I've seen a pattern....

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RacheBell
RacheBell Posts: 111
in Food and Nutrition
I quit this for about 6 weeks because of my hectic schedule, and I wanted to see what happened if I didn't scrutinize over every calorie, and I just made a simple change..


The more vegetarian type meals I eat, the more weight comes off. I've been eating veggie burgers, with cheese that's made out of vegetables (yes, it's delicious.. try it!), and I add beans instead of chicken to my salads. I have eaten chicken about 6 times this month, but not very often.. Dropped 8 pounds in 6 weeks by doing that... Just thought I'd share that with you guys. I feel like I might make that change for good. And any chicken I have eaten, I have splurged and bought the 'organic' non penn raised chicken. It did taste a lot better.

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  • mcpherson4
    mcpherson4 Posts: 287 Member
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    thank you for sharing.
  • wan2b21
    wan2b21 Posts: 147 Member
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    Very cool! Thanks =D
  • youngtweezy
    youngtweezy Posts: 183
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    I was a vegetarian for 6 years and lost 5 pounds in the first week. Vegetarian diets are simply better for you (if you can balance the protein and consume enough iron so you're healthy).
  • genovesse
    genovesse Posts: 7
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    hey rachebell, I became vegetarian on May 18 of this year. It was the best thing I did for myself and I have to agree with you that the weight loss has been effortless! Keep on with it. Its good to see other vegetarians out there. And another girl from my work went vegetarian too. Which has been helpful, we compare and tell each other about some food we found thats good. Good luck!:smile:
  • barbarella
    barbarella Posts: 609 Member
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    BRAVO! Good for you!...... eating healthy & light!:flowerforyou: :love:

    I need to work towards that again, sheeesh....
    have been traveling & eating out too much.

    It sure adds up! :grumble: :noway:
  • sessaleigh
    sessaleigh Posts: 45
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    I may try that, thank you! What kind of veggie burgers and veggie cheese do you use, because the stuff I've had was blech! But I'm sure they're not all the same.
  • tinyliz
    tinyliz Posts: 38 Member
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    sounds good. You didn't miss the meat? No fish either?
  • supermom1114
    supermom1114 Posts: 577
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    That sounds awesome and being a vegetarian is a great way to go, just be sure to educate yourself about complementary proteins and how to get enough iron into your diet as well as various B vitamins that mainly come from meat. It is completely possible and a worthy cause, just make sure you learn as much as possible before swearing off eating anything that had a mother, it can be a big leap. If you're really not in this for the whole animal rights thing and just in it for weight loss, consider keeping dairy and eggs in your diet. Both are good sources of protein and not contain much saturated fats (always go lowfat or no fat with dairy regardless if you're vegetarian or not) Good luck with your ventures and congrats on the great weight loss!!!
  • RacheBell
    RacheBell Posts: 111
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    I do really miss fish. I might have seafood on occasion just because I really like it.

    As for veggie burgers I eat gardenburgers Sundried tomato and black bean chipotle. They have a portabello mushroom also. And the cheese is just Veggie Slices or Veggie Shreds (great with tacos). I have also discovered meatless chorizo (soyrizo) and meatless ground, which would be meatless hamburger. I also have some tofu sliced lunch meat that is kind of blah - but does have a turkey taste. I got my stuff from Krogers and Central Market. And it's really not that expensive! Same price as flesh.



    Also, new addiction, dry roasted wasabi flavored edamame. DELICIOUS!!!
  • supermom1114
    supermom1114 Posts: 577
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    watch out with too much soy as well. soy is a phytoestrogen and acts like estrogen in our bodies. too much of it can actually cause you to store a little more fat and predispose you to certain cancers
  • genovesse
    genovesse Posts: 7
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    Try moophrey vegan-vegetarian burgers. they are really good. I got it at my local natural food store. I think Boca falls apart and has a weird taste. This one stays together and I like the texture.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    I lost 6 pounds the first month I went vegetarian without doing anything else differently.

    Then it evened out. I've been vegetarian almost three years. I'm not saying not to do it, just don't expect that you'll lose weight just because of it.
  • genovesse
    genovesse Posts: 7
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    I dont eat anything that had Eyes and fins, fur or feather. Protein is in everything! And we are led to believe we need more protein than we do. The National Cattlemen's Assoc. and poultry farmers work to advertise that we need 60- 80 grams of protein a day to live. Sooo not tru. The world health org. recommends .5g of protein per kg. of weight. ( weight in kg., divide your weight in lbs. by 2.2)So you see its alot less. And no I dont miss meat. If you knew what they do to your meat before you eat it. You wouldnt eat it. Read skinny ***** book. if you can get pass the swearing. it is funny and very informative. I will get off my soapbox now! hahaha!
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    I dont eat anything that had Eyes and fins, fur or feather. Protein is in everything! And we are led to believe we need more protein than we do. The National Cattlemen's Assoc. and poultry farmers work to advertise that we need 60- 80 grams of protein a day to live. Sooo not tru. The world health org. recommends .5g of protein per kg. of weight. ( weight in kg., divide your weight in lbs. by 2.2)So you see its alot less. And no I dont miss meat. If you knew what they do to your meat before you eat it. You wouldnt eat it. Read skinny ***** book. if you can get pass the swearing. it is funny and very informative. I will get off my soapbox now! hahaha!

    Based on that formula, I need 68 grams of protein per day. How is the NCA incorrect?

    Anyway, that said, you can get protein from non-animal sources very easily. I do eat eggs and dairy, though,
  • genovesse
    genovesse Posts: 7
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    Did you convert your pounds to kilograms?
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    Did you convert your pounds to kilograms?

    Sorry. I did the math wrong. Based on that formula, I need 32 grams. However, based on every other recommendation I've ever seen anywhere but your post, it's .8 grams, not .5. That makes 52. I've never seen the 60-80 recommendation. My source is health professionals, not food manufacturers.

    But, at the same time, I have no issue reaching that goal without eating animal flesh.
  • supermom1114
    supermom1114 Posts: 577
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    Its true that the estimates in the past have been high for what our body needs but they were mainly based on past generations, when people actually did hard manual work everyday, not sitting in an office all day. If you are working out, especially weight lifting you will need extra protein to help build muscle. But as rml_16 stated its not hard to get from plant sources, you just have to work at educating yourself on whats in everything first. Beans are an amazing source of protein as is greek yogurt, eggs, and low fat milk. *btw 1 8oz glass of milk has more protein than 1 egg, only by 1g but I'm just saying lol But I agree, you will at some point level off, going vegetarian is a very worthy cause if you're in it for the right reasons but if its just for weight loss you'll soon find you stop losing as quickly as you were and its more work(at first) to ensure you are taking in all the right macro- and micronutrients.
  • supermom1114
    supermom1114 Posts: 577
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    oh and quinoa is one of the only plant based complete proteins so no having to pair it with anything else, so easy!
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    If you are working out, especially weight lifting you will need extra protein to help build muscle.
    Even that is gorssly overestimated. You don't need a significantly higher amount of protein, and the body can only process so much, no matter your activity level. The rest gets filtered through the liver and kidneys and can be harmful if you overdo it. (That's tough to do through diet, but stay away from protein shakes and powders!!! You don't need them.)
  • genovesse
    genovesse Posts: 7
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    Mine is from health sources as well. whatever

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