Vegetarian having hard time getting to calorie goal

So weird... last time I checked, butter, cheese, yogurt, fish / eggs (depending on the type of veggie you are), oil, candy, bread / bagels, meatless meat products, alcohol, peanut butter, nuts, and any combination of the aforementioned foods, can be extremely high calorie. Not sure if I'm buying it.

Also, based on what others have said, it sounds like you're over calories most of the time. No one wants to offend you, but you probably need to stop making posts like this. They come off as melodramatic and, after looking at your diary, contradictory. If someone were rude, not like myself, they might call you a liar about not being able to reach your calorie goal. Luckily, no rude posters on MFP.

I do not eat butter, candy, fish or alcohol. I try to limit the fake meats and breads (though I'm not always successful at that), peanut butter I try to avoid due to sodium, and I limit nuts because of their high fat content. I stated that I am usually under 1200 net cals by evening and then end up eating bread, pie, cheese...something high in cals to get me up in cals so I will be a few hundred net cals under my goal. Yesterday after excercise my goal was 1896 by 7pm I was still under 1200 so I ate some cheese, one serving of chips, and a skinny bagel with honey... just to get to 1796 still 100 cals under. I would have prefered to be closer to the 1560 area but I panicked because I was so far under. 1200 by 7 pm. All of the extra put me 568 mg over on sodium which is why I came onto the forums. I am looking for a low sodium high calorie option. I am trying to learn not be "melodramatic or contradictory".

Eating meat shouldn't make you feel awful and juice "detoxing" shouldn't make you feel great. You can't eat a hamburger from McDonald's and say all meat is horrible. You should find a way to eat smart, healthy foods, whether vegetarian or not.

Also, I may be wrong, but I thought vegans don't use any animal products? This means no eggs, cheese or milk.

I am trying to transition to vegan (not there yet). I do not eat at McDonald's, even when I ate meat! They are just gross! I have always cooked our meals. Whether meat or meatless. Eating out is only done on the weekends and once a week when I go grocery shopping and errand running because it takes half a day to get all my running done. Other that I fix everything that I eat. Regardless of your opinion that was my experience and why I went vegetarian.

It is too early in my journey to know if I am or not getting closer to my weight goal. I have lost 5 lbs, but haven't lost inches. One of my goals is to increase my endurance and strength. On that one I am definitely improving! I can feel the muscles in my arms and legs getting stronger and I can do my workouts with a lot less breaks to catch my breath!:bigsmile: I try to keep that success in the forefront of my mind when I get down about the cloths not getting any looser, but it is hard sometimes so I end up stressing over my food intake.

It's completely natural in the beginning to tweak your diet. Your diet doesn't look bad, but the two things that stuck out most to me were too much sodium and too little protein. You need to eat enough protein when losing weight to make sure you lose more fat than muscle. It's easy to overeat carbs and be low on protein with a vegan diet.

Check out Seapoint Farms dry roasted edamame. It's a delicious snack and just a 30g serving (1/4 cup) has 130 calories and 14g protein.

I would also suggest that you check out some of the vegetarian or vegan MFP groups. You'll likely find good tips there, without all the sarcasm.

Good luck to you.

Thank you, I will look for those!

Raw, unsalted nuts are the best way to add fast calories. Just 1/4 cup (28.5 grams) of shelled walnuts is 200 calories. Storing nuts for a long time is super easy. Also, they're great for reducing how much pasta you use in dishes. Huge pile of cooked (formerly frozen) veggies, little pasta, light sauce, nuts. Boom- healthy dinner.

I will def start adding nuts to my diet. I was afraid to eat too many because of their fat content but I know I don't eat a lot of fat so I just have to jump over that hurdle in my brain!