Vegetarian weight loss???

Renaynay833

I've been a vegetarian for over a year now (for ethical reasons) and, I'm having difficulty figuring out what to eat to lose weight...protein wise. I'm not a fan of soy because its GMO so, I avoid it as much as possible. When I ate meat it was easy to come up with a healthy balanced meal low on carbs. I do eat fish occasionally but, I have extreme guilt after and only eat it if my body is craving it, which is not very often. I was just curious if anyone out there has found a successful way of losing weight vegetarian style?

fruttibiscotti

Egg, cheese

bunnylion

How much protein do you want to eat? In sense of percent of your calories? Or grams?

I can easily manage to eat the recommended 15% percent without thinking about it much. But when I try to up that number to 40% to boost weight loss and building muscle, I really have to plan my meals to get all that protein. I find it pretty easy to eat around 25g of protein per meal. When I want to push to get 100g or more, I often have to use protein shakes.

But the protein rich phase should only be a phase! It's not meant for life...

Milk, yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese etc.
All kinds of beans. I love chickpeas. Lentils. Legumes in general. Those usually come with quite a few carbs as well but they are not very energy dense. So I love to base my lunch on them. Today I had a triple bean burger giving me 27 g of protein.
I also like simple meals like potatoes with plenty of sour cream.
Eggs in all forms.
And quiche... yum!

Great. Now I'm hungry :-D

Hope it helps a bit

bunnylion

Totally forgot whole grains. Quinoa seems to especially high in protein.

And there are also meat supplements that are made from wheat. E.g. Seitan.

Renaynay833

Ya...I've been eating black beans a lot. I'm not a huge fan of eggs I can eat them every once in awhile (it's the smell lol). I'm trying to go easy on carbs. Since, I became a vegetarian I've gained weight and I know it's because, I replaced meat with bread and pasta and some more bread haha. Have any of you tried hemp protein?

alwaysfitter

Vegetarian since 2005 and I eat a lot of tempeh and tofu, but often supplement with whey protein powder. I should probably look for a plant-based alternative. I very rarely eat bread with the exception of Joseph's low net carb lavash.

fxg20

1. There is nothing wrong with GMO foods.
2. It's really hard to find soy products that are not non-GMO since vegetarians/vegans are generally the types who do think there is something wrong with GMO.

GMO soy is used for animal feed, barely any for people feed. If it's an unhealthy food...well the meat you are eating has likely been exposed to it, not your tofu.

So, if that is the only reason you are avoiding soy just look for the label.

MoreBean13

Whey, eggs, cheese, greek yogurt.

I mix chocolate protein in my morning coffee and get 60g in before I even touch solid food, every day. It's sort of like a mocha.

_TastySnoBalls_

Faux meat products (Boca spicy chik'n patties are my fave)
Greek yogurt
Eggs
Cheese
Protein powders/bars (quest bars)
Tofu

A lot of the soy products are non-GMO now too

dlbaron

It's hard to eat a high protein diet as a vegetarian, especially if you don't want to rely heavily on animal products. I was a vegetarian (I'm currently pescatarian) for a long time and if you chose that diet in part because of the environmental effects, then relying on dairy and eggs can go against your values. That being said, Greek yogurt has a great amount of protein for the calories. Cheese, not so much. Protein powders will probably be your best choice here- if you don't want to do whey, find a vegan protein. So far my favorite type of vegan protein powder has been rice protein. I mostly do whey, but I recently discovered that I can use unflavored pea protein powder in savory recipes (I put it in curry butternut squash soup). Re: hemp protein- from what I understand, it's one of the least bioavailable protein powders, so I'd choose something else.

You also will just need to be very conscious of getting smaller amounts of protein here and there and making it add up. Vegetables do have protein, actually a lot if you count per calorie in comparison to meat (meaning it would be reallllly difficult to eat enough veggies to get as much protein as a piece of meat has- try to picture 400 calories of spinach vs 400 calories of steak), but if you eat a ton of veggies it'll work towards your goal. Spirulina is a type of algae that is something like 70% protein, but it's not the best tasting so you probably won't want to eat much of it at once. I add a teaspoon to smoothies so the flavor is masked and it adds 2 g of protein plus tons of micronutrients. Nuts and seeds are good sources of protein, but they are really fatty, so use them in moderation. Whole grains can be great sources of both protein and fiber- think outside the box with this one. Rice doesn't have nearly as much protein as buckwheat, oat bran, spelt, farro, quinoa, amaranth, kamut, barley, etc. Look online or in a health food store and compare the labels to find the highest protein grains. Legumes are great sources of protein and fiber too. However, legumes and grains do not have a complete amino acid profile, so if you combine them in the same meal you can get more amino acids and make a complete protein. I'm not an expert on that, so I don't know which legumes and grains together make a complete protein, but with some research you can figure it out. Also if you're really opposed to soy (which I'm unsure about, I've heard mixed things, but some research indicates it can be protective against disease instead of causing it. I eat soy and will continue to until I see proof it's bad for me), maybe try soy-free tempeh or seitan. Quorn is a brand that makes their products with some kind of mushroom protein but I have no idea if it's soy free or non GMO. But like I said before, if you make sure every single snack and meal you eat has some protein, it will add up to be enough at the end of the day, even if you're not getting 50g at once.

Feel free to friend me if you want more ideas- my diary is open to friends and usually I get 70-130g of protein a day

fxg20

Quorn is soy and gmo free. It is not vegan, but for vegetarians it is one of the best options for substituting for things like chicken.

Tempeh is a fermented soy product, I've never heard of a non-soy version.

dlbaron

Tempeh is a fermented soy product, I've never heard of a non-soy version.

I see, I wasn't sure. I know I've seen tempeh with grains or flax or whatever before, but that must be in addition to soy. I wasn't sure if they replaced the soy with something else in those versions

bunnylion

Here is a site comparing different protein powders if you would like to supplement:
http://www.nutritionexpress.com/article+index/authors/mark+g+taylor+ms/showarticle.aspx?articleid=896

I don't know how pricey they are because the American market is not relevant for me ;-) I just use some random powder from my local drug store.

Eleonora91

I don't usually care that much about how many proteins I'm having but I usually eat cheese, mozzarella cheese, seitan and soy burger.

89nunu

I easly eat 160 g of proteins a day. I sometimes add protein pwoders but don't need to.
It's very easy to buy non GMO soy products, so give them a go.
As many said lots of Dairy products I'll add Quark to the mix. Naturally fat free and super high in protein, oh and super yummy with some fruit or honey
Seitan is good as long as you are not allergic to Gluten. There are lots of recipes so you can make it yourself, pretty easy too!
I love Quorn!

_Zardoz_

I've been a vegetarian for over a year now (for ethical reasons) and, I'm having difficulty figuring out what to eat to lose weight...protein wise. I'm not a fan of soy because its GMO so, I avoid it as much as possible. When I ate meat it was easy to come up with a healthy balanced meal low on carbs. I do eat fish occasionally but, I have extreme guilt after and only eat it if my body is craving it, which is not very often. I was just curious if anyone out there has found a successful way of losing weight vegetarian style?

Losing weight isn't rocket science its just eating less. As for protein i'm a vegan its actually very difficult not to get enough protein. You'll be surprised what actually has protein. Nuts, beans brown rice. As for the soya thing I assume your across in the states as over in Europe we don't have gmo soya products (well not often) as it has to be legally marked as such so no one sells it as no one would buy it. I know though its not hard for you to get not gmo soya. The majority of GMO soya is actually used as animal feed so goes into the food chain that way> i have vegan friends in the US that have no problem sourcing non GMO soya products. Try your local health food store

hibou_89

I don't know about hemp protein powder, but hemp seeds which contain a lot of protein, are pretty easy to find and you can sprinkle them on wathever you eat or *kitten* them in any muffin or other dough recipe.

morazda

Okay, a couple of things here (from a long time vegan).

Not all soy is GMO. In fact, it's because of vegans and serious vegetarians that most soy products made for us are no longer GMO. Look at a carton of soy milk or look for sprouted tofu and you will see the label "Non GMO."

This being said, there are so many other options for protein than soy.

Seitan is protein dense and you can make it at home very cheaply.
Tempeh is protein rich and is made in soy but it is also made with other products as well.
Beans and Lentils are protein rich (more so than murdered animal flesh)
Nuts and Nut Butters
Wheat Bread (Whole Grain breads in general)
Coconut Milk yogurt (and other coconut milk products)
Broccoli, Leafy Greens, especially Kale
Quinoa and Brown Rice

This webpage is a great resource: http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.php

Also, as you will read, there is a serious MYTH that vegans and vegetarians do not get enough protein. If you are eating beans, grains, and greens each day, dividing them up between your meals, you will have no problems getting enough protein.

I do recommend avoiding processed vegetarian and vegan food whenever possible, learn how to make your own veggie burgers, eat kale as much as possible, eat beans or lentils everyday, and don't be afraid of soy products (the dairy and meat industries are terrified of it and have done a great job scaring people away from them).

Best of luck on your journey!

taiyola

I have to make a conscious effort to eat enough protein as previously I basically lived on carbs.

2 Linda McCartney sausages are 23g protein. If you have that in a sandwich it's more as even white bread has protein in.
30g cheese has around 8g protein.

My freezer is fullll of Quorn. They do sausages, burgers, bacon, ham, chicken slices... everything.

A bolognaise I make with Quorn mince, veggies, pasta, sauce and cheese is about 23g protein.

I also have protein bars and shakes if I'm going to the gym that day, or sometimes just as a snack.

rjdunn87

I've been vegan for about a year and agree with the vegan just a few posts above me: if you're eating balanced meals, you're probably getting enough protein. I have recently started supplementing with a protein shake for breakfast in the mornings, but that's mostly just because I'm working out a lot more intensely than I ever was before and I wanted to be sure I was getting enough. I use Garden of Life RAW protein powder, it's plant based and tastes pretty good mixed with a banana and almond milk.

As for protein sources… I feel like I'm being repetitive of everyone else here but: quinoa, beans and legumes, lentils, nuts, and tofu: don't be scared of it, just look for non-GMO. Also, I agree that it's always better to stay away from pre-made/processed vegan products like veggie burgers, "fake meat," etc., as you'll end up ingesting a lot more sodium and random other additives and chemicals. However, I do tend to keep a bag or two of Whole Foods brand "chickenless patties" in the freezer for nights when I need a protein for my meal and just don't have time to cook something/got home late, or whatever. Nothing wrong with it on occasion, I just wouldn't make it the norm. Not to mention that would get expensive, those things aren't cheap.

arl1286

Feel free to add me! Been a vegetarian for more than six years and I also try to avoid soy (although sometimes I can't resist edamame). I eat a lot of beans/lentils and nuts, and probably more dairy than I should (but cheese). I do have to make an effort to get in my protein though; I try to make sure that every meal/snack has some amount of protein.

snowmoon13

seeds--- pumpkin ,flax sesame,sunflower seeds
beans and greens--- kale,string beans,broccoli rabe,spinach ,ect
tofu, soy milk
grains grains and more grains-- amaranth, teff, brow and wild rice,millet,steel cut oats quinoa faro ect

all of above in combination are great sources of not only protein also high in iron,calcium ,potassium and dietary fiber

Chuchiiee

I started an exercise regime where I HAVE to keep my protein in check. I'm vegetarian and like some said here.. you REALLY need to plan. And if you're doing it for more lean muscle.. you may need to think about a protein shake. I buy a vegan brown rice protein powder. It has 15g of protein for three tbsp. (I got mine at kroger for about $10 for the canister). And you want to consider getting at least 10g of protein per meal.

Here's how my day went yesterday protein wise:
==============================================================================================
Early morning work out followed by a protein shake = ==24g protein (whey based protein powder... I'm slowly finding alternatives for this one)

Breakfast:
1/2cup oatmeal = 5g protein
2 tbsp of powdered peanut butter (PB2) = 5g protein
1 tbsp brown rice protein powder = 5g protein
(I also like to have my oatmeal with a 8 ounce cup of almond milk = 1.5g protein)
==== 16.5g protein total

lunch:
1 cup of cooked pinto beans w/ side salad = 12g protein

Snack:
24 raw almonds pieces = 5g protein

dinner:
Large salad with various veggie toppings = 4g protein

Worked out followed by protein shake = 24g protein (made with brown rice powder + various fruits + I add a few veggies in it. So like a green protein smoothie)

Grand total: approx. 86g protein
===============================================================================

That may be overkill for you but I've carefully planned this out. Of course you would interchange different proteins as you see fit. Everyone has already mentioned all the various sources.

Renaynay833

Thanks everyone for the ideas and posts!!

cwolfman13

Losing weight has very little to do with the food you are eating...it's the quantity of food you are eating. Just eat a little less and move a little more; that is how you lose weight.