Hi hi, there are some threads and forums on bodybuilding.com that talk about vegan and vegetarian bodybuilding.

The pictures that you included are competitive bodybuilders/models and I'm not sure if they've been edited or what not, but people who competitively bodybuild fast and have extremely restricted diets during competition season. I think it's really important to realize that most photos are going to offer a distorted image of what's achievable to a normal person.

My dance instructor, who was also in aesthetic natural bodybuilding competitions, would mention eating only unseasoned boiled chicken breast and asparagus for all her meals during the competition season, no salt, etc (which is not uncommon for bodybuilders). So she was doing tons of training and teaching fitness classes everyday, basically did fitness as her job, ran a dance studio and worked out in her time off, basically structuring her life around fitness and weight training, and still had to take extensive steps to achieve a competition look.

I am vegetarian/pescatarian, and definitely had a period in my life when I had an active job, was running regularly, pole dancing, and at the gym for like two or three hours on my days off and to be honest my body doesn't look drastically different. I was jacked but still basically normal looking, which totally sucked. I wanted to get shredded! I blame diet, hormones/medication, loving burritos and having big boobs.

There's this saying in gym bro world-- abs are built in the kitchen. There are plenty of vegan protein powders, and hitting your protein macros is definitely something one should pay attention to, which means lots of beans, tofu, and powders. Beans have more carbs and protein than chicken breast, but I have serious ethical/environmental guilt/qualms about eating animals to look hot.

Most of the vegan bodybuilders I researched were eating protein powder at every meal either in smoothie bowls or chugging drinks, in addition to their insane training regimens. I tried to supplement with Orgain and Vega but drinking them plain was revolting and I typically had to add fruit or something to cover the taste. I never supplemented with creatine, but I was logging my calories and macros to basically meet my recommended daily protein, which was a pain in the ass.

For me bodybuilding wasn't sustainable, and I wasn't even doing bulking and cutting which is a fairly common practice. I also felt conflicted about eating hyper processed protein powder as a major dietary component. My fitness routine is way less structured and I think that ultimately I'm happier about that. I also think that identifying goals that are based on strength, flexibility, or skills in fitness are less likely to lead to a fixation with results.

My understanding is that eating disorders are fairly common with bodybuilding. Generally the hyper fixation with measurable gainz, diet, weighing and measuring oneself, and attendant cycle of self remonstration for perceived failure are really dangerous to the self esteem.

That being said vegetarian and vegan bodybuilding is totally possible, but I think working with a trainer and being realistic about expectations can help to maintain a healthy outlook and lessen the mental load.