Carbs

[GreenAJC]

I am a vegan (although I cheat from time to time), who love carbs. I very much want help to beat this. I love fruit and veg, pulses, but love that full-up feeling from carbs.

HELP

[TheAwfulToad Visitor]

It's is frankly very hard to stay healthy on a vegan diet, and my first suggestion would be to cheat more often! A vegan diet is inevitably carb-based: I've met several vegans who are overweight and have serious chronic health issues as a consequence.

If your concern is animal welfare and bad farming practices, there are a growing number of farmers who are doing things right and are selling their products (milk, eggs, meat etc) direct to the public. They're a bit more expensive than the supermarket, but they're worth it, especially if you're eating them only occasionally. And, of course, you're supporting ethical businesses while withdrawing income from bad ones.

If you can at least introduce eggs and dairy into your diet, you have a much better chance of nailing this: the critical point is that, while most of the carbs you're eating are not needed and can be eliminated without consequence, you still need some source of energy, and something that makes you feel full. That means fats and protein. Carbs only leave you temporarily full - a couple of hours later I bet you're hungry again, right?

I have heard of people using coconut oil almost exclusively as a low-carb vegan fat source, but I'm not convinced this is a great idea.

[GreenAJC in reply to TheAwfulToad]

Eggs are really bad for most with high cholesterol and dicki ticker

[TheAwfulToad Visitor in reply to GreenAJC]

I can only suggest you do your own research on the subject, but your body manages its own cholesterol production and most authorities (including the NHS) have finally accepted that dietary cholesterol has no negative health consequences.

You seem to be already aware that your current diet isn't doing what it should (if it were healthy, why would you have a dicky ticker?) and that something needs to change. You'll find that 90% of what is written about healthy eating is abject nonsense, so be prepared to discard a lot of received wisdom on your weight-loss journey.

[monday1957 3kg]

Hi GreenAJC.

I've been vegetarian for 37 years and totally vegan for about 18months now (apart from a rogue egg that my son included in a nut roast a few months ago ☺️)

I must admit, I feel the healthiest ever - but I do have to be mindful of where I'm getting my fats and protein from. For years I just ate mindlessly and didn't take any notice of ensuring I had a balanced meal.

I did try the low carb way of eating for a while in a bid to shift a few lbs and it did work, but that was a struggle. So I've returned to eg having a banana in my smoothie, a whole meal sandwich at lunchtime and carbs such as sweet potato etc in the evening. I find a hummus and avocado toastie is a nice filling lunch. I make sure I have nuts and seeds at some point most days.

I'm on the no snack November challenge and that's helping me to lose a little bit. I'm determined to lose that habit of having a munch mid-afternoon and mid-evening.

I aim to pace my eating now e.g. eat breakfast a bit later, lunch around 1pm and tea about 6.30pm. However, when I was working ft, it was so much harder as my routine was dictated by lesson times. I think I'm learning that the odd hunger pang isn't going to make me faint though and that they can often be sorted by a cup of herbal tea!

I find a hearty veg soup at lunch time, with one slice of bread and things like a veg stew with tofu or coconut cream stirred through in the evening keeps me filled up. As I'm no longer snacking, I don't mind having rice or bread at meal times.

I know she's been often been derided, but I really like some of the recipes from Deliciously Ella and also Amelia Freer's book Eat. Nourish. Grow. is good background reading (it's not a vegan cookbook though although she does advocate eating plants at every meal).

All the best 🥗

[Juppy]

I agree with TheAwfulToad, but if you are determined to be vegan, I would reduce your fruit (except low carb ones like berries) as that really creates sugar spikes and cravings, but keep up the beans and legumes. Make sure you get plenty of fat (olive oil, almond butter, coconut oil, avocado) which will help give you that full feeling. You also need to make sure you get “complete” proteins. The old classic is beans and rice, but since you really can’t have rice on low carb (rice is one of the worst carbs), research what veg combinations make a complete protein.

[Lorna2204 2 stone]

I am gradually reducing animal products in my diet with the goal of eventually being at least veggie if not completely plant based, and my favourite thing since I started calorie counting is noodle soups, being careful not to put too many noodles in of course. I find they are so filling and warming and because they have such banging flavour I get so full on relatively few calories! Also because they are mostly soup and lighter veg, they tend to be quite low in carb content. You can make an easy broth base using garlic, chilli, ginger, miso paste (or instant miso soup) and stock, then flavour with soy, sesame oil and some sriracha if you want a kick. Then add your favourite foods I like shitake mushrooms, pak choi and spring onions. Or use your favourite Thai curry paste, garlic, ginger, and add a tin of coconut milk and water or stock, add fish sauce and sriracha and your favourite foods. I like doing baked tofu with a red curry one. A squeeze of lime on top of a Thai curry one makes it the bomb.

It's just the right time of year for plenty of noodle soup!

Hope this helps!

[Holly28]

Two things that make me feel satisfied are lentil and tomato soup with plenty of spices, and miso soup.