Vegan Muscle - 5 Must Have Things

If your on the road to building your perfect body, gaining muscle and going the vegan route these five items are must haves!  To build muscle you have to have some protein.  The general rule the bodybuilding world has lived by is to build muscle, you need to eat 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day.  This, in my opinion, is probably more then is needed.  At any rate you need protein and here are the five must haves as a vegan trying to build muscle.

Oatmeal - There really isn't a better way to kick off your day.  Conventional bodybuilders have been utilizing oatmeal for eons.  To clear up any confusion we're talking about good old fashioned rolled or steel cut oatmeal - NOT the sugar laden flavored kind!  Not only is oatmeal great for your heart and cholesterol, it contains a bunch of fiber, may help fight cancer and is a great source of protein.  If you need more "sweetness" add a little pure maple syrup.  Oatmeal is a top notch way to start your day.  Oatmeal provides 7 grams of protein per serving.

Beans - All kinds of beans are excellent sources of protein.  They will definitely make you feel fuller longer, contain good amounts of fiber, may help prevent heart disease and cancers.  It doesn't matter what type of bean your eating - black, kidney, great northern, pinto they all are great!  Average serving contains 7 grams of protein.

Soy Milk - Versatile and delicious!  Make your oatmeal with it, great for cooking, smoothies, cereals and down right drinking.  Expect to get 6 grams of protein per serving.  If your using a vegan protein replacement you can double dip by mixing it with soy milk.

Nuts - Nut Butter -  After workouts theres nothing that hits the spot like whole grain toast with peanut butter or any nut butter!  If your eating right (6-8 smaller meals a day) a handfull of nuts is perfect.  4-6 grams of protein in each ounce, thats awesome!  Plus you get health benefits from them too!

Water -  You simply can not build muscle without adequate water intake.  Since water is everywhere in the body here is where you can go wrong without enough of it.  You can be lacking electrolytes in the muscles, can reduce your strength, can leave you tired and without enough water your hampering the transfer of essential nutrients to even reach muscles to help them grow.  Ya' gotta drink your water!



Thanks for visiting the blog!  Until next time,
Kel

So You Love Dairy..........No Problem!

Who doesn't?  What is a bowl of cereal without milk?  What is a pizza without cheese?  The cool thing is there are many innovating companies out there who are making it easier and easier to to get your dairy products and still stay on the vegan track.

Before I made the transition to a veganisic lifestyle, I used to hate fake milk.  At least I thought I did.  Now I hate it when we run out of almond milk!  Its a win/win for me because I adore almonds and love milk.  Soy milk isn't bad either.  Trust me I wouldn't down a glass of unflavored soy milk just for fun but it works in cereal and is awesome for cooking.  There are a ton of milk replacements out there and everyone I have had is as good if not better then true cow's milk.

Cheese is something I thought we would struggle with more then we have.  We have tried a couple cheese replacements and they have worked incredibly well in our recipe creations.  Daiya cheese is the first we tried and had great experiences with.  We just tried veggie shreds the other night for the first time and I tell you what, it melted up just like the real thing, it tasted great and worked just as good as the Daiya.

You can make some real decent flavor full cheese replacements with tofu.  Theres also a lot of new vegan friendly creations coming out everyday that will help anyone make the transition to the extent they want.  Theres even vegan cream cheese, sour cream & ice cream now.  We haven't had that yet but its on the list!  Below is a partial list of the goods:
Daiya cheese
Veggie Shreds (cheese replacement)
Almond milk
Coconut milk
Rice milk
Hemp milk
Soy milk
Vegan Gourmet (cheese, sour cream and cream cheese)        
Teese (vegan cheese)

There you have it!  Theres others out there but I do not know about them as of yet.  You can enjoy your dairy and keep it vegan, easy peasy!

Thanks for visiting the blog, until next time,
Kel