Counting calories while vegan? How do you go about it?

katznketo

Are there any vegans out there counting their calories? I'd love to know how you do it all? Thanks, kc

jmarie9

it's not hard for me AT ALL! i eat a handful of cashews almonds and cranberries and boom 210 calories! brown rice! yikes! i dont eat enough greens like i should , but i'm still learning what i like. i just made baba ghannouj which is an eggplant mash and sooo yummy on romaine leaves!

and sometimes i just leave off veggies cause they dont make a significant impact on my calories, i just make sure i log the important carb ladden and calorie dense foods.

katznketo

Hi JMarie9,
Thanks for responding.

I am reading mcDougall's book and it talks about calorie dense foods. i don't understand what that means?

if I just list the rice and beans, it looks like I'm not eating enough calories. Is that okay? kc

Oh, and I love eggplant. How do you make that?

jmarie9

calorie dense foods are foods that are high in calories for not that much food...

for example a cup of cucumber and a cup of raisins are the same "amount" but a big difference in calories, raisins calories are a lot more concentrated and cucumber is made up of a lot of fiber and water.

some other calorie dense foods are avocados (160 calories for 1/2), nuts (cashews 310 calories for 1/4 cup), raisins (1 cup 520 calories), oh and any pastas and breads! these foods add up, and have lots of nutrients as the same time.

even if you just list the beans and rice you should be really really close to your total. and let me be more clear, when i said veggies i meant salads, sweet potatos, yams, starchy stuff have a lot of cals and carbs and should be logged.

baba ghannouj is eggplant, tahini, lemon juice, and garlic mixed in a food processor. it's super simple and hardly and calories!

katznketo

thanks jmarie,

I love eggplant. Do you eat this as like a dip? With veggie sticks or pita sticks on on bread like a sandwich?

I made hummus with tahini, roasted red peppers, garlic, and a tiny bit of cumin or sometimes curry. Once I grilled small rounds of polenta, a dab of the hummus, with a dab of avocado. It was beautiful.

Today I spent the day getting Alex' cast off his arm and my knee x-rayed. I messed it up at the Y on the elliptical acting like a fool. Took my veggie soup with me and warmed it in the cafeteria while the kids got a sandwich. I felt pretty good about plannin ahead. I have quite a bit of an array of frozen meals I can grab and go. I figure if its a hot day, i can shove it on the dashboard. Ha. Well, bless you vegan out there. Share what you ate today. thanks, kc