A little help from the heavy lifting girls...

murphy612

I'm pretty sure the reason the OP wants to stop eating meat isn't to meet some definition of a "vegetarian." If you don't eat meat, you're a vegetarian. Period. If you eat no animal products, you're a vegan (which is a form of vegetarianism). Really, who cares?

I guess I care, and obviously you do as well or you would just ignore me.

corgarian

On a normal day I eat around 1600 calories. On a lifting day I take in between 1800-2200 depending on how I feel, I listen to my body not the computer.

Since we are trying to lose weight while trying to gain muscle the progress can be slow. you need to up your protein, I personally drink 2 shakes a day along with as many protein dense foods I can find. (I'm a vegetarian so I have protein woes of my own) Your weight loss will probably slow down and that can be discouraging so I highly recommend taking measurements. It took about 5 months for other people to be able to really noice the changes in my body, but now I can see my legs becoming more defined and my biceps are coming in very nicely. I'm still waiting on my back, but all of this takes time. It's a balancing act between enough food to build, but not so much that you gain fat.

Edit: I have not read any of the vegetarian fight thats going on right now, so dont lump me into whatever is going on there.

kelsully

My 11 year old and her friend were talking about how I eat...no meat, no dairy, no gluten (on advise of a dr) but that I do eat eggs. My daughter's friend said I was a Presbyterian just like her mom. I think I will stick with that, even though it is wrong it is funny and that is so much more important. LOL

Look up GFB bars...they are vegan and gluten free and have 12g of protein per 235 calorie bar. I hate protein shakes with a burning passion but these little bars are pretty good. I can get them at Meijer or online. I can eat these while biking or on a long run and they do not upset my belly like other bars...

Lofteren

If you are worried about lowering protein consumption for health reasons then I would recommend taking up hunting. Game meat is not only delicious and practically free, it contains higher quality proteins, less fat, less cholesterol and has more bioavailable vitamins and minerals than meat that was fed using current agricultural methods. Also, if you're basing this decision on a documentary that was made for the express purpose of persuading people to become vegetarians then maybe you should try to gather more information from reputable sources before you make your decision. I'm not bashing veganism or anything, but it is an extreme view of diet that is not natural to humans. You should see studies and hear arguments from all different sources before making an important decision.

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Lofteren

Google longevity, vegetarian, and Loma Linda and you will see a community of vegetarians that thrive well into their hundredth decade.

That would make them 1000 years old. Methuselah would be jealous.

My point is that you know all of the pro-veganism data sources and studies and have no problem pointing them out but you don't seem to know any of the anti-veganism data sources or studies. You should listen to what both sides have to say before you make a drastic decision. The key to health, as usual, resides somewhere between the two extremes.

For example, my stepmother is a vegan. She is thin and has good blood work markers and is probably less likely to develop certain forms of cancer, etc. because of her diet; however, if we were in a car accident her body would be completely destroyed when others would walk away from it with minor injuries because she is frail and has far less bone density and muscle mass than a person with a regular diet does. There's always a negative when you go to an extreme.

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SonyaCele

i didn't read all the posts, but i supplement my heavy lifting with protein shakes, and protein powder in everything i can like my oatmeal, etc. and BCAA to help repair my muscles, and creatine because its fun. I eat high protein lean meats like turkey, salmon, egg whites , etc. and all around a healthy diet whole grains, fruit veggies, a little dairy, and healthy oils. I get my protein grams up to my body weight. I lift heavy, 4 days a week. i also cycle periodically between bulks and cuts and maintenance.
And drink lots of water that will help with your headaches

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aledba

Meat isn't the only high protein food. There are vegetarians that manage to eat 1 g protein per lb of bodyweight. Protein bars and shakes also help.

I average 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight, all vegetarian. I supplement with protein bars and powder, but I also eat greek yogurt, cottage cheese, milk, kefir, eggs and soy. Nuts and beans are actually fairly low in protein for their overall calorie count -- my dry roasted almonds have 170 calories and 7g of protein per 1/4 cup, so only 16.5% of their total calories comes from protein.

Protein bars, yogurt, cheese, milk and eggs are not vegetarian :flowerforyou:

Yes, they are. They are, however, not vegan. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lacto-ovo-vegetarian

Sam_I_Am77

Google longevity, vegetarian, and Loma Linda and you will see a community of vegetarians that thrive well into their hundredth decade.

That would make them 1000 years old. Methuselah would be jealous.

My point is that you know all of the pro-veganism data sources and studies and have no problem pointing them out but you don't seem to know any of the anti-veganism data sources or studies. You should listen to what both sides have to say before you make a drastic decision. The key to health, as usual, resides somewhere between the two extremes.

For example, my stepmother is a vegan. She is thin and has good blood work markers and is probably less likely to develop certain forms of cancer, etc. because of her diet; however, if we were in a car accident her body would be completely destroyed when others would walk away from it with minor injuries because she is frail and has far less bone density and muscle mass than a person with a regular diet does. There's always a negative when you go to an extreme.

Amen brother. We do Wellness checks here at work and I work nearby a couple vegetarians. My blood sugar, weight, body fat %, BMI, cholesterol, etc. etc are all better than their's by quite a bit, they were shocked. And I come from a family with a histoyr of blood sugar and heart problems. Please don't nit-pick studies that say one is better than the other because balance is key. If you want a "best" nutrition solution "Paleo" is the closest (notice I didn't say the one or perfect) but there are good foods not included that one should consider. Whatever your lifestyle you want to live by, by all means live by it and believe in it (not judging you) but don't peddle BS "research" that says meat is unhealthy.

Back on-topic. Calorie-wise I'd say you're approximately...

no exercise = 1760
exercise 3x week = 2025
exercise 4x week = 2086
exercise 5x week = 2145
**strenuous exercise, probably not even steady-state cardio**
**Multiply one of those values by 90% or 80% for your calorie deficit**

However you need to hit that 1gm protein / LB, then just make sure you get there.

Lofteren

Google longevity, vegetarian, and Loma Linda and you will see a community of vegetarians that thrive well into their hundredth decade.

That would make them 1000 years old. Methuselah would be jealous.

My point is that you know all of the pro-veganism data sources and studies and have no problem pointing them out but you don't seem to know any of the anti-veganism data sources or studies. You should listen to what both sides have to say before you make a drastic decision. The key to health, as usual, resides somewhere between the two extremes.

For example, my stepmother is a vegan. She is thin and has good blood work markers and is probably less likely to develop certain forms of cancer, etc. because of her diet; however, if we were in a car accident her body would be completely destroyed when others would walk away from it with minor injuries because she is frail and has far less bone density and muscle mass than a person with a regular diet does. There's always a negative when you go to an extreme.

Amen brother. We do Wellness checks here at work and I work nearby a couple vegetarians. My blood sugar, weight, body fat %, BMI, cholesterol, etc. etc are all better than their's by quite a bit, they were shocked. And I come from a family with a histoyr of blood sugar and heart problems. Please don't nit-pick studies that say one is better than the other because balance is key. If you want a "best" nutrition solution "Paleo" is the closest (notice I didn't say the one or perfect) but there are good foods not included that one should consider. Whatever your lifestyle you want to live by, by all means live by it and believe in it (not judging you) but don't peddle BS "research" that says meat is unhealthy.

Back on-topic. Calorie-wise I'd say you're approximately...

no exercise = 1760
exercise 3x week = 2025
exercise 4x week = 2086
exercise 5x week = 2145
**strenuous exercise, probably not even steady-state cardio**
**Multiply one of those values by 90% or 80% for your calorie deficit**

However you need to hit that 1gm protein / LB, then just make sure you get there.

^this! Op is only concerned with "facts" that support her opinion so she'll iltimately wind up making an uninformed decision.

inthezone77

Inthezone77, I see that you are an Aussie - my mother was born and raised in Perth but left for America as a WWII war bride. I checked out your food diary and am completely impressed with just how much whole foods you manage to consume in a day. As far as sugar goes, I am down to the final crutch of a gluten free donut in the morning - I intend to drop my daily donut once I get my calories/protein up - I think not eating enough caused the killer headache yesterday.

Out of curiosity, what do you make of fellow Aussie Sarah Wilson and her distain for sugar? I am not sure what to make of her approach, as my cinnamon sugar donut is one thing but a green apple is another - Wilson frowns over ALL sugar. I know Australia is suffering under the same sugar based obesity issues we see here in the States, but I draw the line at blocking natural sugar consumed in fresh produce.



Trixiegirl66, I've had a look at a few peoples diaries and am quite surprised by the lack of salad and vegetables that people eat. I must admit we do have great wholefoods here but there is also a huge amount of Aussie's that eat processed foods - we have taken over America in "fat"

I mostly get my sugar from fruit and that's limited to 1 piece per day, normally a banana to make a shake. I don't drink soft drink, but do have a glass of wine or two on the weekends. (i'm always under my sugar allowance) At the start of my weight loss journey, I followed Body Trim. You don't eat fruit or carbs (only carbs are in the morning) and live off protein and salad/veg. It's a great detox to get rid of cravings for sugar and got me into the habit of eating 6 smaller meals rather than pigging out on 3 main sized meals that were full of carbs. Check out the bodybuilding.com.au or paleomg.com for some great whole food recipes with loads of protein.

I make my own clean treats such as banana bread, banana blondies, brownies, pancakes. They taste just as good if not better than the processed ones and all clean. Even my kids love them. Somedays I live on google researching clean eating recipes - I think I'm food obsessed lol

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murphy612

Trixiegirl66 - When I switched to a plant based whole foods diet I used a lot of the recipes from the Forks over Knives cookbook, China study, Fat, sick and nearly dead and Thrive foods. They don't focus on calories and didn't have any nutritional information in them so sometimes I'd plug in all the ingredients into the recipe section here. I don't know what your calorie count should be, I actually gained weight when I switched my diet, but I'm still learning :-) I've cut back on grains and increased the vegetables so that has helped. I do know that if I'm not seeing any strength gains I'm not eating enough. For me it's been trial and error, but I know there is a lot of great information on here about how to calculate the calories you should be eating. Smoothies have been a good way for me to get my protein up, Kale, chia seeds, hemp, etc. Since it's hard to eat large quantities blending/juicing them up and drinking them works well for me. Best of luck!

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