30F trying for weightloss (vegetarian)

hp935

Hey there! Needing some support. I never seem to eat low enough calories to lose weight in the winter. Looking for ideas on snacks and getting more protein. I've been a vegetarian my whole life and have pcos

AnnPT77

What kind of vegetarian? Ovo-, lacto-, both, neither?

I've been ovo-lacto vegetarian for 48+ years, which is not my whole life. It's pretty much my whole adult life (I'm 67).

For the moment, I'll assume you're strict vegetarian, no dairy or eggs. If you eat those, there would be other ideas.

Snacks, focusing on those with protein: Dry-roasted soybeans, crispy chickpeas, crispy lentils, and that sort of thing. Bean tortilla chips aren't high protein, but they have more protein than regular tortilla chips and I find them tasty. No/low fat refried beans (you can get refried bean powder, FWIW, if you need it to be shelf stable for your worksite or something), add some nutritional yeast for cheesy flavor, add salsa, whatever. (Hummus is good but has tahini, so hummus is higher in fat than nonfat refried beans.)

Obviously snacks without protein would include most kinds of veggies and a lot of fruits.

Nuts and seeds are tasty snacks, but relatively high calorie for their volume, and high enough in calories that I don't consider them a great protein source. If you find fats filling, they might be helpful in careful portion sizes, dunno. When I was losing weight, if I ate nuts as a snack, I'd usually choose something in the shell (maybe pistachios) because they take longer to eat, which can be psychologically useful.

Just as a personal rule of thumb, I consider a simple food a reasonable vegetarian protein source if it has no more than about 10 calories (from all sources) per gram of protein (protein alone is about 4 calories per gram). Plant sources that come close to that include seitan (which is gluten if that matters), tofu, tempeh - in their plain forms. (The pre-seasoned ones can be higher calorie. I prefer to season my own.)

When shopping, I use that rule of thumb to quickly evaluate new individual foods I might want to try. For a purchased full dish (frozen meal, pizza, whatever), I consider something a reasonable protein source if it has no more than 20-30 calories (from all sources) per gram of protein. You may want different rules of thumb, but shopping for protein-y foods is easier if you think in those terms, I believe.

A few other plant foods I find helpful in meeting protein goals:
* Red lentil or chickpea pasta - more protein (and fiber) than wheat pasta; the red lentil in particular has a texture and flavor quite similar to wheat pasta.
* Edamame/soy or black bean pasta in thin shapes like fettuccine or spaghetti - this is chewier than wheat pasta, which can be odd, but I like it in Asian-style preps like mixed with stir-fry veg, and it's got quite a lot more protein than wheat or rice pasta
* Any and all legumes - beans, peas, lentils, etc. You can eat them in lots of dishes, but also blend them into things somewhat invisibly, such as including pureed white beans in "creamy" soups, sauces; or adding lentils as part of a lasagna layer
* Nutritional yeast - not a main dish, but a good flavoring add that has protein
* Miso - ditto
* Peanut butter powder - ditto
* If you like pancakes, the Kodiak protein pancake mix is pretty good

As a general tip for getting adequate protein on reduced calories, think about trying to get little bits of protein from almost everything you eat. There are snacks with protein, beverages with protein, veggies and even fruits with protein, grains with more protein than others, breads with more protein than others, condiments and flavorings with protein, etc. These typically aren't huge amounts of protein, but when you make a habit of those choices, they add up through the day. (You'll still want to be trying to get "one big protein" per meal as much as possible.) These also often aren't very complete protein sources (in essential amino acid (EAA) balance terms), but varying them will compensate for that to some extent.

A few dishes I eat, just as examples:

* Fold-over sandwich of smoked tofu with onions and mustard on Ezekiel tortilla with cheese (you can use vegan cheese or leave it out if you don't eat dairy) heated briefly in microwave, then raw sauerkraut added.

* Red lentil pasta with seasoned tomato sauce that has lentils and powdered mushrooms added (I pulverize dried mushrooms in a food processor)

* Soy or black bean spaghetti/fettuccine with veggies and a peanut sauce made by mixing peanut butter powder, rice wine vinegar, chile sauce if you like heat (add things like chopped green onions, minced garlic, grated fresh ginger, toasted sesame oil if you have the calories, etc.)

* Winter squash soup made of pureed Winter squash (can use frozen/thawed), pureed tofu, pureed white beans. I like to include some chopped onions I've caramelized or at least softened in a tiny bit of oil, and season with sage, smoked paprika, or dried chipotle

There's a thread here that links to a spreadsheet listing many, many foods in order by most protein for fewest calories. Most of the things near the top are meaty/fishy of course, but if you scroll down the spreadsheet, you'll find plant sources. I found this a very useful resource when I was starting out with counting calories. It's here:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also

The basic process I'd suggest is to start logging your eating here on MFP, then review your log every couple of days. Look for foods that contribute relatively many calories, but not much protein, and that aren't super important to you personally for satiation, other nutrition, tastiness or the like. Those are candidates to reduce or eliminate, replacing them with other foods you enjoy eating that bring you more protein for those calories. Just chipping away gradually with that kind of process will have you hitting a reasonable protein goal - via happy eating patterns - over time.

Like I said, I'm ovo-lacto, and these days in weight maintenance, eating around 1850 calories + exercise calories most days, and generally getting a minimum of 100g protein daily (usually more). I don't eat many eggs, but do eat a good bit of dairy, and there's a fair amount of plant protein in the mix. If you want to see what I eat, you can send me a friend request - completely optional, just an offer. I'm a crummy MFP friend on that side of things, but my diary is open to friends, and I do answer questions from MFP friends via DM or timeline posts. (I don't log every day anymore - in year 7 of maintaining weight - but do log most days, still.) Sundays are usually a rest day from exercise, so I'm hitting the 100g+ protein goal on the 1850, usually. Other days, it's usually more calories.

Best wishes!