Let me start this off this way: I am a vegetarian. I have been for years and have no intention of changing this. Second, I have a BMI of 22.2 and have no need to lose weight. In fact, I’m attempting to gain some weight in the form of muscle mass to improve my overall health, and make my body more efficient.
Now, with that out of the way, my appeal to Atkinsites comes in this way – my diet is too carb heavy. I am eating sufficient protein every day, I’m very careful to keep a good protein balance because I’m a nursing mom, but when I analyze my diet, I’m seeing too many carbs coming from the portions of my diet which aren’t protein. That is to say, it’s understandable for me to see carbs from dishes which are based around beans or tofu where I’m also getting needed protein but I’m getting too many from my side dishes and my unimaginative lunches of a sandwich and an orange or breakfasts of oatmeal or Cheerios.
What do you eat, other than meat, that fills you up, gives you some decent nutrients (IOW, not lettuce which is water and unusable fibrous stuff) and compliments meals or creates them in place of sandwiches and so forth without a massive carb hit?
My research has turned up a bunch of recipes that seem to be filled with stuff like thickening agents which help cauliflower masquerade as mashed potatoes. This doesn’t really appeal to me, I’m looking more for straightforward things, not really recipes that “pretend” things. I’m not big on fake meat, I’m even less thrilled with faked potatoes!
So can any of you help me with other ideas or suggestions that can help me balance out my diet somewhat?
TIA!
(I was torn between making this an IMHO thread, but it’s about food so I picked Cafe Society. Mods, if you think it’s more an IMHO, please accept my apologies.)
I also find the Atkins drinks (the milk-shake like substances) to be tolerable, and reasonably filling.
Fruits are high in sugars and so pretty much excluded from strict Atkins, but may be more what you’re looking for. Berries tend to be lower in sugars/carbs than oranges, for instance.
Dark green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale, turnip greens, etc… cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage family), cheese.
Side dishes: I really like mashed turnips – just peeled, boiled, and smashed with some butter, not all chemi-ed out to look like mashed potatoes.
Steamed broccoli, either plain or with cheese sauce.
I stir fry a lot – meat with veggies like snow peas, green pepper, green onion, celery. You could substitute tofu.
cole slaw as long as you don’t make it with tons of sugar.
varied salads (I sometimes buy mesclun mix from the store if I’m feeling lazy – has about 6 kinds of greens all mixed together. slice a tomato, dress w/ vinaigrette, voila).
Breakfast is always the hardest – personally I often eat herring in cream sauce for breakfast, but I have a feeling that wouldn’t be up your alley. Celery with cream cheese or spreadable cheese (Boursin a personal fave) is portable and filling. Hardboiled eggs if you eat eggs.
I think you’re confused about tofu though. It is quite low in carbs: a 1/2 block of extra-firm only has about 5 carbs, comparable to a cup of broccoli. Chickpeas, by contrast have 54 carbs per cup.
If you are missing sandwiches, I would highly recommend the LaTortilla low carb tortillas- they make great wraps, quesidillas, tacos and melts. I love veggies, the majority of my carbs comes from good veggies like broccoli, spinach, cauliflower, asparagus, etc. I don’t know how it translates to vegetarian, but if you find that you are hungry, you may need to increase your fat intake- use butter/cheese on your veggies, make stir fries with olive oil. Another really filling treat that I LOVE is avocados- good fat, low carb and delicious (especially sliced up w/cheese melted on a lc tortilla!).
A super awesome breakfast is flax meal mixed with various things.
The easy version is 2 tbs of soy protein powder, 4 tbs of flax meal, 3-4tbs of water and some sugar free maple syrup. Microwave for about 35 secs on high to make an oatmeal-like super protein packed 0-carb high fiber breakfast.
The harder but delicious version can be found in this thread on another message board.
You might want to consider joining that board and talking with the user scigirl. She is also a vegitarian and is also trying to gain weight while eating low-carb. She’s an amazing cook and can turn almost any recipe into a low-carb dish. Check out the cool recipe section there.
I highly recommend getting some flax meal for your pantry. It’s high fiber (like 99% fiber), high in omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, and can help lower cholesterol.
Also good for breakfast is cottage or ricotta cheese with fresh berries and splenda. Those cheeses are high in protein. But only good for you if you eat dairy, which I don’t know if you do.
If I have flax meal around I add that to my cottage/ricotta cheese and berries.
Full fat plain yogurt only has 4 carbs per serving. The label says 14 but the bacterias in the yogurt eat the lactose sugars and lower the digestible carb count. Always good with berries, flax and splenda. Here’s more info
Also if you don’t “trust” Splenda you can look into using Stevia as a sugar substitute, which is a 100% natural herb.
I’ve been eating low-carb for a couple of years. Some things I like to eat that are quick and vegetarian are:
Oatmeal - I’d stick with it if I were you. It’s a complex carb so it isn’t like eating white bread. I put a little butter and cream in mine, and it fills me up until lunchtime. I eat so little sugar now that it tastes like cake to me, but sometimes I use a little bit of a sweetener. I have been told that the steel-cut variety is less digestible and therefore lower carb. I don’t know whether that’s true.
PB&J - Use almond butter instead of peanut butter. Use low-carb bread (I think Brownberry’s is the best on the market and it might be the cheapest). Use all-fruit preserves made from berries (which are naturally low-carb), or a diabetic product like Smucker’s low-sugar strawberry jam.
Toasted cheese - You didn’t say anything about restricting your fat intake, so this might be too fatty for you. I sometimes make a toasted cheese sandwich on low-carb bread, and it’s so filling I can go half the day without eating again. Steam some broccoli on the side and it’s a good quick meal.
I have to put in a good word for Smucker’s Natural Peanut Butter, I prefer it over the regular, full-sugar PBs. Very, very yummy, and since it only has peanuts and oil, it is 4 grams carbs for a 2 TBSP serving. I have been buying the Natural Ovens low-carb bread, I think it is 3 g per slice.
Celery with cream cheese or spreadable cheese (Boursin a personal fave) is portable and filling. Hardboiled eggs if you eat eggs.