vegetarian low carb/cal food questions!

Hi! I am goingo attmpt to answer your questions but they are tough!

For carss that are healthy I do alot of beans, and whole grains. You could look up veggies, grains and beans online and try to see which are lower in carbs. Not sure how tofu is on carbs. I never seem to go over but I may at a higher weight than you.

I make a yummy smoothie for breakfast that consists of almod milk, protien powder (banana flavored), tofu, berries, and two tabelspons of groun flax seeed. It is tasty and farely low carb. It is very filling especially if combined with a piece of toast or a HB eg, if you do eggs.

I have a wonderful solution for butter that I got form my naturepath. Equal parts of olive oil and butter softened and blended together, then put back in the fridge to harden back up. It is tasty and better for you than butter.

Hope this helps some.
Shauna

Nuts and nut butters are great - as long as you don't eat too much (and you're not allergic)! They have protein and good fats. I like to eat about 8 almonds as a snack. I also throw almost any kind of nuts on salads to give them some weight. Tofu and other soy proteins are also low carb. TVP is really cheap and easy to make - just add boiling water and soak for a few minutes, and then you can throw it into anything.

I love fudge bars/popsicles as a treat - they are yummy and only about 100 calories (less if you get the smaller size). Beans and legumes are pretty filling and low-cal - and high in fiber! If you eat cheese, some people like mozzarella string cheese as a low calorie snack.

For breakfast... oatmeal is pretty good for you if you can tolerate it without a lot of sweetener (fresh berries can help). I tend to be in a hurry in the morning, so a lot of days I'll just have some soy milk with added protein powder (I've been using Genisoy chocolate flavored lately) or a Slim-Fast shake. My favorite breakfast is yogurt and granola, but you have to be careful with the granola - it can be rather high in calories. A slice of toast with some peanut butter and a glass of OJ is good, too.

As for butter substitute - I don't have a lot of good suggestions. I think there are some margarines out there that don't have trans fats. I tend to use olive oil or canola oil for cooking, and then use real butter for baking when it's called for.

I hope this was helpful!