Vegetarians on diets

ichliebelampe

What have the other vegetarians out there been eating while dieting? Anyone have any good and easy fast foods to make? I hate cooking. I am in college and have no time. I have been basically living off of home made pad thai or wraps with spinach avocado and pico de gallo or laughing cow cheese and water crackers haaha. and oatmeal for breakfast.

Kelsea1218

Progresso has very few soups that do not include chicken/beef broth, but the few that they have are good. A couple of them *I think* are in the zero point category and make great quick and easy meals. I would usually eat one and add crackers or a side of some sort if I was still hungry. Also, inthe vegetarian section of some grocery stores you can find vegan ramen noodles, there's also the options of Amy's brand pre-made frozen vegetarian meals. Very healthy and some are very low cal.
You said you arent into cooking-but if you have one night to make a big meal and freeze it in tupperwares I'd recommend it. I do that a lot because I live with my boyfriend and he eats meat so it makes it easier in the long run. In the winter I make big lentil soups and freeze them. Lentils are really good for you and are VERY filling.
Hope that helps!

amycal

I am not a vegetarian but my daughter is so I cook without meat a lot. Have you tried quinoa? It's a super food and very high in protein. You basically boil water and stir it in. It's really good with dried fruit and/or nuts stirred into it or misc chopped vegetables. My last trip to Costco I found a 4 pack of Seeds of Change Quinoa and whole grain brown rice that comes in a pouch you can microwave (although I don't like to do that a lot because I have heard it is not good to microwave plastic). Each pouch is 2 servings with 240 calories per serving 3.5 g fat, 3 g fiber and 6 g protein. You could have it with fresh or frozen vegetables.

Rice and beans is another good option. You can buy premade boxes that you just cook in water although the cheapest and healthiest would be slow cook rice and dry beans.

My daughters both love pasta with veggies. You can boil the pasta and in last 3 minutes add chopped up broccoli, carrots, red pepper, peas etc. You can then serve with a little grated cheese. It tastes better if you sautee the veggies in a little olive oil and veggie broth and season with Italian seasonings but that is more cooking! My older daughter eats some meat but she doesn't cook it for herself. She is also in college with limited cooking skills so I know she does the pasta/veggie thing a lot! I make up casseroles for her to bake such as a mexican pasta and vegetable lasagna. Let me know if you do want these recipes.

Hope these ideas help!

Uptopargolf

What have the other vegetarians out there been eating while dieting? Anyone have any good and easy fast foods to make? I hate cooking. I am in college and have no time. I have been basically living off of home made pad thai or wraps with spinach avocado and pico de gallo or laughing cow cheese and water crackers haaha. and oatmeal for breakfast.

Get some good protein powder and protein bars. Or quinoa like said above. (although I hate the taste..) You will need as much protein as you can get being a vegetarian. And plus a protein shake is quick, easy and keeps you full.

Eidajan

I am a vegetarian too. I enjoy cooking but there is a lot you can do without having to cool. I eat a lot of cheese, yogurt, greek yogurt with fruit or jam mixed in, beans, lentils, peanut butter on english muffins etc. You can buy one of the Progresso 0 point soups and mix in a can of black beans ( not too much cooking) - that gives me 3-4 servings and with a grilled cheese sandwich keeps me full for a while. I buy La Tortilla Factory tortillas, vitamuffin vitatops and some lean cuisine meals. Hope that helps.

WhitneyW78

I am a vegetarian as well... here are some things I do:

- Taco salad. I just get a can of pinto beans or chili beans by Bush's, a bunch of lettuce, salsa, onions, olives, and a bit of cheese. Sometimes I'll use a fat free sour cream with ranch dip mix mixed in on top if the salsa isn't cutting it and on occasion I'll have a serving of those baked tortilla chips crumbled on the top.

- Low-fat fettucini alfredo... I do whole wheat pasta, broccoli, and then Ragu has a low-fat, low-calorie alfredo sauce (60 calories for 1/4 cup).

- Egg white omelets... a bunch of veggies with a slice of fat-free processed cheese on top... and a piece of toast on the side.

- English muffin pizzas. High fiber english muffins, Hunts marinara sauce (lower in calories than other sauces), low-fat cheese, pineapples, and a bunch of veggies (i.e. onions, green peppers, tomatoes, etc.) Put it in the oven for about 13 minutes and voila.

Hope you can find something to make!

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weelamb

Hi! With the help of MFP I've just lost 18.5 lbs. in 3 months and passed my goal weight.

As a vegetarian who rarely cooks, I came into a kind of routine: 1/2 cup non-fat yogurt with an apple or blueberries and 1 or 2 tablespoons of walnuts for breakfast. Lunch is ideally high in veggies (the tips about soup are good and a veggie omelette is portable if you don't mind eating it cold). Often I'd steam frozen edamame (low-cal and super high protein) -- it tastes to me like green peas. On the way to work, I'd often take a cheese sandwich on Ezekiel bread, or Fritoes black-bean dip on Triscuits. Snacks were often 9 salted almonds with a half-serving (a little more than 2 tablespoons) of dried cranberries or 4 dried apricots. Lately, I've been carrying 50-calorie packs of pretzels. Occasionally, I'd buy an Odwalla protein drink, and I've eaten a lot of oatmeal with fruit and nuts at Starbucks. When at a restaurant, I learned to order just a salad. If I ate over my calorie limit for the day, I'd mentally roll the extra calories onto the next day and either eat less or exercise more so that the total for the two days together was where it should be (2400 calories since I was on a 1200 calorie/day plan).

Now I'm on maintenance and don't know how to do it. I can keep losing weight on 1200 calories per day or I can gain it back. I don't know how to adjust to the 1580 calories per day that MFP recommends. I've been toying with the idea of staying on 1200 calories per day during the week in my familiar routine, and doubling that on the weekends so I don't continue to lose. It's so easy to eat 800 - 1200 calories on one meal out. A weekly burrito and a few slices of pizza would quickly put me into the calorie-range for the week. What do you think? How would you recommend doing maintenance?