New Here - Vegetarian trying a Keto diet
KittyHeaven74
Posts: 68 Member
Hi all, I'm new to this group and have been tracking on MFP for just over a week. Back in 2014 I did the Ideal Protein diet and lost almost 70 lbs - looked great, felt great! Unfortunately, when I entered maintenance there wasn't as much support (I think that has changed now) and when life stresses interfered, I found myself reaching for what was easy. Long story short, I ended up addicted to sugar and carbs again, and gained back 45 lbs. Ugh.
So now I'm here, trying to get the weight off. But I don't want to do Ideal Protein again. It's too expensive and too restrictive, and the foods tend to taste gross after awhile. I did it for 10 months and that was enough! I want to be eating REAL food.
So I'm looking for advice. As a vegetarian, I have limited protein sources and I'd love some ideas. I also want to make sure I'm getting the right balance of protein, fat, and carbs. How many carbs is ideal for a 1200 calorie/day diet? I know there are tons of resources out there and many different approaches to this. I've had a quick look at the launch pad here, but any individuals who would like to offer me advice, I'd much appreciate it! Especially if there are other vegetarians out there doing keto. I want to make this my lifestyle. I mean, I do want to get to a point where I can have some healthy carbs like quinoa, barley, etc. and fruit. But I want to break the sugar addiction and keep away from the processed stuff (especially donuts and ice cream - my two weaknesses) as much as possible even after I get the weight off. The work begins here, but without a reliance on food packets I need guidance.
Help!
So now I'm here, trying to get the weight off. But I don't want to do Ideal Protein again. It's too expensive and too restrictive, and the foods tend to taste gross after awhile. I did it for 10 months and that was enough! I want to be eating REAL food.
So I'm looking for advice. As a vegetarian, I have limited protein sources and I'd love some ideas. I also want to make sure I'm getting the right balance of protein, fat, and carbs. How many carbs is ideal for a 1200 calorie/day diet? I know there are tons of resources out there and many different approaches to this. I've had a quick look at the launch pad here, but any individuals who would like to offer me advice, I'd much appreciate it! Especially if there are other vegetarians out there doing keto. I want to make this my lifestyle. I mean, I do want to get to a point where I can have some healthy carbs like quinoa, barley, etc. and fruit. But I want to break the sugar addiction and keep away from the processed stuff (especially donuts and ice cream - my two weaknesses) as much as possible even after I get the weight off. The work begins here, but without a reliance on food packets I need guidance.
Help!
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PS. I do dairy and eggs, as well as soy products. I prefer to keep my soy limited to a few times a week due to the amount of estrogen tofu contains, but what other protein sources are there for a keto diet? Nuts? Anything else?0
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I'm sorry I'm not more familiar with the specifics. Perhaps I'll do a bit of research for next time.
I do know about this:
vegetarian keto-
https://www.reddit.com/r/vegetarianketo
They have their own subbreddit. Check it out and search it. I'm betting that you'll find some helpful info.
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Personally, I'm a peanut butter NUT (pun not intended but appreciated), so I don't generally worry about my protein intake
I decided to search for an answer to your question, though, and I appreciated this list: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/natural-health/vegan-sources-of-protein/ I was raised vegetarian (did not eat meat until my mid to late 20s), and I was never lacking in protein. The obvious sources are eggs, cheese, beans, nuts, seeds, and soy products. But maybe you need some new ways to prepare some of these? I know there are several people on here who add hemp seeds and chia seeds to baking and smoothies and such, as well as people who purchase low carb protein powder. Maybe they can suggest some better ideas. I'm just excited because I just found out spinach, broccoli, asparagus, and artichoke hearts are good sources of protein. 
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For low carb, aren't beans a no-no? I haven't checked into seeds and their carb content, but I'm afraid to go searching for protein in legumes and beans because they're so high in carbs. For example, last night I ate split pea soup - it has nothing added to it, just broth and the split peas - and it was 58 grams of carbs by itself. I have a casserole I've been eating that is made with veggie ground round and I added a can of black beans to the recipe. The beans also increased the carb count, though not nearly as much - probably because one can of beans was stretching to 10 servings.
I do have chia seeds and hadn't thought to use those (I assumed, probably incorrectly, that they are high carbs). I have so much protein powder in my house I will have to look at the carb content of the few brands I have. Would hate to waste it.
Hopefully more folks will chime in, though I did notice on another thread that there aren't that many keto vegetarians in this group.0 -
Beans are a grey area, and it depends on your carb allotment. They're going to add carbs, but it's a fair bit of fiber, too, reducing the "effective" carb count. Different beans will have different amounts, too, so be mindful of the types of beans/legume you use.0
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Dragonwolf wrote: »Beans are a grey area, and it depends on your carb allotment. They're going to add carbs, but it's a fair bit of fiber, too, reducing the "effective" carb count. Different beans will have different amounts, too, so be mindful of the types of beans/legume you use.
This. It depends on your individual goals. Personally, I do not eat beans on LCHF. But I do eat meat. And, guess what, I really don't like beans anyway. I never have. Not even growing up on my dad's Puerto Rican arroz y frijoles. I'd eat all the beans first because they were the part I disliked.
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I like most beans and I also love chickpeas and split peas. But when I saw how many carbs a bowl of split pea soup cost me, I nearly choked. I'm unclear how many carbs I should be eating to get into ketosis. I know when I was on Ideal Protein I had very few carbs, but I was also on a diet that was only around 800 calories per day. While I recognize that being in ketosis will make me feel less hungry, I'd like to be eating more like 1200 calories per day.
I'm still a little unclear about how many carbs, protein and fat grams I should be aiming for. I have my MFP goals set to 50% protein, 20% carb and 30% fat, which was recommended on one of the websites I found. But this means 60g of carbs per day which seems high for ketosis. Maybe I would have good results with this, I'm just wondering if I should be lowering it further.0 -
Have you used the keto calculator (http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/) or flexible ketogenic (http://www.flexibleketogenic.com/) to explore your macros? I think most keto folk here do something like 10% carbs, 20% protein, 70% fat.
Personally I try to keep my carbs under about 40g per day. If you stick around long enough, though, you'll probably learn I don't have time to stress about the little things and get everything perfect. Perfection doesn't exist anyway.
I should also point out that I don't give a whit about whether or not I'm in ketosis as long as I feel good and my weight is on a downward trend.0 -
Yeah, I'm starting to think I might just lower my carbs but not stress too much. I'm consistently losing so far, so it may be a situation where I need to be careful not to overdo them, but not become obsessive about it. MFP goals have me at 60g carbs right now, and I know that's too high to be in keyosis. But I might just wait and see if I want to cut back more. I'm feeling pretty good so far and all my sugar cravings have disappeared, which is what I wanted! :-)
Thanks everyone for your advice!0 -
Your body will produce plenty of ketones at 60 g carbs a day, even under 100 g carbs you are producing a good amount of ketones. The whole 20 - 50 g a day thing is not necessary for ketosis. Many people feel their best at that level and it provides for a quicker adaptation, though if you don't supplement properly you may struggle because you will dump a lot of electrolytes very quickly at that low a level.0
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I found this link very helpfull in general. I am in low carb diet and I am using the information I got from this website to calculate my carb, protine and fat intake. Here is the link. Hope it help.
http://www.acaloriecounter.com/diet/how-many-meals-a-day-when-how-often-should-you-eat/0 -
Thank you!
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KittyHeaven74 wrote: »I like most beans and I also love chickpeas and split peas. But when I saw how many carbs a bowl of split pea soup cost me, I nearly choked. I'm unclear how many carbs I should be eating to get into ketosis. I know when I was on Ideal Protein I had very few carbs, but I was also on a diet that was only around 800 calories per day. While I recognize that being in ketosis will make me feel less hungry, I'd like to be eating more like 1200 calories per day.
I'm still a little unclear about how many carbs, protein and fat grams I should be aiming for. I have my MFP goals set to 50% protein, 20% carb and 30% fat, which was recommended on one of the websites I found. But this means 60g of carbs per day which seems high for ketosis. Maybe I would have good results with this, I'm just wondering if I should be lowering it further.
Black soy beans have the lowest net carbs of any bean that I've found, lower than regular soy beans, and a bit lower than tofu for the amount of protein, with a lot more fiber. (Total carbs-fiber = net carbs). Most people will be in some degree of ketosis eating under 70 grams of carbs a day. You can always go lower if you want to.0 -
I often have hummus with extra olive oil added even though it throws me of my usual 5% carb allotment.0
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Meseretmoore wrote: »I found this link very helpfull in general. I am in low carb diet and I am using the information I got from this website to calculate my carb, protine and fat intake. Here is the link. Hope it help.
http://www.acaloriecounter.com/diet/how-many-meals-a-day-when-how-often-should-you-eat/
Interesting.. thanks!0 -
If you are ok with wheat gluten you can have seitan.
"High in Protein, Low in Carbs and Fat
Although seitan is made from wheat, it is low in carbs and high in protein. A 3-ounce portion of seitan contains 2.5 to 4 grams of carbs, 1 to 2 grams of fiber, 0 to 2 grams of fat and 21 grams of protein. The publication "Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010" says that including alternative sources of protein in place of your usual meat and chicken can help improve the nutritional quality of your diet by providing nutrients that promote health. Seitan is low in fat, has no saturated fat and provides a source of fiber, making it a good choice for heart health. So, instead of making your usual beef stew for dinner, try stew with seitan."
http://www.livestrong.com/article/294810-the-nutritional-value-of-seitan/
Since there isn't much fat involved, you can do what you like for that part of your meal to dress it up.0 -
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If you do eat eggs (I don't but I sometimes wish I did) that answers a lot of your problems. Also, I take a good, low carb, protein powder so I have more wiggle room, without having to add the carbs too. A lot of what I cook is Indian style, and I generally leave out rice and daal (lentil "soups") and I'm fine. Do make sure to eat sufficient fats. Seitan, paneer, faux meats, all good, but of course they have a slightly higher carb count than no-carb meat, so you'll have to budget if you go very low (I'm at about 20g carbs/day)
It may be that 60g still keeps you in ketosis. It didn't work like that for me, I took the guesswork out of it by dropping to 20g/day. But your body is different of course, it's an individual thing to figure out. Good luck, it's far from impossible, especially if you do eat dairy and eggs.
Just make sure you eat sufficient fats. 0 -
I'm a life long veg. I'm doing 30 carbs approx, this week and 40 next as my kickstart. Although I struggle with variety so far my saving graces have been string cheese, almonds, avocado during the day and roasted w/olive oil & garlic(insert veg), with melted mozzarella then when it's done, cover it in pesto as an entree. I haven't had much pesto in life since it's so high in calories but now, it's rich and flavorful so it makes anything tasty. Although I'm currently really trying to lose weight I need to adopt this way of life. In the future I at least want to be conscious of my carbs and make healthier choices (instead of my fav:cheese fries). I also enjoy hummus on celery and my fav is strawberry cream cheese on celery. I've made my own soup with vegetable broth, can of diced tomatoes, mushrooms, onions and celery. I can't say enough good things about red berries or cottage cheese (4%). I'm a lacto ovo that really perfects not to eat eggs. KETO without meat isn't easy, at least not for me.0
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