Going Vegetarian

A good option for breakfast is to drink a green smoothie. You add more vegetables to your diet and you can supplement it with protein powder, greek yogurt or ground flax for protein.

I cut my meat intake to 1 serving a day (or 7 a week; some days I have none and others I have 2 servings) and it has improved my general health. I had tons of energy, my skin was glowing and my face lost it's puffiness. All before I started working out.

I generally do not worry about getting tons of protein, but my fitness goals are probably different than yours. I do eat a protein bar for dessert every day and on weight lifting days, I will be sure to eat meat.

Also, I wouldn't go vegetarian for weight loss. I've been a vegetarian for 20 years, and IMO there's no weight loss benefits that a reasonable balanced diet can't provide, and you're looking at headaches getting your protein without going overboard on carbs. If you have an ethical/moral motivation, I strongly support it, but if it's just for health/weightloss, I think you're making the process harder for yourself than it needs to be.
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^^^^This. I know several people who have gone vegetarian for weight loss and it just doesn't work. And when you reach your goal, do you go back? If that is what you want to do, go for it and good luck, but many, many people lose with out cutting out meat.

Also, I wouldn't go vegetarian for weight loss. I've been a vegetarian for 20 years, and IMO there's no weight loss benefits that a reasonable balanced diet can't provide, and you're looking at headaches getting your protein without going overboard on carbs. If you have an ethical/moral motivation, I strongly support it, but if it's just for health/weightloss, I think you're making the process harder for yourself than it needs to be.

^^^^This. I know several people who have gone vegetarian for weight loss and it just doesn't work. And when you reach your goal, do you go back? If that is what you want to do, go for it and good luck, but many, many people lose with out cutting out meat.

If you go "vegetarian" by eating dishes that are loaded with processed grains, cheese, eggs and the like with minimal actual vegetables, fruits, grains and legumes you are probably doing it wrong. At least from a health and nutrition perspective.

Also, I wouldn't go vegetarian for weight loss. I've been a vegetarian for 20 years, and IMO there's no weight loss benefits that a reasonable balanced diet can't provide, and you're looking at headaches getting your protein without going overboard on carbs. If you have an ethical/moral motivation, I strongly support it, but if it's just for health/weightloss, I think you're making the process harder for yourself than it needs to be.

^^^^This. I know several people who have gone vegetarian for weight loss and it just doesn't work. And when you reach your goal, do you go back? If that is what you want to do, go for it and good luck, but many, many people lose with out cutting out meat.

If you go "vegetarian" by eating dishes that are loaded with processed grains, cheese, eggs and the like with minimal actual vegetables, fruits, grains and legumes you are probably doing it wrong. At least from a health and nutrition perspective.

Congratulations on your 6 months.

I am working my way towards a vegetarian diet as well, though not for weight loss but because I physically feel so much better when I don't eat meat. I think if you find that you feel better and have more energy on a vegetarian diet it is worth the transition. It gets easier as you go and it really isn't as big a hassle as people make it out to be. In my experience it's no more of a hassle than planning for a healthy diet that includes meat. Here are a few of my favorite veggie mains:

-baked sweet potato with warm chili beans on top
-quinoa salad (endless variations here. my fav is greek style. here is a great recipe: http://withstyleandgraceblog.com/2012/08/29/healthy-greek-quinoa-salad-gluten-free/)
-vegetable curries
-black beans and rice
-grilled portobello mushrooms (can use as a burger, taco filling, salad topper, etc)
-grilled zucchini/yellow squash with feta cheese and parsley

I also subscribe to a free email newsletter from Vegetarian Times that includes different recipes. Hope this helps!

Hellloo Veg head of 14 years here. If vegetarianism worked for weight loss, I don't suppose I'd be on here.....just saying.

I've been vegetarian for almost 4 years... I did lose some weight initially but you can still overeat as a vegetarian. You will have a hard time meeting your protein needs if you work out hard 4-5 times a week. You'll probably need a supplement.

My feelings on your diet are this: Your body hits a plateau because it adapts to a routine after a while. If you do the same workout, & eat the same things, your body will learn to function on that routine. Change things up with your workouts, and vary your diet. Don't eat the same things every day, don't even eat the same # of calories every day. I'm all for the vegetarian diet, but you need to eat way more veggies & protein IMO.

won't you miss a nice juicy steak????

more veggiesssss

yes my monday - friday is usually all the same. its actually what I have always eaten the exact same thing (basically grilled chicken, rice, salad) every day for the last year. mostly cause I dont like to think about what to eat. I am not one to get tired of things.


>>>

Maybe one way to add variety would be to vary the salad. At some point in the week you have to think about it a little bit, because you have to buy the veggies, and prep them, whether you do that for the whole week at once or every day. I realize it's a little extra thinking to come up with a few new Maybe you slowly build a repertoire of two, then three, then four, five, six different salads, hopefully with some protein in them (e.g., leafy greens with garden veggies like tomatoes, cukes, radishes, with a protein like chick peas or sliced hard-boiled eggs; spinach, strawberries and almonds or faux bacon with a low-fat sweet-vinegar slaw-style dressing; a whole-grain based salad with mushrooms and little avocado; legume-based salads, such as cold lentils with a vinaigrette and chopped peppers, onion, garlic; whole-grain pasta salads with cubed tofu, peppers, scallions, and sesame-tahini or peanut-butter or dressing; ). Once you've expanded your repertoire, you could purchase smaller amounts of the fresh ingredients for two or three of the recipes in your repertoire each week, and decide at the beginning of the week which ones you'll have which days. Make rotating weekly and daily schedules for your expanded repertoire and there you are, eating two or three different salads each week, maybe with two or three weekly schedules, and once you have the schedules, you really won't to think about it anymore than you do now. (If you get to this point, and feel up to an additional challenge, you could develop different schedules for different seasons, to take advantage of what's tastiest and cheapest at different times.)

I was vegetarian for 5 years, carnivore for 5 years and have now been a pescetarian for 5 months. Fish in moderation is really good for you and allows you to get your protein without worrying about bad fats. I think if it's for health reasons you should maybe think about giving up red meat and sticking with chicken and fish and also making sure you're eating a lot of wholegrains and pulses instead of white carbs!

Also, I wouldn't go vegetarian for weight loss. I've been a vegetarian for 20 years, and IMO there's no weight loss benefits that a reasonable balanced diet can't provide, and you're looking at headaches getting your protein without going overboard on carbs. If you have an ethical/moral motivation, I strongly support it, but if it's just for health/weightloss, I think you're making the process harder for yourself than it needs to be.

^^ this. i've been vegetarian for 25+ yrs and i'm here, trying to lose weight so.....:frown: i struggle a lot to get enough protein in my diet and even with logging everything, my diet is still really carb heavy in regards to protein and fat.

I've been vegetarian for almost 4 years... I did lose some weight initially but you can still overeat as a vegetarian. You will have a hard time meeting your protein needs if you work out hard 4-5 times a week. You'll probably need a supplement.

Why?

I go for long (20+ mile) bike rides about 4 times a week, with two weekend rides that are more like 30-40. I get around 35-50 grams of protein per day, making no specific effort to get "enough" protein.

I don't understand why there is this fixation on this site with getting enough protein. How much do you think you need? Why? As a large adult male I am thriving on an amount that is far lower than what is often discussed. I question whether 100+ grams of protein per day are actually necessary.

If going vegetarian means that you will increase your fiber intake and eat more veggies, then great! However, I've seen some pretty unhealthy vegetarians that eat a lot of carbs. I'm a vegetarian and my diary is open for those that want to look at what I eat! I've been able to lose weight once I gave up eating so much white rice and refined carbs!

Why are carbohydrates so vilified here? I understand if you are eating a lot of wonder bread, white rice and other heavily processed grains, but there is nothing wrong with eating a lot of brown rice and whole wheat. I do it and I've lost a huge amount of weight.

The unhealthy vegetarians that you mention are probably eating a lot of junk food like macaroni and cheese, for example. Foods that are highly processed with a lot of saturated fat and cholesterol.