and fat each day. Carbs we vary according to energy use. So if protein and fat and carbs are in certain fixed proportions in the foods we eat, if we cut down our calories to normal human levels of say 3000 cal/day instead of the 10,000 that a Zabriskie may eat, we see that our protein and fat could easily be reduced below the levels necessary, if you see what I'm saying. So just eating what Zabriskie ate may not work at all for the average person.

What foods would you eat on a typical day. If you don't mind include all the oils and condiments.

My thinking is that potatoes would provide all the carbs that you would ever need. Beans should provide plenty of protein but I have heard that beans are not considered a complete protein. I am not sure what that means. Peanuts, walnuts, or which ever nuts that you can eat should provide your fat requirement. Green vegetables would provide the fiber and a good deal of the vitamin and mineral requirements. Then throw in some carrots and supplements and a little water and fruit.

The above is just my guess or opinion. I don't have any facts to back up what I have posted.

For the last six months I have been eating a diet of cabbage, carrots, beans, mayo, tuna, venison, grapefruit, dark chocolate, almonds, sea salt and water along with a multivitamin. My starting weight was 200 and I am now at 155 and 6 feet tall. My weight loss has stabilized so it looks like I wont have to change my diet to regulate my weight. I would like to lose another 15 lbs but it may not happen. If I can I may drop my calorie intake down from around 1800 per day to 1000 per day and just see if I can endure long enough to drop some more body fat.

I guess that if I dropped the mayo, tuna and venison I could be a vegan. This may not be the place for the discussion but I have often wondered why anyone would be so opposed to eating meat. I really can't think of anything, but maybe salt and minerals, that we eat that was not a living organism. Aren't we just part of the food chain?

I would like to know if my above diet is going to leave me deficient in nutrients so if there are any nutritionists reading this please advise me.

To the OP I think you have chosen a new and wonderful life style. I admire you for taking as much responsibility for your health as possible. I hope that you have a blessed, long and healthy life.

I've been vegan for 5+ months. I did shed about 5 - 10 lbs (in the first 3 months) and am usually 155 +/- a few. I can't say the diet has helped or hurt my riding; it definitely lowered my cholesterol levels, triglycerides and blood pressure (all of which have been creeping up over the years). The toughest part is just getting into new routines (though initially I did miss the cheese and after-ride egg sandwiches) but now seem to be fine.

I looked as some books by Brendan Brazer, as well as lots of vegan cook books for ideas of what to eat. Brazer and others seem to be down on soy proteins in commercial foods, which are in lots of sports supplements and treats (like cliff bars). I usually take a PB&J on rides instead of cliff bars now. There is so much conflicting info floating around, which makes it tough. I recall reading decades ago that tropical oils were the worse thing for you; now they are recommended by lots (coconut oil and palm oil especially). I remember "them" saying that you need to eat the full set of amino acids together to get the full protein; now "they" say it is not necessary.

I try to minimize processed and prepared foods & have been trying to take a multi vitamin on a regular basis (b-12 is needed and in nutritional yeast if you don't want the multis). I plan on staying with the vegan diet & see how it goes.

Good luck with it!

Two and a half year vegan here, its really hard to find go info on the internet. I recommend getting the book Becoming Vegan by Davis and Molina. They are nutritionists and give a very thorough treatment of vegan nutrition. Don't buy into the complete protein bull or think that you need to be consuming "extra" protein for recovery, if you are consuming enough calories through a balanced diet you have plenty of protein to rebuild muscle. You should be aiming for 60-75% of your daily intake to be carbohydrate, 10% from fat and 15% protein.

Want specific info, just ask.

Hey thanks. My partner was telling me about the extra protein being unnecessary, good to hear its true. We eat mostly veggies and fruits, quinoa, beans and a few carbs. I eat a lot of nuts in the mornings. I try to supplement with a lot of water, but I'm also a lot newer to the lifestyle than she is. I am allergic to dairy, and am afraid of the American eating style (ie heart disease), so vegan it was!

Do you find it hard to build muscle as a vegan? I heard that could be an issue.

No problem building muscle at all. Really the hardest part about being vegan, like hanknstein said creating new habits, you are basically relearning how to eat. Its great that you have someone to guide you. There are a lot of other grains (should be basis of diet 6-10 servings a day) besides quinoa that can add variety. Oats, barley, rice and millet are easily found and cheap.

Oh yeah, I'm eating a lot of variety. Nutrition isn't a problem, just curious about the effect on riding and building muscle :)

Thought I had to pitch in here

I am a raw vegan. Been vegetarian for 6 months, then right into raw a month afterwards. My cycling has not decreased but IMPROVED tremendously along with my running ever since switching to a high carb, low fat, low protein diet.

Many people completely don't see that the meat and dairy industry promote high protein so you can buy their products. It's a money business.
Read The China Study, read 80/10/10 by Dr. Doug Graham, read Starch Solution. The science is all there. Humans don't need higher than 10% calories from fat and protein. Those are MAXIMUMS and 80% carb calories are MINIMUM.

When we were infants, during our first 24 months (correct me if I am wrong on the exact time period) we quadrupled our size on mother's breast milk, which contains 4-6% protein calories. What makes us think we need more than that now that we are adults?

When Campbell did the China Study, he concluded that humans need only 2.5% calories coming from fat. World Health Organization doubled that number just to make sure we get enough to 5%. No need for anymore

Diseases such as strokes, heart disease, diabetes, etc are caused by too much fat in the blood stream. So when you eat those sugary high carb fruits, the sugar cannot get to all of your cells because heavy fatty adipose tissues are blocking those cells. Keep in mind, all one trillion + cells in our body run on glucose. It takes a few days to a week or so of high carb, low fat to clear the cells of fat so glucose can reach them.

A balanced diet of fruit, greens, vegetables, and the occaisonal nuts and seeds is all we need. We get all of nutrients and minerals from fruits and greens, besides b12 which our body produces (if you don't produce enough I recommend supplementing) and vitamin D which you get from the sun. If it is winter and no sun where you are, supplement with a vitamin D pill. Omega's 3 and 6 (EPA and DHA you may ask)? We get the perfect Ideal ratio of EPA to DHA 1:1 from fruits and veggies. Keep in mind, Omega 3 and 6 is produced in the body too and is just fat. which has been proved, like I stated before, we don't need much. For me, <30g a day of fat.

Keep it low fat (10% calories from fat over the course of a year), and high carb and you are guarenteed to be lean all year long. It is impossible to get fat off of fruit, keep in mind. I eat 4000 calories a day of fruits and greens. I am only 60kg, 6%bf.. :)

Sleep, water, sugar, sunlight, exercise is all you have to remember :)

Any questions, please respond. I'd be happy to help!

Typical day for me:

Breakfast: either 15 bananas or 1.5lb of dates

Lunch: 15lb watermelon

Dinner: 8-10 mangos followed by a HUGE salad (4oz kale, 4oz collards, 4oz romaine, 4oz dandelions or 4oz turnips, 1 cucumber, a lemon for dressing, 1 tomato, some peppers, a stalk of celery, and maybe a little broccoli and cauliflower and carrots on the side)

You cannot possibly eat 15 pounds of watermelon for lunch?! And thank you, your post is super informative, and I will definitely consider some changes to my already changed lifestyle. I have noticed that my body seems to have become intensely more efficient since I became vegan...

15 Bananas, a watermelon, and 8-10 mangoes in a day! I've never heard of a diet like this and I'm finding it hard to even believe, honestly.

No judging, if it works for you that's cool. I think I'd get sugar headaches or something with that much fruit.

That seems like a ridiculously high amount of calories for breakfast. How much do you weigh. 1.5 lbs of dates is over 2000 Cals.

They said they weigh 60 kg, or 132 lbs. Seems like an insane diet, I want to know more!

I eat as much as I want whenever I want. No headaches at all. Just full vibrant vitality and energy.

If you're interested in the lifestyle, I recommend watching some durianrider videos on youtube and visit 30bananasaday.com .

And yes, I do eat that amount of food. I am not lying. You must train your body to eat that amount of food since fruit is generally low on calories. Just eat more and more each time. It is inportant males get AT LEAST 3000 calories a day from fruits. Why do you think I military eats 3000calories a day? To build muscle and live ready, alert and high energy

It's called 80/10/10 raw vegan. Look it up

I am right now. I am so intrigued.

http://www.everydiet.org/diet/80-10-10-diet

How long have you been doing this, hamberloot?

been raw vegan 811 for 5 months :)

And then there are those who are just as convinced that the only thing humans need to eat is raw meat:
http://www.karlloren.com/human-raw-meat-diet.htm

Can it be 1970 again?

Eat what you want, I am not forcing anyone. Just it is what works for me and of all the diets I have tried, none have come even near to the amount of energy I have on this one. No more caffeine, ephedrine, etc

plenty of scientific evidence out there that we are not designed to eat meat (although we technically CAN) and it leads to diseases

Yes but the thing is... meat tastes yummy, cheese is delicious, cereal fills my crunchy-sugary-mushy cravings and chocolate is a little reminder that, no matter how crappy of a day you've been having, god still loves you.

Now if you are not a big foodie and honestly don't care about food and taste, then sure I can understand your logic. But for me, frankly... the health benefits simply would not be worth giving up all my favorite foods (not that I dont like fruits/veggies). I mean, I don't want to live 80 years on a diet missing out on enjoyable and yummy foods, just so that I can extend my lifespan and spend an additional twenty years of denying myself those delicious pleasure.