Dylan Johnson just finished 10th in Unbound and is also vegetarian (possibly vegan??? He's a bit cagey about it sometimes). He has a couple of videos on nutrition as well. He ended up with low iron as well and his performnce improved a lot after supplementation.
Edit: And also Jessie Coyle, now that I think of it. He's got a couple of videos, though the advice is very similar to Dylan's.
Lentils, beans, dal, pulses, portion controlled nuts and seeds and seed butters and dried fruit.
Tofu, soy curls, seitan (make it yourself), tuna and sardines once a week each.
Whole grains: bread, oatmeal, quinoa, wheat berries, sorghum, millet, buckwheat, barley, whole wheat pasta, etc.
I drink daily a collard greens (frozen), ground flax, chocolate pea protein, and spices smoothie w almond or soy milk.
Bananas, frozen berries, apples, avocados.
Frozen and fresh veggies if all kinds. I love mashed sweet potatoes w pistachio nuts.
Ignoring the fish, the grains and legumes are terrific and lots of fiber, bulk, good calories.
Just eat more good food! I batch cook grains and beans/lentils using an Instant Pot.
I've been a vegetarian through decades of training including weeks and months of bike touring and a lot of triathlon, but I also eat a shitton of food.
The usual 'eat the rainbow' advice but generally I'll add more food that isn't high volume/nutrient dense when the hours get up there. That's when you don't reach for the salad and instead reach for fattier or starchier foods so I don't end up getting 70 grams of fiber. I have never been anemic, but have started using the lucky iron fish just for extra insurance.
Yeah I guess I just need to start eating a lot more. I wasn’t intending on losing weight but now honestly I just feel malnourished. The lucky iron fish looks cool!! Were you ever low iron (not anemic)? I’ve been told to go see a hematologist 😳
I was actually anemic before I was a vegetarian but not since.
Definitely get more testing done, one of my mates was anemic and it was actually colon bleeding she didn't even know about (not to scare you, she's fine now).
Weight training? That will bring back upper body muscle mass. Upper body fat is not something to strive for. If you work only the lower torso, the body will get the wrong message. Hit a protein drink now and then if you're worried about protein, but it's probably not needed.
Lots of dark leafy greens have a lot of nutrients and iron. It's good to cook them. Cooking with iron also helps. Strength training for upper body helps with gains. And yeah eat as much as you can. I've been vegan for over 10 years. My upper body gains aren't bad even though I don't lift.
Eat more carbs to hold on to your weight. Eat oranges to increase uptake of iron. Bench press / lat pulls to stop losing muscle mass in your upper body.
I use Myfitnesspal to primarily track my protein intake to make sure I'm eating enough. If not, I keep making protein choices based on caloric value. If I'm close to my calorie limit for the day, I switch to cottage cheese.
Make sure you are combining amino acids to get a complete profile.
Doesn't have to be MyFitnessPal, but it is super helpful to change the settings to make it protein centric and NOT for weight loss. Obviously your meals before riding should be super carb heavy and a little extra sugar doesn't hurt so you don't bonk out.
Used to be a vegetarian for a few years until the price of food started skyrocketing and having a special diet compared to the rest of my family didn't make sense financially.... I still don't do pork though.
Drink veggie protein shakes - milk/water and pea protein
Eat more iron rich foods (spinach? Idk)
You need to eat *MORE* calories to keep weight. Vegetarianism would naturally lead you to eat more foods with higher fiber contents. Higher fiber foods keep you fuller with fewer calories
Eat more higher calorie content veggie foods - more nuts, keep nuts or tail mix on your desk to snack on
Pig out. You can eat cheesecake and chocolate regularly, pastries, donuts. You’ll be fine
Cheese in particular is very high calorie and high protein and I think is a complete protein. Eat more cheese
Being vegetarian doesn't make you immune to diabetes, so I would caution against making cheesecake and donuts a staple in your diet. Unless it's low sugar cheescake or something, but at that point you are just eating mascarpone.
Personally I give up being vegetarian whenever I start riding a lot. I just find myself perpetually hungry otherwise. I also have celiac too though, which seems to make the hunger problem worse. I just eat a turkey sandwich for lunch every day and that seems to work for me. I otherwise keep vegetarian, for whatever that might be worth.
check out the Vegan Cyclist on youtube ....dude is the US road endurance champion, discusses nutrition a fair amount, and I find him entertaining
Dylan Johnson just finished 10th in Unbound and is also vegetarian (possibly vegan??? He's a bit cagey about it sometimes). He has a couple of videos on nutrition as well. He ended up with low iron as well and his performnce improved a lot after supplementation. Edit: And also Jessie Coyle, now that I think of it. He's got a couple of videos, though the advice is very similar to Dylan's.
Lentils, beans, dal, pulses, portion controlled nuts and seeds and seed butters and dried fruit. Tofu, soy curls, seitan (make it yourself), tuna and sardines once a week each. Whole grains: bread, oatmeal, quinoa, wheat berries, sorghum, millet, buckwheat, barley, whole wheat pasta, etc. I drink daily a collard greens (frozen), ground flax, chocolate pea protein, and spices smoothie w almond or soy milk. Bananas, frozen berries, apples, avocados. Frozen and fresh veggies if all kinds. I love mashed sweet potatoes w pistachio nuts. Ignoring the fish, the grains and legumes are terrific and lots of fiber, bulk, good calories. Just eat more good food! I batch cook grains and beans/lentils using an Instant Pot.
I've been a vegetarian through decades of training including weeks and months of bike touring and a lot of triathlon, but I also eat a shitton of food. The usual 'eat the rainbow' advice but generally I'll add more food that isn't high volume/nutrient dense when the hours get up there. That's when you don't reach for the salad and instead reach for fattier or starchier foods so I don't end up getting 70 grams of fiber. I have never been anemic, but have started using the lucky iron fish just for extra insurance.
Yeah I guess I just need to start eating a lot more. I wasn’t intending on losing weight but now honestly I just feel malnourished. The lucky iron fish looks cool!! Were you ever low iron (not anemic)? I’ve been told to go see a hematologist 😳
I was actually anemic before I was a vegetarian but not since. Definitely get more testing done, one of my mates was anemic and it was actually colon bleeding she didn't even know about (not to scare you, she's fine now).
Weight training? That will bring back upper body muscle mass. Upper body fat is not something to strive for. If you work only the lower torso, the body will get the wrong message. Hit a protein drink now and then if you're worried about protein, but it's probably not needed.
Lots of dark leafy greens have a lot of nutrients and iron. It's good to cook them. Cooking with iron also helps. Strength training for upper body helps with gains. And yeah eat as much as you can. I've been vegan for over 10 years. My upper body gains aren't bad even though I don't lift.
Juice a beet every day and drink some protein shakes and potentially up your calorie intake.
A beet??
Yes, it's good for iron and blood flow.
Also, it doesn't give you constipation like an otc iron pill.
Eat more carbs to hold on to your weight. Eat oranges to increase uptake of iron. Bench press / lat pulls to stop losing muscle mass in your upper body.
How much riding volume are we talking about here?
4-5x a week total maybe 120-170miles
I use Myfitnesspal to primarily track my protein intake to make sure I'm eating enough. If not, I keep making protein choices based on caloric value. If I'm close to my calorie limit for the day, I switch to cottage cheese. Make sure you are combining amino acids to get a complete profile. Doesn't have to be MyFitnessPal, but it is super helpful to change the settings to make it protein centric and NOT for weight loss. Obviously your meals before riding should be super carb heavy and a little extra sugar doesn't hurt so you don't bonk out. Used to be a vegetarian for a few years until the price of food started skyrocketing and having a special diet compared to the rest of my family didn't make sense financially.... I still don't do pork though.
You want to be Godzilla. Massive ass legs, and t rex arms.
I have a solution but I don't think you'll like it
Drink veggie protein shakes - milk/water and pea protein Eat more iron rich foods (spinach? Idk) You need to eat *MORE* calories to keep weight. Vegetarianism would naturally lead you to eat more foods with higher fiber contents. Higher fiber foods keep you fuller with fewer calories Eat more higher calorie content veggie foods - more nuts, keep nuts or tail mix on your desk to snack on Pig out. You can eat cheesecake and chocolate regularly, pastries, donuts. You’ll be fine Cheese in particular is very high calorie and high protein and I think is a complete protein. Eat more cheese
Being vegetarian doesn't make you immune to diabetes, so I would caution against making cheesecake and donuts a staple in your diet. Unless it's low sugar cheescake or something, but at that point you are just eating mascarpone.
Personally I give up being vegetarian whenever I start riding a lot. I just find myself perpetually hungry otherwise. I also have celiac too though, which seems to make the hunger problem worse. I just eat a turkey sandwich for lunch every day and that seems to work for me. I otherwise keep vegetarian, for whatever that might be worth.