A Comprehensive Guide to Vegan Protein

Protein is essential for building and retaining muscle; it also helps you stay fuller for longer and helps manage hunger. Many people get protein from animal sources such as meat and dairy; however, those who follow a vegan or vegetarian diet have to find alternative protein sources from a plant-based diet.

How much Protein do you need?

While the availability of vegan protein choices may be a little more limited, there are still many different foods you can include to help you hit your daily protein goal. Hitting that goal shouldn’t be ridiculously challenging. It’s a myth that you need tons of protein in your diet; generally, no one needs as much as we’ve been conditioned to believe.

Unlike most old-school diets out there that promote 1 pound of protein per pound of body weight or more, we actually recommend between 0.8-0.9 of goal body weight. So for example for a woman who wants to weigh 125 lbs., then she would need to consume 100 grams of protein a day to support her lean body mass. Consuming too much of any macronutrient can lead to weight gain or slow down weight loss progress.

Sources of Protein

If you’re vegan or thinking about trying out being vegan, having a go-to list of protein options can be incredibly useful to help you avoid a challenging balancing act of macros at the end of a long day, or having to finish the day short on protein so you don’t go over your carbs and fat. You’ll notice that there are minimal sources of vegan protein that only contain protein and no other macronutrients – what we call “macrodominant” foods. When you first get started with tracking macros you’ll probably need to resort to using supplements like protein powders to meet your protein needs. When you start the reverse dieting process and begin to eat more, you’ll find it much easier to hit your protein goal without the need for supplements.

The infographic below contains a list of vegan protein options to help you make smart choices or even switch up your protein variety. We hope you find this helpful! If you do, please share it and let others know how they can go about reaching their protein needs as a vegan.

Whether you’re vegan, vegetarian or a full-blown meat-eater we can make macros work for you! All of our coaches are experienced in understanding your nutrition needs and can help you come up with a plan that fits your lifestyle. Check out some of our recent transformations with our vegan clients, Joe & Alison Thiede. Find out more about our Lifestyle Memberships and our hands-on coaching services with weekly check-ins and your own personal coach. Reach out to us on contact@ownyoureating.com.