Trying Veganuary? Protein, Supplements & 10 Pro Tips

It's the start of January and for a lot

of you that means taking on Veganuary or simply

trying to have more meat-free days in your week.

But plant-based nutrition can feel

like a guessing game.

Don't worry because we've been exactly where you are and

we're going to break it down for you today.

So stick around as we take a

deep dive into plant-based protein sources.

We'll give our 10 top tips for anybody going

plant-based for the first time and we've got a

free high protein plant-based recipe ebook just for you.

Welcome to episode 11 of The Outlifting Lounge.

I'm Derec.

I'm Alan and this is the show all

about pride, fitness and everything in between.

Before we begin, I just want to say

that the information we are giving today is

intended to help anybody who wants to either

eliminate or reduce plant-based products from their diet.

We are not trying to convert anybody here.

And although we haven't personally eaten meat

for around about 8 years, a

lot of our coaching clients do.

And what you eat is a personal choice

and we're not here to preach whatsoever.

But because of our own experience, we have seen

the common pitfalls of going plant-based first hand.

So we're here to share our experience

and make your transition a little easier.

So let's have a wee chat about our own journey

then so it was back in well it was 2017

you said to me on thinking about maybe doing

Veganuary and I was like what the hell's Veganuary?

I'd never heard of it before so we

did then January 2018 we went out on

the Sunday night for our last meat meal.

We went to a place in Glasgow called The Brunswick.

It's not there, unfortunately, anymore.

It was one of our favourite places and

we pretty much just ordered everything off the

menu and it was actually quite disgusting.

It was horrible.

It was just meat on meat and then a layer

of gravy and then more meat and then some cheese.

We were just sitting at the

table sweating with the meat sweats.

It was awful.

Actually, when I think back now, because I haven't eaten meat

in so long, it kind of gives me the ick.

It's kind of like when you think about an ex,

you get the ick, you get the meat ick.

Take from that what you will.

Thinking about that old sausage.

Makes you sick.

Oh my god.

So yeah on the Sunday was our last meat

meal and then on the Monday we went 100%

vegan and actually in hindsight it was the

wrong way to do it, wasn't it?

We didn't really have a clue what we

were doing to be honest and that's part

of the reason why we're doing this episode.

Going vegan back then was totally different

from going vegan or plant-based now.

There's definitely more information available now, there's way

more products out there which specifically cater for

plant-based diets and so in a way people

have got it a little bit easier now.

So what was our fears do

you think about going plant-based?

So the only thing I thought I was going to miss

when I went plant based for the first time was bacon.

I used to love a bacon buttie or I used

to think that I loved a bacon buttie, especially

because I went out running on a Sunday morning.

Long run, I was sweating a lot and

there was just something about a big bacon

buttie that was so satisfying at the end.

It was salty to replace the sweat that I'd lost.

And I really wondered how I

was going to do without it.

And then about three weeks after we went plant

based, I walked past the cafe on a

Sunday morning and they were grilling bacon and

the smell was coming out of the vents.

And I thought I was going to chunder then and there.

When we first went plant-based I never thought we would

get to the point where we would feel like this

about meat and even though I remember one time we

were walking up the aisle in Tesco and there's a

lot of the plant-based products in the same aisle as

like the meat and the chicken and fish and stuff.

It was like this is so weird because like it just

didn't feel right walking past those kind of products

and thinking oh god I really don't want them.

And the thing is we went plant-based and

tried Veganuary back then for health reasons.

We saw a lot of stuff about

the health benefits of going vegan slash

plant-based and we thought we'll try that.

Over time though I think the more time

there has been since you've last eaten meat

I think the ick increases a little bit.

We actually don't miss it as much as you

think you're going to because your taste buds

change the longer you go without eating it.

Totally and I think like for us we thought

oh we'll just do it for the month

seeing how we got on we really enjoyed it

so we extended that to the march and then

we're like actually no this is just our lifestyle

now isn't it and it was weird not maybe

weird but the way friends and family reacted to

us like going plant-based i remember being scared to

tell my dad which is just something that's like...

Probably more scared to tell him that than I was gay.

It's just mental, you know?

And it's other people's perceptions.

I just remembered, there's that quote

from Two Doors Down.

It's Anne-Marie when she meets

Gordon for the first time.

I can recommend the tuna, Gordon.

He's vegetarian.

As well as gay?

Oh, his poor mum!

Gay and vegetarian? His poor mum!

It is that mentality.

Homophobia and vegetarianphobia all in one.

I know, honestly.

There is that thing where there is that almost peer

pressure to eat meat and it's everywhere and when you

go away from that and you do your own thing

it's almost like people don't

want you to be different.

They don't want you to do something

yourself and they'll make little comments

or they'll be snide about it.

And that really stems from their

insecurities about how they eat.

They don't want their worldview to be

challenged or their perceptions to be challenged.

Think back when, and I'm sure loads of this

has happened to loads of people, when they

say, oh, I'm not going to drink tonight.

I'm not going to drink this weekend.

People are like, why not?

It's like, because i don't want to. I remember, so

we're going back a long time ago. This when you

had hair? When I had hair yeah. So i smoked

up until I was about 24/25 and stopped and

found the gym and just got really healthy. But

when I stopped smoking, there were so many people

that knew I had stopped and kept trying

to offer me a cigarette on purpose and

they're like, oh, go on, just have one.

It's almost like they want to bring you

back in because if you can successfully

stop smoking and they're left behind, it's

almost like they fear being left behind.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

And again, that is down to their insecurity.

It's nothing to do with the changes, the

positive changes that you're making in your life.

It's on them.

And that goes for so many other

things as well, whether it's stopping smoking,

losing weight, going to the gym or...

I find with new clients, if they're maybe prepping

meals and then taking it into work, people

are like, I want you eating that for?

It's like, because will I want to?

That's why I'm eating it.

Well, I think the point we're making here is that,

you know, you might have a fear of making that

change because of the way that others will view

you and it's going to happen no matter what.

The change you make in your life, you know, what

others think about you is none of your business.

Aye, alright, RuPaul.

I was actually thinking of a Mel Robbins quote.

Go for it. Just let them.

If people want to take that attitude and

that approach to the positive changes that

you're making in your life, let them.

Let's quote Jinx Monsoon.

Water off a duck's back.

Any other quotes?

Anybody else want to quote here?

If you can't love yourself, ********. Wow.

So it's good to have in your head what

some of the benefits of going plant-based are just

for those occasions when people are questioning your

choices so that you know as well what

your why is, why you are doing this.

It's for you.

Let's rattle off some of the health benefits.

We'll just bullet point these quite quickly.

So health wise, you've got improved cardiovascular efficiency

on a plant based diet, reduced inflammation, and

you've got lower risk of chronic disease.

So things like type two diabetes, hypertension,

and certain cancers have a proven reduction.

Tick, tick, tick.

Great reasons to go plant based. Yeah.

And there's also environmental reasons, do you

want to take some of those?

So environmental benefits doesn't use as many resources,

the carbon footprint is lower and amount of

land used is much less as well.

I'm going to discuss a couple

of animal welfare issues as well.

I think there's a lot more science to show that

animals are more sentient and cognitive than we give

them credit for and also modern practices within farms.

There is a lot of cruelty that happens as well

so cutting your meat intake really helps to stop that.

So another reason to go plant-based

is global food security as well.

So increasing demands by 2050, the global population

is going to hit around 10 billion.

So feeding crops directly to humans

rather than processing them through livestock

is definitely far more efficient.

Yeah.

And actually that's kind of underlined by the fact

that we already grow enough grain to feed the

world, but actually that goes to feeding livestock.

Factory farming as well causes lots of issues.

So antibiotic resistance is quite a big one because

about 70 to 80% of all antibiotics in the

US and the UK go to animal agriculture.

So that is a big worry.

The other one as well, which I don't think

is on a lot of people's radars is

the pandemic risk because factory farming just creates

a kind of a perfect storm for zoonotic

diseases that could then cross over into humans.

Yeah, we don't want another COVID incident.

No thanks.

So if you'll pardon the pun we are now in

the meat of the episode which is about nutrition.

So we're going to briefly talk

about vitamins, minerals and supplementation.

We're going to have a really good look into

plant-based sources of protein and then we'll finish off

with our 10 top tips for anybody going plant-based

for the first time and hopefully we can

shortcut some of the mistakes that we made.

Yeah.

So that other people don't make them.

Yeah.

Do you want to talk about some of the

things that need to be supplemented, so some

of the essential vitamins that people really need

to be aware of on a plant-based diet?

Yeah, so B12 is definitely the big one.

You can't get that from foods on a plant-based

diet, so you have to 100% supplement it.

B12 is essential for nerve function,

DNA synthesis and red blood cell

formation, so it's super, super important.

Yeah, it's one of those ones that if you're

deficient in B12 by the time you've realised that

you've got that deficiency, it can be too late.

It causes irreversible damage.

So people need to be aware of this.

A lot of foods nowadays are fortified with

B12, which is fantastic, but it's the kind

of thing that you need to supplement with.

You definitely need to make sure that you're

either taking a supplement or that your

multivitamin supplement has sufficient levels of B12.

So another one is vitamin D3 and this

isn't just specific to people on a plant-based

diet but specifically people who live north

in maybe the UK, parts of America.

This is the sunshine vitamin and at this

time of year there ain't no sunshine, no.

So another two that should be on people's radar

are iodine and selenium and people that are on

a plant-based diet tend to be deficient in those.

The thing is you don't really need to think about

this stuff too much if you have a good multivitamin.

So this is not an advert, this is not paid

for, but the one that we used when we were

in the UK was the Vegan Society's own multivitamin.

Because you know that you're basically getting

everything that you need in that.

That's specifically formulated

for plant-based diets.

That's called VEG1.

Yeah, that's the one.

And that way you've got that peace

of mind of knowing that you're getting

those things in your diet through supplementation.

And multivitamin for anyone is a good idea.

You know, it doesn't have to be specifically

that one that we've just mentioned, but just

taking a multivitamin every day is definitely beneficial.

Yeah. There's plenty of people who are not on

a plant-based diet who have B12 deficiency and there

is this misconception that this is just a vegan

thing but it's absolutely not people need to be

aware of these things people need to be supplementing.

Right let's talk about omega-3s as well because

they're essential for brain health and heart health

and you can get a really good

vegan alternative to those as well.

You can get omega-3s on a plant-based diet but

the problem is that a lot of the plants

create ALA and it's difficult for our bodies to

convert that into EPA and DHA that we need.

So the only real kind of plant based

source for EPA and DHA directly is algae.

And that's essentially that's where

the fish get it from.

The fish is just a middleman, if you will.

They eat the algae and then...

Exactly.

So there are quite a lot of products on the

market now there are algae oils that are super super

high in those omega-3s that you need so again shop

around see what works for you but what I would

say about that is make sure whatever plant-based omega-3 supplement

you get has EPA and DHA in sufficient levels.

Something else that people on a plant-based diet

tend to be deficient in is iron.

Yeah and you should only really supplement iron

if you've been recommended by a doctor

to do it because too much iron

can actually cause other issues as well.

Yes that is a very important disclaimer.

The reason why people on a plant-based diet can

tend to be more deficient in iron is because

the iron that is in plants is non-heme iron

which is more difficult for our bodies to absorb.

There are actually a couple of factors that

will influence this so there are a couple

of things that people on a plant-based

diet can make sure they are doing

to make sure that they are

absorbing more iron from their diet.

So the first one is about tea and coffee.

So people don't realise this, but tea and coffee

directly affect your body's ability to absorb iron.

So what you really want to do is to

make sure for about an hour or two hours

before and after you eat, try and avoid tea

and coffee because it significantly blocks your iron absorption.

Nutrient pairing is really good because if

you pair vitamin C with iron, that

actually can increase your absorption by 300%.

But what people really, really, really need to remember

is that vitamin C is very heat sensitive.

So if you're putting ingredients into a sauce,

for instance, for vitamin C, if you're heating

that up, you're boiling it, you're going to

ruin it, you're going to destroy most of

the vitamin C, it's going to break down.

So it's a better idea to add the vitamin

C sources at the end of cooking like

I have done recently with Thai green curry.

So once that's cooked up, plated up, ready to

go on the table, I will squeeze fresh limes

all over our rice and the sauce and that

means that we are getting the full benefits of

the vitamin C and it's helping to absorb the

iron from the spinach which is in our curry.

So why don't we touch on

some supplementation for athletic performance?

Yes, before we go through these, what I would

say is that we are not pushing anything, we're

not recommending anything here and these next ones we're

not actually saying that you should be supplementing.

What we're doing is maybe just making people aware

that there can be certain benefits for plant-based diet

for people who are going to the gym or

people who are training in an athletic setting.

Yeah, it's giving you the information, you can

do your own research and then you can

consider if it's good for you or not.

Yeah, so one thing that we do use

every day is creatine monohydrate because there

are lots of proven benefits to that.

Our bodies create creatine but usually just not enough

and a lot of creatine is found in

red meat and obviously if you're going to

reduce your consumption of red meat then that's

maybe something that you want to consider supplementing.

Creatine helps to recycle ATP, which is the main

energy currency in the cells in your body.

So increasing your creatine intake can maybe help

you have more energy and help you have

more explosive energy and things like that.

So if you're in the gym, having the ability to

have a little more of that energy in your body

means that you can maybe last a little bit longer.

You can last an extra few reps or

maybe you can lift an extra set and

that's where it's going to come in handy.

With creatine as well, recent research has shown

that it's actually really good for our brains.

It can also help with mood and with focus as well.

And you don't actually need to be taking loads of it,

like three to five grams a day is absolutely fine.

And we've seen some influencers, inverted commas,

you know, recommending four times that.

But yeah, you don't need as much of that.

No.

It's really dangerous because too much creatine

over a long period of time could

cause you liver or kidney damage.

So we stick to the max 5 grams

a day and we don't go over that.

There may be fringe use cases where it's being

supervised by a doctor where you can go over,

but there was a woman recently popped up

on my TikTok feed and she was recommending

that everybody should take 25 grams a day.

What the F?

It's just too much.

Nobody should be taking that much unless a doctor

is monitoring them and telling them to do it.

Absolutely not.

Even then, I would say you need to

get a second opinion from another doctor because

that seems like a lot to supplement.

Three to five grams, either tablet form or

powder form, whatever is going to suit your

schedule, how you like to take it,

whatever it might be, is absolutely fine.

Yeah and listen the science might change maybe they'll

do more research and they'll find actually it needs

to be more or they'll increase the top range

but some random influencer on TikTok does not

know that so do not listen to them

just listen to the current science on this.

Okay the next one we want to talk

about is Beta Alanine and that can actually

help you with fatigue if you're performing high

intensity exercises for like over a minute.

Yeah, it does that by increasing the muscle carnosine

levels in your body and that is what helps

to buffer lactic acid and lactic acid in your

muscles is what creates that kind of like

burning sensation when you're doing really intense exercise.

What I would say about beta-alanine is though you

have to be careful because you get the tingle.

I remember the first time that we tried

it, because we read the scientific study, which

suggested that there might be a specific benefit

for plant-based athletes to supplement with beta-alanine.

And the first time we tried it, I was like, why

have I got pins and needles all over my body?

You rip your skin off.

Yeah, it was like my feet were itchy,

they were tingly, it was a weird

sensation and I couldn't figure out why.

And then we googled it and found out

that beta-alanine can actually give you parasezia, which

is the technical term for pins and needles.

Yeah, and a lot of people might find when

they take their pre-workout that they get that,

so if you look at the ingredients you

may find that it's actually in your pre-workout.

The longer you supplement with it though, you do

build a bit of a resistance to it, so

that becomes less and less intense over time.

Can I say something?

I actually quite like the tingle.

Weirdo! So right that is us done talking about supplementation

let's get into the really big section here which is

about protein. This is what we struggled with the most

when we first went vegan wasn't it like finding good

protein sources to supplement you know us not having like

chicken and meat and things like that again especially

because we go to the gym. I mean it

was tough at first but we've done a lot

of research and we're now going to impart that

knowledge for other people. Impart, I like that word.

Yeah, I think the biggest challenge for somebody going

plant based is really balancing your macros is a

lot different on a plant based diet, because when

you're eating meat, you have got sources that

are 100% or pretty close to 100% protein.

And so if you're trying to adjust your

carbohydrates, your dietary fats and your protein,

it's a lot easier if you've got

100% sources. With a plant based diet

you don't really have that, though, because

the protein sources that we eat

tend to either be high in carbohydrates as well as

protein or high in dietary fats as well as protein.

Yeah what I would say is not to worry about

it though because you just get used to it, you

just have to play around with it a little bit

more don't you and like everything else once you do

it a few times it just becomes second nature

so don't worry about having to balance the macros.

Yeah.

One thing I would say before we get into

listing some of the different protein sources is that,

Don't get too attached to one protein source.

It is a really good idea to get

your protein from lots of different sources.

The reason for that is because there are

nine essential amino acids and they are

essential because our body can't produce them.

So we need to consume them.

And that is the same for any diet.

You know, people that eat meat, people that

eat a plant based diet, it's the same.

With plant based foods, some of them will be

richer in maybe a few of those aminos and

maybe not have as many of the others.

So eating different protein sources ensures that

your body is getting a really

broad spectrum of those essential aminos.

Why do we talk about some of the sources of protein?

So there's loads on the market like we've mentioned

so what we tend to have is tempeh,

seitan, tofu and then we'll have like the

legumes, so we're going to have things like

lentils, we have peas, we have chickpeas.

The thing is when we first

found plant-based there wasn't much on

the market, there weren't many options.

Nowadays it is different especially in the UK

and the US because those markets have

lots of alternative products, things

like, you know, fake meats.

You can get like

chicken alternatives, pork alternatives.

You get lots of different bacons

and sausages and things like that.

That was not really the case

when we first went plant based.

So we did not get used to eating that

way and I'm kind of glad because a lot

of those things tend to be ultra processed.

They're okay.

I'm not bashing them.

They're really, really good for

people who are transitioning.

They can be good for convenience if you

just need something quick or for just a

little bit of variety now and again.

But we tend to not really eat them very often.

No, we'll maybe have them like

once or twice a month, really.

So you've rattled off quite a lot of the protein

sources that we're going to go through just now.

So do you want to kick us off with going

with what is the one that people probably know best?

Tofu!

Well in general, soy based products of

which tofu is the main one.

Yeah and I think people are scared of tofu and

they don't need to be because it's maybe because they

don't know how to cook it and believe me the

first time we cooked it I remember we had it

in a griddle pan and we put like salt and

pepper on it and we were like this is horrible.

But it's like anything else like once you learn how

to cook something like tofu it is so so flavoursome.

Don't be scared to experiment I think is probably what

we're trying to say. There is so much out

there on YouTube, there's different cookbooks, there are so

many resources now. Tofu is not to be feared.

there are different types of tofu. So you've got

silken tofu, you've got firm tofu, extra firm tofu.

Silken tofu tends to be quite soft.

So that's the one that's used

in a lot of Asian cuisine.

So if you've had something in Wagamama, for

instance, with tofu in it, it's likely been

silken tofu, very, very soft, very silky.

And that is also useful for other things.

So that can be used in like

cake batters and things like that.

You've also got then firm and extra firm,

which we eat quite a lot of.

Yeah, we do.

And there's maybe some misconceptions about tofu as

well, because a lot of people think if

guys eat it, you end up with breasts.

There is a lot of misinformation out there

about soy in general, but particularly tofu.

And I think a lot of this has

been started by the meat industry lobby.

Absolutely.

Yeah, just putting the fear factor in there.

I mean, we eat tofu probably, although

not probably, every day we have tofu.

I quite like my tits.

I'm like Pamela Anderson there.

You know, and I think it surprises

people actually how much tofu we eat.

Yeah.

One of our friends was over visiting us and

actually asked us that because they'd heard these scare

stories about tofu containing high levels of estrogen.

And it is absolute nonsense.

The type of estrogen that's in

tofu is not bioavailable to humans.

It's phytoestrogen.

It can't be converted in

our bodies to human estrogen.

It does not cause you to grow boobs.

It does not cause you to feminize.

It is nonsense.

If it were the case that tofu and soy

products feminized you and raised your estrogen levels,

Two things would be true.

First of all, the entire population of China who

have been eating soy products for thousands of years

would all be walking about with these huge racks.

The second thing is that there would be no need

for people who are transitioning male to female to go

on HRT because they would just eat lots of soy.

It is nonsense that soy feminises

or increases your estrogen levels.

Can you tell Derec is quite passionate about this?

I'm very passionate about it.

You were nearly bouncing off the couch there.

I know. I think there's just so much disinformation out

there and it's the same lobby, the same

people who are going to the EU and

successfully lobbying to get things like words like

milk banned unless it's dairy or burgers.

You can't call a plant-based burger a burger

now because, well in some territories, because of

this successful lobbying and it's the same thing.

These scare stories are coming from these sources.

We're digressing a wee bit.

I think that's a whole other podcast on its own.

Well, not to get too political, but this is

important to impart this information because people believe

this nonsense and it's absolute nonsense about soy.

So here's the other thing, like there's all this

misinformation out there about soy, but soy is proven

to reduce the risk of some types of cancer.

So like prostate and breast cancer, soy reduces it.

Meat on the other hand, some forms

of meat are now well proven by

different scientific studies to be a carcinogen.

And I think red meat is actually classed

by the World Health Organization as a carcinogen.

That's me done. Right, is that you off your soapbox? Yeah.

Other soy products, tempeh, soy milks,

soy yoghurts and TVP which

is basically textured vegetable protein.

Yes, tempeh is lovely, that's probably my favourite,

really delicious, it's Indonesian, it's got quite a

nutty flavour to it, really nice and quite

easy to get in the supermarkets now as

well in the US and the UK.

Easy to cook with as well, we'll have it in

stir fries, we'll have it in fajitas for example.

But it does need to be cooked.

Whereas tofu can technically be eaten raw, tempeh needs

to be cooked because there are some live cultures

on it that need to be killed off.

You don't want to get a sore tummy. Yeah, definitely not.

TVP is textured vegetable protein, as

you've said, that normally comes dehydrated,

which makes it incredibly shelf stable.

It's great because you can just have a bag

of that in the cupboard and that is there

for emergencies or when you want something different.

We have that in like bologneses,

for example, really good for that.

Lasagne, perfect.

Soya milks, soya yoghurts, again, really, really good

sources and you tend to find that those

are the ones that are fortified with like

B12, for example, like we mentioned earlier.

I always recommend if someone is transitioning,

try a soy milk because it's actually got a

decent amount of protein in it and you tend to

find if you're looking to increase your protein intake,

soy milks and soy yogurts are great for that.

Really good tip, really good tip.

I think we have done soy to death here.

Okay. Shall we move on? Yes.

Let's talk about gluten based next.

So that is?

Seitan, which is really good because we

mentioned earlier that sometimes it's difficult to

balance your macros, but seitan is actually

pretty good for that because it's got high

protein content compared to carbs and fats.

Obviously the only issue with that

is if you can't have gluten.

Why don't you explain what seitan is?

Why don't you explain what seitan is?

No, no, no. I think I've talked enough.

You explain what seitan is.

Eh... You go for it!

So basically, you take flour. Wheat flour.

You wash all of the starch out of it.

So that's the carbohydrate content.

And what you're left with at the end is vital wheat gluten.

That's what I was going to say!

I think we tried to grow it during lockdown, didn't we?

No, we tried to grow what, wheat? No, not wheat.

A wheat field out the back.

Did we not try to make seitan?

We tried to make seitan.

Aye, well that's what I mean, grow

it, make it, same difference.

Yes, so while everybody during lockdown was

starting off their sourdough and making

banana bread, Alan apparently was planting

a wheat field in our back garden.

We were in the East End of Glasgow.

Okay so yeah, seitan is made from vital wheat gluten

which is basically the protein in the wheat. It's very

versatile for cooking as well, again we would use it

in like stir fries and fajitas. On its own not

the best. Add it in with some flavorings, it's great.

So what we've just discussed

would be processed products.

And processed isn't necessarily a dirty

word because when you're cooking,

that's essentially what you're doing.

You're processing your own food.

So seitan, tofu, tempeh are all processed foods.

Let's move on to the non-processed sources of protein.

Yes, so legumes, beans, peas, chickpeas,

lentils, really, really good source.

However, the caveat to that is that they're going

to be a little bit higher in carbohydrates.

So again, it's just about

that balancing of your macros. Yeah.

Even though I said we were moving away from

processed foods, I should note that in recent years,

you've been able to get legume based pasta, which

is brilliant because it's super, super high in protein.

It keeps you filled and you

can replace it with traditional pasta.

So things like lentil pasta,

edamame pasta and... Chickpea.

Chickpea, yes, that's the other one that I

was about to say and hadn't forgotten.

Yeah they're a really good source of protein again

if you want to try and increase your protein

intake without really having to think about it.

The only caveat to that I would say is

they're usually a little bit more expensive than

traditional pasta so just keep that in mind

if you're going to go and purchase them.

Yeah definitely. Moving on from legumes we've got nuts and

seeds. Protein content is there but they're going to be

higher in your fat content which is good if you

want to increase your omega-3s but just be aware

that you know they will have protein in them

but they're definitely going to be higher in fat.

And we should probably stress as well, when we

say fat, it's not a bad word either.

Dietary fat is super important, healthy

fats are important in your diet.

Again, there's nothing wrong with eating fat.

Yeah, fat doesn't make you

fat, which is a misconception.

Eating too many calories for the amount that you

move is going to make you gain weight.

Absolutely, dietary fats are super important for lots

of things like hormone production and regulation for

different functions within your body and your brain

uses quite a lot of fats and lipids

and things like that as well so

don't be scared of healthy dietary fats.

Alright let's talk about grains so

things like quinoa and oats.

They are brilliant for protein especially quinoa because

it actually has all your essential amino acids.

Yeah it's got a really good balanced amino profile.

Oats are...

surprisingly higher in protein than you would think and they

again they make a really good breakfast choice for that

reason. And also can I just say as well that

marketing if you see something as high protein it might

not actually have as much protein in it as you

actually think it does so check the back or backs

of labels because something that isn't advertised as high

protein might actually have more in it and again

those products tend to be a little bit more

expensive so just be mindful of that as well.

When you see high protein on a label that

is not nutritional advice that is a marketing measure.

It's just something they want to do to help

sell that. Okay shall we talk about then the

last thing that we want to talk about

in this section which is protein powder. Yeah

absolutely. Protein powders are great they're not like

the Holy Grail of getting your protein in.

They're good if you want to supplement your protein intake.

If you find that,

and this is also on a non plant based diet as well,

if you find that you're not quite hitting your protein target,

protein shakes are great to have.

Now, ideally you want to be eating

food as protein sources because your body

works harder to break that down which

means you feel fuller for longer.

So we would probably recommend maybe one maximum of

two protein shakes or protein scoops a day really.

So people will probably be used to whey

protein which is a milk byproduct and that

is just what a lot of people would

think of when they think of protein powder.

There are a lot more options now than

there used to be for plant-based proteins and

there's a lot more variety out there.

So things like hemp and brown rice and pea

protein, soy protein, all these things are out there.

There are also products which blend those protein

sources together and again as we've spoken about

that means that those protein powders will

have a more balanced amino profile too.

So it's worth looking into shopping around and

seeing what maybe is best for you.

Yeah we used to use MyProtein and The Protein

Works when we were in the UK and the reason

we went with those is we found the flavour that

we liked and we found one that mixed well

because sometimes they don't mix that great so it's

going to be a wee bit of trial and error.

Don't get an unflavoured one,

I'll recommend that straight away.

Get something that you're going to enjoy.

Definitely and I would say to people if you have

tried a plant-based protein powder in the past and you

thought it wasn't nice and it was gritty and it

was that is not reflective of all plant-based protein powders

that is just the one that you tried was crap.

Yeah exactly and just extra tip if you're

making overnight oats, scoop of protein powder mixed

with your oats you're going to then bump

up that amount of protein that you're having

and protein first thing in the day, perfect.

I think we have talked about protein sources to death.

What I would say is if anybody is

tuning into this and has any questions, feel

free to get in touch with us. Aye, absolutely.

You can drop us an email

podcast@outlift.ing and we'll be happy to answer.

Absolutely. Or send us a message on Instagram @outlift.ing

I'm going to give a bonus tip before

we actually do our 10 official tips.

It's something I forgot to say when we were

talking about soy but with tofu you can infuse

tofu with a lot of flavour but you need

to get the moisture out of it first.

It generally comes packed in water.

You need to squeeze all that water out and

it's only then the tofu can really absorb other

fluids when you're cooking and really get the

flavour into it so that's a good tip.

We used to have a tofu press.

Do you know what, I wasn't sure if you were going

to mention that though and I'm glad you did

because our friends bought us one for our wedding

and Foxy who's the straightest guy ever but the

coolest guy ever was like why the **** did

we buy them a tofu press for their wedding?

Now that wasn't the wedding gift it was just

part of a whole thing that they gave

us and we did feel very middle class.

Yeah.

It's something we use every single day though.

It's a really practical item for us because up

to then our method for getting the moisture out

of tofu involved a plate, a tea towel and

lots of heavy cookbooks precariously stacked on top and

there were quite a few times you would hear

things crash down in the kitchen and you'd have

to run in and find it all falling over.

So the tofu press eliminates that.

Yeah, I would say maybe don't invest in one

if you don't think you're going to stick to

it, but if you think you're going to continue

to be plant-based, definitely get one, they're great.

Yeah, definitely, just gets all the

moisture out, works a treat.

Shall we give our official top 10 tips then?

Let's do it. Let's go.

Okay, we have promised it from the start of

the show and here are our top 10 tips

for anybody going plant based for the first time.

Alan, start us off with number one.

Number one, avoid the perfectionism trap.

If you end up eating something with an animal

product in it accidentally, don't worry about it.

We did that at the start as well.

Number two, have Happy Cow in hand.

This is not an advert for it, but

it's something that we have used extensively.

The Happy Cow app is brilliant, especially

if you're traveling because it has thousands

of restaurants and shops and anywhere that

you can get plant based food.

Number 3, don't stress over may contain

unless you've got a severe allergy, don't

worry about the may contain labels.

They're just a cross-contamination warning,

not an ingredient list.

Number 4, watch out for bold ingredients.

The fastest way to figure out if something

is not plant-based is to look out

for the bold ingredients on the back.

That will help you rule something out in about

five seconds but be aware that you still will

need to read the full ingredient list to

check if there are any non-allergen animal products.

Number five, take care with fibre.

If you increase your fibre intake too rapidly you may

end up feeling a bit bloated so make sure

that you're drinking water to help digest that fibre.

Number 6. Add umami.

Make plant based meals absolutely mouth

watering by adding umami flavour.

You can do that with ingredients like miso

paste, nutritional yeast and marmite and it will

really give your food an incredible savoury kick.

Number seven, research substitutes.

To stop you getting stuck in

the kitchen, research some plant-based swaps.

So for example, how to make

an egg substitute with flaxseed.

Number eight, beware ultra-processed foods.

A plant-based label doesn't always mean that

something is going to be healthy.

There are a lot of ultra-processed

foods on the market now.

They're okay in moderation but if you're going

plant-based for the health benefits just be

careful that you don't cancel them out.

Number nine, look out for added sugar.

A lot of the popular plant-based milks out there

have added sugar in them so take your time,

read the labels and research some alternative options.

And finally number 10, curate your feed.

When you first go plant-based it's really difficult

to know what you can and can't eat.

Follow social media accounts like Accidentally

Vegan to stay updated on new

plant-based products on the supermarket shelves.

Thanks very much for tuning in.

Hopefully you found that interesting and

there was some useful information there.

We're not done though. We have got one more thing

for you and it's a freebie.

You can download the Outlifting Veganuary

High Protein Recipe book right now.

There is a link in the description or the

show notes where you can get that absolutely free.

It's our gift to you.

As ever, thank you very much for tuning in.

Remember, Outlifting Lounge is just

part of what we do.

Alan and I run Outlifting and

it's almost a year old.

I can't believe I'm saying that.

It is a service specifically for gay, bi

and trans guys who want to change

their bodies while they build unstoppable confidence.

We do that through

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lot we offer so, so much.

If you think that is the kind of thing for you

and you like what we do, please get in touch.

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We can set up a free discovery call and chat with

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We'd love to help so get in touch you

can check us out on our website that

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button there to set up your discovery call.

That's us for now but don't forget we have

new episodes every Sunday and you can catch us

Until next time, over and Outlifting.

Until next time, over and Outlifting.