vegetarian/vegan results

C

Cbelle

Cathlete
After reading Eat to Live and Skinny Bitch, I'm seriously contemplating the vegetarian if not vegan, way of life. My kids are already vegetarian/vegan (one of each) for their own personal reasons. Obviously I'm not opposed to it for health reasons. But I've always been of the opinion that for a msucle growth, weight loss etc, the typical "fitness" diet of protein/carbs at every meal is the way to go. Despite what every one says about being able to get your protein from plant/soy products I'm only convinced you can do that at the cost of calorie control. Yes, you can get protein from say, peanut butter, but the amount you would have to eat would make my calories skyrocket. So if I ate this way my protein per day would fall from around 100 g to 30-50 g by my calculations. I'm not trying to be a fitness competitor or anything but I am trying to lose 20ish lbs and I'd like to have a decent amount of muscle as well.

Can anyone with experience in this WOE let me know what kind of results they've had in this department? Also, maybe a little bit about what a daily menu looks like? TIA!
 
I highly recommend: Betty Crocker easy everyday Vegetarian. It is a vegetarian cookbook. Myself and my family love everything I have made from this cookbook. Many recipies have 17 or more grams of protein. Many recipies use beans, some use soy products(haven't used those, my DH won't eat). I also eat Boca products and Morningstar Farms products(love the bean burgers) I was vegetarian before I had kids, starting eating meat during my first pregnancy, and just about 2 1/2 months ago went back to vegetarian again. I do eat cheese, eggs and fish.
A typical day(today):
b: Kashi go lean(has protien) and an orange
snack: 1/2 cliff builders protein bar
lunch: vegetable Paella(from above cookbook~left over from dinner last night)
snack: hummus and 2 whole wheat mini pitas and apple
dinner: lentil casserole (again from above cookbook)and green beans.
snack: air popped popcorn or WW ice cream

also for lunch: you could have an omlete, or any morningstar farms burgers or steamed veg. and morningstar farms chicken/beef strips.

I am not looking to lose weight but portion control is key!! Just because its vegetarian, don't eat more. Stay within normal portion guidelines, and you will be fine!:)

Hope this helps~
Deanie
 
Hi there;

It's true that you have to be careful balancing nutrition if you're vegan. But the protein thing is totally do-able.

Nuts and nut butters are terrific foods but I try to make sure they're only present in small quantities. I'm vegan and I eat lots of:

1)Tempeh: fermented soy-cake, it probably sounds icky but it's lovely and you can do all sorts of things with it (stir-fry, burgers, roasting with vegetables, sandwiches, not-meat loaf, whatever),

2)TVP: textured vegetable protein. I use it in chili, make it into burgers...it's like tofu, it takes on the flavor of the things it's cooked with, and it's cheap!

3)Tofu: I use silken tofu in smoothies and firm tofu for all kinds of things. Tofu scrambles, stir-fry, tofu-veggie burgers...

4) Nutritional yeast: you can usually find this in the vitamin section of the health-food store or Whole Foods. UNBELIEVABLE nutritional profile! And 9 grams of protein in 3 tablespoons. I use it as a seasoning, add it to my oatmeal, and use it in place of cheese for a lot of recipes.

5) There are alternatives to soy protein in shakes and bars, as well. Although I haven't tried them, there are rice protein shakes, hemp protein shakes, pea protein shakes, all sorts of things. There's a new (kinda expensive) product called "Vega" that turned up recently on the shelves of my local organic grocery. It appears to be some sort of high-protein vegan shake-and-bar thing. I generally don't like shakes and bars, but I thought you might like to know.

Tosca Reno includes a lot of these sources as options in her clean eating plan. And all of them are packed with fiber and other nutrients, in addition to being lower in calories and fat than meat. Tempeh, TVP, and tofu would all qualify as a "lean protein". There's also high-quality protein in quinoa, which is easy to incorporate into all kinds of recipes. I ate some for breakfast this morning.

A lot of vegans claim that lower protein is fine, even preferable, and although I don't think eating less protein makes people less healthy, necessarily, I know that I am leaner when I eat at least a gram for every two pounds of body weight (more, if possible). I work out a lot, and try to follow an athletically-oriented diet.

I've seen other posts around the forums that address this question in some form or other, so I'll sign off now and let the local experts fill in all the gaps in my response.

Dee
 
Thanks, DParker, for the above post. I, too , am considering a vegan lifestyle. Those suggestions were just great! You also need to expand your ideas of what you can eat and not be afraid to try new things. I have not had any luck with Tofu. No matter how I've made it, I just don't like it. I've tried Tofu egg salad at Whole Foods and loved it. I threw out what I made at home!
Ellen
 
I've been a vegetarian since 1989. I'm quite satisfied with my muscle mass and don't believe a vegetarian diet has harmed muscle growth. In fact, I remember hearing about a vegetarian body builder... I'd have to do some research to find out who though. Sorry for the lack of details.

IMHO, the need for animal protein is a myth. I've never had any problem with protein deficiency at all. Granted, I do eat eggs and dairy, but not nearly as much of those products as the typical person who eats meat. And I know several people who are very healthy vegans, as well.

Keep in mind that foods such as beans are low-cal and an excellent source of protein. And that when you combine foods, such as beans and rice (preferrably brown rice) or another grain, you have a naturally balanced meal, complete with all the amino acids you'd get from a meat-based protein.

As for weight loss - well, as long as you eat a balanced diet and don't depend on prepared foods, I believe a vegetarian or vegan diet is naturally lower in calories than one that includes meat. But again, that really depends on the foods you select.

Okay, a typical menu for me goes something like this:
Breakfast - steel cut oats/bulgar wheat, topped with walnuts and a little brown sugar; soy milk

Snack - fruit.

Lunch - whatever I had for dinner the night before (I'm big on leftovers!). But if I have cheese with dinner, I don't include it at lunch. And no bread.

Snack - yogurt.

Dinner - I've been doing lots of veggie soups. Anything - sweet potatoes, tomato, beans...I also do lots of beans/grains combos. And yes, for dinner, I usually top it with cheese. And include a slice of homemade bread with a bit of trans-fat free margarine.
 
>I have not had any luck with Tofu.
>No matter how I've made it, I just don't like it. I've tried
>Tofu egg salad at Whole Foods and loved it. I threw out what I
>made at home!

Though you don't need to eat tofu on a veg*n diet, there are ways of making it very tasty.
The first thing is to make sure you have the right kind of tofu for the job. Asceptically packaged 'silken'tofu, like Mori-Nu, is best for blending into dips or soups or mousses/puddings or throwing in a smoothie. It is absolutely aweful (IMO) for stir-frying or baking.

The water-packed blocks of tofu are great for crumbling up to make 'scrambled tofu,' slicing and marinating to bake or fry, or cubing for stir fries.

Fresh tofu actually has a very neutral flavor (think of it as a raw ingredient, like flour--which you wouldn't eat on its own) that can be easily disguised by the other ingredients you add. It should have a fresh, neutral odor as well and be white, no yellowish tint.

As for getting protein on a veg*n diet, you've gotten some good ideas already. I always scratch my head when people recommend nuts and peanut butter as a good source of protein. They are high in FAT, and don't have as much protein as legumes (my favorites are lentils! but also think black beans, black soy, edamame, garbanzo beans/chick peas...). 1 serving of peanut butter has only about 5 grams of protein. One serving of lentil soup has around 7-9 (depending on recipe). (I usually eat two servings of the soup!)


I made some vegan stuffing over Thanksgiving using Arrowhead mills stuffing mix, marinated tempeh (I marinated cubes of tempeh for two days--because I didn't get to it when I planned to!-- in veggie broth seasoned with poultry seasoning--I didn't have any 'unchicken broth' on hand--soy sauce, and a touch of nutritional yeast) that I browned, celery, onion, sunflower seeds (raw, sprouted and dried), walnuts (raw, soaked and dehydrated), and soaked goji berries. Yum! (I've seen veggie recipes for holidays using tofu as a sub for 'white meat' and tempeh as a sub for 'dark meat').
 
Hi there;

Not Kathryn, but "veg*n" is a common way of expressing "vegetarian or vegan", where the asterisk takes the place of the "etaria" or the "a".

Dee
 
I've also read Skinny bitch, which spurred me and my husband to become vegetarian a year ago. It's easy to eat unhealthy initially when you become vegetarian if you don't balance your protein/carb/fat intake. But once I learned to balance my intake, I gained more energy and felt better overrall. My bloodwork was also much better than I expected, which I think is the result of cutting down on animal fat. There were suggestions from other posts to read John Robbins A diet for a New America. I read most of that book and about six weeks ago became vegan. I've felt more of a difference in becoming vegan than vegetarian. I have crazy amounts of energy. I think I was intolerant to cheese. My skin looks the best it has in years. The only issue I've had is that without planning ahead, it's been really hard to eat out when you're vegan. Even vegetable entrees are loaded with butter etc. Becoming vegetarian/vegan has had no negative impact on my working out. Actually, the reverse is that I have more energy to do Cathe's workouts and I'm developping muscle. lol

I would suggest that you try to stay away from too many processed vegetarian foods and learn to make quick meals with things such as Quinoa, tofu, beans (various kinds), vegetables, nuts, fruit. I must admit that I did eat lots of boca burgers when I first started and their a good choice when you don't have time to put something together. My favorite high protein meal is Quinoa cooked with vegetable stock, broccoli, and tofu or chickpeas.
 
I forgot to add that my husband, who did not watch his calories and does not workout, somehow lost 70lbs in a year by becoming vegetarian. Go figure.
 
>Not Kathryn, but "veg*n" is a common way of expressing
>"vegetarian or vegan", where the asterisk takes the place of
>the "etaria" or the "a".
>
What Dee said.;-)
 
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