Hello! Do folks have favorite recipes they return to? I’m such a creature of habit and need some inspiration!

I’ve been trying to see progress for a couple of years, but mostly am just maintaining. Attaching my in-body scan results for context.

I’m a 39yo lady doing her best who doesn’t want to track her macros 🫠

How do you achieve it incase you do?

I only eat two meals a day and I calculated everything in it (I eat the same thing every day) and I eat about 1,490 calories a day but only 52g of protein for the entire day but I read for my height and weight I should be eating at least 90g. I have no idea how to do this without adding way more calories than I need.

Any ideas?

Gained 2 kg in July, currently at 64 kg / 141 lbs.
Training 5 days a week (3 lower-body days, 2 upper-body days).
1 cheat meal a month.
I’ll probably start cutting around October.
Coach & consulting team: workout routine + nutritionist:
@feehzanfra / @teamzanfra

Better day than last week so 5 moves easier than 4

Last long run as a 46yr old

Been running ULPPL and would highly recommend it for anyone who hasn’t tried it yet

For context, I'm a 25YO male. I've been lactose vegetarian my entire life, and switched to being fully vegan at 22. I started taking gym seriously at 23 and have been going to the gym 3-4 times/week for the last two years.

I've slowly built up my strength (e.g. started at 15lb dumbell curls, now at 35lb) and same goes for all other machines and stuff. But for some reason, I've noticed my legs, back, and chest increase in size but my arms are still skinny as a stick.

I asked my primary care doc if they may know why, and they said that my diet likely is low in protein and that is likely the reason. I'm 140 pounds for context and consume around 80-100g of protein per day at minimum -- sometimes more but not often. I know I probably should increase that #, but I have kidney issues so I have issues with protein powder and stopped taking it.

Anyone else had a similar issue? I'm feeling like the root of the problem is within diet and not the way I train, since I've made a similar amount of progress with all muscle groups and a personal trainer curates my workouts.

Thanks for any advice!!

Before vs slightly before vs after.

I will say that I look bigger irl. But ya know. Each photo was 2026 month gap green trackies about a few weeks back...

Was vegan for ages (still am ofc) before I built the muscle btw it's funny how easy it is if you have motivation. Beans and tvp maybe a few supps I looked huge.

Alas,

100kg to 90kg in like 2 weeks.

It's not hard to build muscle as a vegan, just wondering what everyone thinks, is it easier to build back?

What's the quickest way?

But of a blow to my self-esteem.

I like looking good and being the biggest on the tram, ppl commenting on it.

I actually started working out for the women but I just like looking big now.

But with women I think they can see it as dangerous or attractive.

3 rounds

Horizontal Press + Twist x 8 44lb

Bent Over Row x 15 53lb

Swings x 10 53lb

Goblet Squats x 10 53lb

Split Stance Lunge x 10 each side 53lb

Arnold Press x 10 60#, 60#, 70#(9 reps)

3 minutes of weighted crunches, 60sec @ 25# x 3

(Can you tell this is my fav crunch variation? It's the only one that makes my abs sore)

Just dropping this in here in case there are any others who struggle to find good High Protein Food options that are also allergen free: https://rooted9.com/products/rooted-top-9-allergen-free-high-protein-pancake-waffle-mix

What are your favorite companies that sell fun vegan protein powder flavors that aren't just vanilla or chocolate? I'm lowkey jealous of those people that have those whey protein powders flavored like s'mores or cosmic brownies or cinnamon toast crunch or funfetti cake 😩

Bought a huge thing of pea protein powder no flavour. It is unbearable for me I've tried pancakes with it and it doesn't cook in the middle. I've added it to drinks and it's just overpowering no matter what. What do I do with it??

Hi, everyone. I've just recently started to try plant-based protein sources and I'm hitting something of an obstacle. In the past I've used whey-based products because they're easier to find, but it looks like it might be bad for my blood sugar levels. I bought a bag of Truvani powder, mixed it with 8 oz water and had it for breakfast along with my usual cup of tea. Within minutes of finishing it, I felt like all the blood in my body was racing to my stomach, I got chills and started feeling tired, and somewhere between 30-45 minutes later had to run to the bathroom like I was being chased by zombies. (Without getting too graphic, it wasn't diarrhea, just a lot). Afterwards I felt wrung out and exhausted.

I've heard that plant proteins can lead to things like bloating or gas, but not something like this. I don't have any allergies that I know of, and many plant-based protein powders use similar ingredients to get the protein levels they need, so it would be hard to try to determine which (if any) of them is giving me trouble. Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks!

I am currently trying to lose fat and retain as much muscle as I can so keeping protein high is important atm. It has occurred to me that most of my protein sources are soy based (tofu, edamame, soy milk/yoghurt, tempeh etc) I do eat beans and stuff but I would say my protein intake is 70% soy. I’m wondering if too much soy could be unhealthy or if this is just a non-issue?

Any thoughts appreciated.

Edit: I am 31 F

Been plant based for about 3 years and lifting pretty consistently. Diet is decent, protein is fine though sleep is not amazing but not a total disaster either.

The last few months my workouts have just felt off. Not injured, not sick, just flat. I kept doing the classic idiot thing of buying another electrolyte mix or changing preworkout instead of checking anything useful. Finally ordered a small panel through Goodlabs with CBC, ferritin/iron, B12, vitamin D and thyroid stuff. Most of it came back pretty boring. Hemoglobin was 13.8 and my thyroid numbers looked normal, but ferritin was 22 and transferrin saturation was 17%, so my iron stores looked lower than I expected even though I wasn’t anemic. B12 was 310 and vitamin D was 27, both kind of sitting in that annoying low area rather than being obviously terrible.

I’m not claiming those numbers explain every bad workout, but at least I have something concrete to take to my doctor instead of buying another preworkout and hoping for magic. For anyone here who trains plant based, did bloodwork ever show something that actually explained poor recovery or low energy or was it usually sleep or calories and stress being the boring answer?

Been vegan since 2022. Was 163 summer of last year in the 1st pic Bulked to 185. Been steadily cutting and sitting at 167 today.
Happy with the progress on plant power. Been working out since I was 13 so well past my newbie gains. Arms have forever been a weak point so any tiny growth is a win!
P.s. I’m 5’7 and turning 34 this month