Weight loss for vegetarians

[LargeInCharge]

Hello!
I’ve been a vegetarian nearly all my life and I want to lose weight to be healthier (and to look better in my clothes) so I thought I’d create a space where fellow veggies (and vegans too) can share their weight loss journeys, food ideas, recipes and how they are feeling.

I started my journey on Tuesday so this is day 4 for me. My daily calorie limit is 1200.

Weight - 15st 4 (weighed on day 1)
Height - 5’ 9
Goal weight - 10st 7

How I gained weight - not exercising, eating crisps, cake, too many carbs and booze.
Positive changes - trying to be more active, ditched the crisps, cake and booze. Limiting my carbs as much as I can.

No pressure to reveal weight or anything that’s personal to you.

Good luck. 🥗🌽🥦🥬🥕🥒🫑🥑🥭🍅🍑🍓🍌🥥🫐

Lots of levantine recipes have parsley eg tabbouleh. Or salsa Verde.

@purplegirl13 the taco and curry recipes look really good Just about to add the ingredients to my online shop for next weekend. Not very exciting but here's what I've eaten today:
B - cup of tea, branflakes with almond milk
L - reduced fat cheese and marmite sandwich, a banana
S - a portion of Chika's Bongo BBQ Corn and Nut Mix (love these), an apple
D - homemade veg chilli and rice, skyr natural yoghurt with mango chunks and a squirt of honey

Total calories: 1670, which again puts me 'in the zone' on mfp. Trying really hard not to eat anything else! Might treat myself to an Options hot chocolate later if I really have to have something.

Mmm yes tabbouleh. Or a pesto?

Tabbouleh was the only thing that came to mind but pesto is a great call! I've made it before but didn't even think of it earlier, and the bonus is I can freeze some. Will probably make a small amount of tabbouleh as well.

@SuperLoudPoppingAction not quite ready to make my own tempeh, is there a particular brand/item from the supermarket you'd recommend for my first time trying it? Do I use it in recipes in place of tofu, are they exchangeable for one another?

@Yourownpersonaljesus I forgot to add those corn nuts to my Waitrose order that arrived a few days ago.
I definitely recommend the tacos. The chickpea curry was nice but I added more water as I didn't think there was enough liquid (how wrong I was) and I think it watered down the flavour. I also only added one can of chickpeas (which I thought worked well) I liked the caluiflower curry recipe as it was quick and, other than the cauliflower, had ingredients I always have in. It's only me here, and I have a small kitchen with little surface space so I'm particularly keen on recipes that are reasonably low effort, and keep dishes to a minimum - both these recipes ticked the right boxes for me!

I can't recall but is it you @NotquitewhatImeant that has done c25k? If it is you, please tell me to get my arse into gear and just get it done! I keep meaning to get up early to start it and I just don't - I've built it as as a big deal and I just can't find it in me to start.

I did it! I did week 1, run 1 of the C25K programme. I really struggled, and did about 6 mins jogging in total between all the walking but it's a start.

Well done @purplegirl13 that's brilliant. I haven't run for over 20 years. You should be very proud of yourself.

@purplegirl13 well done! The c25k programme is excellent and you can take it at whatever pace works for you. It is totally ok to run for less time than the app tells you the first time you do it, and try to ramp it up as gradually as you need to, as many times as you need to, until you can do the times the app says - and you definitely will be able to. Your body can do more than you know, and will adapt as you gradually ask it to do more. Keep it up!

Ooh yay purplegirl!! I did c25k in the first lockdown and totally loved it, then my already knackered pelvic floor complained too much and had to give it up. I’ve never been a runner or sporty at all, and the way the app built up, with room to repeat weeks etc, is done so well. I found it quite addictive as I started to feel like a winner at exercise which I have never felt in my life! I’d love to do it again if I could, just waiting on a gynea referral. When will you go out again?

goodnessdirect.co.uk/shop/plant-based-deli/tofurky-smoky-maple-bacon-tempeh-200-gr/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw78yFBhCZARIsAOxgSx3X12m-6kGJeV87LggCjwW6KMa7ibuAvk7fQYJ-iJZc7weam7kJi6IaAggEEALw_wcB

I'm relatively sure this is the bacon tempeh I had that was lovely.

Well done @purplegirl13 that’s great. I bet you feel pretty chuffed about it.

My total yesterday was 1150 cals. I hit my steps goal every day last week for the first time so fingers crossed that helps my weigh in day tomorrow.

Happy Monday everyone!

Thanks everyone! I have been wanting to start C25K for about a year but needed a sports bra (required a store visit, online shopping was an utter fail). I have tried C25k twice before, first time getting to week 2 (repeating wk 1 once) and about 2 yrs ago, I think I started wk 1 and never got past a couple of runs.

Thankfully I have proper well fitting trainers so this should make a real difference, along with a good sports bra. Plus I am not working so there are no excuses left.

Barring any injuries, I am committed to keep on going and repeating weeks for as long as it takes until I feel comfortable moving to the next stage.

@KihoBebiluPute @Undersnatch It's been so useful to hear from you , as honestly, I couldn't jog more than 30-35 secs at a time yesterday and can't ever envisage a time where I could run more than a minute or 2. This isn't for weight loss, this is for cardio fitness (even though I hate cardio, and avoid it at all costs).

Next runs planned for Tuesday and Thursday. Maybe even Saturday if I can get up early enough.

We all have to start somewhere @purplegirl13 - when I started c25k about 8 months ago (I think) I similarly could only manage 30 seconds at a time, and I gradually built up to 45 seconds then a minute at a time over the course of a couple of weeks. Similarly each subsequent week I would often need to make adaptations when the next step up seemed too much. But I got through in the end. I ran 12.5k this morning (pre-emptive calorie burning as I am having chips for supper tomorrow!) - I would never have believed that possible when I was at week1.

Well done, all you runners.

Following my sauerkraut obsession I came home from a weekend away and dd had just finished a watermelon so I pickled the rind. It is quite nice.
Pickles might be my Thing.

I will need to work up to home made Kim chi.

Hope everyone has had a lovely bank holiday Monday. I went over to my mums for a cuppa and managed to not eat any cake so that's quite an achievement for me! I have a question: How many calories would you estimate for homemade spaghetti bolognese? I searched on My Fitness Pal for a ready meal to get a rough idea. I chose one of the higher ones at 482 calories as it was quite a generous portion. Does that sound about right? I used soya mince, tinned toms, onion, garlic herbs, veg stock (didn't have any tomato puree). I didn't add any cheese on top (as much as I wanted to).

I've just roughly worked it out looking at the nutritional information for each ingredient on the Ocado website. I don't have scales so didn't weigh anything. I think I may have overestimated - maybe 400 could be more like it.

@KihoBebiluPute

I have dropped off the thread for a few days - seems to be that I am a bit of a "fair-weather" poster here. I am happy to share when things are going well but if they aren't then I don't like to write it down. But I had a pretty good day yesterday and am hoping to repeat this today (at least, until 8pm when I am meeting some friends in a pub which will probably turn out to be detrimental to weightloss)

On Monday I am meeting friends for a picnic - and as the meetup is at 3pm rather than at a rational mealtime that is going to be disastrous for keeping control of calories. Any suggestions for how to tackle it? Or do I just assume that I can't keep on-track that day and just focus on enjoying it for what it is?

Reporting back on this - the picnic was lovely but very much not a success as far as calorie control went. I think I was eating pretty much solidly between 3pm and 6pm and I feel really stuffed and uncomfortable.

I had a very minimal brunch at 11ish, and I took along a very low calorie veg fritata and some falafels and some popcorn and some raw mushrooms and carrot sticks - all of which pretty healthy, and obviously I shared what I had brought with others so didn't eat all of that. Unfortunately I also ate several of the cheesey treats and cakes that other people had brought.

I think I don't need much in the way of supper though, so maybe it will all even out.

Sometimes we deserve a day off @KihoBebiluPute. Glad to hear you had a lovely day.

@KihoBebiluPute

We all have to start somewhere *@purplegirl13* - when I started c25k about 8 months ago (I think) I similarly could only manage 30 seconds at a time, and I gradually built up to 45 seconds then a minute at a time over the course of a couple of weeks. Similarly each subsequent week I would often need to make adaptations when the next step up seemed too much. But I got through in the end. I ran 12.5k this morning (pre-emptive calorie burning as I am having chips for supper tomorrow!) - I would never have believed that possible when I was at week1.

That’s really inspiring!

@Yourownpersonaljesus

Sometimes we deserve a day off *@KihoBebiluPute*. Glad to hear you had a lovely day.

Agree with this.

Weigh day for me.

SW - 214lbs
Week 1 - 209.8
Week 2 - 206.8
Week 3 - 205.6
Week 4 - 204.4
Week 5 - 202.0
Week 6 - 198.8
Week 7 - 197.8

1 guinea pig lost which I’ll happily take.

That's brilliant @LargeInCharge - well done.

Just catching up on posts now...

@KihoBebiluPute I did my second 'run' today and was shocked that I am already able to do an extra 5-10 secs for each 'jog' compared to Sunday. Next attempt is on Thursday.
I am glad you enjoyed yourself at the picnic yesterday, I think for times like this I would enjoy the moment for what it is and balance out the other meals - like you mentioned, you may not have needed dinner or only something light.
p.s I can't believe you ran 12.5K!

@LargeInCharge well done on the loss

@Yourownpersonaljesus no cake. wow, very impressed with your willpower there! I would say 400-500 sounds about right for the spag bol. Calories in pasta always surprise me, every single time.

My eating has been all over the place - ice cream being consumed daily.

I'm away this weekend so would like to try and be in the 'zone' for the next few days. I went to a large supermarket today, which was very exciting! I was shielding last year, so mostly stick on online grocery orders. The issue with that though is always having to hit the £40 minimum and only getting fresh produce once a week (and it's just me here and a tiny fridge)

So my exciting purchases from Sainsburys:
their own brand firm tofu (for a bargain £1.50)
some kombucha (expensive but trying to really up my intake of fermented 'stuff')
www.plant-power.co.uk/products/tempeh-pieces-curry-flavoured

Today's eating:
B - coconut kefir drink
L - tabbouleh type salad (no grains), with sweet chilli houmous
S - ice lolly, olives, salted caramel popcorn
D - chickpea and cauliflower and brown rice - both from the freezer

*chickpea and cauliflower curry

Today's food looks very healthy @purplegirl13. I've eaten reasonably healthily today but am currently trying to resist an Easter egg that keeps calling me every time I open the Fridge!