Vegetarian Hi-protein Lo-carb diet - advice please

Thoushaltnot

Hi,

For a number of reasons (can post these later), I've recently started eating veggie high protein, low carb and the effects have been dramatic! Bloating and after meal energy slumps are gone and I can barely feel my backpain and stiffness (a shrunken disk - sometimes it would be really bad in the mornings and take me a while to get up and out of bed).
I also feel perkier, more muscular and less flabby, skin feels tighter around my flesh (especially legs & bum) and someone who hadn't seen me in 3 weeks commented on how clear my skin is now ...and how I have so much (more) energy. In short, I feel great and it shows.

Now, since I could only find 3 or 4 main veggie foods that have more protein than carbs - Quorn, tofu, cheese and eggs - my main meal selection is quite limited. Also, I try to keep my meals as either iron rich protein (no cheese) or calcium rich (pretty much only cheese or Quorn & cheese).

Mostly my meals now comprise of Quorn/tofu plus pasta sauce and half the time I'll chuck in a tin of beans or peas, half the time, not. I'm hoping to expand things out soon and use more tinned beans, quinoa, nuts and nut butters, seeds and legumes and my hemp protein powder and other veggie protein sources (seitan, mock duck, tvp, etc.).

Additional info - I'm very bad with getting fresh fruit and veg into my diet - tinned beans and Innocent smoothies are the closest I get to being good there. I graze, rather than do the "3 square meals a day" and am not a breakfast person.
I'm a sugary tea addict (I like some tea in my sugar) but I now drink organic caffeinated tea, with organic milk and org sugar (cane).
I've started using my cast iron cooking pot more (hence the favouring of tomato sauce based meals), I'm female and I'm early 40's which I believe is a factor. I'm not a calorie counter and am not interested in losing weight (except for ditching the "spare tyre"). I just love feeling energized now and want to keep it like this for as long as possible. I don't have an active lifestyle at the moment but would be happy to change this, if things keep going in this direction.

Where am I going wrong? :pac: Advice, tips and warnings gratefully accepted.

corkcomp

ditching the spare tyre will most likely be dependant on dropping the simple sugar vs eating veggie.. well done though, the diet looks ok overall even if it wouldnt be my cup of tea. if your following low carb you might be better using carb allowance towards porridge and root veg and some fruit rather than tinned pulses .. for extra protein use whey shakes

El_Dangeroso

I highly recommend Rose Elliot's low carb cookbook for veggies. It's got tonnes of variety in it and will make you love vegetables!

Other than that, it's an unfortunate fact but beyond completely cutting out wheat, the spare tire seems to be the last to go annoyingly, but it does go, luckily low carb seems to be a bit more effective at shifting viceral fat which has a knock on effect to shrinking the waist via improving insulin sensitivity.

Thoushaltnot

corkcomp wrote: »

ditching the spare tyre will most likely be dependant on dropping the simple sugar vs eating veggie..

Not sure of what you're getting at there but one of my reasons was to try and beat my sugar addiction. A book I picked up suggested starting with high protein brekkies for a year to change my brain metabolism so that quitting sugar would then be easier.

well done though, the diet looks ok overall even if it wouldnt be my cup of tea. if your following low carb you might be better using carb allowance towards porridge and root veg and some fruit rather than tinned pulses .. for extra protein use whey shakes

Thanks! I was thinking of the occasional (spelt) porrdige with some molasses & dark chocolate (for the iron, of course ) and nut butter. I was also expecting a wee lecture on eating more greens and needing to counteract the acidifying nature of the diet but mebbe thats more a high protein from meat/animal fats issue?

Thoushaltnot

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

I highly recommend Rose Elliot's low carb cookbook for veggies. It's got tonnes of variety in it and will make you love vegetables!

Nice one - thanks! Luckily, I love me veg....I'm just lazy at preparing 'em.

Other than that, it's an unfortunate fact but beyond completely cutting out wheat, the spare tire seems to be the last to go annoyingly, but it does go, luckily low carb seems to be a bit more effective at shifting viceral fat which has a knock on effect to shrinking the waist via improving insulin sensitivity.

'Always the way 'innit? Ah, I'm more worried about the correlation between waist size/waist hip ratio and impending heart problems. Also diabetes and a family history of arthritis. Big flabby bellies don't equate to healthfulness.

Thanks for the pointers and for taking the time, peoples.

EileenG

Thoushaltnot wrote: »

Thanks! I was thinking of the occasional (spelt) porrdige with some molasses & dark chocolate (for the iron, of course ) and nut butter. I was also expecting a wee lecture on eating more greens and needing to counteract the acidifying nature of the diet but mebbe thats more a high protein from meat/animal fats issue?

If you don't know by now about the veggies, we're doing something wrong. Grains and sugars are the most acidifying foods anyway, so it's far less of an issue if you are low carb.

There was a study at the Young Scientists Exhibition which showed that adding any sort of sugar or honey to porridge pushed the GI sky high. If you want to keep GI (and hence insulin) levels low, maybe try some salt and butter on your porridge. My father swears by it.

I would just eat the chocolate on its own.

By the way, I saw an article about how eating breakfast was the best time to eat chocolate. Because you are not stressed, the seratonin change (reward) is less, so it tastes nice, but you can have a couple of square without feeling that you need to finish the whole bar.

Thoushaltnot

EileenG wrote: »

If you don't know by now about the veggies, we're doing something wrong. Grains and sugars are the most acidifying foods anyway, so it's far less of an issue if you are low carb.

Only started lurking here recently. Knew about sugar and veggies, just not grains. Makes a lot of sense, in retrospect. Oddly enough, I used to be able to handle a high carb meal but my metabolism has seemed to change over the last few years, without telling me. What gave me dramatic relief (10 minutes) from my back pain and stiffness was cider vinegar (could only take it in Kombucha), which is alkalizing. Heheh, my diet is making me less sour!

There was a study at the Young Scientists Exhibition which showed that adding any sort of sugar or honey to porridge pushed the GI sky high. If you want to keep GI (and hence insulin) levels low, maybe try some salt and butter on your porridge. My father swears by it.

New and useful info - cool. Nut butters it is for now but I've heard of this salty, butter porridge phenomenom, so may give it a whirl. Hmm, argan/hazelnut oil, maybe. Dried fruit (esp. dates) is out? As are the new Linwoods "Flax, cocoa and berries". Porridge would be the same as muesli/any grain for insulin purposes here, I presume?

By the way, I saw an article about how eating breakfast was the best time to eat chocolate. Because you are not stressed, the seratonin change (reward) is less, so it tastes nice, but you can have a couple of square without feeling that you need to finish the whole bar.

Sugar free, dark choc crumbled into me nut butter porridge it is, then

I don't usually crave or have chocolate, so the rare full bar pigout is not a problem for me. Sooooooooo not a problem. We won't be touching that.

Excellent tips there, EileenG - thank you!

Mary-Ellen

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

I highly recommend Rose Elliot's low carb cookbook for veggies. It's got tonnes of variety in it and will make you love vegetables!

I have this book too and anything I've made from it is yum.
There's lots of ideas for using vegtables instead of carbs like calliflower and cheese bakes or 'pasta' dishes, and even deserts.
It gives the carb/protein ratio for everything.
I'd definately recomend it too if you want to expand the type of meals you're eating.