Vegetarian Muscle Building

One of the most frequent email requests I receive is a description of my vegetarian diet for muscle building. Since there is a lot of interest in this topic, I thought I would share it with you today.

Breakfast- My day always starts with a smoothie. This will normally consist of rice, pea or hemp protein, or some combination of the three. I mix 30-40 grams of protein in 8oz of organic coconut milk and 8-12oz of water. I also mix a banana, frozen mixed berries, a tablespoon of cacao nibs, and 2 tablespoons of maca powder, which is great for boosting testosterone production and virility. This smoothie is absolutely delicious.

Snack: Sometime a few hours later I’ll have some tangerines and some pistachios/cashews or a couple of apples with almond butter. Whole Foods Freshly Ground Almond Butter is one of my favorite things and I could easily eat an entire container in one sitting. Sometimes, for an evening treat, I mix it with organic honey and mash the entire container, washing it down with a cup of hemp or almond milk.

I’m a big fan of high sodium intake for strength and energy production, so I always eat a few pickles every day and add sea salt to much of the food.

Lunch: Usually consists of some form of legumes or beans, which are a mainstay in any vegetarian diet to build muscles, with organic brown rice or quinoa. I’ll stir-fry black beans with bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, and garlic and mix them into the rice. I top it with salsa and some fresh avocado. That’s my Mexican style rice and beans. Sometimes I just mix the beans and rice or quinoa with marinara sauce. I always cook enough for two days.

Sometimes I have a salad with that or eat some raw vegetables or mix some steamed kale or spinach into everything.

Every once in a while I have a couple of almond butter and jam sandwiches. I have eliminated peanuts and peanut butter entirely due to the deadly toxins they contain, along with wheat due to its inflammatory properties, so they are not eaten as much as they used to be. I buy some brown rice bread for the times I eat them.

Snack: similar to the previous one. When I’m not around food, I always carry raw organic food bars and a variety of nuts with me. If I’m home and have had fruit for my first snack, I try to make this snack with raw vegetables and hummus along with a decent amount of nuts.

I also drink another shake at some point in the day, which is usually right after training. It’s similar to the shake above, except I don’t include the coconut milk or cocoa, but I do use the maca powder. Mix up a banana, almond milk, water, frozen spinach (no spinach flavor so this isn’t as gross as it sounds) with Vega and some extra protein.

During my workouts I drink coconut water or regular water. And I try to drink at least a half gallon of water throughout the day in a glass or my Sigg bottle and do my best to avoid plastic due to estrogenic effects. I also drink a couple of cups of green tea every day.

Dinner- I usually cook some type of stew made up of a wide variety of vegetables and some type of legumes. For example, I came home the other day and all we had was pumpkin, onion, spinach, and garlic. I tossed it all into a pot with vegetable broth, salt, pepper, and yellow peas, which have 10 grams of protein per ¼ cup (you’d have to eat a lot of meat to equal the protein in two cups of yellow peas). I let it cook for 2 hours and then I mixed in some quinoa. It was absolutely delicious. Other times we will mix brown rice with a variety of other vegetables and lentils. If I was trying to lose weight, I’d probably skip the brown rice. Adding potatoes (even just one) to casseroles makes them creamier and even more delicious.

I severely limit my soy intake due to its estrogenic effects, but for the occasional cheat meal, I have some tofu with brown rice or some kind of meat substitute with brown rice pasta.

I also eat soy and wheat free veggie burgers one or two nights a week and always eat a huge spinach salad tossed with tomatoes, broccoli, olives, bell peppers, onions, carrots, apples, berries, nuts, seeds, avocado and whatever else you want. can fit in there I top it with olive oil, Vega oil, and balsamic vinegar.

Dessert- Every once in a while when I’m cheating I have organic coconut milk ice cream. This is obviously made with coconut milk and not cow’s milk. It is delicious and quite healthy. Coconut milk contains healthy MCTs and has none of the dangers of cow’s milk. It is sweetened with organic agave syrup. I highly recommend it.

The only other cheat dessert that I will eat regularly is organic dark chocolate. This has been shown to have a variety of health benefits. The brands I buy are those that support slave free and fair business practices. These include Newman’s Own, The Endangered Species Chocolate Company, and Green and Blacks.

So that’s my vegetarian diet for building muscle. It’s very easy to follow and much healthier than eating pounds of red meat and saturated fat.

Jason Ferruggia is a world-renowned fitness expert who is renowned for his ability to help people build muscle as fast as humanly possible. He has trained thousands of clients during his 14 years as a professional fitness trainer, including over 500 athletes from over 20 different sports. Jason has written hundreds of articles for numerous top-rated training websites and magazines, and is the author of four fitness books. He is also the head of training for Men’s Fitness Magazine, where he also has his own monthly column dedicated to muscle building. For more information on muscle building, visit…