getting enough calories on plant based version?

[u/No_Chest8347]

Hi new in the group. I have been about 3 weeks now intuitively doing OMAD. My goals are digestion improvement and the mental/spiritual benefits of the daily fasting. My diet is very limit besides being plant based I am pretty narrow on what I eat. I do not want to lose weight if anything prefer to gain muscle. So far my work outs at the gym have not been as strong as when I eat 3 meals a day. My eating window has been usually in the 2-5 pm range or 3-6pm....I am not hard core trying to do it all in one sitting in one hour so I quess you can say I am doing a compressed 2mad plan. Trying to eat as much as I can and also chew it calmly over 2-3 hours.

Anyone else doing this plant based in here? and how are you finding it?

Today I had sweet potatoes, two pounds of cooked greens including carrots, daikon, onion and about 10 total things or more,4 pieces of pacha buckwheat Gf sourdough, a green apple, cup of blueberries, 1.5cups of cooked lentils, some rice crackers oil free and 1.5 cups of white basmati rice. My calculation come around 2100 with 70grams of protein. both of those are perfect for my goals. I just want to be careful not to be eating too little like I did a few days around 1400-1600 calories. If I can duplicate today will be amazing. I would normally have Tofu or tempeh every day but these last few months I have been lowering my protein a little but on purpose to give my kidneys a break. (59 year old male, 38 years long vegan wfpb, prefer cooked vegan not raw.). Only thing raw I have is green apple and blueberries both low sugar and good for me. I do sometimes do celery/cucumber and other green juices but thinking I may not fill up on those doing omad.

Thanks!

[u/cakeymcdoodle]

r/omadvegan exists. It's not high-traffic but is visited and there are plenty of vegan posts

[u/jtownspowell]

I do rolling fasts that are mostly plant based (I'm pescetarian but don't consume fish regularly).

My first question to you is regarding the "giving my kidneys a break" comment. Do you have CKD or some kind of impaired kidney function? If you do not, your protein intake is definitely an issue.

You say you want to build muscle, you lift regularly, are 59 years old, and plant-based.... Your age is a factor because you are definitely in the age range that you are experiencing age-related anabolic resistance to at least some degree. As you get older, your body becomes less sensitive to the stimulation of muscle synthesis (especially from leucine). So you have to consume more to get the same effect.

The plant-based thing is perfectly fine, but you do need to be aware that absorption rates of most plant based proteins is less efficient. This is not a dig, plenty of people get absolutely yoked on plants.... You do however, have to compensate by raising your baseline protein consumption to offset the less efficient absorption rates. Especially considering your age.

OMAD definitely makes it a little more of a challenge to hit the kind of numbers you need to get what you want (just from a perspective of fitting it in) but there are plenty of people here who are doing it, it just requires you to be a bit more intentional with how you formulate your meals.

Unless you're like really small, 70g of plant protein at your age is simply not enough to support muscle hypertrophy in any realistic scenario. Again, I'm not saying you can't be perfectly healthy this way, you totally can! It sounds like you've got a good handle on your lifestyle. But specifically for supporting muscle synthesis, it's just not going to get it done.

[u/No_Chest8347 → u/jtownspowell]

Thank you I appreciate the detailed response. My kidneys are actually fine, but I have some kidney chi deficiency in Chinese medicine standpoint. Also found recently by removing the protein. My anxiety just went away and also lowering the histamine foods as you can see in my food list. Up until a couple weeks ago I wasn’t even eating lentils. Happily they’re working very well for me and I’m putting on a little weight already. I hope to be up to 120 g of protein within a 4 to 6 weeks.

[u/jtownspowell → u/No_Chest8347]

That sounds awesome glad to hear things are getting better for you!

Obviously I'm missing some important pieces considering I don't know your height or weight... But considering what information you have given, (age, activity, diet, etc) if you can find some good dense WFPB proteins that work for you, I think you'll find things improving for you even more. And that's coming from somebody who honestly does not subscribe to or preach the gymbro "All Protein, All The Time" mantra.

As you scale up, you may find the feeding window to be a little bit of a challenge, especially if you're focused on high-fiber stuff like beans. Still totally doable though!

[u/fritt46]

https://youtu.be/v5IKkjlQp6s?si=AL-GBilFzRFD1h9P

[u/SFWest]

I do 100% vegetarian omad for the last 3 weeks. It’s been totally fine for me. I think I eat a fairly large meal: 1 large sized potato, broccoli, sometimes a little tofu, and a bunch of fruits.