I don't know what to eat! (Vegan)

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bnmoyler
bnmoyler Posts: 133 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm pretty much vegan. I have been for 10 years now. But I'm starting to train harder now and am always lacking in protein and fat. I just need some ideas. So here it is; My diet is a little high in carbs but that's good for me. A low carb diet is not for me. I don't do protein shakes; I like food. Bars are ok if they're not too sweet. I love veggies and honestly would live off rice and veggie dishes if I could. I like tofu, yuba, all sorts of beans and things, seitan sometimes, but don't care for tempeh. I eat extremely high vitamin a and c diet with like no cholesterol. I just need food ideas. I need a good balance of fuel and nutrients. Any ideas? Don't reply and say to eat meat and don't reply suggesting protein powder. I'm looking for real food ideas.

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  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
    edited October 2017
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    Do you have many nuts in your diet? They're a good source of fat and an ok source of protein. They're pretty easy to incorporate into existing meals too, especially rice/veg meals.
  • Cbean08
    Cbean08 Posts: 1,092 Member
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    It looks like you enjoy vegan protein sources so you just need to eat more of those - more tofu, beans, seitan, soy etc.

    Make sure you incorporate at least 1 of those into every meal. Cook in olive oil (or another oil) to up your fat intake. Nuts are another good source. So is avocado.

    Here are some meal ideas
    spanish rice, black beans, bell peppers, onions, tofu seasoned with taco mix, topped with avocado and cilantro

    baked potato topped with vegan chili (tomato paste, tomato juice, kidney beans, boca crumbles, green pepper, onion) and soy cheese

    falafel, salad mix, olives, tomato, avocado and pine nuts

    edamame, sautéed cabbage, red pepper and onion, topped with teriyaki tofu and peanuts
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,009 Member
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    It sounds like you're already eating most of the high-protein "real foods" available to vegans, although you don't mention grains, which I find provide a reasonable amount of protein for a plant food. Do you add nutritional yeast to your food, or do you not consider that real food? How about mushrooms -- 3 grams of protein for 22 calories is pretty darn good.

    Divide your overall daily calories by your protein goal in grams. The result is how many calories, on average, you can afford to "spend" for 1 gram of protein. Look through your diary and identify food that costs less (in calories) for your gram of protein than that average. Eat more of those foods. Identify the foods that cost more than the average and eat less of those.

  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    It sounds like you're already eating most of the high-protein "real foods" available to vegans, although you don't mention grains, which I find provide a reasonable amount of protein for a plant food. Do you add nutritional yeast to your food, or do you not consider that real food? How about mushrooms -- 3 grams of protein for 22 calories is pretty darn good.

    Divide your overall daily calories by your protein goal in grams. The result is how many calories, on average, you can afford to "spend" for 1 gram of protein. Look through your diary and identify food that costs less (in calories) for your gram of protein than that average. Eat more of those foods. Identify the foods that cost more than the average and eat less of those.

    Heh, they ran an ad campaign here when I was a kid "Mushrooms. They're meat for vegetarians".
  • bnmoyler
    bnmoyler Posts: 133 Member
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    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    Do you have many nuts in your diet? They're a good source of fat and an ok source of protein. They're pretty easy to incorporate into existing meals too, especially rice/veg meals.

    That's a good idea. I used to always keep almonds and pine nuts around for snacking. I need to go back that route.
  • bnmoyler
    bnmoyler Posts: 133 Member
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    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    It sounds like you're already eating most of the high-protein "real foods" available to vegans, although you don't mention grains, which I find provide a reasonable amount of protein for a plant food. Do you add nutritional yeast to your food, or do you not consider that real food? How about mushrooms -- 3 grams of protein for 22 calories is pretty darn good.

    Divide your overall daily calories by your protein goal in grams. The result is how many calories, on average, you can afford to "spend" for 1 gram of protein. Look through your diary and identify food that costs less (in calories) for your gram of protein than that average. Eat more of those foods. Identify the foods that cost more than the average and eat less of those.

    Heh, they ran an ad campaign here when I was a kid "Mushrooms. They're meat for vegetarians".

    Yum mushrooms! Ok I could do like portobello burgers.
  • mooretamara56
    mooretamara56 Posts: 5 Member
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    I’m vegan too. You could add in more avocado, guacamole, beans, peanut butter, and hummus. Also try adding more seeds to your diet. I don’t know if you like smoothies. I put chia or flax seeds in my green smoothies.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    edited October 2017
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    "bars are OK"....you do realise most of the bars with a decent amount of protein have protein powder in them?

    If you think bars are OK, why not get a plant based protein powder and incorporate it in to some bliss balls/bars of your own?
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Another vote for hummus and roasted chickpeas.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
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    I love Marinated tofu, I use a brand called Dragonfly and it is 11g fat and 16g protein per 100g.

    It's nice cold or hot.
  • PlantPowered79
    PlantPowered79 Posts: 4 Member
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    Hummus, nut butters and avocado.
    Flax and chia in your smoothies.
  • Skipjack66
    Skipjack66 Posts: 102 Member
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    Hey! I used to hate tempeh too, until I found Lightlife brand. It’s very mild and will take on the flavour of the marinade really nicely. I make it using this recipe.

    https://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/glazed-maple-mustard-tempeh-strips-with-collards

    It is super yummy! I found the recipe to be very forgiving. I sub out any sturdy green leafy veg and it works. I also add other veg to it and serve it on a bed of brown rice. Instead of baking the tempeh you can also lightly fry it. I use up the all the marinade and pour it all over everything.

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