Veggie who needs to lose three stone.

[Goslowlysideways]

I’m three stone over weight. Keen to lose it and really motivated. Has anyone got any recipe ideas? I’ve been having a lot of tasty soups and stews. Chickpeas and lentils. Any inspiration would be appreciated.

I always enjoy chickpea "tuna". It's good on a standalone basis or with jacket potato/in a sandwich/with a salad.

It's essentially chickpeas mashed up with mayo. I also add sweetcorn and finely chopped red onion and season with celery salt and white pepper. Light mayo can be used of course.

You can also roast chickpeas in the oven and they make great salad toppers or snacks in the same way as you'd snack on nuts.
Very easy to season to your own tastes or to compliment other parts of your meal. I like seasoning with soy sauce and paprika for a smokey bacony taste. Or with a little maple syrup for a sweeter snack.
Also lovely with fajita seasoning.

Jamie Olivers lentil cottage pie is also good- although I ditch the parmesan as I don't eat it
www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/michela-s-veg-lentil-cottage-pie/

@AnnieMaul Thank you I’ll try them all.

I found the 5:2 diet helped as being veggie doesn't make you healthy and I eat too much cake. It takes time but I lost what I needed too. Its gone back on the last few months but I'm back on the wagon. I enjoy big plated of multi veggies with gravy. Low calories but fills up. Also porridge for breakfast.

Chickpeas mashed with mayo would be exceptionally high calorie!

I am veggie and have lost about 6st so far. Calorie counting, portion control and plenty of exercise.

For portion control use small plates and bowls and rethink your expectations about what size a meal should be.

More than half of each meal should be veg that are at the lower end of the calorie range eg carrots and mushrooms. Limit the amounts of higher cal veg. Use 1cal spray oil for cooking, cheese should be a rare treat not a main source of protein. Nuts in very small quantities occasionally as they are very high cal.

I use a lot of adapted Hellofresh recipes- they are all downloadable free online you don't need to be a customer to see them. I generally double-up the veg, halve the carb and any higher-cal ingredients, and get out a delicious meal which stretches to more servings than expected due to smaller portions.

My meals are typically-
Breakfast might be just a banana, or a soft boiled egg with soldiers of a cut up ryvita cracker. Or if I have just been for a run I might have something a bit more like a load of mushrooms sauted in 1cal spray with a handful of spinach and a quorn sausage.

Lunch - either home-made soup (portion calculated to be about 200 cals) with 1 slice of bread, or carrot sticks with 25g low-fat houmous, a couple of raw mushrooms, some lettuce, and a ryvita cracker with some fake-meat pastrami or some home-made pate (basically mashed up roast veg with herbs)

Snack if needed - a 5g handful of popcorn or a couple of raw mushrooms

Supper - 250g serving of a low-fat chilli with 65g rice. Or a 300g serving of another hellofresh-type recipe as described above.

A couple of hours after supper - an apple or a few dried apricots with a sweet treat like a cookie, or occasionally 25g stilton cheese.

@Howcanwehelp I think 5:2 could work well for me. I’ll look at that.
@KihoBebiluPute I thought use no fat Greek yogurt instead. Well done on your weight loss. Thanks for all the tips I’m going to definitely use them.

I find it easier to eat nothing 2 days a week. Monday and Thursdays.

Nothing from sunday night to Tuesday morning and nothing from wed night to friday morning.

I used to faff about eating tiny amounts but honestly, it's easier to just eat nothing.

I had slipped in to being a grainatarian. Had to train myself to eat more protein and fat. I'm not keto far from it but going keto just long enough to lose the weight recalibrated my ''go to'' foods a bit.

I find eggs good (if you eat them of course). I saute some veg normally mushrooms, courgette, onions, peppers and fresh spinach and then make a plain omelette with 2 eggs. Out the veg in the middle of the omelette with some feta and voila!!

Salad with roasted chickpeas is good as is salad with kidney beans and avocado.

Homemade soup is good as you normally make enough for a couple of portions so there's a quick lunch waiting in the fridge. I made pumpkin the other day. Have also made leek and beetroot. I find smooth soups not very filling though so I have a small roll with them.

A chopped apple is a great snack in the afternoon when you fancy something sweet. I'm also a big fan of skyr yoghurt which is thick and high in protein.

I’m going to roast some chick peas. I’m also a big fan of yogurt. I think a few very lean days would work well.
These ideas are fantastic. Thank you.

Be very careful with the 5:2 diet if you have any history of binge eating. I found that it triggered a binge eating disorder for me and I wish I’d never tried it because it caused me to gain 3 stone in the end (which I have now lost). If you want to do IF, 16:8 is far less extreme.

Oh wow. Ive no history of anorexia or bulimia but i tske the point that it is not to be recomended for everybody

Chickpeas mashed with mayo would be exceptionally high calorie!

They're also full of fibre and protein so you feel fuller for longer and don't feel the need to snack whilst still having the energy for workouts though, so it's swings and roundabouts. I know that I would never have been able to lose (and keep off) 4 stone for example if I was relying on raw mushrooms for snacks or just a banana for breakfast. Different strokes for different folks