Vegan Protein Meal Plan For Women
We will use the example of an American woman within the average weight range, looking to lose a bit of weight and get more in shape.
Breakfast
When you start out in the mornings, you want a breakfast that is tasty. For your breakfast, we recommend something that will keep you going through the day.
For this, you want something high in energy. This is often why people will often start the day with a banana. If you dont fancy a banana, you could prep the night before to start your day with a 200 Calorie protein mango smoothie!
This will give you a great protein-based kick for the day!
Lunch
Obviously, you do not want to be having the same lunch every day, so it is good to mix it up. You may want to alternate throughout the week. Have one thing Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, and another thing Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Or you could split your week in half!
For lunch, we recommend an Oil-Free Curried Lentil Hummus, to give you the protein from those lentils, have a nice slice of bread and enjoy. This is a great lunch for the week. At the weekend, though. Why not treat yourself to a Loaded Vegan Bacon Sandwich?
Dinner
At the end of the day, you want something a bit bigger, around 6pm. For a larger meal, we recommend Chili Glazed Tofu, which is great for those who are allergic or intolerant to gluten as well!
Can You Be A Bodybuilder On A Vegan Diet
You might think that you cant possibly ingest enough protein as a vegan to be a bodybuilder. You would be wrong to think this?
It might sound strange, but you can completely be a bodybuilder on a vegan diet. It is not really that different from any vegan diet. The main difference is that you need to ensure you achieve balance in what nutrients you need to build muscle and bulk up.
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Easy Vegan Breakfast Recipes
Here are ten high-protein breakfast recipes to start your day off right.
5. Vegan Protein Bars
Obviously, nutrition will vary based on the kind of protein bar you choose, a good rule of thumb is to look for ones under 400 calories, and the fewer ingredients the better.
Try to avoid any bars with ingredients you can’t pronounce.
6. Rice Cake + NutButter
Rice cakes are a very friendly snack for most diets, and they tend to come in a variety of flavors like white cheddar, caramel corn, apple spice, etc.
One brown rice cake, unsalted has
- 14 grams of carbs
- 1 gram of protein
1 plain rice cake and 2 tablespoons of nut butter has 223 calories 8 grams of protein 15 grams of fat.
Rice cakes make a wonderful base for avocado toast as well if you’re looking for a gluten-free option and quick breakfast or snack! Try out rice-cake avocado ‘toast’ sprinkled with toasted pumpkin seeds.
Cut the carbs by swapping out the rice cake for celery sticks!
7. Marinated Artichoke Hearts and Olives
Canned and jarred seasoned veggies, like artichoke hearts, can be an excellent way to satisfy your snack cravings. Mix and match with other low-carb Mediterranean veggies like palm hearts, marinated mushrooms, and sun-dried tomatoes.
Ten kalamata olives with five marinated artichoke heart quarters have only:
How To Count Your Vegan Macros
Choosing the right foods is only part of it – getting the right amounts of each type of food is also key.
I’m talking about macronutrients. Macronutrients or “macros” are a way to organize your calories by looking at the main food groups that impact your health, energy, mood, appetite, and fitness.
You can estimate your exact vegan macros and calorie needs using a simple online macro calculator.
Learning how to count your Vegan Macros will help you track your food intake, increase variety in your meal plan, and conquer your health goals.
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The Amazing Benefits Of A Plant
Weight Loss
How healthy is a vegan diet?
Theres no debate when you look at the latest evidence.
Eating a whole-food, plant-based vegan diet, without the consumption of meat or dairy is beneficial for our health and wellbeing.
Vegan foods such as vegetables, fruit, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds are low in saturated fat. Even high-fat plant foods , contain no cholesterol whatsoever, so a vegan diet is cholesterol-free.
A vegan diet is also packed with antioxidants and fibers which can enhance your health, your body, and muscle recovery.
Eating a whole-food, plant-based diet without meat, dairy or eggs can help lower your cholesterol and improve your heart health.
As I’m sure you’ve heard, countless individuals around the world have turned to a vegan lifestyle in order to regain their health, energy, vitality, and power. Here are just a few of the benefits that people actually report.
A Healthier Heart
Harvard researchers tracked the health habits of about 110,000 people for 14 years and found that the higher folks’ intakes of fruits and vegetables, the lower their chances of developing cardiovascular disease. Specifically, people who averaged eight-plus servings of fruits and veggies a day were 30 percent less likely to have a heart attack or stroke, compared to those who had less than 1.5 daily servings.
Weight Loss Results
Clearer, Smoother Skin
It’s been proven again and again you don’t need animal products to thrive.
How The Body Uses Protein
When you workout or perform strenuous activities, your muscle fibers are actually being torn and damaged by the intense strain. Your body uses the protein you eat throughout the day to repair and replace damaged muscle fibers by fusing them together to form new muscle protein strands.
Your body then uses satellite cells to add more nuclei to the muscle cells which directly causes the cells to grow. It doesnt matter if your protein comes from a cow or a chickpea, your body just recognizes it as protein.
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A Reduced Risk Of Heart Disease
One study linked diets rich in healthy plant foods with a significantly lower risk of heart disease.
Another found that following a diet rich in plant foods and lower in animal foods was associated with a 16 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease and 31 to 32 percent lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
There are several factors in play here, including the fact that plant-based diets can decrease cholesterol levels and lower inflammation, according to a case report.
High Protein Vegan Lunch #: Quick And Easy Vegetable Chili
This Quick and Easy Vegetable Chili is full of fresh veggies, protein-packed beans, and plenty of spices to bring lots of flavor to your lunch!
Protein total per serving: 10 grams.
Ingredients:
- 2 Tbsp canola oil or peanut oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1-2 cups fresh vegetables, chopped
- 1 ½ tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Tbsp coconut aminos
- 1-2 Tbsp gochujang
Directions:
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How To Design A Meal Plan
If you want to succeed at following a meal plan, then it has to fit around your lifestyle.
There are lots of different ways to organise your meal plan depending on how youwant to spend your time.
For our examples today we are going with 4 meals per day. Breakfast, lunch,snack and dinner.
Lunch is always leftovers from the previous dinner. This is because most peoplewill need to go to work during the day, and dont have time for cooking.
Snacks are prepared at the beginning of the week and frozen for the same reason.
So in the end you just need 10 minutes in the morning to make breakfast, andanother 20-30 minutes in the evening to cook dinner.
If you would like a different meal plan configuration thats no problem. TheVegan.io meal planning algorithm is totally customizable. You can eat many timesa day, follow any intermittent fasting schedule you can think of,eat most of you calories in the morning or evening, avoid gluten, soy or anyother ingredient, and much more.
You can try out our vegan meal planner here for just $4.
Are There Any Disadvantages To A Plant
Simply sticking with plant-based foods likely isnt going to cut it youll need to pay attention to the quality of the foods youre consuming, because there are plenty of unhealthy foods that qualify as plant-based, such as potato chips and french fries. Unhealthy plant-based foods will increase your risk of weight gain and health conditions such as heart disease.
Another thing you should be aware of: When you first switch to a plant-based diet, you may notice an uptick in bowel movements, diarrhea, or constipation. Thats because many plant-based foods are loaded with fiber, Manaker says, and fiber normalizes bowel movements, according to the Mayo Clinic. Consider gradually incorporating plant-based foods in your diet to give your body time to adjust, and be sure to drink plenty of fluids while you’re making the switch to eating more plants and afterward.
For the most part, eating a plant-based diet will check the boxes of all the major nutrients. A well-planned plant-based diet can be nutritionally adequate and particularly rich in fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, and potassium because of all the fruits and vegetables that are typically eaten, Yule says.
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Two More Recommendations For Your Plant
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2. This is the best vegan multivitamin Ive found in my 14 years of being vegan. It has vitamin B12, vitamin D, omega-3and nothing else. Translation: It only has the nutrients vegans are actually low in. Read my full review of Future Kinds multivitamin here .
High Protein Vegan Meal Plan For Women
- Activity level: Moderate
- Goal: Lose weight
Based on the above stats, the Vegan.io algorithm calculates a base metabolicrate of 2158 calories. The base metabolic rate is the amount of caloriesrequired to maintain weight.
In order to lose weight we will need to under-eat by around 10%. Vegan.iocalculates this calorie target to be 1943.
However, we are going to cycle carbs to try stop the body adjusting to our lowercalorie intake.
We will pick 2 priority workout days per week. These are the days that we willtrain the hardest. On those days we will eat our maintenance calorierequirement, with more carbs.
On the two other workout days, we will consume less carbs, eating closer to ourweight loss target.
Finally, on the three off days we will eat far less carbs and total calories,aiming for closer to a 20% calorie deficit.
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How To Create A High Protein Vegan Meal
If you feel inspired to create your own protein meal or want to put one together with the ingredients that you have at home start by choosing your vegan protein which will be the base of your meal.
The following chart shows the vegan protein source with the highest protein content based on their protein serving
| Seitan |
In this article, you can find more plant-based protein sources and their exact content.
Green Vegetables And Leafy Greens
The more the merrier. We should try to get some greens on our plates every day, ideally twice.
From a protein perspective youll have to eat loads! No way can I munch two bunches of broccoli a day for 18g of protein.
From a health perspective theyre seriously awesome though, and they should be included in almost any healthy vegetarians diet!
Roasted broccoli halloumi traybake with bread
As vegetarians these are the best of the options we have when were looking for protein. As you can see many of the sources are best in moderation.
This is reason enough for me to put the first priority of our vegetarian high protein meal plan on balance.
If you focus first on adding as much protein as possible it is likely to result in an unbalanced diet, which might lead to health problems.
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High Protein Vegetarian Diet Plan
Protein is regarded as the human body’s fundamental building block. Protein-rich foods are required by the body to account for muscle wear and regularly tear, hasten recovery, and develop strength. Because of its involvement in the body’s rapid recovery, pre-and post-workout meals should ideally be high in the nutrient.
Five Minute Mashed Chickpea Bruschetta
Okay, so this sounds fancier than it is and theres no actual mashing, because youll put all the ingredients into a food processor and just spread them over toasted bread. Choose a good bread, here. Ingredients include chickpeas, garlic, tomatoes and olives. Recipe here.
- Ready in: 5 minutes | Serves: 4
- Kcal: 382 | Protein: 15g | Carbohydrates: 60g | Total Fat: 10g
This plant-based soup is delicious, filling and very healthy! Ingredients include lentils, peas, red curry paste, white rice, coconut cream and lime leaves! Recipe here.
- Ready in: 30 minutes | Serves: 3
- Kcal: 229 | Protein: 12g | Carbohydrates: 31g | Total Fat: 7g
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Easy Vegan Chickpea Quesadilla
This recipe is so easy and so good! Ingredients include chickpeas, cherry tomatoes jalapeno or serrano peppers and mint. This is not a super high protein recipe, so be sure to add some spinach and to use healthier tortillas to make it more high-protein. The recipe is here.
- Ready in: 15 minutes | Serves: 3
- Kcal: 490 | Protein: 15g | Carbohydrates: 69g | Total Fat: 18g
If youre not into canned food, but want a soup ready in 30 minutes or less, make this lentil soup. Ingredients include lentils, tomatoes, onion and garlic. Recipe here.
- Ready in: 25 minutes | Serves: 4
- Kcal: 234 | Protein: 10g | Carbohydrates: 29g | Total Fat: 10g
You wont be able to stop eating this delicious vegan fried rice with tofu and vegetables! Its super easy to make if youve got some leftover rice to use up. Recipe here.
- Ready in: 20 minutes | Serves: 2
- Kcal: 425 | Protein: 24g | Carbohydrates: 35g | Total Fat: 24g
Ingredients for this comforting bean soup include canned white beans, tomato paste, cumin, garlic and fresh mint. The recipe is here.
- Ready in: 20 minutes | Serves: 4
- Kcal: 327 | Protein: 12g | Carbohydrates: 46g | Total Fat: 12g
This healthy smoothie is the perfect way to start you day fresh, nourishing and delicious. Recipe here.
- Ready in: 5 minutes | Serves: 1
- Kcal: 153 | Protein: 8g | Carbohydrates: 35g | Total Fat: 1g
- Ready in: 30 minutes | Serves: 3
- Kcal: 281 | Protein: 13g | Carbohydrates: 44g | Total Fat: 7g
Why Is Protein Important
Proteins are made up of amino acids that function as the building blocks for the tissues in your body. Nine of these amino acids are not made by the body and must be obtained from the food you eat.
Animal-based proteins supply all nine essential amino acids, but most plant-based proteins do not. This can make it difficult to meet the protein needs to support a healthy body.
It is key to eat a varied plant-based diet to make sure youre getting different amino acids throughout the day.
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How Much Protein Is In The Meal Plans
We always make sure youll get a minimum of 75g, 95g and 115g, depending if you skip or munch the suggested snacks. They also take fat and saturated fat into account to ensure you are getting healthy meal plans, which we havent found anywhere else.
You might think that the protein share in our meal plan is still not high enough. After all, it doesnt reach the 1g protein/lb rule often promoted in the bodybuilding world although thats a contested issue, as youll see further on down.
We are an evidence-based site and use the latest research when considering how much protein should be in the plans.
So lets do two things first: see what high-protein options you have and read up on how much protein you really need.
Lets go.
Matcha Green Tea Fat Bomb Recipe
This perfect high protein and high fat snack is incredibly satiating. The outside coating is made of coconut oil powder infused with matcha tea. Aside from satisfying, this snack provides a little punch of caffeine to help you maintain energy levels. Make a big batch ahead of time and keep them refrigerated for your weekly meal prep!
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