Looking for vegetarian/vegans eating low(er) carbs

SugarBoomBoom

I have been a strict vegetarian for about 28 years now.

SW Oct 2011 189 lbs
CW Jan 2013 169 lbs
GW

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133 lbs

(Height 5ft 3 inches, aged 47)

This is my second stint on MFP. I joined this time last year and for the whole of 2012 I did not restrict carbs, and just ate healthy food, religiously logged my calories and exercise, exercised regularly but despite doing all the right things,I had very little weight loss to show for it. Demoralised, I deactivated my account. Three months later - after eating whatever I want and sporadically exercising (no slimmer, yet interestingly no fatter either), I am back.

With a family history of Type 2 diabetes/PCOS/obesity and having done a bit of background reading, I am working on the hunch I need to focus on eating to suit my metabolism this time around and pay closer attention to the impact carbs have on my metabolism.

I now focus on eating non-starchy vegetables, nuts, seeds, tofu and soya milk/yoghurt and limited amounts of fruit. I also have "good" oils like olive oil. I am avoiding the "go-to" vegetarian staples that I used to eat like, beans (which are good for protein but have lots of carb - plus they give me bloating and gas!), grains: wheat, rice, pasta, bread. When get closer to my goal weight I will gradually re-introduce these things.

So that I don't lose the will to live, in the morning I have oatbran porridge or a good quality muesli for breakfast and stay low carb for the rest of the day. One day a week, I eat one meal consisting of whatever I fancy and I get to drink wine.I do not count calories, because it makes me too crazy, and frankly it just did not work for me last year (I tried MFP's standard 1200 cals, and periodically tried 1500, 1600, 1800, eating and not eating exercise calories and none of that gave me good consistent weight loss. In total for the whole of 2012 I only lost 8-9 lbs

I have been doing this for one week now, and I feel fabulous, I have lost the foggy headed feeling I used to have, no bloating, gassiness, lethargy and I feel more able to concentrate on things like reading, my work, etc, rather than vegging out in front of the TV every night.

Currently my exercise of choice is running - I am a beginner and aim to do 5k's by the summer. I also enjoy weight training - but I am not really cut out for heavy lifting - the most I can press on the machine is 200lbs!

If there is anyone out there with a similar eating style, I'd love to hear from you?