To give up on vegetarianism?

[3GreenFrogs]

A few months ago I went veggie. Didn’t find it difficult to be honest and ate stuff like veggie bolognese, veggie curry, bean burgers etc etc

I thought it might even help me lose weight ... but I’ve put weight on!! In fact I look so fat now you’d think I’d been on a fast food diet. I’m constantly bloated and feel so uncomfortable. None of my clothes fit me. I’m also long term anaemic and feel this won’t be doing that any good and I suffer with IBS which has always been made worse by increasing my fibre intake.

When I get back from festival next week I’m joint TeamRH to lose weight and I know he’s big on protein etc ... AIBU to give up on the whole vegetarian thing?

Have a look at the fast 800 recipes.

My quick go to brunch is scrambled egg (no milk) on sliced beef tomatoes. Keeps me full for ages. I eat that when I get hungry and just have coffee first thing.

Very keen on fingers of courgette fried in a bit of butter and oil as a base for whatever I put on top.

Chopped roasted veg are good.

Salads with loads of interesting things are pretty easy. Add in a bit of good quality high flavor cheese like gorgonzola and a bit of sliced orange instead of dressing.

IBS is a complication I'm afraid.

I was vegetarian for almost 3 years and was advised to give it ip by my NHS dietician. Due to ibs and a gluten intolerance, it was making me really unwell. I feel much better and have lost weight on a lower carb, higher fat diet.

I’m a veggie and have IBS. It’s hard and I do still eat fish (but no dairy, ethically I’d actually rather have meat but that’s a different story altogether, plus dairy is TERRIBLE for IBS) and fall off the the wagon occasionally as it’s hard trying to do an IBS friendly vegetarian diet (I follow FODMAP principles).

Weight loss gain is simply about calories in calories out. You’ve probably being inadvertently consuming high calorie food - a lot of the processed veggie stuff, burgers, sausages etc. are not weight loss friendly, neither is cheese, I have a couple of veggie friends who eat a lot of cheese and they’re overweight.

In terms of the IBS you’ve probably been inadvertently consuming stuff which is terrible for it, beans/pulses are an absolute killer, as is wheat/gluten and cashews which are in a lot of processed veggie/vegan stuff.

if you want to stay veggie Quorn do a gluten free range but not everywhere stocks it. Jackfruit is good to good with as a meat alternative too. Consider adding fish and seafood back in, cut out the processed rubbish, count your calories/have portion control, cut down on the dairy and for the IBS take a look at the FODMAP diet.

Gosh, when I wrote recommending pulses I didn’t realise that they were no good for ibs sufferers. So as a vegetarian ibs sufferer exactly what proteins can you have? It sounds like eggs and nuts are the limit. No dairy, no pulses. I can‘T think being a vegetarian should be a priority for people suffering from ibs, your diet is already so restricted.

Forgive me if I get some of these wrong as I dont suffer from IBS but would suggest
Nutritional yeastI like to add this to my toast cauliflower and cheese or add it to my mac and cheese. I also put into stews.
Spirulina a huge source of protein. You can buy it in Aldi
Quinoa
Soy milk
Chia seeds I use these to make a dessert.
Nut butters easy to make but available in supermarkets , almond butter is one of my favourites although I use peanut butter a lot in cooking
Some veg has protein , namely broccoli, asparagus ( I have steamed asparagus topped with a poached egg for a light tea)
Sprouts ( great roasted with broccoli, chestnuts and feta cheese, use frozen broccoli and sprouts , a bit of oil and the meal is prepared in about 3 minutes!!)

Weight loss gain is simply about calories in calories out.

It's really, really not. Seesh.

If I had IBS I don't think I'd reduce my diet any further than I had to by going vegetarian. Maybe one or two meat days a week. However, from the little I know about IBS, it's the grains that make it worse. Whether eating meat or not, pot noodles, pizzas, toast and pasties is not going to be doing anything for your ibs!

I love veggie food but if i don't eat meat, I find I'm permanently hungry. I'd get fatter if I was vegetarian.

I have looked into some of the protein rates for vegetables, and seen online lists claiming really high rates for bean sprouts for example. I just looked in the shop, and the nutrition information said 2.9g/100g. Not much.
Whereas the seaweed snacks I saw said 29.7g/100g, which is really high. Does anyone have a reliable list which says how many protein g/100g different food have?

I didn't eat meat of any form for 16 years. I went back to meat about 3 years ago and haven't looked back (the only meat I don't eat now is beef and lamb in an attempt for lower my carbon footprint). Life has definitely improved now that bacon is back on the cards!

My friend on the other hand is a vegetarian and truly loves it. My friend's husband is a vegan and happy with that too.

Only YOU can decide what's right for you personally.

Thistly
I wouldnt rely on veg as my source of protein but some steamed up with other things can give a meal a bit of a boast eg char grilled asparagus with poaced egg.

teamed up not steamed up!( although I usually do steam my veg!)

For environmental reasons, I suggest looking into the EAT-Lancet commision, which gives a breakdown of the impacts, as well as lots of recipes and things. I'm still slowly tweaking my family's diet to match up, but having those ranges to aim at and play with has helped me.

For fat loss, I'd recommended looking at Alan Aragon's Fat Loss Pyramid and maybe keeping a food diary to see what you're eating and what seems to be triggering the bloating. For me, it's been ensuring plenty of water - it's counter-intuitive a bit for me, but the less water, the more the body holds onto it so regular water helps to move it through the systems better.

If you went veggie because you thought you would like weight and you haven't, then you would be totally reasonable to give up.

If you went veggie for broader ethical reasons it seems a shame to prioritise how you look over them.

Learning to cook veggies & routinely eat them would give you a lot more options (and could lower calorie intake).

Try eating more beans and lentils.

I went veggie about 20 years ago.

I kept it up for several years.

I would eat processed crap and quorn amongst other soya/texturised vegetable protien meat alternatives.

I felt unwell most days, in a similar way to yourself, bloating and IBS like symptoms etc.

Then I too caved and started eating meat again. Bacon spurred my downfall.

I felt a little better over night. Felt even better when I stopped eating all fake meat products.

I truly think vegetarianism is great for a lot of people but I personally believe it doesn't suit some people's system.

I mean, there are people who are born literally lacking the ability to digest cows milk while others can digest it fine. Science is making discoveries about the human digestive process all the time and suggestions are that not everybody's body responds the same way to eating any given foodstuff.

If your body needs meat, let it have it.

Don't be pressured by anyone elses opinion, whether that be from individuals with their own agenda or societal pressure. Just listen to your body, your mind and your own opinion because in the end, you have to suffer the physical consequences if a veggie diet pisses your guts off.

You are gaining weight because you are eating too many calories, not because you’ve gone veggie.
It’s probable that vegaterianism isn’t for you if you only enjoy carb heavy and unhealthy veggie foods. There are plenty of overweight veggies and vegans around.
I’ve been veggie then vegan for years. I’ve been over and underweight but that’s based in my dietary choices not the lack of meat

Oh and quorn is the food of the devil. Often veggies go mad on lentils too and if not soaked/cooked correctly they can cause havoc.

Looking at your sample diet, wheat, cheddar, potatoes, beans and peanuts all aggravate my IBS. Rice cakes and oat cakes are useful for snacks. Whole rice is better for me than white. Almond butter is easy to make. Salads with spinach, avocado, poached egg. Homemade muesli so I know it only contains oats, and cheaper than buying gluten free muesli. Porridge. Quinoa is full of protein. You can get buckwheat or rice noodles. Veggie ready meals are disappointingly high in saturated fat. I decided to eat lean meat and fish a few days a week. I try to eat rye bread or low GI bread. It's not easy, is it?!

@Orangeballon lentils and beans are an absolute nightmare for people with IBS. Like food poisoning bad.