Vegan - need protein help!

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Liz4J
Liz4J Posts: 23 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi!
When I say 'vegan' I don't eat meat but I do eat eggs and cheese. I'm not really a milk drinker either.
I'm new to weight loss and trying to get my groove. Anyone have ideas on how I can get more protein? I get tired of eating eggs, cheese and nuts all the time. I have just started putting protein powder in my smoothies.
Thanks for any tips you can share!
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Replies

  • corgicake
    corgicake Posts: 846 Member
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    Processed things are your friend. There's wheat and soy not-meats... they're called seitan, tofu, tempeh, and tvp. Tofu is notoriously difficult to make tasty and I've got zero experience with tempeh, but the other two can be subbed right in for meat in recipes. PB2 and knockoffs are from peanuts and I don't know what they're good for yet, but I've got a jar to use up. I get my protein from a health food mail order outfit based in the next town over and their free delivery shows up in three to four days.

    Mind your essential amino acids because being short on one will limit how much protein your body actually has to work with. Lysine is so predictable for vegans to be short on that I've seen it sold in one pound tubs. I usually go to peacounter.com for if I need the amino acid breakdown for something.

    Yeah, that was probably a chunk to read but veggie protein is a bit messier to work with than it looks.
  • awesomejdad
    awesomejdad Posts: 493 Member
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    Ummm.....Your a vegetarian. You are not a Vegan.
  • Laurend224
    Laurend224 Posts: 1,748 Member
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    awesomejdad wrote: »
    Ummm.....Your a vegetarian. You are not a Vegan.


    Yes. You should have no problem getting in protein. But some of my go to forms (I am vegan) are beans, lentils, tofu, seitan, split peas, tvp, spirulina, chia seeds, and more recently gardein products. There are many many veggie burgers in the freezer section that are vegetarian, with added cheese and or egg. Those should meet your needs too.
    I am still trying to work out my protein with limited calories. It was much easier to meet my protein when I was eating as much as I wanted. I have to be really conscious of what I am eating. Seeing the macro breakdown has been really helpful.



    Good luck!
  • jamieish1984
    jamieish1984 Posts: 7
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    Fish! Nut butters-almond butter is better than most others, a good protein powder added to nearly everything...I use Complete Nutrition's V-Core vanilla (can't remember if it's vegan or not) but I've mixed it with everything from non-fat plain greek yogurt, to smoothies, to oatmeal and on top of cereal. Beans/legumes, tuna, cottage cheese, almond milk, tofu, TVP, veggie burgers (although usually higher in sodium if they're store bought)....there's lots of options, just have to get creative. I'm in the same boat as you, working towards building lean muscle and I'm vegetarian...it's a challenge! good luck.
  • alrajhi
    alrajhi Posts: 1
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    I've found the best thing - Isopure drinks. They taste like gator aid. 160 calories and 40 grams of protein. Bariactric patients use these. I eat normal, a bit of everything and have one of these a day. Or I have a protein shake as a snack. Just adding this little bit each day gets me the protein numbers that I need. Liza
  • MakePeasNotWar
    MakePeasNotWar Posts: 1,329 Member
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    A tofu hint: freeze and then thaw it before you cook it. It improves the texture 1000% and gives it a bit of nutty flavour.

    I am currently trying to cut down my processed proteins and use more beans and legumes, but I still use protein powder at breakfast, and I am a big fan of pb2 because I tend to have a high fat diet already (nuts and avocado are staples for me) and I love peanut butter in everything. Also the Gardein Frozen crispy strips with orange glaze are about the best spinach salad topper imaginable.

    I eat a lot of whole soybeans as well. Steamed and lightly salted they make a nice snack, and they are good in soups.
  • esjones12
    esjones12 Posts: 1,363 Member
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    Vegetarian protein options = eggs, nuts, cheese, quinoa, beans, nut butters, yogurt, and there are quite a few plant based protein powders out there.
  • ksolksol
    ksolksol Posts: 194 Member
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    If you can do gluten, seitan is extremely high protein, low-cal and reasonably easy to make yourself. It has a very meaty texture. I used the recipe off the Bob's Red Mill gluten flour bag, but there are a lot of recipes out there on the internet. My sister grinds it up and makes seitan chili that to me is nearly indistinguishable from regular chili.

    Do you eat cottage cheese, too, or just cheese-cheese? I feel like I get a little more bang for my buck with 2% cottage cheese.

    Have you tried plain Greek kefir? I'm not a big milk drinker, either, and I'm not big on yogurt, but I like a glass of kefir. The Greek kefir is particularly high in protein, although the regular's not bad on that front. Greek yogurt, too, is quite high in protein and you can strain it to make it like a cream cheese. I stay away from the flavored yogurts, myself -- too sweet for my tastes.
  • ksolksol
    ksolksol Posts: 194 Member
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    Fair warning if you make seitan using the simmering method -- it tends to expand/EXPLODE in the pot! Use a bigger pot to simmer it in than you think you'll need.
  • EmoJew
    EmoJew Posts: 94 Member
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    jamieish1984 wrote: »
    Fish! Nut butters-almond butter is better than most others, a good protein powder added to nearly everything...I use Complete Nutrition's V-Core vanilla (can't remember if it's vegan or not) but I've mixed it with everything from non-fat plain greek yogurt, to smoothies, to oatmeal and on top of cereal. Beans/legumes, tuna, cottage cheese, almond milk, tofu, TVP, veggie burgers (although usually higher in sodium if they're store bought)....there's lots of options, just have to get creative. I'm in the same boat as you, working towards building lean muscle and I'm vegetarian...it's a challenge! good luck.

    Fish isn't vegetarian...
  • mallory_2014
    mallory_2014 Posts: 173 Member
    edited January 2015
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    You would be vegetarian, not vegan. Vegan is consumption of no animal products (meat, fish, milk, eggs, cheese, yogurts, ice cream, jello, marshmallows, some sugar, etc).

    I am vegan and eat a lot of seitan, tofu, lentils, beans, nutritional yeast, and some of the vegan meat options (tofurkey has an amazing line and so does Quorn if you are in the US).
  • Huppdiwupp
    Huppdiwupp Posts: 50 Member
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    Unfortunately, Quorn contains chicken's eggs. Seitan is actually very easy to make at home, all you need is gluten (which you can cheaply buy online) and a bit of soy sauce and salt to taste. You'll find plenty of instructions online. It keeps well in the fridge, I usually make enough so that it will last me about a week. It's nearly 100% protein (that's what gluten is), although of course, if you fry it you will add some fat.

    Otherwise, I really wouldn't obsess about proteins... but Seitan also tastes good :)
  • mallory_2014
    mallory_2014 Posts: 173 Member
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    Huppdiwupp wrote: »
    Unfortunately, Quorn contains chicken's eggs. Seitan is actually very easy to make at home, all you need is gluten (which you can cheaply buy online) and a bit of soy sauce and salt to taste. You'll find plenty of instructions online. It keeps well in the fridge, I usually make enough so that it will last me about a week. It's nearly 100% protein (that's what gluten is), although of course, if you fry it you will add some fat.

    Otherwise, I really wouldn't obsess about proteins... but Seitan also tastes good :)

    Some Quorn products don't contain eggs. Just gotta read the ingredients list! But, even the ones that do would be great options for the OP since they consume eggs and dairy.

  • jfp420
    jfp420 Posts: 186 Member
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    Beans are so versatile. Check out Pinterest for recipes- I find a lot there. They can be used in salads, burritos or soups. For snacks you can snack on roasted chickpeas or veggies dipped in hummus.
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
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    I am a vegetarian, not a vegan, and my diary is totally open. Feel free to check it out.

    I dont personally stress about protien too much, because I dont lift weights or anything, but I do include protien into all my meals. A goal for me is 20 grams per meal.

    Today-
    Breakfast I had 2 vegetarian sausage patties, fruit and oatmeal.

    Lunch- Big *kitten* salad- with 1/2 cup cottage cheese and 1/2 cup beans mixed in as a dressing.

    Dinner-
    Egg,kale, and cheese bake, with rice as a side dish.
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
    edited January 2015
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    Proteins I use at breakfast- Hard boiled egg, vegetarian sausage, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, 1 oz almonds.

    At lunch/dinner- beans in all different ways, cottage cheese, soy burgers (we like Boca originals), tofu (I like mine cooked under the broiler), eggs baked or scrambled, occasional plant based meat (gardein meatballs recently)
  • Docbanana2002
    Docbanana2002 Posts: 357 Member
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    Um... someone who eats eggs and cheese all the time is NOT a vegan. Please use the terms correctly, it is insulting to people who actually are vegans when people use the label to sound trendy or something, but don't actually seem to know what it means or want to live the way a vegan lives. A vegan does not eat ANY products that come from animals (or wear them, or use them in any other way). Eggs and cheese are most definitely animal products.
  • MaryinColorado
    MaryinColorado Posts: 19
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    Hi, I'm a vegetarian also. I love Clif Builder's protein bars. Each one has 20 grams of protein.

    As others have mentioned soy burgers can be a good option. My favorite is Boca's breaded "chicken" patty.

    Also, Naked Juice has a protein smoothie with pineapple, coconut & banana that is yummy.

    Amy's makes some frozen entrees that are high in protein. I like the veggie pot pie which has tofu in it.

    And Tofurkey! The hickory smoked "turkey" deli slices are delicious! Often I just eat them right out of the package without even putting them on bread :)
  • Laurend224
    Laurend224 Posts: 1,748 Member
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    Docbanana2002 wrote: »
    Um... someone who eats eggs and cheese all the time is NOT a vegan. Please use the terms correctly, it is insulting to people who actually are vegans when people use the label to sound trendy or something, but don't actually seem to know what it means or want to live the way a vegan lives. A vegan does not eat ANY products that come from animals (or wear them, or use them in any other way). Eggs and cheese are most definitely animal products.

    I'm probably gonna get a flag for this but, untwist your panties. She may not know the correct word, English may not be the OPs first language. I'm vegan and wasn't offended in the least. This kind of attitude is what makes people think vegans are rigid know it alls.
  • indyamyk
    indyamyk Posts: 1 Member
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    Beans, eggs, Greek yogurt, nuts, fish, tofu, cottage cheese

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