Vegetarian

raulin1013

Currently a junk food vegetarian. I need to lose weight (about 10lbs) and I don't know how to cook

learningtolove

I buy a few ingredients and literally just google " EASY SIMPLE XXX recipe"
Knowing how to sautee onions goes a long way for flavour,and is simple to get the hang of.
Other then that,invest in a rice cooker and slow cooker and youre all set for simple eating!

kathrynjean_

Appliance wise, I would say that a steamer and a crock pot are some great investments if you're up for it. I use my steamer almost daily in the spring/summer, and then make a lot of hearty stews in the crock pot during the fall and winter months.

Also, there are a ton of great websites out there with recipes. Oh She Glows is a personal favourite - it's all vegan but you could add eggs or cheese to things if you so desire. Pick a few recipes that appeal to you, make them, log them accurately in MFP so you can get an idea about calories, protein, etc., and you're well on your way to learning to put together tasty stuff for yourself without recipes. It's all about learning basic techniques and components of a meal that tastes good and satisfies. It might take a while but really that's the best way to learn. As a vegan coning from a very meat heavy family, that's what I had to do and it's worked well!

Good luck!

MakePeasNotWar

Oh She Glows is a great resource, with recipes ranging from easy to difficult. Minimalist Baker tends to be 5 or 10 ingredients at most, with no advanced techniques. Fat Free Vegan has a range of difficulty similar to OSG, but focuses more on low calorie recipes.

If you just don't want to cook, you could look for a meal delivery service or rely on more restaurant or store-bought foods. Here is a great site full of reviews of vegan convenience foods and restaurants/ bakeries:

http://www.laziestvegans.com/

Yes, there is definitely some junk food in there, but also a lot of nutrient dense options.

vegangela_

I was a junk food vegetarian and then I went vegan and lost nearly 20kg (44lbs) without really trying
Cooking vegan is easy, either eat it raw if you're too lazy to cook or saute/steam/bake.

lhtbuzz123

I was (& still sometimes am) a junk food vegetarian! I have little time or motivation for cooking complex recipes. I started by just making a swap or change a week to try and be more healthy, some of the swaps stayed, others needed tweeking to be maintainable, others I've never gone back to, but it's worked & I'm losing weight
A few ideas to try, not all at once but try 1 a week:
- Swap to low fat cheese.
- White bread/pasta to wholemeal.
- Reduce portions of pasta/rice.
- Add some frozen vegetables (I microwave them) as a side or into any sauces.

- Take your usual meal/junk amount & divide it into a couple of portions to put in fridge/freezer for lunch the next day, giving you a smaller portion today. (Basically you can easily still eat your normal food but just reduce your calories by spreading 1 meal over multiple days - Less cooking too!).

- Add a basic side salad - Pre-shredded lettuce, cucumber slices & a bit of pepper with the nicest low fat dressing you can find or a bit of balsamic vinegar.

- Swap shop or takeway pizza for easy homemade pizza with slice of wholemeal toast, salsa/sauce, cut some vegetables (precook so pizza isn't soggy), half a ball of low fat mozerella & grill. Took me a while to find a super delicious combo, but have a play.

- Swap chinese takeaway for quick vegetable stirfry - Ready prepared fresh or frozen stirfry veg, quorn/soy & dark soy sauce with a small portion of brown rice or a couple oven baked vegetable spring rolls. Or I have no rice & swap soy sauce for a sexy sauce like katsu or chowmein when I want a really scrumptious treat.