Vegetarian on a diet? Is it possible

Fill up on fruit and veggies.... add in beans and nuts for protein. Exercise more to eat more.

i hear ya! I blame becoming a vegetarian as one of the factors (one so ppl dont freak) leading to my obesity. Feel free to check my diary, there's a whole world of food we can eat, fear not!

I have been vegetarian for a year, but am now trying to lose some weight. My calorie intake is 1500 and seems almost impossible to stay full! What do I do? What can I eat without going straight to the cheese, milk, and bread? What ever i was doing in the last year only allowed me to maintain my current weight.

Brown rice instead of bread
Breakfast: try steel cut oats with diced apple or other fruit
Lentils (the protein in 1 cup of lentils = the protein in 3 eggs)
Other beans (they provide protein)
All veggies, which will fill you up... butternut squash, acorn squash, summer squash, broccoli, cabbage, kale, spinach, carrots, radishes, onions, etc. etc. Blanch, steam, or stir fry.
Avocado = fat in your diet, adds calories
Nuts = protein
You can make your own soups, from vegetable soup to miso soup
Condiments: try dry roasted/toasted sesame seeds or Tamari

Not a vegetarian, but I find things like tofu, tempeh, and seitan quite filling. Increase your fiber and get more protein into your diet along with healthy fats like olive oil, coconut oil, avocado. I also really enjoy the sprouted grain breads, they're very hefty with seeds/nuts/etc and are more filling than plain white bread.

Edit- There's a really good vegan cookbook called Appetite for Reduction if you like to cook. She's got some pretty yummy vegan recipes.

HollisGrant offers great advice and many of my favorite foods! I make a new recipe at least once a week using Google, Vegetarian Times and http://www.tastespotting.com. I have a subscription to veg times but most of their recipes are available online. I make low cal versions by doubling vegetables, lots of protein and keeping white sugar/wheat out of my meals.

bump I need help with this too.

Being a vegetarian is the same as being a meat eater re weight loss...just without the meat. Eat seitan, tofu and soy products, quorn etc instead of meat. Foods like lentils and quinoa are good 'fillers' and have decent protein.

Can you eat soy? Consider reading The Soy Zone, which is the Zone diet for vegetarians. It basically describes how you need to be eating protein-rich soy at each meal (or dairy) -roughly 20-25 grams of protein. Vegetarians just don't get a lot of protein. I know many resent hearing that, but I often don't run across a lot of thin vegetarians or vegans, and I'm sure that's a major component - they replace meat with grains. Grains are not a meat replacement. Things like Dairy, Eggs, and Soy are. Really consider soy in your diet. This can mean tofu, soy protein powder mixed in with your oatmeal, cereal milk, or smoothies, a generous serving of cheese on your salad, adding boca crumbles to your spaghetti sauce, etc. Dr. Sears also recommends really watching your grain intake. I saw a difference on the scale and my body right away after following this. And if you can do dairy and eggs, even better. Just be sure to stick to protein, veggies, and fruit. Cut back on the grain-y carbs. I swear you won't even miss them bc you will feel full from his recommendations. Beans can be a good source of protein (Esp. black beans) but they are also high in carbs, so treat them as a meal within themselves....don't eat them with other grains.

Another vegetarian here, for about nine and half years now. I'd check out the group here I'm (and a few thousand other vegetarians are) apart of called Happy Herbivores. There's a ton of great info and resources there.
xx

It's actually kind of fun when people at work look at your plate and get totally confused trying to figure out what you are eating.

THIS. This is the best feeling in the world. I was conducting a series of interviews with one of my student organizations, and we spent about 6 straight hours in the interview room. I had made a quinoa salad for dinner, and it was sitting on the table. My friends spent the entire night trying to figure out what it was that I was eating.

LOL! I brought hummus w/ veggies to a class potluck once years ago. Everyone stared at it oddly and only the instructor knew what it was! More hummus for us! Now hummus seems to be everywhere!

Not a vegetarian, but I find things like tofu, tempeh, and seitan quite filling. Increase your fiber and get more protein into your diet along with healthy fats like olive oil, coconut oil, avocado. I also really enjoy the sprouted grain breads, they're very hefty with seeds/nuts/etc and are more filling than plain white bread.

Edit- There's a really good vegan cookbook called Appetite for Reduction if you like to cook. She's got some pretty yummy vegan recipes.

THIS regarding the Appetite for Reduction Cookbook. I have made half of the 125 recipes & only have found a couple I haven't liked. Most are pretty filling too. There's also a series of Cookbooks called Happy Herbivore> I have all three but haven't made too many because I can't pry AFR out of my hands!

I just got this book and made a couple of things that were kinda bland. What are your favorites?

I too am a vegetarian. Struggling to reduce carbs...
My problem with tofu/temp and Co is I dont like their texture... so I dont eat them. I dont eat eggs either.
These days, dependent majorly on protein shakes, dairy and soy milk etc. Cheese. I think carbs have done more harm to me than fat....
But I have to soon figure out a sustainable way...

If you opened up your diary, we could probably help you a little better.

I'd recommend staying away from the diary, eggs and bread. And definitely exercise more, harder and longer to be able to eat more. Drink LOTS of water to stay full. Dehydration can feel like hunger. Try looking into some healthy vegan recipes with heaps of fruit, veg, nut, seeds, legumes. Switch bread for raw crackers. Stick to whole foods, organic produce etc. Avoid processed sugar at all times. Look into stevia, agave, coconut sugar & Xylitol. Switch from cheese to adding a small sprinkle of nutritional yeast to add a cheesy flavour.

There is so many low calorie vegan cookbooks and blogs. I lost a lot of weight years ago simply switching from vegetarian to vegan. Cheese was my weakness, now I'll happily never touch it again. I'm not saying to have to switch to 100% vegan, just try replacing some things in your diet with low cal and health boosting plant based options.

Also-

To keep you feeling full get enough protein: http://www.sunwarrior.com.au/

Has lots of good recipes: http://fatfreevegan.com/

Most of these are low cal: http://pinterest.com/fotlagomorph/vegan-friendly/

Vegan weight loss books:http://www.skinny*****.net/

To replace bread: http://www.kitzlivingfoods.com.au/collections/crackers

Good luck!

Why stay away from dairy? You can very easily lose weight being a vegetarian - no need to be a vegan unless you want to for ethical reasons.

Plant based foods only.....................