Is the an OFFICIAL vegetarian food pyramid?

Not that I necessarily need the government to tell me what to eat, but I was just curious... I've gone veggie for lent and have been losing weight (well, I'm trying to anyway, but I notice it's coming off of me better now), so I was wondering if there's something I've been missing and maybe it could give me some ideas.
I've done vegan before with no serious negative consequences, so I figured veggie would be easy. Not as much money this time around, though, I've been finding ways to keep myself fed in what I believe to be healthy ways, so I'm probably just being paranoid...

 

I've never had this issue. Instead, I gained weight two summers ago!

I've never heard of a vegetarian food pyramid, but f you eat a bit of everything, you won't have any problem. The vegetarian's life is easier than the vegan's one, especially for proteins. A vegetarian diet is, usually, fatter than a vegan one. Cheese can be *very* fat. If you follow the vegan diet you were following in the past and you add dairy and eggs, it's unlikely that you'll have problems. Probably there are others reason for your faster weight loss. Maybe it's spring coming! (at least here in Italy, I heard you're still under the snow)

Obviously, if you loose weight too fast you should ask a doctor. Track your weight loss and if you're still loosing too much weight, try adding oil, butter, full cream milk or something similar.


P.S.
My english is bad. I hope you understand what I meant.

 

I understood you perfectly!
And thanks, I'm not losing too fast. Just the pound per week I am supposed to, but before I was at a plateau, so it was just kind of a shock when the numbers started moving on the scale again.
I think I'm all right, but if it gets any worse, I will surely start adding some more calorie dense things. I am trying not to rely on cheese and eggs too much. The baked macaroni and cheese I had the other day and the chili cheese fries I made last night (with TVP in the chili) was definitely a diet-buster, though. Don't suspect I'll lose too much this week, haha.
Anyway, thanks again. I think I just needed a calm voice to talk me down. I'm kind of a hypochondriac. Med student syndrome (well, Biomed in my case).

 

I don't think there is one, but even if there was it would be very inaccurate. Diet is an individual thing. Let us know what your eating i'm sure we could help you.

The vegan life is just as easy as any other.

I did the same. When I was 15 I was a meat eater and weighed 245 pounds. Then I became vegetarian and a little over a year later, with no added exercise I weighed 200 pounds and felt healthier than ever. After that I plateaued and stayed 200 pounds until recently. I am a vegan now and have just started a heavy exercise regime so I can become more physically fit.

 

No, it's not, especially for proteins. You can have all the amino acids you need, but vegetables don't have the right proportions of them. You need to mix two sources of proteins (like beans and cereal) to have the right proportions, and that's important or they won't be absorbed by your intestine. It's not my opinion, it's a fact told by science.

It's just a habit, eventually you'll learn to eat properly, but it's a habit you have to learn. It's not a big deal, maybe, but it's something you don't have to do with other diets. I'm not saying that one diet is better than another (although, IMHO, a vegan diet *is* better than a vegetarian one), I'm just saying that there are diets easier to start, diets that need less attentions in the beginning. If you really think that all diets are easy, try a jainist one!

 

As a vegan you should be eating legumes(beans) and grains every day. You do not need to eat them at the same time to recieve the benifits of the amino acids. There are also soy and quinoa that are complete proteins.
If you are eating a Peanutbutter and Jelly sandwich you are getting a complete protein. Hard?

 

As a vegetarian, I don't have to eat legumes and grains every day. Is it so hard to eat beans and cereals every day? No, sure, but as a vegetarian you have more choice, so more freedom so it's easier. An omnivore diet is even easier.
The more is the food you can eat, the easier is to find something to eat. Basically, that's why panda are close to extinction.

And I repeat, I'm not saying that one diet is better than another one, it's just easier to follow.

 

I'm eating a lot of beans and peas and whole grains. I use grapeseed oil veganaise to balance out the amount of eggs I eat. Sometimes I make seitan, but most often, I like tofu as a "meat substitute" let's call it...
I've been trying to limit eggs and dairy. I'm borderline lactose-intolerant, anyway, but I probably have at least a glass of milk a day... and usually only because it's an easy way to wedge an extra hundred calories in when I don't feel like eating anymore with my dinner.
I usually drink a lot of water, and once or twice a week, I'll make a quart of organic decaf green tea and drink that throughout the day.

 

Grapeseed oil contain a lot of saturated fatty acids. Try to replace it with rapeseed oil. Rapeseed oil is almost at healthy as olive oil but it doesn't give off taste.

If you are more or less intolerant to lactose you should stay away from it, period. Remember that while dairy is healthy, it also one of the main causes for food-intolerances. Same goes for soy products. While the issue is disputed, maybe you should be cautious about eating too much tofu. If you are not intolerant to gluten then it is very easy to make, just takes som time, and there you go!
Gluten can be more or less be treated like tofu but it is best when cubed and deep fried and then placed in a spicy mixture to soak up flavour.

In any case. Just remember that being a vegetarian is to love cooking.

 

And I do.
I don't eat tofu a lot. Just one pack usually lasts me all week. I like it scrambled for breakfast, usually, but I only eat it maybe twice all week. The seitan I make is the same way. I don't use a lot of meat replacements.
As for the veganaise, I'm don't gorge myself on it. I use canola oil to fry in when olive oil isn't appropriate. Thanks for the concern, though.
I only have trouble with milk when I have been away from it for a while. It's more a mucus problem than anything (makes my allergies worse, thereby affecting my stomach). Once I get back into it, it doesn't bother me unless I'm really stuffing myself with cheese and milk. Yogurt seems to be fine.
That gluten thing sounds great. I usually bread it and make a "chicke-fried steak" kind of thing with it, or cut it up and dip it in sauce like nuggets, but I was just thinking that I should make a buffalo sauceish kind of thing... Maybe toss it with some spinach and tomatoes and drizzle with a little ranch...
Damn, now I'm really hungry...

 

Are you eating any leafy greens? I recommend kale, its got a lot of absorbable calcium. If you decide to fully give up milk, one cup kale will give you the same amount of absorbable calcium as a cup of milk. Spinack is ok, kale is much more nutricious.

 

Oh I love my leafy greens, but I just can't keep them in the house!
I go through them really fast. Usually I put them in my smoothies. Usually I get escarole, though. I like the flavor with some yogurt and some frozen blueberries. Sounds weird, but it's gooooood.........
I've had kale. Can't say I love it, but I could probably eat it for "health food". Last time I had it was in a pureed potato kale soup... Maybe I'll do that again.

 

Well, it turns out I was right about one thing: I am missing something. Specifically potassium. But they agreed with me that it's not due to my recent change in diet so much as it's been ongoing for years. See, when I was in middle school, I was diagnosed with a heart condition that was aggravated by too much potassium, so my doctor advised me against eating it much. Then, he put me on the pill, which apparently saps potassium. So not only have I been avoiding it, I've also been losing it at an abnormal rate... for 10 years.
So thanks all for your advice on this. Turns out, I was not so much paranoid as I was examining the wrong aspect of my diet.