Ideas for food needed!???

[Yassa]

Any ideas for shopping list for a veggie wanting to keep carbs as low as possible? Keep running out of ideas. Only so many eggs you can eat.

[Subtle_badger]

dietdoctor.com/low-carb/veg...

[Subtle_badger in reply to Subtle_badger]

..

[Yassa]

Vegetarians don’t eat fish. Good ideas though. Trying to keep carbs below 50 and that’s where problem is.

[Subtle_badger]

Ah, I thought you wanted a shopping list of veggies. 😳

I think being a low carb vegetarian is difficult. You need to aim for 60g+ of protein every day, and most vegan sources of protein have more carbs than protein. eg to get 60g of protein from chickpeas, you would end up consuming 180g of carbs. Edamame/soy is about equal protein/carbs, and soy products like tofu have very little carbs, but I am not sure how healthy a diet high in soy products would be. Peanuts also have a good carb to protein ratio, but again, a lot of people think that eating a lot of peanuts is not healthy.

And then there is eggs and dairy. I think you said you didn't eat dairy, so it's just eggs and you are sick of them.

I would not advise a low carb diet for you. I would just eliminate processed foods and bland foods like wheat pasta and white rice, and not eat too much fruit. Go for a classic, old school veggie diet of veggies, grains and pulses and eggs when you can stomach them, and don't worry about keeping the carbs too low. You have to eat something, after all.

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador]

I have to agree with Badger here : if you don't eat dairy, you're basically vegan, which means it's going to be hard-to-impossible to go low-carb, so low-GI is going to be a more sensible route.

I have one vegan acquaintance who eats a lot of coconut products as a fat source. If you're OK with butter, that would be a better choice, but coconut oil/cream is very useful and tastes good.

Focus on getting as much variety into your diet as possible, and just accept that a lot of your calories are going to come from carbs. There's not much you can do about it if you want to meet your baseline macro/micronutrient requirements.

[Missdoubleyou]

Can you eat nuts? There are lots of lovely ways of doing salads and veggies with walnuts, cashews etc

[Subtle_badger in reply to Missdoubleyou]

Cashews unfortunately are are high carb. Walnuts are better as are macadamia, pecan and brazil nuts.

[Missdoubleyou in reply to Subtle_badger]

True I forgot cashews were higher in carbs. I was thinking a sprinkling in stir fry veg or is that still too high?

[Subtle_badger in reply to Missdoubleyou]

It depends on your macros™ 😁

They have the same amount of carbs as steamed rice, so I would personally avoid them. I would eat a couple in a stir fry, but I wouldn't order chicken and cashews. And I wouldn't buy them, because they are too delicious 😋 I don't want to count anything, so I just don't eat things that are high carb.

They are nutritionally much better than rice, of course, having fats and protein as well as the carbs and lots of micronutrients, so if they fit in your diet, enjoy

[Missdoubleyou in reply to Subtle_badger]

Wow that is high! I haven’t eaten cashews for ages and have fallen off the low carb wagon whilst moving house, but once I’m back on it i don’t eat any rice, bread, starchy veg etc so o might treat myself to a cashew 😂

[Missdoubleyou]

I live hearing about all the different plants/trees you can grow in Thailand. Thanks for the link.

[sunny369]

how did you get on with the various links moreless suggested? There were some tasty looking things on there I thought, some I fancied trying myself I eat a mixed low to moderate carb diet, I only went properly low low carb on my first few weeks on lchf, and for an occasional refresh. Actually I will eat most things, that is I can eat dairy, I do like cheese, and fish etc. I appreciate it must be hard if you have to avoid certain things completely, but I think the trick is to work with what you can eat and like, but concentrate on making it healthy. I don't have to, but often I eat mainly vegetarian or vegan food as Mr Sunny does, so that is how we mainly cook in our house. At first, till I got the hang of things, as I cooked our usual vegetarian meals I worked out the carbs per portion, so say a vegetable chili made out of vegetables and chick peas or kidney beans, I would work out the carbs, and I was writing everything down, so I could see how many carbs I was really eating. Now, admittedly a nice plate of veg chili with stir fried cabbage isn't carb free but it is really quite lowish to moderate depending on portion size. The thing is if one previously ate that veg. chili with a huge plate of rice, and a family sized pack of corn chips and garlic bread to share on the side, followed by dessert, and now I don't, my life just got way more low carb!!! and way less processed carb! Let's face it, a vegan diet, or a vegetarian diet can be super healthy, or super unhealthy. The way I see it is now mine is low to moderate carb, depending on whether I am trying to be stricter, and way, way healthier. I try to avoid processed carbs and carb sides. I don't serve all my meals with a big plate of rice. Oh, and I completely gave up pasta, once another real staple of my vegetarian diet. And sandwiches, gave them up. Things to make vegetarian food out of like lentils, beans, quinoa, nuts and so on, yes they have carbs but it is what you do with them and how many you eat. A few nuts and seeds on a delicious salad, or a lentil curry can be counted into your day and make up a healthy diet. Other folks have also mentioned adding healthy fats such as coconut or olive or nut oils and avocado.

And I did lose weight, I just lost it a little slower than I might have if I had gone low low carb all the way.