Fitness & Health Resource - Vegetarian Information

Vegetarian diets are currently very popular and this section looks at dieting strategies and food choices specifically for vegetarian clients of different ages and different goals. The approach to vegetarian diets that fitness.uk.net use is exactly the same for non-vegetarians. This means eating small portions and frequently to keep blood sugar levels stable and inhibit fat storage combined with a resistance / cardiovascular training program. With a vegetarian diet it is especially important to focus on eating a wide variety of healthy foods to ensure you replace nutrients that are found in abundance in fish & meats.

fitness.uk.net have worked with vegetarian clients of different ages and with different goals from weight loss to bodybuilding and achieved excellent results. In a lot of cases it is easy for vegetarians to alter their nutrition plan to achieve a particular goal as they are already used to excluding food from their diet and sticking to it so they tend to be more disciplined. Also, vegetarians tend to eat a lot of fruit and veg which is one of the things people not used to eating a balanced diet face. Vegetarians face different challenges in their nutrition plan and need to use a different approach to dieting. We look at the two main challenges they face and how to overcome them.

The vegetarian diet is usually high in carbohydrate, fibre, vitamins and minerals from fruit & vegetables and fat from dairy products/. Sometimes however, vegetarians lack enough protein in their diets and this can affect your progress if you are aiming for specific goals such as building muscle. When you eat protein with a portion of carbohydrate it also slows the conversion and release of sugar into the blood, helping to keep blood sugar stable. The problem is easily resolved however by ensuring you eat as many different vegetarian protein sources as possible. fitness.uk.net have listed the main sources to help with your diet:

Sources of protein (single servings)
Good sources		Fair Sources		Poor sources
Chick peas (200g or 7oz)	16.0g	Brown rice (200g or 7oz)	4.4g	1 Carrot	0.4g
Baked beans (225g or 8oz)	11.5g	Broccoli (100g or 3½oz)	3.1g	1 Apple	0.3g
Tofu (140g or 5oz)	10.3g	Potatoes (200g or 7oz)	2.8g	Cream, double (20g or 2/3oz)	0.3g
Cow's milk (½ pint)	9.2g	Porridge [water] (160g or 6oz)	2.4g	Butter/margarine	None
Lentils (120g or 4¼oz)	9.1g	-	-	Vegetable oil	None
Soya milk (½ pint)	8.2g	-	-	Sugar or syrup	None
Muesli (60g or 2¼oz)	7.7g	-	-	-	-
Egg, boiled	7.5g	-	-	-	-
Peanuts (30g or 1oz)	7.3g	-	-	-	-
Bread, (2 slices)	7.0g	-	-	-	-
Hard cheese (30g or 1oz)	6.8g	-	-	-

Creatine is a compound that is found naturally occurring in red meat. It is also a nutrient that can be lacking in a vegetarian diet. This is only of interest to vegetarians who are training to increase strength or muscle. See the Creatine profile in the Supplements section for information on this nutrient. It is a popular natural supplement used by athletes in many different sports. The lack of Creatine in a vegetarian diet geared to sport / strength activities is easily resolved by taking it in supplement form.