Critique My Soy Free Diet - Details included!

[steelefitness]

Real quick:

- 5'6"
- 120lbs
- ~10% BF
- Just above average metabolic efficiency (I can get the exact number if necessary for a proper critique)

-I'm a vegetarian
-Visited Naturopath, found out I have an intolerance to DAIRY and SOY
-Have a new diet plan, free of Dairy, soy, meat, eggs
-I'm willing to give this vegan diet a try for at least 30 days to see how I feel, but I need some help to make sure I'm doing it right
-I will continue bulking beyond the 30 days, but I want to have a solid diet plan as I move forward

My goal is to bulk, as clean as possible, gaining lean mass while keeping fat gains to a minimum
Goal weight: 140 lbs - 8% BF? (As low as possible without going too crazy)

Training 3x a week - intensely

Maintenance Caloric Intake: 2360
Bulk Caloric Intake: 2860

Diet:
Total Calories: 2,878
Carbs: 309.7g
Fats: 97.1g
Protein: 139.3g

Carb:Fat:Protein
56.5:18:25.5 - how's this ratio look?

The Food:

Breakfast Shake
1 Serving Protein
2 tbsp Ground Flaxseed
1 tbsp Omega Oil
1 Cup Almond Milk
1 Cup Berries

Calories: 456
Carbs: 29.1
Fat: 19.6
Protein: 28.9

Snack
2 Servings Almonds (24 almonds)
1 Piece Fruit

Calories: 270
Carbs: 32
Fat: 15
Protein: 7

Lunch
2 Cups Quinoa
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 Cup Veggies
½ Cup Lentils

Calories: 730
Carbs: 108.7
Fat: 16.4
Protein: 25.1

Snack Shake
1 Serving Protein
2 tbsp Ground Flaxseed
1 tbsp Omega Oil
1 Cup Almond Milk
1 Cup Berries

Calories: 456
Carbs: 29.1
Fat: 19.6
Protein: 28

Dinner
2 Cups Quinoa
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 Cup Veggies
½ Cup Lentils

Calories: 730
Carbs: 108.7
Fat: 16.4
Protein: 25.1

Night Shake
1 Serving Protein
1 tbsp Olive Oil

Calories: 236
Carbs: 2.1
Fat: 10.1
Protein: 24.3

+B12/Iron supplements
3L water/daily

Should I supplement anything else?

---

Protein I will be using is a Rice/Gemma blend
I've left 'veggies' and 'berries' a little vague, I plan on mixing it up as I go along
Generally, I seriously plan on sticking to this, for at least 30 days straight, same thing everyday.
I know it seems unlikely, but I think this will be much easier than being overwhelmed with variety.
I like the idea of simplicity
As I get comfortable with it, I'll begin experimenting with some recipes, etc.
But for now I want to commit myself to a solid diet for 30 days, no matter how boring it is.

-

So how does this look? Is there anything I'm overlooking?
If there is any other info I could provide, please let me know.
Thanks very much for your help guys!

[beforewisdom]

-Visited Naturopath, found out I have an intolerance to DAIRY and SOY

I would get that diagnoses confirmed by an MD and one who specializes in food allergies.
Then I would find a Registered Dietitian (RD) who is well versed in vegan diets.

There is a lot of bullshit on the web about vegan nutrition, a fair amount of it from vegans themselves and on vegan web boards. There isn't that much to know. What you need to know can be fit onto one page. One of the best things you can do to make a vegan diet a success is to learn your nutrition on your own.

Here is a SHORT post I made on where to find brief, RELIABLE, vegan nutrition information:

http://beforewisdom.com/blog/vegan-diets/

Best of luck, I hope this helps

[steelefitness]

Thank you.

I am not 100% convinced by this diagnosis myself, but I am open minded and willing to see how I feel without these things in my diet.
I appreciate your advice and I've only just begun looking into the vegan diet and I'm sure there's some stuff I still need to learn for myself.

[Linnéa76]

+1 on getting a second opinion about the soy intolerance.

Based on your bodyfat goal, I assume you're male?

I think your meal plan looks pretty solid, but if you're going to eat exactly the same things for a month perhaps use chickpeas or beans in one of the meals instead of eating lentils twice a day? Maybe supplement vitamin D, depending on where you live.

[Lordmuppet]

So I looked into intolerance in general myself maybe six months or so back as I was having some stomach problems.

I found out two things really

1) while testing for allergies is often quite straightforward (e.g. they have a specific thing they are looking for with gluten allergies) testing for intolerances is something that, though a lot claim to do it, is a lot less credible. The general consensus seems to be that yes intolerances exist but most 'tests' that are around for them are hokum.

2) So if you want to test for an intolerance the only real 'gold standard' is to run an elimination diet where you eliminate completely all suspect foods from your diet for 4-6 weeks and then slowly introduce them one by one at the end of the diet waiting three days for effects in each case. So you reintroduce soy, wait three days then reintroduce gluten etc.

Elimination diets are (obviously) very extreme and you have to plan carefully to make sure that your diet for those 4-6 weeks is still healthy and giving you all the stuff you need [you can use chronometer for this]. As a result I would NOT recommend elimination diets unless a) there is a serious problem as there was with me and b) you have exhausted all other possible explanations for the problem. I am not a doctor etc etc and don't really know as much about nutrition as I should I just have (successful) experience running an elimination diet

[steelefitness]

Thanks a lot guys.

I was actually encouraged by the naturopath to do the elimination diet, and that's what I'm going to do.

I will look into make lunch/dinner different with some other lentils or chickpeas or beans, for sure.

I'm from Canada, been supplementing vitamin D already, will continue as winter comes in.

Thanks for all your help, I'm very excited to start. Just waiting on my protein to come in.

[Talyn]

Welcome, I have some questions before I can really comment:

How old are you.
How tall are you.
What type of weight training do you do.

[sergio]

Good work designing your diet, I've been unable (well, let's say lazy) to write down a plan like this.

I'm not an expert and I can't really help with the macro, but I think the overall experience of your first month 100% vegan could be "biased" because the quinoa/lentils twice a day. But hey, it's just a personal opinion, 30 days eating the same meal with slight variations seems too much for me, but it could be ok for others. If you get bored you can keep it simple making day A and day B or so.

Good luck! : )

[steelefitness]

I'm male.
19.
5'6

I weight train, 3 day splits mostly. I like to mix it up but I usually work in the 6-10 rep range, heavy weight, compound exercises mostly.

Any suggestions?

I totally hear you about being biased with only a simple meals like that. I prefer to keep it simple and gradually I'll mess around with some new foods and recipes. I've always been stuck on these new meal plan things because I get intimidated by the idea that I have to have a lot of variation. This time I'm just going to keep it simple and work from there. Variation is not necessary, I don't really care for it to be honest. Food is more of a chore for me rather than something I really care about any enjoy like some people.

[JP]

serious lack of ice cream, crisps, doughnuts and cake - might be damaging to your mental health in the long run

[beforewisdom]

+ 1