What I eat in a day | Vegan HIGH Protein Meal Prep
The number one question I often get is ”What do you eat as a vegan athlete?” so here is what I eat in a typical day only maintaining not really counting macros. So here is some healthy, protein packed meal prep I have in my rotation.
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Foreign [Music] Goes by without someone asking me or Messaging me what do I eat as a vegan Now I get that most people that are Transitioning to a vegan lifestyle have No clue what vegans really eat or maybe They just think that they eat salads but I’m here to tell you that we eat much More than just salads to be honest I Don’t really even eat that many salads I Do like an occasional one but I prefer More calorie dense hearty meals like you See right here so I thought I would take An opportunity to Re-introduce myself to YouTube and get Back to my roots so I built much of this Channel talking about Fitness talking About vegan nutrition showing my workout Showing what I ate and incorporating Some of my lifestyle and like Vlogs and Things like that I’m getting back into The swing of things first things first If you’re new to this channel this is Your first video don’t forget to hit That subscribe button because I’m going To be making a lot more content Regarding how to live a healthy vegan Lifestyle and just daily motivation and How to really live in alignment with Your core value so that you can have a Life full of purpose and fulfillment now That that’s out of the way here is a Look at what I eat in a day the only
Thing that’s missing here is my morning Smoothie which I will get into in just a Second but really This is it and just to give you context For Me My maintenance calories are anywhere From like 2500 calories to 3 000 Calories so I do eat quite a lot but I Also have quite a bit of muscle on my Body which then raises your basal Metabolic rate so I need more calories To sustain this muscle mass so these are The four main components of my second And third meal what I’d like to do is Keep them in their own separate Tupperwares you could if you wanted to Just divide them into like two or three Different You know tupperwares that had all the Different ingredients but I like to keep Them separated just because I don’t Really like all the different food Touching in the Tupperware for too long I like to keep them in the fridge for I Mean this will last for a couple days I’m gonna eat this all today and Uh what I’ll do is I’ll just take it all Out and then put it into a plate and Then whatever I feel like eating Um you know I’ll portion it out and then Just make sure I eat this by the end of The day and in between my meal 2 and Meal three I will have some type of
Snack normally I love fruit so I just Have here a banana for today but I Normally Swap this out with like peaches Or dragon fruit or watermelon or berries Or whatever it is just like a nice Healthy snack look I am not a chef like I will be the first person to tell you I’m not a chef it’s pretty funny to me That So many people come to me asking me what To cook and what to eat because I don’t Feel qualified whatsoever to be offering People recipes like for me a recipe is Just a combination of some really basic Ingredients because I’ve never really Been trained how to cook so what you see Here is just me learning over the years And I’m very much a utilitarian so if It’s simple if it’s less than 30 minutes For me to prepare there’s a good chance I’ll make it if it takes longer than 30 Minutes there’s a good chance I won’t Bother just because I don’t like Spending too much time in the kitchen Props to those who love cooking I’m much More of a person that wants to get in And get out and start eating so the Longer it takes the more hangry I’ll get Right now my goal is to just maintain Maybe put on a little bit more size Maybe get a little have a have a bit of A body recomposition so I’m eating Roughly around my maintenance calories And the way that I I know that is
Because I track my weight and I do have A scale in my bathroom that I use to see How much I’m weighing you know sometimes I’ll weigh myself every other day or Maybe once a week and just see where my Weight is trending either upwards or Downwards and that’ll be my indication For either putting on more calories or Dialing it back or increasing my weight In the gym just to make sure that I’m Staying roughly On Target I want to talk A little bit about protein because this Is always a really controversial or Important topic for anybody that wants To be vegan and is curious or maybe Afraid of not getting enough protein on A vegan diet so let’s first talk about How much protein do you actually need Now there are many people in the fitness Industry that say that you need at a Minimum one gram to two grams per pound Of body weight whether you are trying to Cut or put on size so I don’t follow That I always have stuck to about the 0.821 gram per pound of body weight and The reason why I follow that is because Research shows that anything beyond About 0.8 grams per pound of body weight Doesn’t translate into more strength Gains or more muscle gains at least in Natural athletes so this is a really Good optimized protein intake for Anybody out there what that means when You optimize your protein intake is that
You can free up some more calories for Carbohydrates and fats so as you see Here I’ve got a lot of carbs in this Meal plan and 50 of my calories are Coming from carbohydrates and I’m Ensuring that I get enough protein so That number for me or that Target I Weigh about 180 grams and 0.8 times that Would be roughly 140 to 150 grams of Protein per day that is more than enough For me to continue to build muscle or Sustain my existing muscle another thing About protein is that I do not and have Not ever tracked my amino acid profile So if you are thinking that you have to Combine certain proteins or amino acids In order to to make a complete protein You don’t have to do that the only thing That you should get into the practice of Is having a diverse source of different Protein beans so as you can see here I Have tofu I’ve got lentils I’ve got rice And sweet potatoes and broccoli all of Which have different amino acid profiles That tend to balance out and supply Enough amino acids to optimize or at Least provide enough amino acids for Muscle protein synthesis so I’m just Going to remind you once again I have Built almost all of my muscle on a vegan Diet I became a professional bodybuilder And competed for three and a half years And have never once tracked any amino Acids so that being said let’s get into
The actual meals themselves so the first Meal after my coffee is just a smoothie I really love my morning smoothie I’ve Been making this recipe for a couple Years now and it’s my staple it’s Delicious I include some plant milk I’ll have one scoop of veg vanilla or Just any of the different flavors of veg Nutrition protein powder I’ll throw in One scoop of creatine plus which is a Great supplement for anybody out there That’s an athlete and wants to train and Receive the benefits of creatine I Highly recommend it I’ll add banana and Berries the other thing that I like to Add to my smoothies is amla powder which Is also known as Indian Gooseberry and The reason I put that in there is it’s Loaded with vitamin C and also packed With antioxidants it has one of the Highest antioxidant concentrations of Any Berry so adding that to my smoothie Is going to help my body recover faster So that I can get back into the gym and Push myself and keep making games that Is my meal number one for the day along With my first meal I like to take my Capsule supplements so what you’ll see Here is the veg essential this little Guy is a once a a day capsule that has Vitamin B12 vitamin D3 Omega-3s as well as K2 and if you’re a Vegan or you’re somebody that’s Plant-based you want to ensure that
You’re consuming these vitamins on a Daily basis because it is difficult to Get the adequate amount from your food And with things like B12 you just want To supplement anyway it’s not just a Vegan issue of getting sub-optimal Levels of B12 the other thing that I Take is the veg turmeric plus so this is A ayurvedic blend it contains turmeric Ashwagandha and rhodiola rosea so these Three in combination will help reduce Inflammation there’s a lot of other Benefits from ashwagandha as well with When it comes to testosterone and with The rhodiola rosea it helps with mood Stabilization or you’re just overall Mood support to keep your spirits up so I like taking that and it’s loaded with Antioxidants so this is a really great Great way to reduce inflammation in the Body and again help yourself recover so You can train again the next day sooner After I have my morning shake and my Phone calls normally what I’ll do is I’ll go to the gym and train around 10 11 o’clock depending on the day and Before I train I will use the veg Pre-workout and Nitro Pump these are two Really great natural pre-workouts that Don’t have any unnatural flavorings or Food colorings and there’s two different Versions so this one the Pre-Workout Comes in a couple different flavors I Really love this watermelon one but it
Has added stimulants so it does contain Caffeine so for those of you that like Added stimulant this is a great option It also has beta alanine so give you Those tingly feelings before entering The gym and I personally love that Feeling and that sensation because it Makes my skin crawl and it makes me just Want to go into the gym and just Just smash some weights so this is why I Love this one and I will also stack it With the Nitro Pump so this is a great Vasodilator it doesn’t have any added Stimulus so this is uh really great for Anybody that trains later in the day and Doesn’t want to be wired after their Workout session or just like laying in Bed staring at the ceiling because you Took 200 milligrams of caffeine at 5 PM Before your training session this is a Really great alternative that supplies Great sustainable Natural Energy first Meal what I’m making here is Uh let’s start off with the tofu so I like to use this brand of tofu just Because it is one of the highest protein Per gram tofu out there you can get this At Whole Foods I believe that Trader Joe’s and Sprouts also carries its own Version or its own brand of this exact Same sprouted tofu so this is what I Like to use that one container contains Over I believe about 70 grams of protein So what I will do is I will chop the
Tofu up into some really small blocks And then I will just add a marinade I Like to use this coconut aminos teriyaki Sauce I obviously don’t avoid soy and You don’t have to either as long as You’re getting organic soy it’s a great Source of protein and no it will not Feminize you or lower your testosterone Levels that is just misinformation and I Won’t get into it in this video but yes I eat soy I eat plenty of it on a daily Basis I obviously what I will do is I Will throw all of those spices and the Marinade into a bowl and I will toss the Tofu and then once it’s nice and Lathered up I will toss it into the Airfryer and cook it at 400 degrees for 10 minutes and this makes the tofu nice And crispy on the outside with the Marinade it gives it this really nice Glaze that tastes really delicious and Holds a lot of flavor too so tofu is Pretty bland by itself it’s just I I Would imagine like chicken if you don’t Flavor it with anything it’s not going To taste that great it does absorb Flavor and marinades very well So making it this way is really really Easy and really delicious too you can See how nice it came out so that is what I’ll do for my protein so next I will Make the rice so this rice is just a Vegetable stir-fried Frozen packet that Whole Foods has I know that Trader Joe’s
Also has a version of this that’s really Good as well and I will just throw it Straight into a skillet with some olive Oil and cook it on medium to high heat For like seven to eight minutes and then Also add some other spices I throw in Some turmeric and some cumin and the Next thing that I’ll do while that is Cooking is start chopping up my sweet Potatoes so before chopping them up I Will always rinse my vegetables and you Should too just because you know those Vegetables have traveled a very long way And yes they are in bags but bacteria And contaminants could very well have Traveled with them even if it is it Sealed in a bag so what I’ll do is I’ll Norm we rinse it off with water and I’ll Use this vegetable and fruit spray it’s Like a wash that I got from sprouts and Just you know rinse it under the water Or rinse it under the sink with water And give it a few sprays and make sure That you you know just rinse it Thoroughly and then what I’ll do is I Will chop up the sweet potatoes I will Throw them into a bowl with a little bit Of olive oil I’ll throw some spices on It and then I will toss it into the Airfryer again And this one I’ll cook at 400 degrees at About eight minutes depending on the Size of your slices of potatoes might You know require you to increase the
Amount of cooking time just because you Want to make sure that it’s cooked all The way through so if it’s undercooked Only the top layers will be cooked in The middle will be much harder so I like To have I like to cook these like you Know about half an inch or like a Quarter of an inch thick throw those in There forget about it and then eight Minutes later you pull it out and you’ve Got some really great crispy sweet Potatoes and you can use any type of Potatoes in this case I just really like These sweet potatoes the next thing I Will cook is the broccoli so same thing I will rinse it under the sink with some Water and the spray before chopping it Up and then I will just chop up the Little florets florets is that what They’re called chopped it up from a big Broccoli to a bunch of little mini Broccolis and then threw it into a bowl And then all also added some lemon juice And some garlic before tossing it into The airfryer and with greens you Normally want to cook them at a lower Temperature because they can burn and I’ll throw it in there for 350 for six Minutes and then finally what you’ll see Here is this Frozen pre-made batch of lentils and This batch of lentils was actually made By Bianca’s grandmother she was visiting Us the other day and she is this lovely
Abuelita she’s Cuban and she came Through and she was like I’m gonna hook You up with Grandma’s special lentil Recipes and it is really good but Essentially what it is it’s green Lentils with chopped up carrots onions Cilantro and potatoes as well as some Additional spices and like I said I Didn’t make this today this was already Frozen in my freezer and this is Something that you can do as well if you Ever want to make a big batch of lentils Lentils are also packed with protein This is my favorite source of protein Especially for those that want to avoid Soy like I said there’s no reason to but If you do want to avoid soy then lentils Would be my next recommendation there You have it the these are you know this Is what I eat this is what I’m eating Today this is not what I eat every day But this is what I happen to be eating Today and is representative of like an Average type of recipe or average types Of recipes that I would consume if you Have more questions about what to eat or Suggestions about what you would like to See from this Channel please take this Opportunity to leave a comment down Below let me know what you think of the Video don’t forget to subscribe I would Love to have you here on this channel And learn from each other so thanks for Watching thanks for tuning in and I will
See you next time peace out [Music]