Vegan low carb

[trqintracks]

I'd quite like to shift 8-10lbs in the next 4 weeks - so 2+lbs a week which seems doable.
I have a tendency to starve myself, lose a few pounds, binge and go back to square one so wondering if low carb would be a good way to do it with quick results?

Any tips, tricks, meal ideas or advice? Avoiding fruit worries me...
Anyone fancy joining me?

Also posting in Low-carb.

You wouldn't be leaving yourself much left to eat.

If you can sort out your disordered eating, you will lose weight.

I low carb at the moment but my diet is def not vegan-friendly!

Following with interest as i'd like to cut down on my meat and dairy consumption

Initial thoughts are there are nuts, vegetables like cabbage, broccoli etc, oils like coconut oil or ghee (don't know if this is animal or not)
You could roast veggies in plenty of oil, eat plenty of nuts and seeds by check they are low carb friendly first.

Make sure you have a multivitamin and plenty of electrolytes too as it will be restrictive!

Really? I'm imagining eating salads - lettuce, tofu, broccoli, cauliflower, a few nuts, veg curried and things. Maybe I haven't done enough research on carbs... I've never really restricted a food group before - other than being vegan obviously!

Pesty I definitely think that's my biggest problem. I've done a week of three square meals and think I have put on two pounds (although official weigh in is tomorrow) so would normally go straight to starving myself but am hoping this is going to be a better option.

Thanks for your reply itsallgravy - you've given me hope!

You'll be living on greens, tofu, and nuts - starchier veg is too carb-heavy (I miss carrots!). I'm veggie and am currently low-carbing to shift weight. It really works well for me (lost a stone in eight weeks) and I'm never hungry but I do get bored as the food is restrictive. Perfectly manageable for a month or so though. I have found Rose Eliot's "Vegetarian Low-carb Diet" book extremely useful - she gives vegan alternatives throughout. Good luck (and drink LOADS of water).

Get enough protein, a a big variety. Tofu, tempeh, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds, gluten, chai seeds and legumes. Most veggie based protein has carbs in it, also fibre so it sort of cancels out.

Loads of veggies, as big a variety as you can lay hands on.

Avoid too much fruit, it is sugary and sugar is turbo carbs. A few berries are fine and some plain chocolate (one or two squares) is very good for you.

Small sensible meals, if you fancy binging try something with a strong taste like olives, to distract you. Invest in a fabulous spice cupboard.

Do not starve yourself, you need a long term plan.

Good luck. Try some mindfulness to keep you on track and take a supplement.

Great tips - thanks @squatcher and @PestymcPestFace! I'm going to make tomorrow day one and see how things go!

Slight day one fail as I have loads of fruit that needs using.
So far I've had a small orange and a couple of olives.

I don't know what I'll have for breakfast on other days - are oats ok? Also thinking maybe some tofu scramble on mornings that I have time to cook.

Olives are good, fruit not so much! It does take a bit of getting used to - I was scared to eat anything at first.

Oats are high carb and best avoided (but then I think lentils and any legumes are pretty high carb as well - so it depends what you're really aiming for - are you counting your carbs?).

Some ideas:
-scrambled tofu (you can chuck different veggies/spices in with it for a bit of variation)
-fry-up of a tomato, mushrooms, tofu sausage
-soya shakes
-nut smoothies
-soya yogurt with berries/nuts/seeds
-"granola" made with toasted chopped nuts and seeds

Will keep thinking!

Great suggestions! Thank you! Definitely going to get a scrambled tofu on the go tomorrow!
Damn - I think I'd assumed oats would be ok because they're so bloody boring!!

Seitan
Vegan quorn

If you google keto granola there are some lovely ones. I think coconut and almond milk are both ok but just double check the carbs on MFP

Or I sometimes have a handful of pecans and a bulletproof coffee - you can use coconut oil instead of butter and still get plenty of fat.

Essentially you want to be keeping yourself full on fat while getting enough protein in you to not start metabolising muscle. Carbs low :)

I’d say low carb vegan is a bad idea. You run the risk of malnutrition as it’s not sustainable. Vegans get b vitamins, amino acids, trace elements etc from wholemeal/whole grain carbs...unless you live on soya you need amino acids from carbs and from pulses/nuts to get all the aminos you need. A better plan would be to eat normally, as a pp has said, and cut out the Starve/binging cycle. Perhaps increase the amount of protein/veg you have and decrease the amount of carbs, but low carb is not a wise move for vegans. It won’t create meaningful change in how you behave around food.

Seitan, tofu, quorn, tempeh... add nutritional yeast, amino acids, seaweed for extra nutrients.
Vegetables, olives, nuts etc
Plenty of good oils

I would recommend reducing carbs rather than cuting them out if you’re prone to binging though. Try measuring out your carbs eg 200g potato, 60g dry pasta, 40g oats

DH picked up some paleo brand of grain free granola, half price. I ended up adding it to my normal muesli because it was a bit much on its own, before giving up on it entirely because it actually tasted a bit rancid and was spoiling my breakfast and giving me terrible wind

Low carb isn’t necessary to lose weight. The single thing you need to do to lose weight is to consume less calories. Use an app like MyFitnessPal and reduce your daily calories until you’re losing around half a kilo a week, continue until you’ve hit your weight loss goal. More exercise can help too.

I stayed at a vegan friends at the weekend who's also LCing - we had quorn mince with tomato sauce and vegan cheese with onions and peppers, and then a delicious curry with tofu, mushrooms and other LC veg in a coconut milk and coriander sauce - lovely!

Other than that, black or almond milk coffee and nuts as snacks :)

No experience here but I think if you like snacking on sweet things, try and replace them with almonds. They are quite filling, have lots of fibre and most of the fat can't be digested.
I wouldn't cut out any food group- just eat less and make sure you have plenty of protein rich foods in your diet.