Hi all,

I'm really a hard core carnivore who happens to be an Orthodox Christian. We generally go vegan on Wednesdays and Fridays and then for 40 days before Christmas plus the whole lent thing and a few other shorter fasts throughout the year. I've done well with my weight loss in the past month but have totally blown the fasts! I would really appreciate some help figuring out what I CAN eat without blowing my diet. It's not much of an example to the kids for mom to be scarfing a turkey roll-up when they're eating beans. Shrimp and shellfish are permitted and fish is permitted during the first half of the Christmas fast.

Thanks!

Aemelia

Can you use meat substitutes? Morningstar Farms and Quorn make some tasty nonmeat alternatives that are fairly low carb and are vegan friendly. You can also see if you can find rice cheese in the Natural Foods section of the store.

Thanks! I looked at the Quorn available in town- really, really small town at the far edge of nowhere- and it was pretty high carb but it was the nugget kind. Maybe other forms are better? My priest gave me a blessing to keep the dairy, so that makes it lots easier. I just have to find something to replace turkey roll-ups- they've become my PB&J: always available and requiring no thought and little effort on my part.

Aemelia

Yikes-

You might have to order stuff. I use a lot of Smart Deli Country Ham slices-1 gram of carb a piece.

Yeah-some of the chicken stuff is kind of high carb-but the patty is a net of 9, which isn't too bad. Do they have Morningstar Farms?

I understand that eggs aren't vegan, but then again, neither are fish & shellfish, so are eggs permitted?

What about TVP or gluten substitutes? Nuts? Avocados? I don't know how far along you are in your plan... black soybeans?