Need help changing my way of eating, please

SRP

Cathlete
Hi everyone. All you clean eaters out there, give me a hand, please.

I took my measurements this weekend. I've gained a half inch in the waist, a quarter inch in my hips, a half inch in my bust and a quarter inch in my biceps. That in and of itself is just fine. I've been working out harder with weights, and I figure it's muscle.

BUT - I was kind of hoping that I'd be losing a bit of fat, too, around the hips area especially. That's where most of it is hanging out. There's a little bit, but not much, around my waist, and if the hips go, I figure that will too.

My exercise program goes like this: Cardio, 4x/wk; Legs, 3x/wk; Arms, 2x/wk; Abs, 3x/wk. I'm pretty happy with the results I'm getting, though I wouldn't mind an extra day of cardio. I may stick it in on my day off, if I feel like I don't need a day off.

Now, on to the food.
First, I'm a vegetarian, contemplating veganism. I haven't made that jump yet, so right now I am allowed eggs and dairy. A menu goes something like this:

B options - PB toast; yogurt; steel cut oats. Sometimes I eat fruit. On weekends, I have eggs once a week and sometimes pancakes with a healthy topping (no corn syrup). OJ for a drink.

L options - during the week, I typically eat leftovers from dinner the night before. On weekends, it might be a cheese sandwich, cottage cheese, fruit, or whatever odds and ends I can come up with.

D options - a grain or bean-based meal, and sometimes potatoes. Always veggies, usually of the frozen sort. I try to get a variety, but my favorites are peas and carrots. I almost always add cheese to that meal (but not the lunch version). I am trying to incorporate more tofu. I'll also have a slice of homemade ww bread with butter (yes, the real thing, though I need to quit that) If I have milk in the fridge, I'll drink an 8-oz glass.

Snacks - fruit, bread products, trying more for green salads, nuts.

Desserts - I have been bad lately, but I am back to allowing myself only one a week.

I feel like I'm a fairly clean eater, but I guess it's not clean enough. I really don't want to cut back on calories too much, because then I'll starve! I figure I average 1800-2000, but occasionally I'll go over 2000. I don't count them. Last night after a very good dinner of sweet potatoes roasted with mushrooms and red bell peppers, along with some tofu and bread, I woke up starving at about 1:30 a.m. I made myself go back to sleep, but it was hard.

Okay, sorry for the rambling post. Any advice would be appreciated.
 
Good morning,

I am not a nutritionist, and I am also not vegetarian or vegan, so it is a bit hard for me offer you guidance. I would be curious to know what your stats are right now; how tall and weight etc. and what are your goals?

At first glance your eating does seem to be too heavily loaded with carbs/starchy carbs and not enough protein. If you plan to be vegetarian/vegan you do face a challenge but I am sure that there are vegetarians/vegans out there that could set me straight.

If you DO find it ok though to eat egg whites/eggs that will be a help. You will likely see better results if you increase your protein intake at each meal; more egg whites and more cottage cheese. Do you like cottage cheese and fruit? How about cottage cheese mixed with fat free yogurt? Are you eating 5 small meals a day?

Again, I am not an expert but I have read many comments all over the place on former vegetarians that had major problems either losing weight or had gained a lot of weight once they became vegetarian. Now this is probably because of bad choices; eating a lot of cheese, pasta, grains, etc. But I am sure you can find success if you are creative. I hope this helps in some way.

Take care,
kelly
 
Hi, Kelly -
I am 5'4" and weigh 127 lbs.

There are two vegans that I know of on this forum - Kathryn and Carole. Carole has a picture trail posted, so you can see that being a vegan is not really a problem ... she has very good muscle definition and appears quite lean.

I do not have a protein deficiency - that's never been a problem. I know some body builders prefer to increase their protein intake, though.

I am not overweight, but I would like to get rid of that extra padding on my rump and hips, which I feel is essential to achieving good muscle definition. I really don't know, pound-wise, how much that would be.
 
Shannon,

since you are already contemplating veganism..maybe the Eat to Live plan would be good for you? That's the plan that Carole follows. There's a thread about it on the front page right now. I've read the book and was impressed, though I am doing another program so I can't fully comment on ETL. But everything in your diet seems very clean, I'd consider limiting bread and taking out the dairy (if you can part with it, I know I hate to! :+ )
 
Hi, Shannon!

On first glance, I see a lack of raw green veggies, like big salads. Add one to both lunch and dinner. They are nutrient dense (if you avoid iceburg lettuce, which is the nutritional equivalent of paper, IMO!), and low in calories (but be sure to have a good source of fat--avocado, nuts, sunflower seeds, oil and vinegar or lemon juice dressing--with them, to help your body absorb the fat-soluble nutrients).

Also, watch the type of fruits. Apples, pears and berries are good, lower in glycemic index. Bananas not so good (except after a workout, when their high sugar levels can be beneficial).

YOu can also try reducing the bread products, and again increasing the veggies. And maybe adding some healthy, raw veggie sources of fat (avocado, raw nuts, hemp nuts) to help withh satiation (they can displace some of the fat in the cheese and dairy products, so you won't necessarily be eating more fat, just a different form).

And don't deprive yourself of desserts! You might want to rethink them, though, and go European! A nice bowl of mixed fresh fruits (which can help with your fruit consumption, and let you replace some fruit earlier in the day with veggies). Wait til about an hour after dinner, then treat yourself to a luscious bowl of berries, for example.
 
Well, hello there, Kathryn -

The menu I posted is typical of past meals. However, I am really working on the raw green stuff! I'm making a point to have more salads - and don't worry, I can't stand iceberg lettuce. I currently have a bag of mixed greens and a bag of spinach in my fridge. Yum!

Other changes I'm trying are an increase in nuts, and eating more tofu. And I'm trying my darnedest to NOT eat cheese on the days when I have complementary protein meals planned. That's hard. It just tastes so darned good to throw some cheese on top anyhow. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I don't. That's only been going on for maybe 2 weeks now.

Oh dear. Reduce bread? I knew that was coming, and I dreaded hearing it. I'm not one of those who believes in avoiding carbs,but I suspect a little reduction wouldn't hurt. How often do you think bread should be allowed? I do buy the kind with only natural ingredients, or I bake my own.

Maybe for a snack I should go for a raw carrot? I could handle that.
 
Hi Shannon :D

I would suggest that you eat more of a variety of vegetables as long as you are confident that you are meeting your daily protein needs.

You mention that you eat alot of frozen vegetables, and that's okay, but do try to eat more vegetables from the produce section...either raw in salads or steamed/roasted.

When I make a salad it is a handful of fresh spinach leaves and then probably 2-3 cups of raw vegetables, i.e. pea pods, cauliflower, carrots, green/red/yellow peppers, cucumber, radishes...that's usually what's in my fridge. The more variety of vegetables you eat the more vitamins/minerals you're going to be getting in your meals. And I prefer to dress a salad with simple vinegar and extra virgin olive oil(EVOO). No heavy ranch dressings or such. Even a really good EVOO on it's own is plenty for dressing a salad. And I always top a salad with nuts...any sort that you like but do try to vary it.

Also, add a baked or roasted sweet potatoe to dinner. I love sweet potatoes roasted in the oven; I don't peel them just wash well and cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks. Put in a bowl and season with salt, pepper, and any seasonings you like (I add thyme or rosemary) then drizzle on some EVOO and toss until the potatoe chunks are all covered with the oil. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven about 40 minutes...until they are soft when pierced with a fork.

I like to do this with a medley of vegetables...sweet potatoes, parsnips, onion, garlic cloves, and carrots. Just remember to cut all vegetables to similar size so they cook at the same rate. You can roast any vegetable from cauliflower to squash...well I haven't tried roasting radishes yet!:eek:

I have a vegetarian cookbook titled...Quick Vegetarian Pleasures...by Jeanne Lemlin. It was published back in 1992 so you will need to find it either on Amazon.com or Ebay. I have many vegetarian cookbooks but this one is the one I use the most because the recipes are simple, require simple everyday ingredients, and taste good. A rare combination for a cookbook!

Also, I don't know if you read Cooking Light magazine but they have changed that magazine in recent months and some of the recipe have actually been good. And they are providing more information on nutrition then they used to. I quit taking it a couple of years ago because I was not happy with it but I have recently resubscibed. Even though there are plenty of meat recipes, there is also many vegetable recipes too and they always provide nutrition info for each dish, which is nice.
 
Thanks for your suggestions, 40something!

You know, I just did something like your sweet potato roast the other night, only I used the Smart Balance spread instead of olive oil. Quite tasty.

I may have to check out that Quick Vegetarian Pleasures. One of my main problems in the kitchen is that I don't like to be there. Cookbooks have the most wonderful recipes, but they're all so complicated!!! ;-)
 
Shannon, don't be afraid of olive oil. It is a good-for-you-fat. I only cook with EVOO. And you can buy cooking spray that is all olive oil too, Pam and Crisco each make one.
 
Oh, I'm not scared of it at all! I've got some and just finished off a bottle last night, actually. I just didn't think of it the other night with the sweet potatoes. Potatoes still equal butter to me.
 

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