Vegetarian and Vegans out there...

I had the same problem! Strict vegetarian for 3 years, now I eat only chicken and then go meatless whenever I can. It's tough! Good luck

I have been vegetarian forever, since childhood, and vegan since new year (though it's my 5th attempt at veganism but this time it seems to be ok). I'm going to be blunt here because I'm assuming I'm talking to someone with the same value-system as me when it comes to meat.

I would start off by watching a you tube video of chicken slaughter to motivate you. I know this sounds awful but it's good to remind yourself that it's about the animals not about you. If the only way you avoid murdering animals is to eat slightly more carb than you would otherwise it's not the end of the world! Vegans and vegetarians probably live slightly longer so it's unlikely to harm your health in the long term.

Now what is hard when you are vegetarian or vegan is the 'grilled chicken and salad meal' that is the staple of so many weight loss plans. Never mind - those plans are for meat eaters, and our diets are slightly different. Our macronutients tend to be mashed in together a bit more because we eat more plants.

My favourite high protein vegan foods are setian, tempeh and tofu, but these are fairly hard to come across at the average store. though I can get it all easily in a big city like Edinburgh http://www.vegetariantimes.com/video/how-to-make-seitan/. I also do rely a lot on various fake meat products, Linda McCartney's sausagues for instance some of them are vegan, all are obviously vegetarian. My wife who is new (pressured my me!) to vegetarianism hates them, but they are my comfort food from childhood.

Other options are - soya mince - use it to make 5 bean chilli which is low fat and high protein, you can also use it anywhere you would use mince, you can skip the rice if you would like. Low GI carbs may help you avoid the bloated feeling that you get with large amounts of high GI carb.