Hi! I've been lurking around here for a while and just now decided to start posting. I hope I am not breaking any rules by not introducing myself in the newbies area. That place seems so busy that I feel tired just looking at it. Besides, I want to interact mostly with you nice vegetarians. So I thought I might introduce myself here to make sure you catch it. You can call me Brad! I am 22 years old.

I've avoided posting for a while because through some bizarre cosmic coincidence, I am actually a student of a member of this board! Your beloved Paleoanth is my college anatomy instructor! I thought I might be intruding upon her personal space. But, she has assured me that she can draw a line between student/teacher and desperate dieter/teacher! Of course this does not mean that I will not spill every secret I know about her should you private message me. (Just kidding.)

I used to weigh around 160 a couple of years ago. I stopped exercising as much and started eating lots of candy and BAM here I am at 260 pounds. I have gained, yes, 100 pounds in just a couple of years. I am clinically obese. It comes on FAST, doesn't it? I am not used to being overweight. I really must say that I am very disenchanted with society in general now that I am treated so much differently as a heavier person. Sigh, but what can you do? Oh, that's right, diet!

My mother has been a vegeterian for over twenty-five years, so I have eaten very little meat growing up to begin with. I look at this as a chance now to go vegeterian myself. Something I've wanted to do for a while, anyway.

Guys, I am going to need some serious motivation. My username here is CadburyEgg for Christ's sake. Does that tell you something about what was on my mind just five minutes ago? CHOCOLATE! Please help me and answer my questions as I start this long journey back to being fit.

Hi CadburyEgg! It's nice to meet you. It's nice to meet you too, Brad.

I've been vegetarian for about 9 years now and just started low-carbing in February. I had to rethink a lot of my meals since veggie foods center around rice and grains. It can be done though. I just bought a book with a lot of helpful recipes too. It's listed in another thread on here.

I'm a newbie too and have learned so much looking through the threads. If you have any questions, just ask! Someone else has probably been through the same thing.

See you around the board.

LOL! Hey there Cad! Brad the Cad! That rhymes.

I am glad you are here. But don't limit your posts to the veggie area. Try the main forums as well. The General Low Carb and the Atkins areas are good places. Also, you might want to start a journal-make yourself accountable by posting what you eat. If you have to tell people you ate chocolate, it might stop you from doing it. Public humiliation is always a good behavior modifier.

There is also a triple digits area for people who want/need to lose 100 pounds. I actually read that area myself as there is lots of good advice there.

How MANY secrets?

He knows nothing.

Hi there, Cad-Brad. Paleo rocks. Okay, I just wrote that because you're young enough to be my grandson and I wanted to sound cool.

My best advice to you is: Watch out for the cashew nuts. My heaviest weight ever was after trying vegetarianism for a year and living on cashew nuts and cheese. Well, there was also a lot of rice....

Good luck,
Kay

Welcome Brad! This forum is a source of wonderful advice and motivation. You will also meet some very nice people. Best of luck to you.

If you want some dish on your instructor send me a check.

Welcome Brad. Paleo mentioned that you finally joined. Welcome!
I must say, I am jealous that you have her for an instructor. I contemplated flying all the way to TN to take her class. However, the commute would be murder.

Okay, now dish.....

Hi Brad,

You have listed your plan as Vegetarian Atkins, this is good because you are following an actual plan.

Now, does this mean you want to be a lacto/ovo veggie ?

If you are currently a meat eater, and part of this is to loose weight and gain health, I would not personally recommend that you switch to being a veggie, during the weight loss phase. The reason being because of the challenges faced with changing to low carb and getting enough fat to stimulate lipolosys. And plus it's damn hard!
But of course that doesn't mean it can't be done especially if you are eating enough eggs. Remember during atkins to limit cheese. This will be a challenge as you are going veggie.

Myself, I am still a meat eater, but I am exploring vegetarian options and trying to educate myself. I see no reason why I couldn't be a full veggie at goal. This came to me one day when I was making a tastey mushroom omlette

As Paleoanth has said, don't limit yourself to this part of the board, support, understanding and learning is all over the forum.

Good Luck!

Does that you mean you will dish the dirt if I PM you? :rubs hands:

Welcome to the board.

LOL, CadburyEgg. Oh my, and at Easter no less when they are everywhere!

On the bright side, when you get to a place in your plan where you feel that you are solidly set in being low carb (in a month or so), try a single square of Lindt70% or 80% dark...on 1g ECC (effective carbs) per 1 inch square, and so dark and chocolate-y that one square will usually knock that craving right out of town.

BTW, It's VERY easy to include the right fats in your low carb plan as a vegetarian...there are many good sources of healthy fats including avocado, coconut milk and unsweetened coconut itself, and of course cheese, eggs, nuts and seeds. And while Atkins limits cheese during the 14-day induction, remember that his plan was/is aimed at people who are getting their fats primarily from meats. Since you're taking meats out of the equation, you may be able to add moderate amounts of cheese (at least enough to insure that you're getting plenty of fats and protein) into your personalized induction phase--and I wouldn't continue that phase any longer than 14 days as a veggie, only because it can lead to compromising fat and protein intake and sacrificing variety. For my money, variety is what helps keep me on plan, so anything that compromises that would doom my efforts to continue on any plan.

Welcome to the adventure!

Oh God, you guys, I just can't seem to start the diet! I will start posting more often when I am ACTUALLY ON THE FREAKING EATING PLAN!

My problem is that I start getting really hungry around 6:00 PM, near dinner time. Or "supper" time, for those of you who are zany. Anyway, around that time, I get so ravenous that I could eat the whole world. Normally, I would eat some meat to fight off the hunger pangs, but... oh, that's right, I'm trying the vegetarian plan. And I can't fight off hunger with freaking vegetables because then I bust my induction carbs limit. Any advice? I've been trying to get on Atkins every day for two weeks now and come evening always end up in a sobbing mess of hamburgers, chocolate bars, vodka spiked iced tea, and praline pecan ice cream.

I am thinking of doing a meat-ridden induction and then moving into vegetarianism during the ongoing weight loss phase. I need to go check out the Atkins book from the library again and read what he has to say about this. I need to do that, but come on, who wants to navigate downtown traffic for a silly old BOOK?!

If it is easier for you to get through induction by eating meat, then do it. The important thing is to get going and get into ketosis. I am sure that people would be happy to share their induction menus with you as well.

I would bring you my copy, but unfortunately, I leant it to someone and they never gave it back.

Is there a way to try to curb your appetite between lunch and dinner so you're not so ravenous? I always keep a bag of nuts with me and drink lots of water.

What about tofu or eggs? There are a lot of quick and simple recipes out there.

May 1st! The diet begins! BE THERE!