Vegan/vegetarian losing weight

Hi there
My family have just gone vegetarian/vegan. Im trying to lose weight but want to make sure my kids are getting enough protein etc

Replies

  • dr100
    dr100 Posts: 9 Member
    You don't have to go vegetarian or vegan to lose weight. I tried it and ended up sacrificing muscle instead of all fat. That did happen to me because I was mostly eating proccesed vegetarian foods and not getting enough protein but still.
  • godlikepoetyes
    godlikepoetyes Posts: 442 Member
    If you want your kids to eat vegan, this can be tricky. Go and see a good nutritionist. This is usually not very expensive and can put your mind at ease. As for vegetarian, getting plenty of protein is not at all difficult. So Delicious has 5 x Protein Almond Milk. Nonfat Greek yogurt cannot be beat for protein. Eggs are excellent all the way round. I have been a vegan, but after a year and a half found it too restrictive. I eat eat now, but must days I don't. I use skim milk. I eat low-fat cheeses. Eggs. People in America are pretty nuts about protein. Even bananas have protein! Bread. Oatmeal. Beans. Peas. Grains. Nuts!! If you eat a variety of good foods, you should have no problem and your kids will thrive.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Lentils, chick peas, black beans, pinto beans, cheese, milk, eggs, yogurt, nuts, tofu, peanut butter, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, broccoli, yellow squash, kale . . . .
    =====
    Bean chili and tacos, eggs and tofu and these --
    http://www.cookinglight.com/food/vegetarian/vegetarian-meals/view-all
  • bellabonbons
    bellabonbons Posts: 705 Member
    I have been a vegetarian for 11 years and I have great muscle tone I have all my protein needs met. And by becoming a vegetarian on my blood values became perfect.
  • redraidergirl2009
    redraidergirl2009 Posts: 2,560 Member
    Protein is very easy to get on a vegetarian diet. Here's a list of some common sources, TBH you don't need alot of protein, most people around 45-65 grams a day is enough. If you want to lose weight focus on calories and making good food choices. Remember, cakes and cookies are vegetarian too, but not healthy.

    http://www.eatthis.com/lose-weight-build-muscle-with-complete-proteins
  • melonaulait
    melonaulait Posts: 769 Member
    Focus on eating a variety of whole plant foods. Sounds like a great change for your family!
  • tanyaltrl
    tanyaltrl Posts: 42 Member
    You don't need as much protein as we're told to have in western society. Its the meat and dairy industry influencing the government that made the protein requirements so high. The World Health Organization states we only need 5% of our diet from protein. You can get this easily from whole foods plant based diet. Legumes/tofu/nuts are totally optional. Look up Dr. McDougall, Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. T Colin Campbell, Dr. Esselstyn...theres so many more this is just to start off. Many kids thrive on vegan diets
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    You may find this article interesting: http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/protein

    Summary: Ensure you're including lysine-rich foods in your diet and it will be pretty easy to ensure you and your familly are getting enough protein.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,225 Member
    tanyaltrl wrote: »
    You don't need as much protein as we're told to have in western society. Its the meat and dairy industry influencing the government that made the protein requirements so high. The World Health Organization states we only need 5% of our diet from protein. You can get this easily from whole foods plant based diet. Legumes/tofu/nuts are totally optional. Look up Dr. McDougall, Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. T Colin Campbell, Dr. Esselstyn...theres so many more this is just to start off. Many kids thrive on vegan diets

    From Joint FAO/WHO/UNU Expert Consultation on Protein and Amino Acid Requirements in Human Nutrition
    (2002 : Geneva, Switzerland)
    The requirement indicated by the meta-analysis (6) (a median requirement of
    105 mg nitrogen/kg per day or 0.66 g/kg per day of protein) can be accepted
    as the best estimate of a population average requirement for healthy adults.
    Although there is considerable uncertainty about the true between-individual
    variability, the safe level was identified as the 97.5th percentile of the population
    distribution of requirement, i.e. 133 mg nitrogen/kg per day, or 0.83
    g/kg per day protein. Thus 0.83 g/kg per day protein would be expected
    to meet the requirements of most (97.5%) of the healthy adult population.

    I can't speak for others, but that's substantially more than 5% of calories for me (and yes, I do see that the recommendation is based on body weight in kilograms, not pounds). Plus those are the recommendations for adults; the g/kg recommendation for children varies by age, and is higher.

    Note: I'm not disagreeing that one can get a healthy amount of protein on a vegan diet. (I'm vegetarian myself, though not vegan.) One can, and I'm sure can achieve healthy levels for children as well. But I recommend that anyone do his/her own research in primary sources to be comfortable with what that healthy level is.