I've been LCing for quit some time and am now trying to do it vegetarian. I have lots of beans on hand and oatmeal. My budget is very limited...Here's a sample of my menu's. Any suggestions would be helpful and appreciated...

BREAKFAST
½ cup oatmeal
¼ cup cream
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tbs butter
LUNCH
½ cup whole wheat noodles
2 eggs
½ cup peas
2 tbs pecans
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tbs butter
DINNER
½ cup pinto beans
2 eggs
½ cup broccoli
½ cup spinach
1 tbs butter
2 tbs pecans
½ tsp cinnamon

My Food Values from fitday:
Calories: 1428
Fat: 104 - 68%
Carbs: 82 - 17%
Fiber: 25 - 0%
Protein: 52 - 15%
Ecc: 57

No matter how I tweek this vegetarian WOE, I can't seem to get below a little under 60 carbs... I do still seem to be losing though. Thanks for any suggestions ...

My experience has been that it doesn't cost us any more to eat the LC way than it did to eat a lot of fast acting carbs. The fast acting carbs appear cheaper. Look at what a package of oatmeal costs compared to vegetables or meat.

But when we ate fast acting carbs I was always hungry. And both my husband and I wanted sweets a lot and overate of them.

When we stopped eating the fast acting carbs, our appetites went down. We still eat often through the day, but when we eat we don't eat nearly as much as we did before. A small handful of nuts is a favorite snack for each of us.

Our grocery bill has not gone up. In fact, it is running about $10.00 to $15.00 less per week. No a hugh difference I know, but we are eating healthier. In fact a goodly per centage of the food we buy is organic. And we're still spending a little less on groceries. Plus we are walking so much that our gas bill has dropped to about one-third of what it was before. It will probably come back up in the winter but we are saving money right now and will throughout the summer and fall.

Dandi

I do understand that meat and veggies are more filling in the long run...But right now I'm tweaking my WOE and am doing Lacto-Ovo-vegetarian. I don't want to use processed foods. Well mostly not. I'm trying this because right now I don't have the money to buy meat and I do have pinto beans, oatmeal, rice [haven't tried that yet], and most of the other foods I have listed in my last post... and now that I'm doing it, well... I want to see if it works and so far [it has only been a few days] it seems to be working. I'm not new to LC, I've been doing it for a long time. It is just every time I've gotten in this position, well I've always quit, thinking it wouldn't work being a vegetarian. But not this time...it is going to work and I'm not quitting! So thank you very much and I wish you the best! Any more suggestions out there? I can use all I can get...

Why don't you have a look at CALP? Do ovo-lacto for your 2 LC meals and have beans and rice as part of your reward meal?

Karen

Could you tell me about CALP and/or direct me to a site that would explain it? I don't really know much about it except, I think there is a time of day you can eat what you want for one hour only??? I really don't know...but does sound interesting. I also was under the impression that there was a % of food you were suppose to eat during the reward meal??? Thanks again, Karen

This is the link, but the site is currently unavailable.

www.carbohydrateaddicts.com/

There is a CAD/CALP section of this forum that you can peruse through to find out what CAD/CALP is like to follow and ask questions. It's not as active as other parts of the forum, but thriving nonetheless.

Like we say to everyone who wants to follow a LC WOE, the best way to get the initial information if to read the book. You can get it through the library. And then use the forum for support.

Karen

thank you

If the Hellers' site isn't working, you might check out CADIS. It's the original CAD/CALP support group, and there might be some vegetarian members there.

Susan

I was thinking about The Insulin-Resistance Diet too, does anyone know much about that diet?

... This comes from Atkins, carbogramcounter, not fitday's. But it sounds like some good possibilities. I am having a hard time getting and keeping my protein up, without upping my carbs to much. Anybody have any more you know of?

Protein Sources
Tofu, firm, ½ cup = 2.2 ecc – 9.9 fat – 17.9 protein – 164 calories
Soybeans, ½ cup = 6.2 ecc – 5.8 fat – 11.1 protein – 127 calories
Soy milk, 1 cup = 1.2 ecc – 4.7 fat – 6.7 protein – 81 calories
Peanut butter, natural, 2 tbs = 4.8 ecc – 15.9 fat – 7.7 protein – 187 calories
TOTAL FOR ITEMS LISTED :
14.40 ECC
13.60 FAT
43.4O PROTEIN
559 CALORIES

Don't forget about miso, tempeh and edamame (green soya beans) in the pod!

Other nut butters too like macadamia, soya-nut and sesame.

Karen

How do you use the green soya beans in the pod?

Cook them in boiling, salted water until hot all the way through and bright green, about 5 minutes. Then you pop them out of the husk and eat the bean.

They're most commonly eaten as a snack but you can take the beans out of the pod and put thrm into things like soups and salads.

Karen

It can be difficult to do low-carb as a veggie but certainly not impossible. While it's true that vegetarian proteins have more carbs (like tofu, meat substitutes, etc.), they also have a high protein and fiber content so it's not as bad as a high-carb thing.

First of all, definitely go for the tofu! I personally prefer Soy Deli's Nigari Firm Tofu. It's the firmest I've found, even firmer than the extra firm kind of other brands (and I'm damn picky about my tofu! ). If you marinade it and grill it it's quite delicious (even my meat-eating sister grudgingly admits it!). Search these forums for "tofu" for recipes, and also these two for veggie-friendly low-carb recipes:

www.immuneweb.org/lowcarb
www.geocities.com/msweathe/veggie.html

I never cared for tempeh myself, although Karen's other suggestions sound wonderful (our cooking guru). Also check out meat substitutes, i.e., Boca burgers, Morningstar sausages, Lightlife turkey slices, etc. Not too high in carbs and good sources of protein.

Legumes aren't bad, it's just that you have to watch the carb count. Eggs and cheese are good too. How about a hunk of cheese in a big salad? Or are you counting carbs in veggies too, i.e., the Atkins way?

Have you checked out The Schwarzbein Principle? Her plan is different from Atkins in many ways, but she has a menu plan especially for vegetarians and her philosophy about low-carbing is a little more lenient (i.e., don't count carbs in non-starchy veggies, cream, cheese, etc.). You might want to check out her website:

www.schwarzbeinprinciple.com

As for the cost of low-carbing, I confess that I spend more each week in groceries because I cook more. At least, I think I do. Tofu runs about $2 per 12 oz pack (though I've seen it in health food stores for $3). I usually have half that (6 oz) at mealtime, so if I'm making lunch and dinner for 5 days a week, that's $1 per meal. Hmm, not bad, if you look at it that way...

HTH,

Tal

Thank you for the links! That is great!!! I am going to check out The Schwarzbein Principle as well. Thank you!