Question for vegetarians :)

I suggest looking at vegan recipes instead of vegetarian. I have noticed that a lot of vegetarians eat a lot of pasta, rice, starchy veg and other things that are carbo loaded. Vegans tend to eat more greens and veg. You could also try some raw food recipe sites and/or blogs.

Fake meats, tofu, Greek yogurt (usually more protein than regular yogurt) , eggs, cottage cheese, cheese (watch out for rennet) and veggies. Many, many veggies.

Pasta, rice and bread products are all high in carbs, so I try to treat those more as a side dish rather than part of the main dish. This is hard for me, because I would live off rice and noodles.

I used to have a really hard time getting enough protein, but I've been pretty lucky lately. Egg substitute and cottage cheese have been the bulk of my protein lately.

I'm having the same problem. I've been veggy for nearly 10 years, and never knew I had trouble balancing protein, carbs and fat until I started running lots - that's why I was 15 stone (210lbs)! My next goal is a half marathon (on May 13th), and in training I'm almost there, but I'm still 12.5 stone. I've been stubbornly at the same weight for months, regardless of the changes to my training and increasing distances, and I'm getting annoyed at the "cuddly" band of tummy weight that just won't shift. it has forced me to look at what I'm putting in, and the quality and content of my calories, rather than just what I'm getting out of them.

I'm still trying to figure out how to cut the fat and the white and fluffy simple carbs down, whilst increasing my protein intake. It's only recently that I've noticed how much of a difference protein makes, firstly and immediately, to my mood, and then to the general functioning of my body. The effect is quite a revelation as I can't believe I'd not noticed the problem before.

At the moment, I'm supplementing whenever I drink (always skimmed if I can get it) milk with extra skimmed milk powder (like making a concentrated double skimmed milk shake), but this is high in carbs too, and I've suddenly got into fake meats and tofu, where I'd always steered clear of them before. Peanut butter is a lifesaver, but it's fatty and carb heavy at the same time.

If anyone has any advice I'll be happy to try anything!

C

I don't know if you have this already, but "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" by Mark Bittman saved us when we were transitioning to being vegetarians. I love the author and used his other cookbooks often. What I love about this particular book is that it is HUGE, and he has a lot of variations on tweaking the recipes, like how to fiddle with something to make it vegan instead. I think this would help steer you away from being a carbitarian.

I second this recommendation! It is a great, great book. I think you can buy the book as an iPhone/iPad app too.

more greens and beans.