>Beavs,what is quinoa???
Not Beavs here, but quinoa is a grain that is a complete protein. It makes a good substitute for bulgar in tablouleh, and makes good pilafs as well. You can also cook it for a breakfast cereal.
I agree that your overall calorie intake looks low, in addition to your protein intake.
Here's a tweak to your daily food that will add more protein:
>Breakfast: 1/2 c. soymilk, 1/2 Fiber one, banana
only 1/2 c. of soymilk? Have an entire glass of it.
I'm not sure of the protein content of fiber one, but there are other cereals that can add a good boost of protein: quinoa, teff, rice bran (10 gm. protein in 1/2 cup, though somewhat high in fat), buckwheat (11 gm. of complete protein in 1/2 cup).
>Snack: 1 banana or other fruit!
Add a few nuts (brazil nuts are good, as they contain selenium, which is not prevalent in many foods), almonds are good as well (just realize that while people say nuts are a good source of protein, they are actually a fair source of protein, but a big source of fat).
Or go a different route: have some sliced veggies (red peppers, zucchini, celery, carrots, whatever you like) dipped in hummus (if you make your own, you can control the fat content: garbanzo beans themselves have only 1 gram of fat and 7 grams of protein per 1/2 cup).
>lunch: mixed greens,tomatoes, cucumber or homemade veg.soup!
>No protein!
(well, not NONE, but very low: I'd guestimate 5-8 grams)
Toss a handful of beans (including black soybeans or edamame)in your salad, and add some beans or lentils to your veggie soup.
How about a sandwich made from Food For Life sprouted grain bun (9 grams of protein in the bun, plus whatever you add: other sprouted grain breads might have as good a protein content, especially if they contain legumes, like FFL does).
Make some tofu 'mock chicken' salad, or tempeh (another soybean product--both of these are preferable to the more-processed meat analogs made from soy and/or wheat gluten, IMO).
Have lentil soup instead (about 8 grams of protein per moderate serving, depending on how much of it is lentil).
>Snack: fruit or luna bar
See previous snack suggestions.
>Dinner: veg.burger and veg. with carb. or cooked veg. with
>carbs!
Don't diss the carbs! Just make sure there's also protein. The veggie burger could have quite a bit. Serve it on one of those sprouted grain buns and the protein content will be even better.
>I am not taking any extra vit. or drink protein shakes!
Don't think that you have to drink protein shakes to get enough protein on a veg*n diet. It's absolutely not true! A well-balanced veg*n diet is more than sufficient in protein. I just am a lazy breakfast eater at times, or don't have time to fix lunch, or just am lazy about cooking for myself, which is why I take them. I also use them (and some meat analogs like soy jerky) as "emergency rations" when I'm travelling, and don't know if I'll be able to get balanced/sufficient meals (like last week, when I got served pretty much just steamed veggies at a conference, even after suggesting that I needed some protein sources like lentils).
You can check out the nutritional content of foods at
www.nutritiondata.com .
>I moved to Germany over 6 weeks
>ago!
I know a German vegan (who is also a doctor and bodybuilder): Alexander Dargatz. He might be able to give you some info on places to find foods over there. I used to hang out at
www.veganbodybuilding.com where he is an active member. Email him at
[email protected] (his contact info is posted publicly at VB
http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/?page=bio_alex so he doesn't mind being contacted. And he's a really nice guy, so don't be shy about contacting him).
