Diet help for a friend
 

Hey everyone, I'm trying to help out a buddy of mine, and i'm a little out of my element with this one. Here are his stats

Age. 25
ht. 6'2
wt. 358

He works out 4 times a week, alternating between lifting, eliptical, swimming. Now here is the hard part. He has convinced himself that its healthier to eat vegitarian ... which I definately dont agree with. We've debated this at length, and he wont listen to reason. He doesnt eat nearly enough cals daily, having only 3 vegitarian meals a day.

I've tried to explain to him that he is going to need upwards of 500g or so of protien, and getting that from vegitarian sources will be dam near impossible. I dislike the meat hating which makes this hard for me. Any advice on the subject he and I would really appreciate.

that's alot of soy burgers. 3 meals a day just won't work period....for anything. my friend had a hard time too...he needed to eat more....and when he did...the weight started coming off....he's down i think almost 40 pounds in 3 or so months...

Is he trying to do vegetarian or vegan?

Vegan is going to be pretty damn tough for someone his size.

Vegetarian is more possible to pull off.

Is he doing the vegetarian thing just because he thinks it's healthier? Or is it due to an 'I don't want to eat animals' standpoint?

Assuming it's just because he's got it stuck in his head that it's healthier, and not because of an animal campaign... there are lots of different levels of vegetarianism.

Some vegetarians just won't eat the 'flesh' of an animal. Meaning, no chicken, turkey, or steak. But those same vegetarians tend to not see fish steaks as 'animal flesh' (don't ask me why, I don't get it myself, but that's how a lot of them are). So fish is an option.

Also, some vegetarians feel that dairy products are fine. Which would include whey shakes and eggs. Also things like cottage cheese and yogurts.

So if he's dead set on being 'vegetarian' with things, you can tell him that vegetarians still eat things like fish, eggs, and dairy products. And try to get him to up his protein counts with things like that.

If he's trying to do the full on vegan thing, meaning NO food that came from a living thing, period, that one's gonna be tough. That would mean that essentially all he could eat would be things like grains, beans and veggies.

As far as getting him to eat enough calories, sounds like he's being pretty stubborn about that, and all the harping you do on him about it probably isn't going to do much good. BUT if you can give him some things to read on his own about how going too low on calories is counterproductive to body recomp, then maybe he'll be able to make the decision on his own that he needs to up his cals.

I'm pretty sure he mentioned eating eggs, and milk. But when I asked him why he doesnt want to eat meat, he said "cause I dont like meat, and its just healthier". This is the same dude who would get a cheese steak with chicken, beef, and bacon in college.

I dont understand where this misconception comes from that meat is bad. And he always refers me to this ridiculous websites claiming how healthy it is to be vegitarian, usually written by some crackpot doctor, so he believes them.

The fact that a 300+ lb male thinks he can survive on beans and breads makes me question his sanity. I'm going to do what I can to help him, but if this keeps up he is going to be on his own.

Thanks for the advice, i'll see what I can do.

It is possible for him to do a vegetarian diet and still get the protein but how much $$$ does he want to spend? lol

IronWorker

So will the guy at least eat fish?... and if he says fish is bad for you... I think it's safe to say he was brain washed.

hahah I have yet to ask him Dave, he brought up the "unsanitary conditions" and "Growth Hormone" arguments to me today. Personally I dont mind that kinda stuff. I cook my meat so it doesnt really bother me. I honestly hope to god we get cloned meats soon, seems like it would solve a lot of the world hunger problems, and it would pave the way for super meats .... hell yeah.

You should tell him about all of the "unhealthy" fruits and vegetables out there. :D

Watermelon has a GI value of 72 (don't explain glycemic load to him)
An average medium size avocado has over 30g of fat (don't explain what a good fat is)
Cooked carrots have a higher GI value
Most fruit juices are full of sugar
Tomatoes have salmonella on them :)
Show him this article

They use so many chemicals and shit when they grow vegetables. The term "organic" just means that you'll pay more for something that's still not organic. It's just slightly more organic than the other fruits & veggies that are...not organic? The GH deal is just as bad as the chemicals used on vegetables and fruits.

I had a vegan roommate my freshman year of college. One day when I was drinking a soda, he told me that some of the chemicals used in the very soda I was drinking were delivered to the Coca Cola plant in one of the trucks marked with a bio hazard label. He told me that he thought it was disgusting that I was drinking that. I looked over and he was eating a tomato. It was December. I explained that tomatoes don't grow naturally in the middle of winter, and that his were grown via hydroponics...in other words, lots of chemicals and probably some pesticides. He apologized and threw his tomato in the trash can. I had him eating eggs and fish by the end of the year. :wiggle:

Double post. I hate slow, double transmitting, erroneous, stupid, expensive servers.

awesome, thanks for that info Ross.