I have spoken with my husband concerning my going vegetarian. He thinks it might be good. See, I am not a big meat eater. It seems that I have to eat a lot of it for the protein that I need to loose the weight I am working to loose. However, I would much rather eat veggies and fruit. One problem. what are the different things that I can eat that will have protein in it? Have any of you lost weight going from a meat eater to not? I have been slowly making a lifestyel change, I dont like the word diet, lol... I have lost 20lbs so far. I have hit a plateau. I work out daily... and eat good, I just thought about this. I have been thinking of going this way for a logn time, just now talking to hubby about it.. Any help on this would be great.. Thanks so much!!
I lost about 20 lbs. the first year of cutting out meat. I eat yogurt, beans (falafel is my favorite), eggs, and of course tons of tofu. I have a dirty secret too. I still eat fish from time to time, mostly in restaurants. I definatly don't want to loose anymore weight, but the 20lbs I did loose didn't hurt me any.
I wasnt trying to loose weight when i went veg but i lost about 5 lbs anyway....and believe it or not i was eating basically all junkfood for the first year. 5 lbs is alot on my tiny frame so i imagine it happened just by cutting out meat.......
Beans, tofu (most soy products, actually), nuts and seeds (peanut butter!), dairy, eggs, whole grain foods (brown rice etc) are all good sources of protein. If you're tryin to lose weight, generally a high-fiber, low fat diet works for pretty much everyone, and it's probably the safest and least limiting. There's lots of different proteins that don't include meat, going veg isn't that hard, and I bet it'll help with your weight loss. Congrats on what you've accomplished so far and good luck!
Not to nitpick, but I hope you don't also call yourself a vegetarian ... These are all good suggestions (I'd leave out the eggs and yogurt), and I want to add: soymilk! One quart per day is your protein for the day, and that's if you don't eat any beans or tofu, etc.
Congratulations on losing 20 pounds, that's awesome! You shouldn't have any problems meeting your protein needs without meat. I have a really great cookbook called The Voluptuous Vegan with amazing recipes in it. It helps you really get into the zen of eating healthy wholesome foods. Also the title is sexy.
Way to go on the 20lbs. I know how frustrating a plateau can be. When you cut out the dairy(which is completely nutritionaly unneccsary anyways) I think that you'll be pleased with the weight loss. Even if you don't want to lose weight, cutting the tremendous amount of worthless calories that dairy gives you will drop the pounds. It'll be slow, though, so remember that you are doing this to boost your health, not just to lose the weight. Try to understand that the pounds won't just fall off the first month or two, like Atkins. Tempeh has a ton of protein. Depending on what kind, one can get over 20 grams in one serving. And it's delicious and versatile, which is good for me, because I HATE tofu. Yuck. Remember, too, that French fries can be vegan, but that doesn't mean that you should eat them-watch the junk food! Like Elle's(and I've) experienced, trash food can be a quick fix during the beginning. And thanks, EvilEyva, for the book suggestion! ~
PS. Do read some of the threads about eating fish or eggs and calling onesself a vegetarian. They are incompatable.
Did I? Wow some people are really on their soap boxes here. I neversaid I was vegitarian. I was just trying to give my 2 cents. She asked, and I gave. Not all of us can be perfect.
Most people seem to lose weight when they go veggie, I put some on! It's easy to get enough protein though. A lot of people, when they first go vegetarian cook the same meals they would have had anyway and jut substitute the meat with TVP or other meat substitutes like seitan. This is an easy first step and will get you used to varying your diet a bit. Then you could learn about cooking meals to include all the nutrients you will need. Protein sources such as beans and legumes, lentils, nuts and seeds,Soya and tofu, grains such as quinoa and amaranth, provide you with staples that are easily adapted to different recipes. Many people find they have a much more varied diet when they become vegetarian.
Before I give my two cents on the protein suggestion, since you like a lot of fruits and veggies [which is NOT a bad thing for a diet] I would try eating more negative calorie fruits and veggies--that will definitely help you lose. So here's a list of fruits and veggies that have negative calories, and are good for shedding pounds: Asparagus Aubergine Broccoli Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Celery Chicory Cress Cucumber Fennel Gourd Leek Lettuce Peppers Radish Spinach Tomato Turnip and for fruits: Apricot Blackberry Blackcurrant Clementines Damsons Grapefruit Guava Honeydew Melon Lemon Mandarin oranges Melon Cantaloupe Peaches Plums Raspberry Rhubarb Strawberry Tangerine Anyway for protein with a diet like that, I would suggest a lot of beans/legumes. They are usually lower in calories/fat than nuts and seeds..... Soy is always good too though; maybe just try doing something small to start out like drinking soymilk instead of regular milk; its less fattening, has no cholesterol, and has protein aside from all the other good junk Not to mention, if you plan on almost completely, or entirely cutting meat from your diet drinking at least two glasses of soymilk a day is good for B12 intake. [from Silk anyway] If you want to do something like nuts and seeds, I suggest going for seeds that are not roasted or salted. Lower in fat, and salt---salt will make you retain water weight. Or if you're going for something like peanut butter, try out a natural spread which doesn't have added sugar and extra fat and calories that you don't need. If you want to try doing tofu, I would definitely try learning to cook with tofu, rather than ordering it out and such--- they offer "lite" tofu in most stores which, obviously, is lower in fat as well. Try sticking to recipes and such that don't require frying, or much oil of any kind. I would definitely stay away from processed mock meats while dieting. Hope that helps! P.S. if you're not into much of any of those types of protein, since you do enjoy fruits...usually you can find protein mixes to add to your favorite smoothies and such. A good thing to try would be to blend up a banana, some strawberrys, with a little ice to make a smoothie, and add a protein mix. try looking around at: www.veganessentials.com for the protein mix, I'm pretty certain they have some on there.
/bow Forgive me. I have a tendency to jump to conclusions, especially on the vegetarian board, as I have seen all too many who claim to be vegetarian and actually aren't. My apologies, friend.
Hikaru Zero wasn't being rude, he was just stating nomenclature. No need to get defensive. I would also assume someone on a vegetarian thread giving advice to a new person trying to be veg, would be vegetarian. Also- Apples+ Oranjes- are you saying that these foods have less than 0 calories? That is impossible. Mabye they take more calories to eat than they provide? I am not calling you a liar, I am just confused. Thanks.
Grimjivey, I might add that when one says at the beginning of the post, , again in a veggie thread, giving advise on how to become vegetarian, another might be inclined to believe that person was vegetarian. If you read a lot of the posts here, especially concerning the image that non-veggies put out while calling themselves vegetarian, and the pain in the butt it is for those of us who are, you could probably understand. There is no soapbox. Only truth. If one says that one has cut out meat, and then proceeds to call eating fish their "dirty little secret", I *personally* find it a little inflamatory to those who call themselves, if I may reiterate, vegetarians. I'm not vegan. I'm vegetarian. I'm taking back the word. xoxo ~sand
Negative calorie foods aren't *proven* but it is believed that these certain foods may either boost your metabolism/help you burn off calories..... for more information go here: http://www.weightlossforall.com/negative-calorie-foods-list.htm It's not proven, as I mentioned, but I noticed when I tried eating more of these foods while I was trying to shed a few pounds, it worked quite well.
