Hey Monaco... I'm not in the same boat as you, but I think we need to find a middle ground with each other. I weigh 129 now, cut from 136 or so on this diet.

Currently I eat meat and a ton of it. I consume 1450 calories a day. 145 g of protein, 110 g of carbs, and like 45 g of fat. Those are estimates because I'm just typing this and not flipping back to my diary. Anyway, I primarily get that from eating plenty of meat, however, I am looking to become vegetarian because lately I've become overwhelmed with nausea before eating thinking about the animals getting their throats cut open (call me crazy, but in a butcher shop, this is hard not to do when you are surrounded by meat hooks, saws, and taxidermy while ordering a burger).

ANYWAY back to the topic. Check out my diary if you'd like. I eat whatever I want generally as long as I can fit it into my macros. I've learned what works and doesn't... I've learned substitutions for things I want to consume but would screw up my macros for the day.

My suggestion to you is straight up increase your protein intake and lower your carbs.

Do this by consuming soy proteins (soy milk, soy beans, tofu, etc.), protein powder (whatever source you feel comfortable with), beans, nuts, vegetables, etc. Start reading labels and find sources where you can get more protein in a meal than carbs. There are a ton of soy substitute products like soybean spaghetti. Add in beans to sauces, etc. I eat a sour cream made with no fat, and more protein than carbs. I have a protein shake (VERY IMPORTANT) first thing every morning to get a bomb of protein. This is from protein powder, mangos, soy beans, and raw egg whites.

Don't talk to a doctor about nutrition - they know nothing. Talk to a nutritionist if you must, but just know that this whole anti-soy movement is seriously overblown.

Wow!

You are quite an inspiration. I wish I can eat that much and still lose.I think I have become obsessed with it... I am going to use your feedback and see if I can up my game. I dont do heavy lifting, so may be thats another area i should work on.

Hi Monaco, I'm vegetarian as well (lacto-ovo). If you eat eggs and dairy, you should be able to get around 100 grams of protein a day with just a little bit of focus on it. Ideally I'd get more, but I find eating pretty monotonous if I'm trying to getting to much more than that because I haven't found a large enough range of protein options. I eat a lot of cottage cheese for breakfast, drink protein shakes (frozen raspberries, 1/2 banana, milk, scoop optimum nutrition double rich chocolate whey isolate protein, 1% milk and a splash of vanilla), and also eat quite a bit of soy (though I try to avoid the super duper processed fake meats). Tonight for example, I sliced a block of tofu into half inch slices, sprinkled the slices on each side with a cajun spice mix and rubbed it in a bit, and baked it until it was starting to get pretty dry and had a nice texture. Then I dipped it in 2% greek yogurt (also high in protein) that had a mix of turmeric, coriander powder, cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper, and lemon juice added to it. This meal in itself had over 60 grams of protein.

Anyway, staples include cottage cheese, greek yogurt, protein shakes, tofu, and also some other cheeses and soy products. Things you hear about as traditional sources of protein for vegetarians like beans and quinoa can be good too, but are a lot more carb heavy than I originally thought. Not that they're bad for you, but I've had to cut down on them a bit and substitute them with protein options that had fewer carbs in order to meet both my protein and calorie goals.

Also, just as a note - I eat about 1800 calories a day and do heavy weight lifting mixed with circuit training (still with relatively heavy weights) 3 days a week for about an hour on average, and I am still losing ~ half a pound a week. And those 1800 calories are net calories (e.g. if I burn 500 calories at the gym I actually eat 1800+500 = 2300).