Vegan/vegetarian and high carbs

kiz2312km

Hi all

I’m relatively new to calorie and macro tracking, I’ve been focusing on my calories however, I’m aware that I’m eating a lot of carbs due to the sheer amount of veg/beans/lentils pulses.

Are there any successful vegan dieters on here who can give me a few pointers - I’m stuck on where to up my protein as allready having a serving with each meal? I don’t mind having high carbs but it’s been suggested by Pt that lowering them would help with fat loss.

Thanks ever so much

Kirst

reginakarl

Hi! I'm a vegetarian also and struggle with protein with respect to training. First, a PT isn't a dietician. Also, even when I hit my protein for the day, my carbs are high. I can't eat plain yogurt all the time and black beans taste mighty good. But, I'm wondering the same question as you. I would need to look at a chart that compares both a food's protein level and it's carb content. That's my opinion, however.

alicebhsia

nuts/seeds

saragd012

Personally I give no stock to reduced carbs, any time I have made changes to reduce carbs I've had a hard time obtaining enough calories without supplementing with shakes. One good way to increase protein without additional carbs though is adding nuts or seeds in as a snack, I'm particularly a fan of pepitas (pumpkin seeds) because they are pretty high protein with a decent amount of iron.

janejellyroll

I lost over 40 pounds without limiting carbohydrates. The important thing to focus on is getting sufficient protein and fat. You don't say exactly what you're getting, macrowise, but are you meeting your needs for those two? If so, I wouldn't worry about limiting carbohydrates. If you do need more protein in your diet, I had good results from building each meal around a food that was higher in protein -- that included beans, but also tofu, tempeh, and seitan (as well as sometimes protein powder).

Higher carbohydrate intake, in the context of a diet that is meeting your nutritional needs, isn't going to keep you from meeting your goals for fat loss. Keep in mind that most PTs aren't nutritional experts and many of them are especially weak when it comes to understanding vegetarian/vegan nutrition.

bronaghCPM

I think it's just about what works for you. I've been a veggie for 20 years and switched to vegan last summer. My diet has always been pretty carb heavy and it's never stopped me from losing weight when I tried, I'm down 13kg since I became vegan.
Though I know some people claim they don't feel full if they don't get enough protein. Why not try a protein shake for a while and see if it makes a difference? I've use protein powders from time to time but honestly if I'm on 1200cals I don't want 100-150 of those to be taken up with a shake but that's just my preference

Good luck!