Berardi's Vegetarian Results?

So, jb went “veggie”, not that I’m planning on doing it, but it was interesting. I tried to follow his blog, but I’ve found no kind of ending results. Anyone have any info. ?

If you go to the precision nutrition site for “sexiest vegetarian”, you’ll find the results.

executive summary: he gained some LBM and got wicked gassy.

[quote]mketodd wrote:
So, jb went “veggie”, not that I’m planning on doing it, but it was interesting. I tried to follow his blog, but I’ve found no kind of ending results. Anyone have any info. ?

Can Vegetarians Build Muscle? [/quote]
Like Rhino said, Berardi gained about 5 pounds of muscle and 2 pounds of fat in just about a month:
Berardi P+C and P+F? - Supplements and Nutrition - Forums - T Nation

On a related note, since you seem interested, I did a similar experiment myself (vegetarian for a month and strict vegan for another month):

There seems to be an extraordinary amount of posts regarding vegetarianism and its clones. I don’t see how anyone serious about bodybuilding can be interesting in eating that way. To each their own I suppose.

Yeah, there’s not really any big vegetarians. Well i’ll correct myself, no vegetarians that built most of their size WHILE being a vegetarian.

Example. Bill Pearl is a vegan, but he converted after he was well developed.

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:

[quote]mketodd wrote:
So, jb went “veggie”, not that I’m planning on doing it, but it was interesting. I tried to follow his blog, but I’ve found no kind of ending results. Anyone have any info. ?

Can Vegetarians Build Muscle? [/quote]
Like Rhino said, Berardi gained about 5 pounds of muscle and 2 pounds of fat in just about a month:
Berardi P+C and P+F? - Supplements and Nutrition - Forums - T Nation

On a related note, since you seem interested, I did a similar experiment myself (vegetarian for a month and strict vegan for another month):

[/quote]

thanks, i was overall just interested in the study. Not really feeling a full vegan diet right now. I do, however, find it interesting, and will def. clean my diet up. ( while keeping the meat ofcourse)

  • Stay strong everyone

[quote]cally wrote:
I don’t see how anyone serious about bodybuilding can be interesting in eating that way.[/quote]

[quote]K-Man32 wrote:
Yeah, there’s not really any big vegetarians. Well i’ll correct myself, no vegetarians that built most of their size WHILE being a vegetarian.[/quote]
[big sigh, since I seem to address this same point in every “vegetarian bodybuilding” thread]
Recognizing that meat-free lifters are a subsect within a subsect, so the total sample size is limited right off the bat…

Roy Hilligenn, Andreas Cahling, Joe DeMarco, Alex Dargatz, Steve Holt, Derek Tresize, Ed Goins, Joel Kirkilis, and on and on. Just because they’re not big names in the IFBB doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

There are a handful of vegan training sites that profile meat-free athletes, including bigger powerlifters/strongmen. Guys like Ryan Wilson and Rob Bigwood are strength athletes weighing in at 260+.

Here’s an example I often bring up, and nobody seems to address: If a 200-pound guy lifts heavy and consistently while eating 4,500 calories - 250 grams of protein, 600 grams of carbs, and 120 grams of fat - do y’all think he won’t get big just because he’s a vegetarian?

Bill Pearl was never a vegan. He went lacto-ovo vegetarian (allowing eggs and dairy) the last four or five years of his competitive career. In that time, he still won two Mr. Universe titles, including wins over Frank Zane, Reg Park, and Sergio Oliva. It’s not like he was just maintaining at that time.

Chris,
The problem with vegetarian diets is staying lean as you need to consume alot of carbohydrates to get your protien i.e. from beans etc - unless you have any reccomendations?
Also What is your opinion on using fermented soy products in a vegetarian diet such as tempeh.

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:

[quote]mketodd wrote:
So, jb went “veggie”, not that I’m planning on doing it, but it was interesting. I tried to follow his blog, but I’ve found no kind of ending results. Anyone have any info. ?

Can Vegetarians Build Muscle? [/quote]
Like Rhino said, Berardi gained about 5 pounds of muscle and 2 pounds of fat in just about a month:
http://tnation.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/diet_performance_nutrition_supplements/berardis_vegetarian_wrapup

On a related note, since you seem interested, I did a similar experiment myself (vegetarian for a month and strict vegan for another month):
http://tnation.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/diet_performance_nutrition_supplements/confession_i_went_vegetarian
[/quote]

If I remember right, despite his weight gain his arms got smaller and his waist increased. His chest and back gained a bit though. All in all, sounds like a pretty shitty way to build muscle to me.

[quote]jay711 wrote:
The problem with vegetarian diets is staying lean as you need to consume alot of carbohydrates to get your protien i.e. from beans etc - unless you have any reccomendations?[/quote]
It’s true that a lot of vegetarian/vegan sources of complete protein can come with “unwanted” calories from carbs or fat, but as I’ve said before, there have been plenty of competitive bodybuilders that go through contest prep on a vegetarian and/or vegan diet, so it’s definitely possible.

I’d use a carb cycling-type of approach, which would obviously allow for some higher carb days. On the few lower carb days, you could incorporate some hemp, rice, or pea protein powder in addition to other protein-rich foods to boost protein intake.

Unprocessed soy whole foods are no problem at all when eaten in moderation like other foods. Like with other foods, the more processed it gets, the more negative issues can accumulate. Berardi actually wrote a great article about this, long before his vegetarian experiment.

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
If I remember right, despite his weight gain his arms got smaller and his waist increased. His chest and back gained a bit though. All in all, sounds like a pretty shitty way to build muscle to me.[/quote]
He tracked his measurements, posted in the pic above. The right column is the total change over the course of the month. He lost a fraction of an inch on his arms and gained nothing in the waist. His hip measurements increased almost an inch, along with his entire lower body.

I don’t know if I’d exactly call that a shitty way to build muscle. He still did put on 7 pounds in a month, the majority of which was muscle.

And most important to remember, it was an experiment. He was trying to bulk up for the month, and he did, but he learned as he went along (like he talked about his allergic reaction to lectins). When I did my two month stint, I was just trying to maintain my bodyweight, but I ended up losing 12 pounds in 8 weeks while still gaining strength in the gym, and I had several people say I was looking leaner.

In any case, dudes who want a meat-free diet will go for it and hopefully do it the smart way. Dudes who want to eat meat, most certainly can and will. Arguing about which way is “best” is wasted energy, just like bodybuilders arguing with powerlifters about biceps training.


Um, whoops.

The aforementioned progress chart.

Vegan would be tough, but vegetarian bodybuilding is easy for me. Tons of eggs and dairy

you must fart a lot