I decided to cold turkey start a vegan diet because of the health benefits. I am on day 3 and frustrated about protein- of course the biggest concern everyone brings up so obviously my biggest concern switching over and being such a newbie.
First of all I am a 119 lb 26 year old woman and I'm in the midst of training for a marathon in 2 months, so my longer runs are at 15 miles or more at this point. What I have read is that an athlete doing that type of training should be consuming at least 0.5 grams per pound of protein daily. I realized that on my old omnivorous diet I probably didn't come close to that. But now with my new goal of 60 grams of protein, I'm struggling. It feels like I'm working so hard to figure out how to get my proteins in and my diet revolves around high protein foods. This can't be how other vegans do daily life because it's stressful counting proteins and trying to eat enough when I'm not that hungry. And also not being able to eat as much fruit/veggies because I'm so full from all the grains. I have found good protein sources like
Protein powder-15grams/serving
Sprouted tofu-15 grams per serving
Oatmeal- 5 grams/0.5 cups dry
Kidney beans 8 grams/ 0,5 cup
Garbanzo beans- 6 grams/0.5 cup
Quinoa 6 grams/ 0.25 cup dry
Milled flax seed 6 grams/ 3 Tbsp
Pumpkin seeds and lentils are also a source
So as you can see, I'm finding good places to get protein and searching for sources with high protein but I still feel like I want to have more veggies as well in my diet. What am I missing??
First of all I am a 119 lb 26 year old woman and I'm in the midst of training for a marathon in 2 months, so my longer runs are at 15 miles or more at this point. What I have read is that an athlete doing that type of training should be consuming at least 0.5 grams per pound of protein daily. I realized that on my old omnivorous diet I probably didn't come close to that. But now with my new goal of 60 grams of protein, I'm struggling. It feels like I'm working so hard to figure out how to get my proteins in and my diet revolves around high protein foods. This can't be how other vegans do daily life because it's stressful counting proteins and trying to eat enough when I'm not that hungry. And also not being able to eat as much fruit/veggies because I'm so full from all the grains. I have found good protein sources like
Protein powder-15grams/serving
Sprouted tofu-15 grams per serving
Oatmeal- 5 grams/0.5 cups dry
Kidney beans 8 grams/ 0,5 cup
Garbanzo beans- 6 grams/0.5 cup
Quinoa 6 grams/ 0.25 cup dry
Milled flax seed 6 grams/ 3 Tbsp
Pumpkin seeds and lentils are also a source
So as you can see, I'm finding good places to get protein and searching for sources with high protein but I still feel like I want to have more veggies as well in my diet. What am I missing??