It’s a common misconception that bodybuilders can’t be vegan. After all, where would they get their protein?
If you look at elite vegan athletes, it’s clear that plant-based diets aren’t actually a barrier to muscle-building. World-record-holding strongman Patrik Baboumian, bodybuilder Torre Washington, IFBB Pro Jehina Malik (who has been vegan since birth), and fitness icons like SuzAnne Llano and Leah Coutts are living proof that plants build power.
We’re all well aware by now that for the average person, hitting our protein goals with plant-based foods is pretty easy. Some of us don’t even need to try. But is it so easy for bodybuilders, who often need to consume hundreds of grams of protein per day?
Eager to find out, actor Merle O’Neal decided to put these high-protein fitness diets to the test. Inspired by viral TikTok recipes, she spent 24 hours eating exclusively like a vegan bodybuilder, aiming for a massive 160 grams of protein in a single day.
“I know I don’t need as much protein as a vegan bodybuilder,” Merle noted as she started her vlog. “But I’m curious… about how they get as much as they get.”
Merle looked at multiple vegan bodybuilders and selected “their most ingenious and strangest concoctions” to build her meal plan, aiming to find out just how they hit those staggering macros. Here’s how her day went, meal by meal.
Breakfast: Vegan protein oat bowl – 41 grams protein
Vegan bodybuilders clearly love an oat bowl, as Merle found many of them while perusing their food diary vlogs. However, one in particular caught her attention: a fruity oat bowl topped with an entire chopped up protein bar.
Merle, celebrated the inclusion of her favourite vegan protein bar, Barebells, and praised the recipe as “easy to make.”
The original recipe, shared on TikTok by creator @michelleisreading_, boasted 41 grams of plant-based protein, but Merle cranked it up further, adding a little peanut butter to the oats to improve the colour and flavour.
“Holy s***, that is so good. This tastes like dessert,” she exclaimed, sharing her verdict. While Merle doesn’t think she’ll make the full oat bowl again, she loved the addition of yoghurt to the oats, and plans to take that forward.
If she were to add a whole protein bar to her oat bowl again, she said she’d chop it much more finely next time, as the large, chewy chunks were “annoying”, so bear that in mind if you try this recipe yourself.
How to make it:
- Spread ¾ cup of high-protein soy yogurt at the bottom of your bowl.
- Cook ½ cup of rolled oats with 1 cup of soy milk. (Merle also mixed in a dollop of peanut butter for extra richness and flavour.)
- Pour the warm oats directly over the yogurt.
- Top with sliced fresh strawberries and a sliced vegan protein bar.
Lunch: Garlic seitan buns – 30 grams protein
Inspired by a TikTok from vegan bodybuilder Torre Washington, Merle found a recipe for seitan garlic buns on Reddit which packed a huge 30 grams of protein for just 174 calories per bun.
While they’re just a “literal ball of seitan“, affectionately dubbed “gluten bombs” by Merle, she was totally impressed by the taste and texture of the rolls, calling them “a step above” a regular bread bun.
“It’s crispy, but it also like rips apart really nicely,” she said of the seitan buns. “I’m actually baffled. That is so easy. That is so good.”
Merle elevated her seitan buns by adding a bouillon cube and some roasted garlic cloves while blending the base for the buns, so don’t be afraid to try something similar if you give this recipe a go.
How to make it:
- Blend 1 block (approx. 350g) of extra-firm silken tofu with 200ml unsweetened soy milk in a high-speed blender.
- In a separate bowl, combine 200g vital wheat gluten flour with 20g nutritional yeast, 1½ tsp garlic powder, and ½ tsp salt. Then, pour in the tofu mixture and combine with a spatula until a wet, sticky dough forms.
- Scoop into 8 equal bun-sized balls on a lined tray. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 40-45 minutes.
Dinner: TVP pile plate – approx 45 grams protein
For dinner, Merle tried a concoction by TikToker @plantabolic. Though she struggled to make sense of the little piles of food that seemed to have nothing to do with each other, she was intrigued by the strangeness and “unable to look away.”
The bulk of the meal’s protein came from textured vegetable protein (TVP), which was accompanied by roasted sweet potato, sautéed mushrooms, and… sliced kiwi fruit.
This kiwi might seem completely random next to savoury TVP, but science backs it up: kiwi fruit contains actinidin, a natural enzyme that aids in breaking down and digesting heavy proteins.1
To make the TVP more palatable, Merle rehydrated it before frying it off with garlic powder, smoked paprika, and cumin to remove the water and cardboard-like flavour, leaving it tender and crisp.
She also boiled the mushrooms first to intensify their rich, savoury taste, and dusted her sweet potato with cinnamon, possibly inspired by her day testing Ariana Grande’s plant-based diet.
While the plate was surprisingly colourful and balanced, Merle wasn’t too impressed by eating a literal pile of TVP. She considered all the other ingredients to be “carrying” the meal, and even the kiwi was “less weird” than she expected.
“It’s fine,” she concluded. “I would add tomato sauce and have that TVP with a pasta if I really wanted protein from that. I don’t love TVP enough. I’ll finish it, though.”
Dessert: Protein pancakes – 42 grams protein
The final recipe of the day was described as a “bit of a stretch,” as the TikTok creator who inspired it, @marvinbrxxks, is not strictly a bodybuilder. But the high-protein pancake recipe caught Merle’s eye, so she had to give it a try.
The simple, flourless pancake recipe used just three ingredients, plus a scoop of protein powder, which Merle said was “not ideal.” While the original video showed a stack of pancakes, Merle found the recipe yielded just two, but they were plenty big enough for a meal.
They were easy to cook, and didn’t stick in the pan. Although they came out “a little gummy,” Merle said, “the texture is better than I expected for as few ingredients as it is.”
Bear in mind that this high-protein pancake recipe is very filling, so a full portion is best suited for a big breakfast. As a dessert, you may want to scale down the ingredients or share with a friend. As Merle puts it: “This is still really good, but man, this is dense. I’m like full. I’m going to have to eat that in multiple sittings.”
How to make it:
- Take 1 cup oats, ⅔ cup plant-based milk, and a large, peeled banana, then blend with a scoop of your favourite protein powder (Merle chose chocolate flavour).
- Dollop the mixture into a hot, lightly-oiled pan and cook the pancakes over a medium heat, flipping halfway through.
- Stack the finished pancakes on a plate and top with almond butter and berries, or your favourite alternatives.
Was eating like a vegan bodybuilder easy?
It turns out that hitting 160 grams of protein on a plant-based diet isn’t as hard as it seems. In fact, it can be downright delicious if you know how to utilise foods like seitan, TVP, and vegan protein powders.
However, the challenge hasn’t exactly inspired Merle to make any major changes to her diet. While she’s keen to add the ‘gluten bombs’ to her rotation, and will be combining yoghurt and oats more often, it seems she’ll be continuing to take a more relaxed, natural approach to nutrition.
“I’m pretty happy with my protein intake,” she concluded. “I don’t like forcing protein powder into stuff if I don’t have to.”
Find more from Merle O’Neal on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
Want to take your protein journey further? Read our guide to gaining muscle on a vegan diet
References:
- Kaur L, Boland M. 2013. Influence of kiwifruit on protein digestion. Adv Food Nutr Res. Accessed via: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23394986
