At least 112 g a day, aim 120–140 g. Calories about what you burn (~2,300–2,500 kcal). Mess food gives ~30 g; the rest you add on purpose.
| Source | Protein | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Whey protein, 1 scoop | 24 g | The biggest single fix for a vegetarian. Isolate if milk bloats you. Mix with water, not milk. |
| Soya chunks, 50 g dry | 26 g | No stove needed: soak in kettle-hot water 15 min, squeeze, rinse twice, add to dal or sabzi. Start with 25 g: it causes gas until your gut adapts. |
| Paneer, 100 g | 18 g | When the mess serves it, take a double portion. |
| Curd, 400 g (2 bowls) | 14 g | Lunch and dinner. Easy on the stomach. |
| Roasted chana, 50 g | 10 g | Snack. Cheap, keeps for weeks in your room. |
| Milk, 300 ml | 10 g | Skip if it bloats you. |
| Sattu, 40 g | 8 g | Roasted gram flour: stir into water with salt and lemon. No cooking. |
| Peanuts, 30 g (a handful) | 8 g | Or 2 spoons of peanut butter. |
| Mess dal + roti + rice | 30 g | Roughly, across the day. Ask for extra dal. |
A day that hits ~120 g, no kitchen: milk at breakfast, whey after the gym, 50 g soaked soya chunks in lunch dal, curd at lunch and dinner, roasted chana and peanuts as snacks, extra dal at both meals. Paneer days are a bonus. (If you eat eggs, 4 boiled eggs add 24 g.)
Tuesday (fast): milk + semiyan gives ~20–25 g. That's fine: one low day a week barely matters. If your fast allows it, a scoop of whey in the milk brings it to ~45 g.
Dry sabzi over gravy, leave the oil layer behind. Curd or buttermilk daily. Spread protein over 3–5 feeds. Walk 10 min after meals. ~3 L water. Pain, or trouble that always follows certain foods → see a doctor.
7½–8 hours. Short sleep costs muscle and keeps fat on, even with perfect training.
The best-supported supplement there is (ISSN 2017, 200+ studies). Vegetarian diets start with lower stores, so you may gain more from it. Any time of day, with water. Plain monohydrate, nothing fancy. Expect ~1 kg of water weight in the first weeks; that's muscle water, not fat.
Not magic, just milk protein in powder form, so it is vegetarian. On a vegetarian hostel diet it's the easiest way to close the gap; 1 scoop a day is usually enough.
Vegetarians in India are commonly low in B12. Cheap blood test; if low, a doctor will give you a supplement. Low B12 means tiredness that no plan can train through.
BCAAs, fat burners, testosterone boosters, 'mass gainers'. None are worth your money.