VEGETARIAN LOW CARB

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I would like suggestions for low carb vegetarian bf , lunch , dinner ideas, I do eat eggs, chicken but I prefer vegetarian food.My family has a history of diabetes and I want to prevent becoming prediabetic.

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  • taso42_DELETED
    taso42_DELETED Posts: 3,394 Member
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    Steak?
  • billsica
    billsica Posts: 4,741 Member
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    I'm not sure I could tell you about your low carb boyfriend.

    As a former vegetarian. Its rather hard to be honest. veggies, nuts etc. Your going to have to make choices and end up with more carbs than if you ate meat.

    I think some can do it with raw stuff and everything, but if your family isn't getting all that stuff, it will be a challenge.
  • kentlass
    kentlass Posts: 325 Member
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    do you eat quorn products??? these are generally very low carb and high protein...and so-so for sodium x
  • billsica
    billsica Posts: 4,741 Member
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    Great vegetarian Steak dinner.

    12 oz. Porterhouse steak. make sure its a fresh cut from your butcher.
    1 bottle windex.

    Spray your steak liberally
    Toss it into the trash.
    Rant on the internet and twitter for 3 days
  • NNsMomma
    NNsMomma Posts: 18 Member
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    I'm a vegetarian (not vegan which means I eat eggs and dairy) but no meat at all -no chicken or fish or meat of any kind. I work out - hard - and eat whole grains. I have never been in better shape and I'm 50. I weigh about 112 and have low body fat - and plenty of muscle. My reason for telling you all of this is because I wanted you to see how you can be successful as a vegetarian - enjoy whole grains and fruits . I eat about 55% carbs - 30% fat - and 15% protein.
    I was at one time a "low-carber." I was afraid to eat fruit! The way I eat now makes me feel great! I have so much energy and zest!

    Eat a well balanced menu of multi colors and you will be great. For starters, try the book Becoming Vegetarian. It can help you understand the balance of grains, fruits, etc. and why we were conditioned to think we need more protein than we do.

    I hope all this helps....
  • _Sally_
    _Sally_ Posts: 514 Member
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    It can be done... you just need to plan. You may be interested in reading Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman.
    ,
    To feel full and not go overboard on grains and breads, etc., you need to eat a lot of vegetables ( Dr. Fuhrman recommends striving for 1 lb raw and 1 lb cooked a day) and you need to eat protein - primarily from beans (1 cup a day) or tofu, etc.. The carbs in beans are processed differently than breads, grains, etc. so don't be afraid of them.

    If you are eating these amounts, along with a couple of servings of fruit a day, you will have no room left over for vegetarian junk food, or large servings of breads, rice, etc.

    Instead of crackers or bread, try Wasa crackers. Light Rye variety is only 30 cals and can easilly be substituted for a slice of bread (in my opinion).

    good luck!
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
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    Chicken is my favourite vegetable. Mmm. Clucky.
  • _Sally_
    _Sally_ Posts: 514 Member
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    As a side note... I'm always amazed at "vegetarians" who don't like vegetables or think it is "too extreme" to eat a lot of vegetables.
  • raevynn
    raevynn Posts: 666 Member
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    Quinoa is an excellent, high protein/low carb "grain" (actually a seed).

    Cooked oats is a great breakfast.

    Greens! lots and lots of dark green leafies... kale, chard, spinach - all low carb, all packed with nutrients, including protein, and very, very tasty!

    Think about scaling back on the white stuff, like flour/wheat, rice, potatoes, and head towards bright, vibrant color foods, like sweet potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, the aforementioned greens, and antioxidant rich berries.
  • billsica
    billsica Posts: 4,741 Member
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    As a side note... I'm always amazed at "vegetarians" who don't like vegetables or think it is "too extreme" to eat a lot of vegetables.

    I hate salads. Pizza is so much better
  • raevynn
    raevynn Posts: 666 Member
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    As a side note... I'm always amazed at "vegetarians" who don't like vegetables or think it is "too extreme" to eat a lot of vegetables.

    I hate salads. Pizza is so much better
    I love pizza.
    Whole grain crust, really good tomato pizza sauce, a ton of veggies like garlic, onion, artichoke hearts, peppers, maybe some little tiny broccoli florets, and topped with a good sprinkle of Daiya mozz-style shreds...

    Yummy! and, still pretty darned healthy.
  • 8rules
    8rules Posts: 169
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    Quinoa is an excellent, high protein/low carb "grain" (actually a seed).

    Cooked oats is a great breakfast.

    Greens! lots and lots of dark green leafies... kale, chard, spinach - all low carb, all packed with nutrients, including protein, and very, very tasty!

    Think about scaling back on the white stuff, like flour/wheat, rice, potatoes, and head towards bright, vibrant color foods, like sweet potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, the aforementioned greens, and antioxidant rich berries.

    I am going to take a differing opinion on qinoa, which I do eat. And same with oats.

    These foods are NOT low carb, high protein. These are high carb foods with some protein, at best.

    Qinoa, 23 gram of carbs for 5 grams of protein is not low carb, protein.

    Oats at 27 grams of carbs for 5 grams of protein is not low carb, high protein.

    I have no idea why they (qinoa and oats) are marketed that way, or why they are treated that way. Like I said, I eat these, but lets see them for what they are.

    I also think looking for a low carb vegetarian diet is like looking for water on the moon. It could exist, but if it does, its likely there is not enough of it to matter.

    I agree with the advice of whole fresh vegetables and fruit in variety are likely to provide you with a good balance. I think you will need to avoid grains as false, starchy calories that will bring virtually no real nutrients to the table (and real vegetables even have more fibre), and will reduce your protein balance even further.

    I would also suggest some avocados, EVOO and coconut oil, and various nuts and legumes to round it out.
  • raevynn
    raevynn Posts: 666 Member
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    I am going to take a differing opinion on qinoa, which I do eat. And same with oats.

    These foods are NOT low carb, high protein. These are high carb foods with some protein, at best.

    Qinoa, 23 gram of carbs for 5 grams of protein is not low carb, protein.

    Oats at 27 grams of carbs for 5 grams of protein is not low carb, high protein.

    I have no idea why they (qinoa and oats) are marketed that way, or why they are treated that way. Like I said, I eat these, but lets see them for what they are.

    I also think looking for a low carb vegetarian diet is like looking for water on the moon. It could exist, but if it does, its likely there is not enough of it to matter.

    I agree with the advice of whole fresh vegetables and fruit in variety are likely to provide you with a good balance. I think you will need to avoid grains as false, starchy calories that will bring virtually no real nutrients to the table (and real vegetables even have more fibre), and will reduce your protein balance even further.

    I would also suggest some avocados, EVOO and coconut oil, and various nuts and legumes to round it out.
    Okay, so they are carbs... but, does your body treat them that way?

    My first spouse was diabetic. His doctor warned him that if he ate plain oatmeal, it would pull down his blood sugar and unbalance his meds... because of the high protein content of it. In practice, it did, indeed, do that.

    and, yeah, quinoa... sorry, I was going by this: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/10352/2
    which shows how good a protein source it is. I wasn't really looking at the carb data there.
  • olivia3263
    olivia3263 Posts: 263 Member
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    I absolutely LOVE this website: 101cookbooks.com - it's a blog of sorts with a lot of vegetarian/whole food recipes - even some gluten free ones. There's a feature where you can choose an ingredient and get a bunch of yummy, healthy recipes that include that ingredient. Or you can search by meal - breakfast, salad, main course, etc.

    I've made many of these recipes and they always come out great!
  • littlemount
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    Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions.
  • 8rules
    8rules Posts: 169
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    I am going to take a differing opinion on qinoa, which I do eat. And same with oats.

    These foods are NOT low carb, high protein. These are high carb foods with some protein, at best.

    Qinoa, 23 gram of carbs for 5 grams of protein is not low carb, protein.

    Oats at 27 grams of carbs for 5 grams of protein is not low carb, high protein.

    I have no idea why they (qinoa and oats) are marketed that way, or why they are treated that way. Like I said, I eat these, but lets see them for what they are.

    I also think looking for a low carb vegetarian diet is like looking for water on the moon. It could exist, but if it does, its likely there is not enough of it to matter.

    I agree with the advice of whole fresh vegetables and fruit in variety are likely to provide you with a good balance. I think you will need to avoid grains as false, starchy calories that will bring virtually no real nutrients to the table (and real vegetables even have more fibre), and will reduce your protein balance even further.

    I would also suggest some avocados, EVOO and coconut oil, and various nuts and legumes to round it out.
    Okay, so they are carbs... but, does your body treat them that way?

    My first spouse was diabetic. His doctor warned him that if he ate plain oatmeal, it would pull down his blood sugar and unbalance his meds... because of the high protein content of it. In practice, it did, indeed, do that.

    and, yeah, quinoa... sorry, I was going by this: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/10352/2
    which shows how good a protein source it is. I wasn't really looking at the carb data there.

    They may not produce the same glycemic response level as some other carbs like fructose, but they are carbs.

    According to your link, 222 calories, mostly carbs, is A LOT of calories for 8 grams of protein, or am I just crazy?

    This is, in my opinion, more of a marketing angle for qinoa then it is reality.

    I think it should be revised to "A high source of protein compared to other grain-like products"

    Anyway, just my opinion.
  • raevynn
    raevynn Posts: 666 Member
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    I do appreciate this ^ - thank you for pointing stuff out I hadn't really paid attention to before..
  • eh613c
    eh613c Posts: 14 Member
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    I would like suggestions for low carb vegetarian bf , lunch , dinner ideas, I do eat eggs, chicken but I prefer vegetarian food.My family has a history of diabetes and I want to prevent becoming prediabetic.

    For breakfast try greek yogurt with a banana, flaxseed and high fiber cereal. It gets me through the morning with no problem.

    For lunch and dinner, try a combo of roasted vegetables, mozzarella, green salad, tofu. You can also try cauliflower rice and stir fry tofu and veggies, lean cut of steak with a wedge salad, green salad with nuts, garbanzo beans and feta.

    Hope this helps.
  • CandyR1018
    CandyR1018 Posts: 101 Member
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    I'm a vegetarian (not vegan which means I eat eggs and dairy) but no meat at all -no chicken or fish or meat of any kind. I work out - hard - and eat whole grains. I have never been in better shape and I'm 50. I weigh about 112 and have low body fat - and plenty of muscle. My reason for telling you all of this is because I wanted you to see how you can be successful as a vegetarian - enjoy whole grains and fruits . I eat about 55% carbs - 30% fat - and 15% protein.
    I was at one time a "low-carber." I was afraid to eat fruit! The way I eat now makes me feel great! I have so much energy and zest!

    Eat a well balanced menu of multi colors and you will be great. For starters, try the book Becoming Vegetarian. It can help you understand the balance of grains, fruits, etc. and why we were conditioned to think we need more protein than we do.

    I hope all this helps....

    I was looking for this book on amazon and there are several titles out there, do you know who this book is by?