About 6 weeks in…

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qzff9nknfp
qzff9nknfp Posts: 7 Member
in Introduce Yourself

Hello all. This app has been such an amazing help. I used to track with paper and pencil…this is worlds easier. A bit about me:

I am a 45 year old guy. I’ve been vegetarian for almost a year now. I workout every other day (weight lifting) and my goal is to drop another 30 pounds. I’ve been averaging 1800 - 2000 calories a day. Protein is by far the most difficult to get (being a vegetarian).

Anyway thought I’d say hi! Excited to get these extra pounds off!!! Have a wonderful day.

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  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 37,111 Member

    Hello, and welcome!

    I'm a li'l ol' lady, a recreational athlete (on water rower primarily), an MFP long-timer (lost around 50 pounds in 2015-16, maintaining since), and an even longer term vegetarian (51 years, ovo-lacto).

    At first, it was challenging to get enough protein on lower calories, but I kept reviewing my food diary and chipping away at increasing it, and now have it at a level that seems fine to me in maintenance. I'm sure I'm helped in that by being non-large 😉 and female so needing less protein than you may as a man who's likely larger than I am. (My base pre-exercise calories are 1850, and I usually exceed my 100g protein goal, sometimes by 20% or more.) I don't use protein powder or bars - nothing wrong with those, I just don't enjoy them personally - but they can be a help, perhaps particularly while transitioning to lower calories.

    A couple things that helped me:

    At first, I reviewed my diary regularly, identifying foods in my regular rotation that were relatively high in calories, didn't have much protein, and weren't vital to me for other nutrition or happiness. Those were things I could reduce (portion size or frequency) to free up calories, then identify alternatives that I still liked eating but that had more protein.

    The other thing was to not only be sure to get one major protein source per meal, but also to try to get at least small amounts of protein from other foods - side dishes, snacks, beverages, condiments, even flavorings (like miso, peanut butter powder, nutritional yeast . . .). Those small amounts through the day add up.

    I don't know what sub-type of vegetarian you are (strict, ovo-, lacto-), so I'm not suggesting specific food ideas. Even if strict, I think that kind of approach I mentioned will pay off if a person keeps chipping away at it. If I can help in some way, speak up.

    Wishing you success!

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