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I love when people start out with this:
Being a Vegetarian isnt healthy....
and then, when pressed, they reveal that the source of that ironclad belief is something like this:
Well, a nurse once told me that meat has some nutritions or something that cant be found anywhere else. #kanyeshrug
Welp, that's airtight reasoning.A little independent thought is a wonderful thing.
As far as the topic post is concerned, like many other health/lifestyle choices it really comes down to self-control. Do you have the desire to make your OWN conscious choices about what you put into your body or would you prefer to have those choices dictated by circumstance/convenience? If you want to be able to just grab lunch from whatever's available in the airport, off the highway, or down the block then you'll struggle. If you're willing to be dedicated and put in the time to really plan your diet and learn to prepare healthy meals and source the best possible produce then your commitment will pay great dividends.
A lot of people will watch P90X or what have you, stay within their comfort level, eat what they feel like eating, and their gains will be minimal at best. You can implement a training regimen poorly just as you can implement a diet poorly and still claim to be on it. So, don't look at your aunt's friend's cousin's former college roommate who's sickly because she only ate hummus and use that as your reference point. That's like basing your concept of a healthy athletic diet on the contents of Derrick Coleman's refrigerator.
I primarily committed to veganism for ethical reasons, but I'm also serious about my health and my training. You'll find a ton of resources out there, but you do have to filter it by audience. Much of what's out there is produced by veg*ans who aren't terribly concerned with the efficiency of their diets, so they'll recommend foods that taste good - the daiya cheese substitute that actually melts, the Sticky Fingers vegan cookie dough, and so on. I will say this: although poorly planned vegan diets can be deleterious, like any poorly planned diet, just by staying within the parameters of a vegan diet you're already reducing your risk of heart disease, stroke, and cancer. In that sense, it's easier to be healthy without knowing anything about nutrition if only because you're eliminating many of the worst dietary excesses common to our culture. Of course, you're better off doing it right.
To that end: you have to take the Morningstar / Gardein products for what they are: processed convenience foods. They can be helpful for people beginning a transition since they're similar to the foods most of us grew up with. They're quick and easy to prepare. They also show well if you're the sort who, for training purposes, has become obsessed with specs. The Gardein "chick'n" nuggets, for example, offer a ton of clean protein without the cholesterol. (They're still high in sodium, though.) If that's your thing, you're better off there than you would be eating turkey and cheese - let alone standard convenience food.
If you really want to do it right, from what I've found, you'll want to seriously consider a raw food vegan diet. You can certainly add lean muscle while on that type of diet. In fact, I'd challenge anyone who says you can't add muscle or perform at your peak while vegan to give it a try. Someone's already posted some links to vegan bodybuilding examples and I can tell you from personal experience that it's highly conducive to building lean mass and maintaining very low body fat.
Carl Lewis adhered to a strict vegan diet while recording the greatest athletic achievements of his legendary career. That, in and of itself, is a pretty powerful example. I'd also point to ultramarathon runner Scott Jurek, who was recently featured in the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/sports/13runner.html?pagewanted=all) since the man routinely runs over 100 miles in a single day. His caloric needs FAR exceed that of the average athlete. He chooses a vegan diet primarily for performance reasons.
It's a great diet for overall health and sports performance. If you just want to add bulk for your ego, you can certainly achieve that - but, be honest, what's more important? Most of us, if pressed, would rather feel good than look good. We'd rather live longer, healthier lives than guzzle horrible hormone cocktails to artificially boost show muscles that offer no performance benefit in actual sports and/or ride some ridiculous diet roller-coaster (bulk/cut) that's really little more than a "masculine" euphemism for binge/purge. You can achieve your short term fitness goals while on a vegan diet - but the greatest edge it offers you personally (to say nothing of the ethical and environmental advantages) is with respect to your long-term health.
You just have to make sure you plan correctly and don't shoot yourself in the foot by accruing a B12 deficiency or what have you over an extended period of time.
The book I like to recommend most to my athletically inclined friends is Thrive: The Vegan NutritionGuide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life by Brendan Brazier, a champion Ironman triathelete. It includes nutrition information, pre- and post-workout fuel, and a detailed meal plan complete with tons of recipes and plenty of variety designed specifically for athletes. It's a raw food vegan diet, free of processed foods. If you're not much of a cook, and goodness knows I never was, a raw food diet is actually great because it's not that complicated. You're not baking, you're not handling raw meat, trimming fat, or removing bones. The food keeps really well, you can prepare it in advance and live your life.
If you're not a serious athlete or if you like to entertain or cook for others, there are some good recipes in Ani's Raw Food Essentials as well. I picked up a copy at a book store on a whim and it contains recipes from a wide variety of cuisines. Not into soy milk? All the better.
Make your own healthier milk substitute by combining a 1/2 cup of almonds, cashews, or pecans with 1/2 cup of pitted dates, a little sea salt to flavor, and 5 cups of water. Blend until smooth. To make it even healthier, throw in 3 tablespoons of spirulina powder or wheat grass powder. No preservatives, no hormones, no hexane-processed soy.
Do the research, take a couple of months and give it a real, concerted effort.
Not everyone has the self-discipline to see it through, but everyone I know who's stayed with it has experienced considerable benefits and has no interest in regressing to an omnivorous diet.
It doesn't have to be an all or nothing thing but, like training, it is what you make of it. If the only exercise you do in a week is taking the stairs instead of the elevator, you're still better off than you would've been otherwise. If you only go vegan for one day a week, that's still much better than going to Arby's that day. If you want to maximize it, you have to be every bit as faithful and dedicated as you would be to a training regimen. When you cheat, you're cheating yourself - but, unlike an exercise program - be advised that your choices also carry global ramifications as well when you factor in where the food you eat actually comes from and how it's produced.
