Firecrest

I've been vegan for about four years now and have been consuming protein powder for maybe three of those years. Since I first started having protein powder, I've been having Pulsin pea protein isolate. I don't know why I started buying that brand in the first place and I don't know why I went for pea protein either - my mum probably Googled it and just found the best value one lol. But I now know that pea protein powder is supposed to be one of the best types of plant-based protein powder. I've nearly finished my current bag of protein powder and after three ish years of buying the exact same type and brand, I'm wondering whether I should switch things up. But there are so many brands of protein powder available; how on earth is one supposed to know which one to buy?! And I've been reading a bit about other types of vegan protein powder (hemp, rice, soya, flax, pumpkin seed, etc.) and then there's blends as well. Am I best just with sticking with pure pea protein? It's consistently mentioned as being the best type of vegan protein powder (due to protein content and a load of other chemically/nutrienty/sciency things). And should I stick to the same brand? Are there any others that are better value (I'm in the UK)? I know I could look around but as I said, there are SO MANY. I was talking to the owner of the gym I currently go to (who is also a personal trainer and a bodybuilder, amongst many other things) and he was saying that pea protein powder is good, but a blend of pea and hemp protein is best in terms of a plant-based protein powder because combined, it makes a complete protein? He really knows his stuff so I trust him, but I thought I'd ask on here because there are so many protein powders out there and I'm a bit lost with it all. Thanks

Hello. Long time no post. And I'm still struggling with deadlifts 😒. I've been lifting weights for about three years now and I don't think I've made anywhere near as much progress as I should have. But anyway, I was doing deadlifts the other day and I've been trying to lift 55kg for months (I deadlift one or two times a week and usually try for 55kg as my last set). I'd not even been able to budge it off the ground but I finally got my one rep the other day and I was momentarily so proud lol, even though I know that's hardly anything. I had a look at deadlift strength standards (I have several times before but I can't remember them) and considering my weight, 55kg isn't really much at all. However, I am slightly underweight (I'm working on it), so my question is this: if my weight was, for example, 50kg and that was ideal for my height and age, would the strength standards be the same as if I was 50kg but slightly underweight for my height and age? So basically, does BMI have any effect on strength standards or is it always the same, whether you're underweight or not? (Also, I know they're only estimates and are influenced by things like genetics and stuff). I hope that made some sense. I'm working on increasing my weight so I can lift more, but I'd just like to at least know whether my 55kg for one rep is anything to be proud of or not 😂 . Thanks

Also I meant to put another one on the list - for a while I'd been eating No Cow bars (which I love) which have 20 - 22g protein and 1g of sugar, but I recently noticed they had nearly 30g carbs, which seems a lot. However, it also says on the website that they contain only 4g net carbs. What? I've heard of net carbs but what's the difference? Do they have 30g or 4g? Why does it have to be so complicated?

Thanks for your response It's not as such the protein I'm not sure about. I've pretty much decided that 15g is the lowest I'll go for. It's more the other components in it, ratios of carbs and fat etc. Like I said, I don't track macros, but I'd like to be aware of whether a protein bar has decent macros or not since I'll be eating them more frequently. Fat I'm not as such bothered about but I'm never really sure how many carbs should be in a bar. I eat carbs at most meals, and to get my protein in I have to have quite a lot of beans and lentils which are also quite high in carbs. And I eat a lot of fruit too. So it's my protein that needs bumping up rather than carbs. Which bar were you referring to exactly, as I listed a few?

Currently the only protein bars I eat are the PhD Nutrtion smart plant bars. They have 20 - 22g protein which I believe is pretty good. There's quite a few vegan "protein" bars out there but a lot of them would hardly qualify as a protein bar, or have loads of sugar in them (not that a bit of sugar is bad). I'm starting to eat protein bars more often, i.e. one a day (with the exception of the day I don't train) post workout so I can build muscle. And I don't want to get bored of eating the same protein bars every day. I don't count/track macros or calories or anything, but I like to be aware of them. There's a few other vegan protein bars that I'm considering after doing some searching, and they have decent amounts of protein and are low in sugar, and I think lowish in carbs. Not that carbs are to be avoided but I know protein bars should have a high ratio of protein to carbs, and also, I'm vegan and eat a crap ton of beans, pulses, and fruit so I get enough carbs as it is. The bars I'm looking at are: • PhD Nutrition diet plant bars • Misfits protein bars • Awesome Protein bars • Ridiculous protein bars Sorry if this is a little demanding to make you search for them yourself 😬. Thanks.

Just had a read of that article - really insightful. The abs work I do is a bit of a mixture of cardio and abs, but mostly abs. I probably do around three hours or slightly more of abs per week. Since my trainer doesn't really do much for abs, I don't really know what a good amount is. My main focus (and what I've been doing for coming up to two years now) is strength training (with my PT). I currently do this usually six days a week (generally having Sunday off) for an hour per session, usually training lower body three times a week and upper body three times a week. I haven't really improved much and I still can't lift very much weight but I'm consistent and I do what I can. I'm trying to change my body composition but I don't seem to put on much muscle no matter how hard I train. I've gained some obviously, just not what I would have expected after two years of training. The amount of sleep I get varies a lot. I have quite a few commitments (uni, bird ringing (once a week), gym etc.) so the hours of sleep I get can vary from around six hours to eight hours (sometimes only four or five on the bird ringing day). I have a nap most days, which could be 20 minutes or over an hour (I know that's a bit too long). So although my sleeping schedule is quite varied, I don't think I'm severely lacking in sleep. The problem is, for quite a few people who ask questions like this (not necessarily overweight by any means), it's OK for them to just lose a bit of weight (hence losing fat) and they'll probably get results. But because I'm a little bit underweight, I can't do that so technically I can't lose any fat (if I'm getting that right - correct me if I'm wrong). I think I'll try increasing my protein a bit even if that means adding more protein powder - I'm not sure how much more beans and pulses my body can take if you know what I mean 😉.

If I knew my rough body fat percentage that would probably give me a few hints but I don't think I can accurately find out. It's hard to use visual guides as well because I do get quite bloated (at least I think it's bloat) in my lower abdomen and sometimes I look rounder than others. I'm vegan so I just presume it's the large amounts of fibre I consume that causes it (even though I've been vegan nearly two years?) Anyway, I digress. I'm not sure how tall I am but I'd estimate around 5'5" or 5'6" and I currently weigh around 49kg (fluctuates quite a bit), which, as I've mentioned, I'm trying to gain a bit. Also how often would you recommend training abs? Am I training them enough (i.e. around five days a week for 30-50 minutes)? Do I need to add some more resistance somehow? I do have a personal trainer but she absolutely hates training abs so we don't talk about it 😆

Thanks for your reply. I do have some muscle definition, mostly in my arms, back, and some in my calves and quads (though it's not so noticeable in my legs because I hold a lot of fat in my thighs), but none in my stomach area. I do get bloated quite a lot (partly because I'm vegan and eat lots of fibre I think), especially in my lower belly area, but even when I'm not very bloated I still have no definition whatsoever. It's strange because I have some muscle definition elsewhere like I said, but no ab definition, yet I train both relatively equally. So I'm obviously gaining some muscle somehow. Is there any way I can measure my body fat percentage without any expensive gadgets?

I've been doing strength training for nearly two years now and for over a year I've pretty much consistently trained my abs for five days a week (around 30 - 50 minutes per session), alongside strength training, but I've gained no ab definition at all. I don't know what my body fat percentage is, but I'm not overweight (slightly under in fact - trying to gain a bit) so it could be a layer of fat covering them. I do a wide variety of exercises, some using a dumbbell, to target all areas. But I still have absolutely no definition and I don't know why. I think my diet is pretty good and I eat plenty of protein, so I wouldn't think it's that. Any thoughts?

I'm a fairly slim female (actually a tad underweight so I'm trying to gain some) and my upper body, upper abdominal area, and calves are relatively lean. But my hips and thighs seem disproportionately large and I can tell it's fat rather than muscle. I know women naturally have more fat around those areas but it is so out of proportion with the rest of my body and I don't know why. I am quite active; I do strength training five or six days a week for an hour, and abs/cardio work four or five days a week. So I'm building muscle and toning my abs but my thighs remain the same whatever I do. I know most people would say to just go into a caloric deficit to lose the fat but I can't do that because ideally I need to gain a bit of weight, not lose! It really gets me down because I work so hard training my legs but they just seem to hold on to all the fat. I think my diet is pretty decent, I eat lots of whole foods, tons of fruit and veg, pulses, beans, carbs, bit of chocolate every day (because I want to) etc. I'm just a bit baffled as to why my thighs are remaining so untoned when the rest of my body is quite lean. Any advice?

• Roasted nuts. Particularly almonds, hazelnuts, and cashews 🤤. Though any are good. • Fruit, fruit, fruit. And a bit more fruit. Yum. • Protein balls made with dates/nuts/seeds/spices/protein powder etc.

That's really helpful, thanks! I don't really have any body composition goals, it's too much hassle for me. I do strength training five or six days a week (currently at home because of lockdown) and my goal is to get lean, but I don't have any specific measurements or numbers I'm aiming for. I eat quite a lot of protein, a lot of which comes from beans and pulses, as well as nuts, pea protein powder, and protein bars, so I should be able to put on some muscle (which I have managed a bit). I'm quite small, just have quite a lot of fat that won't shift no matter what I do; but I don't think it's down to my diet because I eat mostly whole foods. I'll continue being a foodie then 😌.

Hi, So, I really love food. By 'foodie' I don't mean someone who just loves to eat loads and loads or just eats a lot of junk. I'm just really into cooking cuisines from all over the world and using tons of different ingredients to make them authentically (veggies, sauces, pastes, seasonings, noodles, seeds etc.), rather than being a "chicken and rice" person (I don't eat chicken anyway but you get what I mean). I also don't eliminate any nutrient group (though I'm vegan so I don't eat animal products), and I eat moderate amounts of carbs, protein, fat (probably not that much fat actually), and sugar. I don't eat that much sugar, and I never add neat sugar to anything (i.e. white sugar, syrups etc.) but I do eat a lot of fruit and dried fruit. I refuse to follow any fad diets; I don't wanna miss out 😆 and I wouldn't want to get obsessive about things because I can be quite an obsessive person. I guess my question is, is it ok to love cooking with tons of different ingredients and flavours i.e. being a foodie, but still be into fitness and strength training? Or do the two not mix and I should be eating certain foods and less of this, more of that, and reducing/eliminating things like sugar and carbs? I do think my diet is quite healthy, I just sometimes worry I might get too much of some things sometimes (like I said, predominantly sugar, and maybe salt - though I try and use reduced salt stuff). I eat some chocolate for dessert every day too (usually 90% dark, with a bit of sweeter stuff as well). Hopefully that's not too bad 😆 Thanks

I really hate deadlifts. Is this just me? Regular deadlifts, sumo deadlifts, straight leg deadlifts, the lot. I think it's because a) it just takes so much effort (I know all strength training does but deadlifts are just knackering), b) I never know if I'm doing it right so end up doing something different every time, hence my weight and reps are all over the place, and c) I'm not making any progress at all; if anything I'm going backwards. With what I think is good ish form, I can only do 35kg for regular and 33kg for sumo, for about 7 to 10 reps ☹. When I was at the gym (we're in lockdown 3 in the UK now) I was doing about 55kg BUT I realised my form was dreadful and I was "cheating" and I established the most I could lift whilst having 'decent' form was 35kg. Which I know is useless. Give me squats or bench press any day, but deadlifts I just despise. Is this only me? I need some affirmation.

Well it's been two weeks, and I've been practicing probably three or four times a week (with the occasional set in between that) and I can do one, but I've been stuck on that for over a week now and I just can't do any more. Why am I not improving? I've tried everything and I just can't get past one, even when it's not in the middle of an upper body workout. I don't know what to do. This is what happens every time I try and get better at press ups .