A question for Vegetarians.....

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Stir-fries and curries are great ways to incorporate more veggies into the diet.

Yes, I agree. But both are typically fairly high in fat and for lazy cooks, a bunch of work ;)

For me the solution has been to swear off processed carbs and to add fat to my diet. No pasta and very little bread. A big salad loaded with veggies and some chick peas and slathered in blue cheese dressing will keep me fuller longer than a heaping plate of pasta and sauce - it has about the same calorie count but I'm less inclined to eat 2 hours later.

So...
Whole grains, lots of veggies and legumes, high quality fats (cheeses, dairy, olive oil, etc) and most importantly a variety of texture and flavors.

Good luck. :chef:
 
I don't think stir fries are high in fat, unless you overdo it with the oil. It doesn't need much. And lazy cooks of any stripe will have a difficult time with a well-balanced diet.

Confused that you complain stir fries and curries are high in fat and then say your solution is to increase the fat in your diet.
 
Another thought:
Here in NYC and I know Boston has one too, is an annual Vegetarian Festival.
Justice any other food festival, hundreds of vendors come to one site to promote their products. All offer samples to taste. And once you taste it, they sucker you in to their pitch on how great and healthier their product is from all the others.

Its a good place to go to see whats out there, taste whats to there and hear about their health benefits. These food shows also have many health related lectures as well. Lectures on how to have a balanced diet when vegetarian, protein substitutes usually given by physicians, dietitians ...And usually there are cooking demos too. It really is a one stop shop.

If your area has one of these Vegetarian food shows and she can attend, she may find products that she never knew existed that would be healthy for her, reduce the amount of carbs or other foods that add to her weigh gain, without you having to say a thing. It may not work, but its worth a shot.

All that being said, coming from a guy who loves to eat ( things that taste good), 1/3 of the stuff is better than you thought it would be , 1/3 is edible at best, and 1/3 is weird, freaky or just plain old crap. I find people who are enthusiastic about vegan/ vegetarian food ( and products) to almost be brainwashed into thinking their food tastes great, is the greatest meat substitutes, " taste just like chicken" even though they never had chicken before .....

And for some strange reason, %90 of the vegetarians i see usually look the most unhealthy (too thin, vitamin deficient looking,pale skin...) yet they claim to be the healthiest :)

In most cases they are relatively inexpensive to get into ($20 or less).

Just have to check to see if there is one near you.

***Just a warning, there are a few Ethical vendors too, so be prepared for the animal rights people and all that. Its not overwhelming or ' get in your face" like approach, but they're there.***

***Another warning: These events often attract very ' interesting' people. Not bad people, just Unique. great place to people watch. ***

Here is a general link to the NYC event, so you can get an idea of what something like this is all about:
NYC Veg Food Fest

Here is a link to see the kinds of lectures they have at the event:
2015 SCHEDULE « NYC Veg Food Fest

Here's a link to the Boston Vegetarian Food Festival:
Boston Vegetarian Food Festival

Ive been to both the NYC and Boston festivals in the past. I would have to assume most major cities have them.

***Another tip: These festivals often get very crowded, and like many festivals, the vendors run out of samples towards the end. Makes sense to get their early to avoid the crowds, and to get to taste ( and take ) many samples***

A list of links to Vegetarian food festivals in the USA:
There’s a VegFest near you | A Life Vegan
Some of the links don't work, and I'm sure there are better sits than this to find one near you. Its just that its 4:30 am and Im not functioning at %100 yet :)

Larry
 
I need some help here.

My grown grand daughter became a Vegetarian (not Vegan) a few years ago. In that amount of time she's gained an alarming amount of weight! My guess is that she's replaced animal protein with high caloric carbohydrates, as green vegetables sure wouldn't do that to her.

Are any Vegetarians here willing to share what a typical daily diet should sound like?

I need some expert advice and at least sound like I know what I'm talking about.

She's a wonderful young woman, and I love her to pieces. I need to think long and hard about talking to her about this at all.

Thanks in advance.
Sadly, vegetarian doesn't mean fat-free. She still needs to count calories (or just to watch what she eats). It might be worth pointing her at Slimming World if you have it in your neck of the woods. It works on sensible eating to lose weight and has advice for vegetarians as well as omnivores.

Obviously, you'll need to keep any hint of accusation out of the conversations but I expect you will anyway.
 
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I know this is VERY late to the discussion, but I know many a vegetarians/vegans who can still be unhealthy. If she stick to a 'whole' food plant based lifestyle then she will be right as rain. We need starches to keep us satiated. Without them we will never feel full.

I live on rice, potatoes and any starches I can get my hands on. Have her check out Dr. John McDougall and chef AJ, they will point you in the right direction.
 
Kayelle, your Low Carb High Fat diet, minus the meat, would be perfect for her. Beans, cheese, nuts for protein. She needs to be very choosey about the carbs she does ingest, only high protein carbs.
 
Kayelle, your Low Carb High Fat diet, minus the meat, would be perfect for her. Beans, cheese, nuts for protein. She needs to be very choosey about the carbs she does ingest, only high protein carbs.

You're so right PF, and I have an update on my beautiful Sarah. About 6 months ago I invited her out to lunch at my favorite upscale beach front restaurant. We were enjoying the view and discussing the menu when I brought up my low carb diet I follow. She shared that she had recently added some fish to her Vegetarian menu and she was interested in hearing more.
We don't get to see each other often as she's super busy with working and preparing for nursing school, but the next time I saw her, there was 50 lbs less of her!! I was so happy for her, I nearly cried!!
 
I just had my own bout with having to go low carb ( for the past 10 weeks).
My cholesterol, triglycerides and sugar levels were through the roof ( thanks to a high carb diet pasta, bread, starch ...). Being a vegetarian makes it very difficult to cut out the carbs.

But I was determined, and ate no pasta, no bread, no fruit ... for the past 10 weeks.

But, the good news, Im down 13 pounds, all my levels are within normal limits now ( except the triglycerides, which were still cut in half though).

And this was strictly by just altering my diet. I didn't even kick up the exercising yet.

I just wanted to see if my problem was strictly diet based, or something else was going on in my body.

glad to hear its primarily diet, cause that I have control over.
 
Wow, Kayelle, I just found this thread and read through it. That is amazing!

I am basically on a fish and vegetarian diet but I don't officially call it that because I do eat lean meat very occasionally. So I don't put labels on it. I have found that as long as I keep everything in balance I do okay.
 
A list of links to Vegetarian food festivals in the USA:
There’s a VegFest near you | A Life Vegan
Some of the links don't work, and I'm sure there are better sits than this to find one near you. Its just that its 4:30 am and Im not functioning at %100 yet :)

Larry

Thanks for the link! I followed the link to my state, which had more links, which had more links and found a few great sites. Have now spent way too much time exploring.

Kayelle, I hope your grand daughters diet has improved with time. I have been a vegetarian for over 25 years and at first, I was just like her. Subbed in way too many carbs and gained weight I didn't need. Finally made an appointment with a nutritionist who helped me get things back under control.
 
In vegetarian diet there still a lot of substances which may contain fats. Consuming such food in moderation is beneficial. However, if she's overeating them because it's tasty then of course it will effect her health.
 

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