To the Vegetarians out there!!! Carb help!

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AngelicaDulas
AngelicaDulas Posts: 196
in Food and Nutrition
Hey every one!! I am a life long vegetarian, born and raised by my parents that way!! BUT i do consume dairy and very small quantities of occational egg, so no I'm not a vegan.

My question to all of you is, what are your carb protein fat ratios here on MFP? I tend to not track my carb intake because SOOOOOO much of what I eat translates into carbs, so i hate seeing that red number every day! From the raw veggies, fruits and whole grains that I eat, as well as the carbs in the Morningstar soy/wheat protein substitutes I eat... My carbs are set at 55% I think, with protein at only 20% and fats at 25% (fats being greek yogurt, soft cheese, olive oil, etc, rarely from an "unhealthy" source!)

I've been at maintenance for the last month letting my body readjust before making that last push (possibly for 10lbs under my current goal) and was wondering if trying to reduce my carbs would help with that. If so, what can I do to lower my carb intake without sacrificing all the veggies and fruits and whole grains (i.e. wheat pasta, brown rice, quinoa) that are such a huge part of my diet?! I very rarely drink anything but water (when I do it's wine or vodka and juice)... so there's the back ground. Give me some feedback!

Replies

  • Lolamako
    Lolamako Posts: 89 Member
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    Vegan here, I don't think I'm much help, but you might eat a "cleaner" diet, as in less processed foods. I rarely have a problem if I eat mostly whole foods. (I've been eating WAY WAY WAY too many processed foods for months now, I need to work on that myself)

    I'm also posting to mark this, curious to see what others say.
  • xraychick77
    xraychick77 Posts: 1,775 Member
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    mine are

    40% carbs, 30% fats and 30% protein

    i bodybuild, so i use whey isolate protein. i get my healthy fats from the olive oil i cook my veg in, and nuts, peanut butter etc.
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
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    Well, without seeing your diary to really know what you're currently eating, one thing would be to greatly increase the non-starchy veggies. Make at least half your plate a variety of veggies, especially dark green veggies. You can even include veggies at breakfast.

    Edit: that might also mean increasing your veggies while decreasing your fruits, but again it depends on what you're currently eating.
  • tshirt_tt
    tshirt_tt Posts: 10 Member
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    Vegan here too. However, I have a few suggestions, since I too do eat carbs.

    #1 CUT OUT THE ALCOHOL. Calories and sugar, no matter what Atkins followers say.
    2. Cut out the juice. The carbs and calories would be better spent eating fruits with fiber, not drinking juice.
    3. Cut out the cheese. Or at least cut down. Soft cheeses are very high in fat and calories. There are vegan cheeses which I really like but they are too high in fat and calories and I have to steer clear of them. Better protein options would be tofu, tempeh, seitan, etc. You get a ton of protein, with far fewer calories.

    I don't see any need whatsoever to cut down on fruits and veggies. The idea is to eat more of them, not less, they have fiber and fiber is supposed to bring your net carbs down.

    You might want to look at the carbs rather than the sugar for some info in how what kind of sugars they are. Often my sugars go in the red too because I eat a lot of fruit, but when I look at carbs, I still haven't used all mine up because I eat so much fiber.

    Just an idea since we're talking about carbs: You might want to also cut out pasta and bread, or at least really cut down and if you must have grains (or maybe just eat them less frequently), rye is supposed to be one of the lowest glycemic grains out there. (It does have gluten for those who watch that -- I don't) Another delicious very high fiber grain is hard winter wheat.

    Also, I saw on TV a newsclip where a guy tried cutting his calories by only eating junk food, like twinkies. He still lost weight, the conclusion being that cutting calories in proportion to energy expenditure is always key no matter what one eats. Just for a little long-term perspective. I just think that cutting the carbs just a bit can help you lose it faster.

    Hope this helps a bit.
  • martielou
    martielou Posts: 50 Member
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    Hey! I'm vegan myself, but also have high carb intake- mine is set at 65 carbs 20 protein 15 fat. If a lot of your carbs are leafy greens and veggies, you're fine! I say up those and the high protein grains (quinoa, etc), at the expense of starchy carbs- if those seem to cause weight gain for you.
    Robin Robertson has a good cookbook- "Carb Conscious Vegetarian" that you might find useful. Also, look into Joel Fuhrman's "eat to live" (thumb through it at at bookstore maybe). He has a high-nutrient veggie plan that you might like. :)
    Best of luck!
  • _eislek_
    _eislek_ Posts: 198 Member
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    I wouldn't worry about the carbs that come from fruits and vegetables. I don't!

    And my ratios are whatever MFP has them set to! I don't know enough about all that jazz to want to change it myself.
  • AngelicaDulas
    AngelicaDulas Posts: 196
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    Thanks for the insight everyone. I do tend to eat a lot of pastas (almost always a wheat whole grain version!) and sometimes it's hard to avoid the carbs from my FAVORITE thing: a red yam. Damn those yams! LOL And being married to a husband that doesnt like brown rice makes it difficult for dinner some times. I don't want to have to cook two separate meals to feed us so I end up just eating the white rice (though not often) I changed my tracker to look at carbs (since I have avoided doing so for a while) and was suprised to see that about 70% of the time I'm under my net carbs! LOL It's typically only when I eat white rice or a yam or crunchy taco shells (YUM!) that I have issues. But I'm still really close to going red even though I'm at 55% carbs. I guess I'm not doing as bad as I thought! But thanks for the book suggestions I like the idea of the "Carb Conscious" one. :)
  • yogavegan
    yogavegan Posts: 116 Member
    Options
    Vegan here too. However, I have a few suggestions, since I too do eat carbs.

    #1 CUT OUT THE ALCOHOL. Calories and sugar, no matter what Atkins followers say.
    2. Cut out the juice. The carbs and calories would be better spent eating fruits with fiber, not drinking juice.
    3. Cut out the cheese. Or at least cut down. Soft cheeses are very high in fat and calories. There are vegan cheeses which I really like but they are too high in fat and calories and I have to steer clear of them. Better protein options would be tofu, tempeh, seitan, etc. You get a ton of protein, with far fewer calories.

    I don't see any need whatsoever to cut down on fruits and veggies. The idea is to eat more of them, not less, they have fiber and fiber is supposed to bring your net carbs down.





    what tshirt said. ditch the processed meat substitutes and eat more legumes, leafy greens!
    You might want to look at the carbs rather than the sugar for some info in how what kind of sugars they are. Often my sugars go in the red too because I eat a lot of fruit, but when I look at carbs, I still haven't used all mine up because I eat so much fiber.

    Just an idea since we're talking about carbs: You might want to also cut out pasta and bread, or at least really cut down and if you must have grains (or maybe just eat them less frequently), rye is supposed to be one of the lowest glycemic grains out there. (It does have gluten for those who watch that -- I don't) Another delicious very high fiber grain is hard winter wheat.

    Also, I saw on TV a newsclip where a guy tried cutting his calories by only eating junk food, like twinkies. He still lost weight, the conclusion being that cutting calories in proportion to energy expenditure is always key no matter what one eats. Just for a little long-term perspective. I just think that cutting the carbs just a bit can help you lose it faster.

    Hope this helps a bit.

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