https://youtu.be/ser6Ky_gSHA
Video content summary: 2,500 Calories, 160g Vegan Protein – A Full Day
A full day of eating doesn’t always follow a perfect meal plan. This vegan day of food centers on maintenance, health, and fitness, with protein spaced throughout a busy workday, training, meetings, and a late dinner.
The total lands around 2,500 calories and 160 grams of vegan protein, guided by hunger and fullness rather than a strict dieting target.
Maintenance Is the Current Goal
After a successful cut in January, the focus has shifted away from a calorie deficit or a large surplus. The goal now is to maintain progress while staying healthy, fit, and active during a busy period of work and personal life.
Food isn’t tracked daily at this stage. However, eight years of consistent tracking built a strong sense of calorie and protein intake, so much of the day “computes” mentally without opening MyFitnessPal.
Pre-Workout Protein and a Banana
At a little after 9:00 a.m., breakfast starts on the drive to a workout at Dawn’s women’s strength training gym:
- One full scoop of PlantFusion protein
- One banana
Training on an empty stomach isn’t preferred because lifting and cardio both use energy. The body uses the fuel most available, so having protein and glucose in the system helps avoid drawing on muscle for energy.
Protein feedings spaced throughout the day matter, especially when the goal is to keep the muscle that took hard work to build.
The class format involves working on an exercise for about two minutes at a time, similar to myo-reps. It differs from a bodybuilding-focused workout with smaller sets of 10 to 12 reps. The gym puts a lot of emphasis on lower-body work, while shoulder and back training still gets added separately.
A Post-Workout Breakfast Around 11:00
Breakfast is Field Roast Apple Sage sausage with oatmeal, cherries, and coconut. By this point, the day has already reached close to 50 grams of protein and roughly 600 to 650 calories.
Work begins while breakfast is being made, setting the tone for the rest of the day.
Lunch: Tofu, Broccoli, and Quick Rice
Lunch at about 2:40 p.m. includes air-fried tofu, broccoli, and an Uncle Ben’s brown rice and quinoa medley, finished with plenty of Frank’s hot sauce.
Giacomo is batch cooking rice in the Instant Pot, but it isn’t ready in time for lunch. The microwavable rice takes 90 seconds, which makes it useful when a meal needs to happen quickly. Lunch is eaten during a work meeting after recording a podcast about speeding up metabolism.
Cereal, Berries, Pretzels, and Peanut Butter
By 5:15 p.m., hunger calls for a bowl of cereal and berries before a large team call. Dinner would normally happen then, but the call runs until 8:00 p.m.
Giacomo heads to the store to make dinner, so another snack is needed: Champions pretzels and peanut butter. It isn’t a styled or planned meal, and that’s the point. Food has to fit real schedules, delays, and hunger.
A Late Dinner From Giacomo
Dinner includes air-fried tofu, quick potatoes, collard greens, and lettuce from the garden. The collards follow Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Diet recipe with balsamic vinegar, toasted pine nuts, raisins, and a little olive oil.
The garden lettuce is harvested before the squirrels can get to it. A piece of fruit may still happen before bed, though the day is already closing in on 2,500 calories.
A Realistic Day of Vegan Eating
This day includes protein powder, tofu, vegan sausage, oatmeal, cereal, rice, vegetables, pretzels, peanut butter, and a home-cooked dinner. The meals aren’t perfectly timed, but they support maintenance while fitting around training, work, and hunger.
A balanced day can include both planned meals and last-minute snacks.
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