20 days in, needing help getting right nutrients in a vegetarian diet, and how much exercise

babymin1
babymin1 Posts: 7 Member
edited February 2021 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello! I am currently 20 days into a new diet and lifestyle changes, trying to lose about 90-100 pounds in 12-13 months. At the moment I am 223 pounds and I am 5'3, 20 years old. and I seem to be hitting a bump in the road. So far I have lost 13 pounds (a big thing for me!) by trying to cut out many carbs and I have started to each fruits and vegetables. For the past 20 days my food mostly consists of usually a carb in the morning (bagel or whatnot), and i've been snacking on things like carrots, broccoli, yogurt with fruit and oats. For dinner i've only been having asperagus or green beans with more greek yogurt. At night for a snack I tend to eat cereal (special k or a knock off of it) with almond milk. However, looking at my daily recommended proteins and such, I can never get very close to the needed mark. I am vegetarian, have been all my life so I struggle to get protein that people seem to get with meat. I'm starting to feel so limited to what I can eat as it's getting boring and more of a task. I don't like eggs no matter how many ways i've tried cooking them, same goes for beans. and nuts just get too expensive for my very small and limited budget. I've also started working out when i'm able to (when home alone) for about 30 minutes every other day. I need help/advice for trying to get the right amount of nutrients a day to make sure this is a healthy weight loss, things I could add. As for workouts, i'm not sure if 30 minutes about 3 or 4 times a week is enough to continue losing weight. Should I be exercising for longer? any help with these 2 questions or either of them would be much appreciated since I am all very new to trying to get myself to a healthy spot and creating a long term healthy lifestyle. Thank you :)

Replies

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    All your fruits, vegetables and grains are also carbs. Not that it's a bad thing of course!

    Exercise is for health and a great thing to do while you are losing weight just like it's a great thing to do when you aren't losing weight, it's not supposed to be something you do to boost your rate of weight loss. Setting some personal fitness goals is a far better way to judge if you are exercising enough but you seem to be off to a good start. As you get fitter and lighter you can elevate those goals.

    Dairy in the form of milk and other milk products could be helpful for you to do better with your protein goal as you seem to dislike a lot of other vegetarian protein options.
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  • bubus05
    bubus05 Posts: 121 Member
    Your target weight is very ambitious, good for you. There will be bumps ahead, it's inevitable happens to everyone, happened to me too. I am no expert on vegan diet but tofu seems to be a favourite, how about chia seeds, or avocado. It is fine to cut down on unhealthy carbs but you have got to replace them with something or else you will burn out, you need energy. You need to use your imagination to create meals that will fill you. I am not sure if extra virgin olive oil is allowed in vegan, but if it is, use it. Make roasted broccoli or cauliflower with olive oil, I love it personally and is very filling and very healthy, there are literally thousands of ways olive oil can be part of your diet, experiment with it. By increasing proteins and fats the healthy ones, you should feel more satiated.
    When it comes to exercise any place or level is a good place to start. Try to gradually increase the pressure, slowly, over time as you get stronger and lighter you will be able to do more. I am pretty close to the end of my road to get to my ideal weight having lost about 90 lbs in twelve months, in the beginning I was struggling to walk for twenty minutes just a week ago I did a half marathon run, so you will get stronger as time goes by. Mind you I am probably the polar opposite when it comes to food, I am keto LOL. In any case good luck.
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  • gionrogado
    gionrogado Posts: 45 Member
    i have never tried going vegan, but i googled " vegan bodybuilding diet" and unfortunately, i think your options are limited, specially you need protein during weight loss. either you supplement with protein shakes, eat lots of beans and tofu, or learn to eat fish or chicken. most vegans i see go the supplement route, because getting protein from veggies is like squeezing water from a stone. this will be expensive though. so think about this for a while
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    OP, if you'd like help with a vegetarian life style it would help if you could put it in the title. That way it would come to the attention of other vegetarians on MFP. There are many who have been successful and they would give you great advice. Your advice needs to be specific to your needs. They have also been here a long time so it would be worth your while.
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  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    babymin1 wrote: »
    Hello! I am currently 20 days into a new diet and lifestyle changes, trying to lose about 90-100 pounds in 12-13 months. At the moment I am 223 pounds and I am 5'3, 20 years old. and I seem to be hitting a bump in the road. So far I have lost 13 pounds (a big thing for me!) by trying to cut out many carbs and I have started to each fruits and vegetables. For the past 20 days my food mostly consists of usually a carb in the morning (bagel or whatnot), and i've been snacking on things like carrots, broccoli, yogurt with fruit and oats. For dinner i've only been having asperagus or green beans with more greek yogurt. At night for a snack I tend to eat cereal (special k or a knock off of it) with almond milk.

    However, looking at my daily recommended proteins and such, I can never get very close to the needed mark. I am vegetarian, have been all my life so I struggle to get protein that people seem to get with meat. I'm starting to feel so limited to what I can eat as it's getting boring and more of a task. I don't like eggs no matter how many ways i've tried cooking them, same goes for beans. and nuts just get too expensive for my very small and limited budget. I've also started working out when i'm able to (when home alone) for about 30 minutes every other day. I need help/advice for trying to get the right amount of nutrients a day to make sure this is a healthy weight loss, things I could add.

    As for workouts, i'm not sure if 30 minutes about 3 or 4 times a week is enough to continue losing weight. Should I be exercising for longer? any help with these 2 questions or either of them would be much appreciated since I am all very new to trying to get myself to a healthy spot and creating a long term healthy lifestyle. Thank you :)

    In addition to being expensive, nut are a great source of FAT. I'd just consider their protein to be a bonus, rather than relying them as a PROTEIN source.

    Poor people the world around rely on rice and beans, so your budget will thank you if you learn how to cook them in a way you like. Perhaps you don't like Cuban Rice & Beans, but what about Indian Dal? (And there are many, many ways to make dal.)

    I used to cook for a small remote yoga farm in Costa Rico. My staples were local rice, beans, vegetables, and fruits. Fortunately I had a wide array of spices so could come up with different meals with a limited palate.

    Dollar stores can be a good source for spices. Ethnic markets are the best for ethnic ingredients. Amazon is the worst, lol. Before I make a trip to the Asian store I check out the prices online and am always flabbergasted at how much more expensive things are.

    I've seen this website mentioned a lot for budget-friendly recipes:

    https://www.budgetbytes.com/category/recipes/vegetarian/
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Speaking of eggs, I often wonder why I bother adding them to stir fries, as they get completely lost. Then I shrug and think, "Eh, extra protein" and continue to include them. This might work for you :)

    Other people make savory oatmeal by adding an egg and savory spices. I think the egg would get lost in there as well.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited February 2021
    babymin1 wrote: »
    Hello! I am currently 20 days into a new diet and lifestyle changes, trying to lose about 90-100 pounds in 12-13 months. At the moment I am 223 pounds and I am 5'3, 20 years old. and I seem to be hitting a bump in the road.

    Welcome! I am also 5'3, but a lot older, and I lost 90 lbs in 2014-15.
    So far I have lost 13 pounds (a big thing for me!) by trying to cut out many carbs and I have started to each fruits and vegetables.

    By carbs you mean starches? Or breads? Not sure.

    But anyway, it sounds like you have a great starting approach! I always recommend that people look at what they are eating and find ways to cut the cals that seem easy and also ways to improve nutrition (such as by adding in veg and fruit, as you have). It's also smart that you are starting to look at macros, especially protein. Are you counting cals?
    For the past 20 days my food mostly consists of usually a carb in the morning (bagel or whatnot), and i've been snacking on things like carrots, broccoli, yogurt with fruit and oats. For dinner i've only been having asperagus or green beans with more greek yogurt. At night for a snack I tend to eat cereal (special k or a knock off of it) with almond milk. However, looking at my daily recommended proteins and such, I can never get very close to the needed mark. I am vegetarian, have been all my life so I struggle to get protein that people seem to get with meat. I'm starting to feel so limited to what I can eat as it's getting boring and more of a task. I don't like eggs no matter how many ways i've tried cooking them, same goes for beans. and nuts just get too expensive for my very small and limited budget.

    I would focus on each meal or snack and see if you can add some protein in to it somehow.

    For example, with the bagel, could you add something like hummus or a bean spread (I think it is possible one might not like beans but enjoy a spread made of beans)? Or add some tofu scramble (you didn't mention tofu or tempeh or seitan -- have you tried any of those and do you like them?). Or just eat some cottage cheese (if you like it) or greek yogurt on the side. If you are getting tired of greek yogurt, it's delicious with peanut butter mixed in and that adds some protein too (although you need to be careful about the cals, of course, and like all nuts or nut-like legumes it is higher fat than protein, but good fat). I would tend to eat less from the bagel and more from these other types of foods for a more balanced breakfast, but of course you need to consider personal preference.

    I don't think protein powder is necessary for you to get more protein, but you might want to experiment with it. Many find protein powder goes well in oats or yogurt, as well as in a shake (which can also include fruit and veg). I think there are brands of protein powders that you can get reasonably cheaply, although others are more expensive.

    For dinner, I would try to find something more substantial -- I would recommend trying something like tofu or tempeh, if you can find it reasonably cheaply, as dairy as your only real protein source is going to be difficult. Do you like chickpeas? How about lentils? Even some pastas can be higher protein (I was just talking to a friend about an inexpensive soybean pasta he got from Aldi's).

    With the cereal, how about trying a higher protein milk like Fairlife or even something like soy milk as an alternative to the almond milk (which has essentially no protein).
    As for workouts, i'm not sure if 30 minutes about 3 or 4 times a week is enough to continue losing weight. Should I be exercising for longer?

    You don't need to workout at all to lose, but of course it's helpful as you get more cals, and it's good for you to do so for health. I think it is good to start out slowly and then gradually add more as what you are doing becomes easy. Remember that you don't need to officially "work out" for it to count as added activity or exercise. Try walking more each day, for example, or take stairs when you can, that kind of thing. That's something one can do on an off day that still adds cals and helps with health and fitness.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,622 Member
    babymin1 wrote: »
    Hi everyone! I'm not sure if its best to reply to all here or individually, so I guess a post might be best haha. Thank you so much to everyone that was so helpful :) Just to clarify, I am vegetarian (not vegan), but I understand some people mix them up sometimes so thats okay, many foods vegans eat I can also consider and get ideas from! From what i'm hearing, it sounds like I should be giving different types of beans to try. It also sounds like I should try out lentils and trying new and different ways to cook other beans. Another thing is the eggs, yeah it is mostly the taste i'm not fond of but the idea of what AnnPT77 (thank you so much for the ideas!) with making eggs with veggies so it cuts out the strong taste of eggs. That sounds like something i'm definitely going to try! Also it sounds like perhaps I should try to drink more milk as well and not rely mostly on greek yogurt haha. I do tend to switch from almond milk and regular milk just to mix it up a bit lol but with limited options, I think trying to incorporate more dairy into my day to day meals, as well as trying out egg dishes similar to what Ann posted about. As well as what kshama said, i'm willing to try some oatmeal and perhaps I could try a savory egg oatmeal! For sure things i'm going to consider. Nuts too, i'm going to try to look around my local store and see what they have, perhaps try to add them to dishes so I don't burn myself out on them and get tired of them haha. I'm going to look at the linked website as well for budget friendly vegetarian meals because I want to expand my food options and try new things! Also sorry for forgetting to include this in my original post, but I am currently eating about 1,100-1,300 calories a day with mfp setting my goal for protein to about 55. Most days i'm only able to barely make the 30 mark, so these are all good ideas for me to try out :) And for the working out, thank you for all the replies saying I don't need to amp up how often they are (my bad back is relieved to hear haha) so I will continue to do what I usually do 3-4 times a week, and slowly try to go longer and more intense workouts (probably a long ways to go, but still a goal). Thank you again to everyone who responded to my questions, they were very helpful and gave me some good ideas!

    Another couple of things you could look into, if available and affordable in your area: Defatted peanut or almond flour (not just plain nut flour, but wholly or partly defatted, sometimes called "peanut butter powder" or "almond butter powder" - read labels!). These will add a bit of nutty flavor and protein to foods (oatmeal, smoothies, dressings, sauces, whatever) without as many calories.

    Also, I'm wondering if you're familiar with nutritional yeast? This is mostly a flavoring thing (vaguely cheesy taste), but does have some useful protein, and usually it's supplemented with B12 as well. It can be mixed into lots of foods to boost the protein a bit.

    If you're willing to try beans in other ways, look up recipes for "crispy chickpeas". Basically, you bake them in such a way that they become a crunchy snack, and they can be salted or flavored in various ways. The texture isn't then as "bean-like", and using strong seasonings will change the flavor profile. Perhaps you could find a seasoning variation you'd enjoy.

    P.S. I think that's fewer than ideal calories, at your current size, for best health outcomes. You can probably safely lose two pounds a week for around 20 pounds, but then it would be a sensible idea IMO to cut back to a pound and a half, or even a pound. How many calories does MFP tell you to eat, for 2 pounds a week? If it's 1200, please strive to eat to that level, or very close. Remember, you're supposed to add your exercise when you do it, and eat those calories, too, if you've correct set activity level based on pre-exercise activity.
  • babymin1
    babymin1 Posts: 7 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    babymin1 wrote: »
    Hello! I am currently 20 days into a new diet and lifestyle changes, trying to lose about 90-100 pounds in 12-13 months. At the moment I am 223 pounds and I am 5'3, 20 years old. and I seem to be hitting a bump in the road.

    Welcome! I am also 5'3, but a lot older, and I lost 90 lbs in 2014-15.
    So far I have lost 13 pounds (a big thing for me!) by trying to cut out many carbs and I have started to each fruits and vegetables.

    By carbs you mean starches? Or breads? Not sure.

    But anyway, it sounds like you have a great starting approach! I always recommend that people look at what they are eating and find ways to cut the cals that seem easy and also ways to improve nutrition (such as by adding in veg and fruit, as you have). It's also smart that you are starting to look at macros, especially protein. Are you counting cals?
    For the past 20 days my food mostly consists of usually a carb in the morning (bagel or whatnot), and i've been snacking on things like carrots, broccoli, yogurt with fruit and oats. For dinner i've only been having asperagus or green beans with more greek yogurt. At night for a snack I tend to eat cereal (special k or a knock off of it) with almond milk. However, looking at my daily recommended proteins and such, I can never get very close to the needed mark. I am vegetarian, have been all my life so I struggle to get protein that people seem to get with meat. I'm starting to feel so limited to what I can eat as it's getting boring and more of a task. I don't like eggs no matter how many ways i've tried cooking them, same goes for beans. and nuts just get too expensive for my very small and limited budget.

    I would focus on each meal or snack and see if you can add some protein in to it somehow.

    For example, with the bagel, could you add something like hummus or a bean spread (I think it is possible one might not like beans but enjoy a spread made of beans)? Or add some tofu scramble (you didn't mention tofu or tempeh or seitan -- have you tried any of those and do you like them?). Or just eat some cottage cheese (if you like it) or greek yogurt on the side. If you are getting tired of greek yogurt, it's delicious with peanut butter mixed in and that adds some protein too (although you need to be careful about the cals, of course, and like all nuts or nut-like legumes it is higher fat than protein, but good fat). I would tend to eat less from the bagel and more from these other types of foods for a more balanced breakfast, but of course you need to consider personal preference.

    I don't think protein powder is necessary for you to get more protein, but you might want to experiment with it. Many find protein powder goes well in oats or yogurt, as well as in a shake (which can also include fruit and veg). I think there are brands of protein powders that you can get reasonably cheaply, although others are more expensive.

    For dinner, I would try to find something more substantial -- I would recommend trying something like tofu or tempeh, if you can find it reasonably cheaply, as dairy as your only real protein source is going to be difficult. Do you like chickpeas? How about lentils? Even some pastas can be higher protein (I was just talking to a friend about an inexpensive soybean pasta he got from Aldi's).

    With the cereal, how about trying a higher protein milk like Fairlife or even something like soy milk as an alternative to the almond milk (which has essentially no protein).
    As for workouts, i'm not sure if 30 minutes about 3 or 4 times a week is enough to continue losing weight. Should I be exercising for longer?

    You don't need to workout at all to lose, but of course it's helpful as you get more cals, and it's good for you to do so for health. I think it is good to start out slowly and then gradually add more as what you are doing becomes easy. Remember that you don't need to officially "work out" for it to count as added activity or exercise. Try walking more each day, for example, or take stairs when you can, that kind of thing. That's something one can do on an off day that still adds cals and helps with health and fitness.

    Thank you for the reply! When it comes to carbs, mostly I mean bread and pasta that i've had to cut out. Thats been difficult for me as my favorite foods are all bread based so that's why I always have bagel, to get that one food in the morning that I love so much haha. But adding something with it is a good idea, perhaps having peanut butter on them or something like yogurt with peanut butter both sound very delicious! Yeah I agree, I do need more for dinner as by the time i'm over breakfast and my snacks, its hard for me to feel full after dinner and that's when I have to start internally fighting over finding something unhealthy to eat after. So far i've done good on that, but I would like to add more to my dinner. Lentils are for sure something i'm going to try since so many have mentioned them. As for protein powder, my brother uses it for protein shakes so i'm going to have him bring some over so I can try it a few different ways and see if it's something that would work well for me. I always had the mindset that I wouldn't be able to lose weight without working out, but hearing so many replies about it is encouraging that what i'm doing will be okay. I think i'm doing that now for more of the trying to get into a longterm mindset of trying to get more exercise into my life as before I started this journey I barely got any haha

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