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New vegan weight gain problems


Cromagzz
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Hi everyone! So to give some back history. I competed for the first time this year. Yay me! During my prep I had a hard time losing body fat and didn't look the way I wanted at the time to go on stage. I really enjoyed competing though and liked having a goal in mind. I had a coach too yet we couldn't figure out why I could get my body fat lower. I was even on a very restricted Iifym diet and killed myself with cardio to get results. Fast forward 4 months, after reverse dieting my husband and switched to a vegan lifestyle and diet! We love what we stand for l! He was getting great results from switching to a vegan lifestyle. But for me besides feeling good I have gained quiet a bit of weight. About .5lb a week and it's not muscle-_-. I'm going into my 3rd month as a vegan and the weight gain continues. I kept my macros the same after my reverse to switching. The only difference was percentage(80/10/10). I have even recently switched my macros to 75c/15p/10f and cut fruit to see if I could stabilize the weight gain. Still nothing! I need help! I am frustrated and need advice. I want to compete in the summer next year and do a small cut this winter. What should I be doing differently?

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Adrenal fatigue. 80/10/10 might not be the best for you. And I don't think 75/15/10 isn't different enough for your body to notice. Check out Mike Mahler. He's a vegan beast that advocates more fat in the diet to support hard training and hormone optimalization.

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Hi Eiji! Thank you for getting back to me. When I first switched to a vegan diet I did pass out at work one day. I have never passed out before. My parents are doctors and everything checked out fine. They said it was probably because my adrenal glands weren't producing enough but I never knew that would effect fat loss. Is it possible for me to get them functioning properly again?

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Yeah. I'm not a doctor. But you can definitely heal and feel good again. Did you get a blood work up done?

 

Are you doing whole foods? Plenty of greens? Getting your b vitamins? B12?

 

You should try to get at least 8 solid hrs of sleep. I know that when your adrenals are out of whack that is hard but try to anyway.

 

Try and bring up fat content to 20-30% with avocado, nuts and seeds. Also bring up protein to around 20% too. Try that for a while and see how you feel.

 

No heavy/intense workouts until you feel super.

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No my parents said that if the passing out happened again to go get blood work done. Which it hasn't.

I eat at least 4-5 servings of greens a day and take a multivitamin supplement just in case. I have had a problem recently sleeping and being tired all the time. I recently added cardio back in my workouts two months ago and I thought that that was the culprit. I am always carving sugar and I am almost always hungry. I looked it up and I am pretty my a walking adrenal fatigue case. I should probably go to the doctor but they said online that it's something that most doctors over look it.

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Ugh, well I posted but then my internet crapped out.

 

Short story:

 

I tried 80/10/10 for eight months. Gained weight (approx. 22lbs), and not the good kind. Started to break out, feel like crap, etc. Noticed I do much better on higher fat and moderate carb. I think 80/10/10 ignores a lot of legitimate science, and only coincidentally works if you are doing marathon training along with weights. I.E. super high output permits super high input. Otherwise, it's a load of crap.

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Something that might help would be to list out a typical day's foods and rough portion estimates? Robert suggests 70/15/15 in Shred It!, but the foods matter just as much as the ratios. All macros are not created equal in terms of bio-availability and what get's used vs what gets stored.

 

I was recently getting ready to go on a bulk, and for the first time in a long time, actually logged my foods. My rough caloric needs were: 1800 cals just to exist, 2800 for my daily routine, and ~3500 for my desired muscle weight gain. Logged my foods, even eating clean, whole foods, contentiously keeping my training level in mind (I was in maintenance mode mixing in 2-3 various P90X workouts and alternating with Kickboxing HeavyBag Workout, so probably needed along the lines 2800-3000 to maintain. I was barely over 2000!!!! So doing myself a dis-service and not realizing the benefits of all my working out. Stayed, lean. Bit ripped everywhere especially shoulders, but not happy with my abs that had disappeared. Stopped doing intensive Krav Maga 2x per week and slipped into the junk carbs a little resulting in my weight staying pretty much the same, just lost of some muscle size in arms, chest.

 

Kicking it off again soon! Was supposed to be last week, but life intervened and while I got 'started' I didn't achieve my goals.....pressing on!

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