New vegetarian needing help!?

Question

Hi, I decided to go veggie in December last year and have found I am putting on weight. I am still fiding new foods to eat, but I still seem to replace meat with high fat foods such as cheese etc. Any ideas on nice healthy meals to cook? I am addicted to falafels at the moment and woul like a change!

Answer 1

Don't let anyone tell you to eat fish, it is not vegetarian to eat fish! To be vegetarian means to eat no flesh, and whoever eats fish is no vegetarian.
Cut down on dairy product as many here have said.
Btw. I don't like the fact that some people see it as necessary to add stupid comments in such as "Eat meat again!" We leave them alone so should they.
Good luck and congratulations to turning vegetarian. You will soon find your own balance in food and it is a real adventure suddenly learning about so many other foods that are our there.
have you ever tried Quinoa? it is very nutritious, but low on calories.

Answer 2

Congrats on your choice to be a vegetarian. I put on weight too when I first became one. The good news is that the problem you have is no different than the problems that non-vegetarians have with their weight. It's pretty simple: If you take-in more calories than you burn up...you will get fat. This is true no matter what your diet consists of.

By changing your diet and replacing meat with other things, you've ended up eating more calories than you used to. This doesn't mean you have go back to eating meat, or that you should eat less carbs. All it means is that you have to eat the same amout of calories that you use in a day (or eat less than you use if you're trying to lose the weight).

A little looking around on the web and you will find loads of websites designed to show you the easiest way to keep track of your calories, and how many carbs, fat, and protien you need in a day. www.my-calorie-counter.com is a very good one.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Yours is a common problem when people first 'convert' to vegetarianism. Cheese makes people fat. So cheese must be limited. Also things like pasta and even the processed vegetarian foods that are frozen like the Boca and Morningstar Farms line. Just eat these things in moderation. Eat fresh vegetables and fruits. Eat whole grains. Eat beans and soy products for protein needs. I love falafels too but they are fried and fattening. Don't eat them all the time.

It takes time to learn how and what to eat after changing over to vegetarianism. Don't give up.

Answer 4

You need to cut way down on Falafel because it is fried and has too much fat. Switch to Cabot 50% cheese. It's half the fat and calories and vegetarian friendly. You also need to avoid white bread and rolls and switch to whole grain. Eat lots of fruits and veggies and make many of your meals veggie based for the most part. I like mixing in Quorn tenders with differant veggies using different seasonings/sauces.

You also need to exercise! Keep active!

Answer 5

The reason folks put on weight when they go veg is because they're still eating packaged processed foods.

Stop eating cheese. Stop eating processed packaged veggie meats.

Go for fruits, veggies, nuts and grains. As much UNprocessed food as you can get. And eat all of it that you want.

Get some couscous. Make it with one cup soy milk to half a cup couscous. Heat, but don't boil the soy milk. Medium heat on your stove. Toss in the couscous, with some raisins and cashews. Stir it for about 90 seconds, then cover it and leave it for about 4-5 minutes.

YUMMY! Breakfast Lunch OR Dinner!

Learn to love Kale and Chard. Cook them over a low heat in a small amount of olive oil. Add nutritional yeast - to make it taste DIVINE. Toss in some pine nuts and sliced sundried tomato.

Have with some fresh french bread. YUM YUM!

Answer 6

Why not try to be more try to be more adventurous with your food? There is so much avalible tofu which when marinaded can be really good not only that your shops cater so well for veggies! But may be your main problem is that you are substuting your meat for high carb food! Take a look at what you are eating and see what its carb levels are like! ( I try to only eat max 20g carb from one portion!) But good luck because cahning your diet in such a big way is not easy!!!

Answer 7

YOU HAVE TAKEN THE RIGHT DECISION.

welcome !

being a vegetarian is not very easy and yes if you do over eat cheese etc you will put on weight.

go to vegsoc.org for further info

also if you like to cook i suggest you visit www.tarladalal.com everyday. Tarla Dalal is a famous indian cook and all her recipes are vegetarian. she features 2-3 recipes on her website everyday. simply copy the free recipe in a word document and try them

you can also buy her books - quite good if you like indian food. but she also has books to teach veggie versions of all continental / italian and even chinese food.

good luck!

Answer 8

You are eating too many carbs. Up the protein intake with each meal - it's not the fat in the cheese, its the simple carbs in things like white rice, bread etc that convert to sugar so quickly which is causing the weight gain. Protein will temper this so don't ditch the cheese, add other protein like eggs and quorn etc. Drop the simple carbs while you want to lose weight and heed the GI index for the remaining carbs.

Answer 9

I have been a vegetarian for fifteen years, now and still make the big mistake of eating alot of cheese and dairy products. There are plenty of meat alternatives to try that are pretty low calorie/low fat, like tofu or quorn, cottage cheese makes a good alternative to full fat cheese. If you are feeling brave, try soya milk as an alternative to real milk (although wait for your coffee to cool a bit or it will curdle). I still eat alot of pasta too, although instead of full-on cheese, use low-fat cream cheese or pesto. I also love sundried tomatoes as they are a bit meaty. Needless to say vegetable and salads too.

Answer 10

hi! I am a pure vegetarian. I am not fat. Its just because i eat the veggies plain cooked instead of cheese and all fried items which may even lead to heart attacks and so on. Do not go back to eating meat. There is a loss of animals to the earth. They too are living things. Do not create sins and go to hell by killing them and eating those poor living creatures. You have changed to become a vegetarian. CONTINUE! DO NOT CONVERT YOURSELF BACK TO AN ANIMAL KILLER!