Vegetarian Diet?

hayleybecca

Ive been looking into a vegetarian diet, mostly to eat healthier foods and i was never a big meat eater to begin with, but i wanted to know if anyone has had any weight loss success with it.
Im trying to eat more fruits and vegetables and stay clear of foods full of preservatives and sugar.

kellycrow

what you have written sounds good.
there are healthy vegetarians and there are overweigt vegetarians. i am a vegan, actually, but needed this web site to get my eating under control. it is easy to eat an unhealthy vegetarian/vegan diet. thru MFP and other research, books, etc, i have moved over to more and more raw and minimally processed foods that are just plain better for me and it has been wonderful.

one website i LOVE is blog.fatfreevegan.com

my main issue is the rest of my family (hubby & 3 kids) -- BIG meat eaters! oh well! i make super yummy sides and eat those! )

good luck!

futballuvr73

I gave up meat almost 4wks ago. My loss actually accelerated for a couple weeks! Since I gave it up I've lost 8#, and would probably have lost more had I not gone to a baseball game last weekend and loosened my restrictions on beer! ;-)
It's been relatively easy to do, tho I have discovered meat in places I guess I never really thought about? My husband has pretty much become a vegetarian by proxy, as has our 10yr old. Hubby is losing more now too! I must say that the Morningstar products have made a few things easier, but for the most part we're just skipping the meat entirely.
Good luck! I highly recommend getting the book 'Mediterranean Harvest'- it's a great vegetarian cookbook!

Alleghany

what you have written sounds good.
there are healthy vegetarians and there are overweigt vegetarians. i am a vegan, actually, but needed this web site to get my eating under control. it is easy to eat an unhealthy vegetarian/vegan diet. thru MFP and other research, books, etc, i have moved over to more and more raw and minimally processed foods that are just plain better for me and it has been wonderful.

one website i LOVE is blog.fatfreevegan.com

my main issue is the rest of my family (hubby & 3 kids) -- BIG meat eaters! oh well! i make super yummy sides and eat those! )

good luck!

Ditto on the fatfreevegan.com! I ate a lot of dairy when I was a vegetarian but when I cut that out of my diet, I quickly lost weight.

kellycrow - I'm in the same boat...My husband is carnivore-extrordinaire!

lrberchielli

I gave up meat last summer. I have had a difficult time losing weight after the birth of my children and a vegetarian diet makes cutting calories pretty easy. This is not the first time I have given up meat but this time it stuck. I think because I was doing it to be healthier.

Vegetarian is also a very cheap way to eat! I go to the farmers market and spend around $20-25 for a week on fresh fruits and veggies for my family of 4 for the week. We love a nice pasta dinner with some fresh homemade tomato sauce and a big salad (usually once a week or so). Other days it is beans and rice (minute rice makes an easy 10 minute brown rice that is delicious) as the entree but there are so many different types you can try.

I sometimes have a difficult time getting the protein I am supposed to have (I think I may be too lazy on some days to think about it). On days that I have beans as well as dairy (some Greek yogurts have 10+ grams of protein but I usually go for the sweetened ones) I seem to be okay on the protein.

The biggest reward of the vegetarian diet is how it makes you feel. I don't crave that "stuffed so I can barely move" feeling. You can however eat a ton without feeling lethargic. Sometimes I go flexitarian, like on Thanksgiving (I can't imagine it without a turkey) but only a couple times over the last year. Some people would say I am not a vegetarian because of it but I changed my way of eating for my health (many people do it because they are animal activists).

A great way to start is to go one change at a time so you don't get overwhelmed and frustrated. If you start by adding a few easy little replacements to your diet. Then cook a really good vegetarian meal and have it instead of one that would have meat. If you are craving something like chicken one day and give in to the craving don't worry about it.
Good luck and good health with what ever you decide.