Bulking diet for Vegetarian

[Logman]

I'm not a strict vegetarian, I eat fish, and will eat meat if nothing else is available (i.e. eating out), but generally meat is not part of my diet. My sources of protein are mainly:

Fish
Eggs
Tofu
Cheese
Protein shakes with milk

Currently I'm doing 2 x 4 scoop milkshakes per day. The powder is 15g protein per shake so that makes a 60g + 12g (milk) shake twice daily - 144g. Is this 72g shake too much for the body to process in one go?

Normal routine:

7am - light breakfast. I find it very hard to eat in the morning.

Trying to do 2 lunches (10ish and 1ish) which is normally 4 eggs (omelette, scrambled etc), tofu or a cheese sandwich.

Shake post workout around 4pm.

Dinner around 7pm is sometimes fish and vegetables, but also sometimes curry, pasta etc.

Shake and fruit around 9pm.

I'm aiming for a 10lb bulk in a month. I've done it before the extended waistline kind of pissed me off. Doesn't really feel like 50% of that 10lb is muscle. After that bulk which was a year ago I cut it all the following month and didn't feel I gained that much. So I want to try again and hoping this diet can get me there (I think my last one had too much fat).

So guess my questions are:

1) Is this diet okay for someone that doesn't eat meat?
2) Am I okay doing the 72g shakes?
3) Is bulking 10lb in a month a good target?
4) How much should I cut after the month and in what time period.

I'm 78kg (171lb), 5'11, 39 years old. I also run in the morning with my daughter (30 mins) and 5 nights a week I kickbox and do karate and apart from my workouts every other day I'm sat on my ass in front of the computer.

Thanks guys.

 

[minimal]

It's fine.. there has been many successful vegetarian bodybuilders.

I recently just cut meat out of my diet too. Since cutting out my meat intake, I've upped taking my protein shakes too.

Make sure you got plenty of CASEIN protein in your whey protein shakes.

Just make sure you get about 1.5g of protein per lb and .45g of fat per lb daily.

I personally wouldn't recommend gaining 10lbs a month unless you were on gear. If you gain too quick, you will get fat and you will then have to spend more time trying to lose the fat.... and so on. Naturally I think 1lb per week is a good goal when bulking or cutting.

I'm not a real vegetarian, I just grown tired of eating meat. Most of my protein comes from shitload of shakes, cottage cheese, eggs and nuts.

Do you really live in japan?

 

[Built]

It's fine.. there has been many successful vegetarian bodybuilders.

I recently just cut meat out of my diet too. Since cutting out my meat intake, I've upped taking my protein shakes too.

Make sure you got plenty of CASEIN protein in your whey protein shakes.

Just make sure you get about 1.5g of protein per lb and .45g of fat per lb daily.

0.45g/lb - this sounds so... precise, lol - where did you find these guidelines out of curiosity? This is very similar to what I usually suggest, which is at least a gram of protein and at least half a gram of fat per pound lean mass; in practice I like both higher, but that's because I have a hard time keeping my appetite under control.

I personally wouldn't recommend gaining 10lbs a month unless you were on gear. If you gain too quick, you will get fat and you will then have to spend more time trying to lose the fat.... and so on. Naturally I think 1lb per week is a good goal when bulking or cutting.

This is excellent advice.

 

[minimal]

0.45g/lb - this sounds so... precise, lol - where did you find these guidelines out of curiosity?

I better get my flamesuit on before posting this link.. cause it's from bb.com

IIFYM - What does it mean? - Bodybuilding.com Forums

In short, it's based on some very solid principles while debunking a lot of peusdo and broscience that's been plagued across the bodybuilding community.

 

[Logman]

Thanks for the responses. I find it hard to count calories and just try and wing it by eating kind of correctly and seeing the effects on my body. Okay, 10lb in a month = too much, now I know why my last consolidated bulk added 2 inches to my waist, heh.

To be honest I think my standard diet plus the extra shakes will be enough to put on 4lb a month. I just need to string it out a bit.

Yep, I live in southern Japan. I just get this standard protein powder called Savas that I see in the shops here. It's just normal whey, never seen any casein though.

 

[Logman]

So after bulking a week I have lost a pound (500g). I find it really hard to eat and I am eating more and I always feel stuffed (which I hate). I have bulked before and found it easy so not sure what I'm doing wrong.

Is it worth getting some of the standard weight gain powders I see or is that all empty calories that is going to go straight to my waist?

 

[Built]

So after bulking a week I have lost a pound (500g). I find it really hard to eat and I am eating more and I always feel stuffed (which I hate). I have bulked before and found it easy so not sure what I'm doing wrong.

Thanks for the responses. I find it hard to count calories and just try and wing it by eating kind of correctly and seeing the effects on my body.

Asked, and answered.

 

[Logman]

How can I count calories when my wife cooks something different every day for dinner or we go out for dinner? The only thing that doesn't change is daytime eating. This morning I got up at 8, had a protein shake, 4 scrambled eggs and a slice of toast at 10.30am, its now 1.20pm, almost time to eat half a slab of tofu and I'm still stuffed. The thought of eating again makes me sad.

 

[Logman]

Okay, so I'm actually going to track what I eat every day in FitDay (rather than guessing what I ate in the last week). I'll post my results in a week.

 

[Logman]

Erm, on FitDay, under Protein powder, if I put 4 tablespoons it only gives me 11g of Protein when 4 scoops gives me 60g. D?o I just adjust FitDay until it reads 60g Protein (21 tablespoons)

 

[Built]

You program in YOUR protein powder as a "custom food".

 

[Logman]

Thanks Built. I plugged in my foods for yesterday and to my chagrin it only shows 2400 calories (46% fat, 28% Carbs, 25% Protein). And I had a pretty active day - 40 bike ride, an hour in the gym including 30 mins on the heavy bag and an hour of boxing in the evening. I'm 5'10 and 170lbs - felt like I was eating a hell of a lot. A few weight calculators tell me my maintenance is 2700 but I usually eat less. If I'm aiming for 3200 calories of good food I just can't see how it's possible.

Morning: 4 scrambled egg on toast
Afternoon: Half block Tofu
Afternoon: Protein Shake
Evening: Curried Prawns and Fries (was in a hurry)
Evening: Half a cheese sandwich
Late Evening: Protein Shake

This is tough.

Also realised my protein powder is not what I thought and I'm only getting about 25g protein per serving.

 

[Built]

Well, you only had one scoop of protein; add another shake, and toss in some olive oil. Easy calories.

 

[Logman]

I asked my wifeto translate the Protein powder can and it said that 3 scoops = 21g which = 15g Protein total. I thought it meant one scoop = 15g but apparently not. Is this incredibly weak powder by western standards?

I did have 2 shakes that day, forgot to update Fitday....

This was yesterday (Saturday):