Any vegans on here doing low(er) carb?
SugarBoomBoom
Posts: 67
I am a dietary vegan and have been vegetarian then vegan for about 28 years now. Still I managed over the years to put on weight, at my heaviest being 189lbs. Generally I have always been a healthy eater with the occasional treat, but my diet was very carbohydrate based.
With a strong family history of Type 2 diabetes/PCOS/obesity I am working on the hunch that I need to manage my metabolism and pay closer attention to the impact carbs have on my metabolism. The simple "reduce calories and increase exercise" approach just has not worked for me this past year., when despite logging, exercising, etc I only lost 9lbs for the whole year!
At the moment (Jan 2013) I am experimenting a bit with low(er) carb/higher fat. I eat non-starchy vegetables, nuts, seeds, tempeh, tofu and soya milk/yoghurt and sprouted legumes like alfafa, mung bean, etc. I also have good" oils like olive oil. Sometimes I might have the odd vegetarian sausage, but generally I try and avoid processed vegetarian food.
I am currently eliminating wheat, rice, pasta, bread, grain and starchy vegetables and some fruits for six days of the week. One day a week, I get to eat I those things. At the time of writing this, three weeks into this regime (22/01/13) I found that re-introducing refined carbs (croissants, apple strudel, wine) on my spike day made me feel sluggish, bloated, gassy and lethargic.
When I lose at least 10lbs, I will gradually re-introduce low GI foods like legumes and more fruit. But I think for me, it is better to avoid bread, etc. I feel that I can sustain this way of eating permanently once I reach goal weight. I don't miss the heavy starches at all.
So far, with reducing carb I am losing weight and feeling great. It is too early to tell whether this is just because I have started reducing my calories again or whether this is due to the carb reduction. However I feel less moody and tired. I am not bloated and gassy like when I eat carbs. I am hoping this will work for me in the long term.
I was wondering whether any other vegans have tried reducing their carb and how did it go?
(I would prefer to hear from vegans because if you are vegetarian it is actually easy to low carb because you can eat eggs and dairy. Being a vegan on the other hand brings a different set of challenges)
With a strong family history of Type 2 diabetes/PCOS/obesity I am working on the hunch that I need to manage my metabolism and pay closer attention to the impact carbs have on my metabolism. The simple "reduce calories and increase exercise" approach just has not worked for me this past year., when despite logging, exercising, etc I only lost 9lbs for the whole year!
At the moment (Jan 2013) I am experimenting a bit with low(er) carb/higher fat. I eat non-starchy vegetables, nuts, seeds, tempeh, tofu and soya milk/yoghurt and sprouted legumes like alfafa, mung bean, etc. I also have good" oils like olive oil. Sometimes I might have the odd vegetarian sausage, but generally I try and avoid processed vegetarian food.
I am currently eliminating wheat, rice, pasta, bread, grain and starchy vegetables and some fruits for six days of the week. One day a week, I get to eat I those things. At the time of writing this, three weeks into this regime (22/01/13) I found that re-introducing refined carbs (croissants, apple strudel, wine) on my spike day made me feel sluggish, bloated, gassy and lethargic.
When I lose at least 10lbs, I will gradually re-introduce low GI foods like legumes and more fruit. But I think for me, it is better to avoid bread, etc. I feel that I can sustain this way of eating permanently once I reach goal weight. I don't miss the heavy starches at all.
So far, with reducing carb I am losing weight and feeling great. It is too early to tell whether this is just because I have started reducing my calories again or whether this is due to the carb reduction. However I feel less moody and tired. I am not bloated and gassy like when I eat carbs. I am hoping this will work for me in the long term.
I was wondering whether any other vegans have tried reducing their carb and how did it go?
(I would prefer to hear from vegans because if you are vegetarian it is actually easy to low carb because you can eat eggs and dairy. Being a vegan on the other hand brings a different set of challenges)
0
Replies
-
Anyone?0
-
I don't eat most grains (or processed foods for that matter) but my diet is pretty heavy with beans. Sorry, I am no help.0
-
My diabetic son is not vegan, but he's vegetarian for the most part. For a "free food" (which is low carb between insulin shots) I will give him a meatless meatball from Trader Joe's. For a whole serving it's only 8 carbs, and it's plant-based. Has a higher protein to carb ratio. Works for me. Also, I totally agree with you as a vegan (for the most part) I often think I would do better to just eliminate grains from my diet. They do nothing for me. I usually try to only have one slice of bread a day. I feel I am less bloated, and tend to lose weight quicker. I also wonder if it causes my allergies to be worse. Starches in general don't bother me as much as wheat does. I'm better if I just eat rice instead.0
-
Thanks for your responses. I feel great doing what I am doing. I will just continue as I am for the time being and reintroduce beans/legumes as I get lose some more weight. Today I only did 40g of carb and I feel wonderful!0
-
I'm vegan and have definitely been trying to cut out carbs...they're my weakness! I do still have fruit pretty frequently, but usually as berries, which aren't *as* bad. Lately, I've been doing big salads for lunch with lots of veggies. I definitely have noticed a huge difference between how I feel when I have some bread (albeit sprouted whole grain) vs when I focus on mainly plant based without anything being processed. Today I feel pretty awesome and haven't had any grains/legumes other than some black beans on my salad.0
-
That's brilliant! I love not having that fatigue and brain fog too.0
-
Well you can look at my diary and see that about 50-60% of my calories come from carbs. But I am also an endurance athlete and my carb needs are very high. I do eat whole grains like rice, oatmeal, quinoa, millet, etc. but I try to limit myself to no more than 2 servings of these "whole grains" a day. However, I do avoid refined carbs and baked goods. (ok, sometimes I bake some GF stuff and eat something with flour/gluten; I'm not perfect and I don't worry about it) And yes I think you are feeling better because you have eliminated, or reduced, carbs. Stick with it and enjoy the feeling!0
-
According to John Robbins on "The Food Revolution"... low carb diets are very dangerous and unhealthy.0
-
According to John Robbins on "The Food Revolution"... low carb diets are very dangerous and unhealthy.
Thanks for your input. I am sure any diet is unhealthy if it is pursued in an unhealthy way.
I did not start this topic to have a debate about the pros and cons of low carb. I have started it to find out information from other people who like me choose to eat this way. If you don't agree with this way of eating, then don't post on the topic. Simple.
0 -
According to John Robbins on "The Food Revolution"... low carb diets are very dangerous and unhealthy.
Thanks for your input. I am sure any diet is unhealthy if it is pursued in an unhealthy way.
I did not start this topic to have a debate about the pros and cons of low carb. I have started it to find out information from other people who like me choose to eat this way. If you don't agree with this way of eating, then don't post on the topic. Simple.
Sorry. Just my vegan point of view from the information I got from one of the world's most respected vegans. Didn't think an honest answer and opinion would offend you.0 -
Sorry - I have just seen this ^^^^^. No I didn't take offence and did not mean for my reply to sound so harsh. I just did not want my post to turn into a big war, as can happen on MFP sometimes
Anyway, I tried cutting carbs and averaged around 70 - 90 grams a day. But to be honest it was just
B-O-R-I-N-G. I lost interest in food, I missed having fruit and legumes - which as a vegan represents half my diet. I was also worried about all the fat I was consuming, with all the nuts and oils.
So I am still avoiding heavy carbs like bread, rice, pasta, starchy vegetables and sugary things but I have stopped restricting my fruit and legumes which I love so much. This is pretty much along the lines of the Eat to Live philsophy of Dr Joel Fuhrman.
Thanks for your reference to John Robbins - I will look him up on Google!0 -
I'm eating 40% or under (in grams) of carbs and at least 30% protein. I eat much less grain foods than I did in the past, and I eat way more tofu. I also use protein shakes to top up my protein to these levels.
I've been doing this for about 6 weeks, and I feel very well. My digestion feels much better than previously. I'm loosing at least 0.5kg a week, although I don't find it difficult to loose weight. I am doing this because of evidence that this balance of macros might improve fertility, but the weight loss is a nice side effect.0 -
I think the term low carb in general is bunk. I prefer to avoid highly processed carbs as much as possible, not because they are carbs but because they are highly processed. I really eat all the carbs I want otherwise as long as I stay within my daily caloric goal. I just try t make sure I minimize refined/processed carbs as you can't really know how much they have been processed. With whole food carbs, what you see is what you get.
Heck, this guy ate nothing but potatoes for 60 days and did great:
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2010/12/interview-with-chris-voigt-of-20.html0 -
Hi.... I wouldn't say that I'm doing low carb, per se, because I have not limited myself on fruits (or veggies) but I have cut out bread and wheat (no pasta) and have cut down quite a bit on rice, opting only for wild rice and not eating much starchy veg either.
I, too, have cut wayyyy back on processed foods and am having great luck with this. So far I've lost 10 pounds and it's been since Jan 5th so 25 days; will probably lose another 1-2 pounds this week to make it a months loss of 10-12 pounds. I am not starving myself and getting in some exercise/movement (although not extreme by any stretch of the imagination).0 -
There seems to be some benefits to limiting the "heavy" carbs, in addition to limiting refined carbs then. I feel a lot better since I have been avoiding bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, grains generally and starchy veg. I suppose some people are more able to tolerate these things than others. My stomach does not feel so overloaded and my moods swings and cravings are gone!
@cannelini - 40g carbs a day! Wow! That is really low. But it seems to be working for you. Do you think you can sustain that indefinitely though. I can't drink the protein shakes, they make me feel really sick to the extent that I gag whilst drinking them! :sick: Personally I think they are too processed anyway.
The view about low carb is so mixed. I want to change my eating habits for good and I don't think I could have continued low carbing for much longer. When I tried to go too low, as a vegan, I felt my diet was too restricted and reliant on nuts and tofu - I really missed eating fruit and beans - which are healthy and nutritious. I was starting to feel very deprived and unhappy. It is nice to now be able to get my protein from other sources that would have sent my carb count up (legumes, tempeh, fruit - yes there is protein in fruit too!) Currently I am so fed up with tofu i have two blocks in the fridge, untouched! :laugh:0 -
I am reducing refined carbs like breads but I'm not eliminating them or any vegetables. In my mind a vegetable is healthy. I'm trying to have salads for lunch which cuts down on refined carbs because normally I'd eat something carb heavy at lunch. I also get lower carb bread and tortillas. I generally don't eat pasta anymore and if I do I am liking using squash as pasta.0
-
Slinkyluvsyoo, I'm doing 40% of the grams I eat as carbs, not 40g a day, far from it. I still eat plenty of fruit and veges.
I don't know whether I could keep doing it. Given the importance of glucose to the developing fetus, if I actually manage to get pregnant I will return to a somewhat higher carb diet at least for the duration of a pregnancy. I feel like I might continue to avoid rice, bread and pasta though because how different my digestion feels now makes me think they didn't agree with me.
Re: protein shakes, I had the same problem when I started. Now I've found that a stevia tablet makes them much better. I don't normally like stevia but find it's good for that purpose. I've also found some soy ones that I think are quite nice by themselves. In any case, I drink them a lot less than when I started eating this way, as I learn to balance my meals differently.0
