People possess a diversified approach when it comes to metabolism, weight gain, and body shape. To cater to all approaches, a plant-based diet is capable of meeting all their needs – especially when it comes to hygiene and health. Trimming your body by skipping animal-based products seemingly can bring desired outcomes, but how to gain weight on a vegan diet can be a tricky question.
If you’re looking for ways to gain some pounds while following a vegan diet – then the article will serve you with an answer on how to gain weight on a vegan diet. Scroll down to find out some guidelines to put on weight while on a vegan diet.
Gain Muscle or Lose Fat – Stick to One Process
If you see that your body has a considerable amount of fat that needs to be cut, then addressing the fat issue first is highly recommended by the experts. You should first try with HIIT (high-intensity interval training) to lose fat and then begin your muscle-building process.
If you’re too slim and your skinny body is what bothers you, then skip the cardio workout for now. By doing cardio, your body may use all the nutrients it might need to build up and grow your muscles. Hence, you must start with muscle-building exercises.
Learn to Lift Weights
To build lean muscles, multi-joint exercises are a great option, to begin with. Integrate your compound moves with resistance training, such as lunges, squats, bench press, and pull-ups. Try your workout to be one of the best movements for the aimed muscles.
Slow weight lifting is the most painful secret that bodybuilders often hide from you. But you have to follow this exercise a couple of times weekly. Slowly lift your weights and steadily draw them down, keep repeating the exercises up to 10 -15 times but as slow as you can, or keep repeating weight lifting until you run out of energy.
Be conscious enough to add weights gradually while lifting in your initial stages (a common mistake that beginners often make) you may end up with a potential injury.
Eat more Calories
Simply put, I want to gain weight, eat more. Especially when you are doing cardio and weight lifts – keeping in mind that a lot of your energy will be burnt out while doing the workout. If you are unsure how much food you should eat, macronutrient and calorie count wise, then maintain a journal or use a calorie counter app.
By doing this, you will be able to monitor your intake, which will eventually show the results. However, you just can’t rely on the app, as it can only tell you the accuracy of the nutritional value. For a proper plan, you will either need a nutritionist or your trainer to give you a plan.
Increasing your caloric intake from meals, you must ensure that they are drawn from healthy sources like whole grain, fruits (dates, bananas, mangoes), which will certainly help in increasing your fat and protein intake.
Vegan meals that are high in calories including jam and peanut butter sandwiches, butternuts, fat shakes containing coconut oils, and dried fruits are some that you may be asked to add to your daily diet.
Eat Frequently
A productive vegan meal plan for weight gain commitments can stretch your meal time throughout the day. This specifically means that you have to eat after every 2-3 hours. Apart from healthy Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner, it consists of 3-4 snacks that can be taken between meals. It can be hard at the beginning, especially if you have little appetite. But you have to put your body on a new regimen geared towards achieving your goals.
Go for a Medical Checkup
It may not seem obvious, but believe us, if you are eating everything to gain weight and still, you are struggling, then there is a chance that your body may have been exposed to intestinal worms. It may sound horrific, but it’s better to check first before you feel sorry for yourself. Weight loss challenges, appetite disorders, abdominal pain, fatigue, nausea are some of the obvious symptoms of intestinal worms.
You also need to check whether your minerals and vitamin levels are good. Be aware that a vegan diet comes with the deficiencies like:
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin B12
- Calcium
- Omega – 3 Fatty Acids
- Iodine
- Zinc
- Iron
These minerals may not directly be associated with weight gain, but keeping a check on your deficiencies will help you maintain your health eventually. It is better to know everything about your body and health issues before you make these drastic changes to your physique and diet.