There are only a couple of vegetarian low carbers in the group but I would advise you to look through the "my low carb foods" thread to see some of the non meat things that they and the rest of us eat regularly.

http://ketodietapp.com/Blog/post/2015/01/03/Keto-Diet-Food-List-What-to-Eat-and-Avoid

There's a list at the bottom of this page, it breaks it down by type of food (vegetable, fruit, etc) so you could probably take from that list what you need and leave the animal fats/proteins that you don't eat.

I'm not really up on vegetarianism, so don't know if you eat eggs/dairy.

I eat a lot of hummus and it doesn't seem to mess up the weight loss even though there are a lot of carbs in it.

Why is this URGENT?

I was vegetarian for two years prior to LCHF. Kind of odd since my eating plan now is so heavily meat based.

Thinking off the top of my head, I would choose low GI vegetables cooked in fat, like a vegetable curry where the veggies are cooked in coconut oil, then finished with a coconut milk sauce. Riced cauliflower would be great with that.

I'm thinking that you could add fats such as olive oil, coconut oil, etc to all meals to ensure you are getting enough fat. Many of us here use various forms of cauliflower in place of rice or potatoes, and vegetables such as zucchini, cabbage and spaghetti squash in place of pasta. Even shiritake noodles could be used.

Do you eat eggs and dairy ? If so, protein requirements would be easier to achieve since starchy legumes such as beans and lentils would likely be limited if aiming for lower carbs. Heavy whipping cream and cheese would be great additions.

Pescatarian LCHF here. It isn't totally easy, I find I'm having to accept getting more carbs than I'm supposed to from the veggies. I do get great protein from my fishy sources but even on the days where I'm veg only, I can rely on eggs and cheese and some meat substitutes (tofu, etc.) I'm new to this, so not sure I'm the best resource but I've got open diary if you want to friend me. Look around the fish stuff if you're full veg.

Good luck!

Tofu, seitan, black soy beans, and tempeh are all high in protein relative to their net carbs. It's going to be a heck of a lot easier if you can do net carbs, not total carbs. That means that you subtract grams of fiber from your total carbs. I'm trying to get more protein from plant sources, although I'm not a vegetarian.

Why is it urgent and why do you want to change to Keto/LCHF?

If all you want are the generic benefits from being lc, go with the suggestions above. Basically google your favourite foods and only keep those with less than 25g carbs for 100g. Likely increase dramatically coconut oil, olive oil, avocados and eggs. You can go LCHF, I doubt you'll get consistent keto but most people don't need it anyway.

BUT if your reason to change is related to health problems, I'd first take extensive blood tests and then would seriously consider including some animal protein, at least some oily fish.

I have to tell you that I am not impartial in my advice but you also ask for experience and that I have. I was a vegetarian/vegan/macrobiotic since my teens. My favourite meal was miso soup, brown rice and spinach with sesame (big fan of Japanese cuisine here). I should be healthy as a horse. But, for me, it simply didn't work. I reasoned with myself that I would be much worse if I was not vegetarian. Sadly, it was just wishful thinking.

And it took me 30+ years and becoming diabetic to accept it. And diabetes was the easiest of my problems to reverse. I'm still dealing with hormonal chaos, severe deficiencies in some nutrients and all kinds of sequelae from my body inability to process all the carbs I was feeding it.

I am not saying you can't be vegetarian and healthy. Many people obviously can, including most of my friends, and I don't know what your problems are. But if you find yourself needing to change your woe, consider the advice I got from a very wise (vegan) person: if you get sick when you could be healthy, you'll not be doing any favours to your family, the animals or the planet. Do what you have to do to get healthy.

Best of luck to you!

::flowerforyou::

Tofu really isn't bad as far as carbs go, a ratio of 10 g protein to 6 g fat to 2.3 g carbs. That won't get you to keto, but it's a much better ratio than whole milk yogurt has. It's a better ratio of protein to carbs than Greek yogurt has, and it's truly a plant sourced food. If eating vegetarian is more important to you than ketosis, then tofu is a good option.

PaleoInScotland wrote: »

Just like a carnivore, you'll want to stick with low carb veggies.

(Pet peeve time)

Non-vegetarians are not generally carnivores. They're omnivores. Carnivores, by definition, do not have plants as a staple in their diet.

Calling non-vegetarians carnivores simply because meat is included in their diet is kind of like calling non-carnivores vegetarians simply because vegetables are included in their diet.

Sorry, that just bugs me.

(/pet peeve time)