lower carb vegan

[samariah]

high carb foods make me binge like crazy. im thinking of doing a lower carb vegan diet (but not like atkins level low carb) that focuses on whole foods. im looking to lose 20 lbs altogether. im planning to have my diet focus on raw greens, tofu, tempeh, olive oil, flaxseed, almond milk, various veggies, low sugar fruits like berries, occasional small portions of brown rice, seeds, small amount of nuts, etc.

has anyone ever attempted something similar? im thinking fruits for breakfast, big salad with protein for lunch and for dinner protein, veggies and small amounts of healthy fats.

[sugarmouse]

I kinda do this.
I try to not eat refined carbs at all (bread,white pasta etc) and try to eat less starchy carbs than any other food group..just because they make me gain weight,crave more carbs, and feel sluggish.

I eat beans, veggies,salads and soups alot..

[cherrievegan]

me too..
avoiding bread, pasta, rice and sugar.
i like it. Now adays im less hungry in between meals!

[Tigerlily]

There are some people who can thrive on carb-rich foods and others who can't. One way to find out is to have a bagel with jam for breakfast and if you feel exhausted, sluggish, and starving by mid-morning, you're probably carb sensitive. People with more fat around their middle are also more likely to be carb sensitive. (I got this info from a magazine, so take with a grain of salt)

Personally, carbohydrate-rich foods, even the whole grain variety, make me feel sluggish and put on weight. Although I do try to eat less, they are very addicting and comforting.

I'm on a new healthy eating kick where I try to limit breads and processed foods and only have 1-3 servings of whole grains a day (at the most!). I'm still getting enough fibre from my 6-10 servings of veggies and fruits and beans. I will let everyone know how it goes. I'm only on day 2.

[sugarmouse]

I think you are probably right, Tigerlilly. I am a very similar shape to you aswell from what I have seen of your piccies, though I havent been blessed with boobsicles!
But I really dont feel good when I overdo the carbs, particularly refined ones, but any kind at all.

[cherrievegan]

cool. tigerlily. will be interesting to hear how things turn out for you!
good luck!

I lost like 4 kilos just by changing the diet to low carb.
but i guess that is all that there is to loose...
I haven´t lost any weight in one month now.

[samariah]

What do you typically eat in a day cherrievegan?

[Fuhzy]

Just throwing in my input for what would be healthy in a low-carb diet...

Tofu
Nuts
Seeds
Hummus
Tempeh


Also samariah, you do know that almond milk is a rather high carb food, right?

[samariah]

the almond milk i buy (almond breeze) has like 1 g of carbs per serving

[veganwitch]

This could explain the excessive weight gain I've had. I love carbs and do nothing at all to limit them. I really want to lose weight but don't want to limit carbs.

[cherrievegan]

What do you typically eat in a day cherrievegan?

I try to base every meal on something rich of protein.
like tofu or beans.
A lot of my meals are sallads. (but thats only because i like it)
for breakfast i like to make smoothies with soyamilk and fruit.

i drink a unsweetened soyamilk.
black coffie.
and water.

i eat
mini corn
mushrooms
tomatoes
beans
tofu
nuts
olive oil
and if i eat avocado. only a half one each meal.
no weat, no sugar, no rice, no potatoes.

But ONCE a week i have a day off the diet. i could never manage such strict food without on day of party!
but then again. with a good diet, the craving for sugar is not so bad. so the day off diet often results in vegan sushi or a veggie burger.

[samariah]

awesome. that sounds similar to the eating plan im making for myself.

[cherrievegan]

awesome. that sounds similar to the eating plan im making for myself.

I mean. its not the tastiest food ever. but to get properly full is nice. and atleast it works on my health and weight as well. So i hope it will work out for you as well.

Some people wasn´t made to eat the food of today. My family has diabetes latent. And I really like to avoid getting that!!!!!

Good luck!

and maybe we can share recipies!

[samariah]

im planning on experimenting with a low carb vegan ice cream using coconut milk and stevia (and whatever flavorings i want) to help satisfy my sweet cravings. i'll let you know how it turns out.

[cherrievegan]

sounds cool!

[samariah]

well ive been on and off with this lower carb thing for a bit now. however, the past several days ive been more lower carb and honestly it makes me feel so much better. im realizing that MY body works best when its getting fuel from fats and proteins and not mostly from carbs. lots of carbs make me feel tired, lethargic, moody, and make me want to eat constantly and binge. they also screw with my hormones and make me break out. right now, the thought of sweet foods aside from fruit makes me sick, and thats a good thing. so basically, ive been eating super dark chocolate, nut butters, seeds, tofu, tempeh, all sorts of veggies, greens, teas, tempeh, healthy oils, almond milk, coconut milk, and i just feel so much better.

[cobweb]

I'm thinking of doing this, it's ridiculous how hungry i always seem to be, and now that i can't exercise anything like as much as i used to (due to a problem with my hip and also my plantar fasciitis which i've just had a cortisone injection for) i HAVE to sort the diet out .

In theory i would simply eat less, in practice i am governed by my body. If i don't eat 'enough' i get the shakes, i sweat, and feel like i'm going to faint .

I crave carbs constantly . My mother keeps annoying me, telling me that veganism doesn't suit me (i have to confess that over the 10 years or so i've been vegan i have gained a LOT of weight) - and now i'm beginning to wonder about what she says.

Of course non-veganism doesn't feel like an option atall, so i just have to mix this around and come up with a vegan diet to suit myself, one that limits hunger, cravings, and blood sugar crashes.

Anyone else low-carbing .

[rainbowcarousel]

In theory i would simply eat less, in practice i am governed by my body. If i don't eat 'enough' i get the shakes, i sweat, and feel like i'm going to faint .

I crave carbs constantly . My mother keeps annoying me, telling me that veganism doesn't suit me (i have to confess that over the 10 years or so i've been vegan i have gained a LOT of weight) - and now i'm beginning to wonder about what she says.

Of course non-veganism doesn't feel like an option atall, so i just have to mix this around and come up with a vegan diet to suit myself, one that limits hunger, cravings, and blood sugar crashes.

Anyone else low-carbing .

Oh my, this is me! I get weak and shaky if I don't eat. Not always, and less so since changing my diet, but I am sitting here trying to figure out what to eat that is lower carb, that I can substitute. I haven't exactly gained weight since being vegan but am I allowed to confess that I hoped I might lose weight? No chance! Food is just too nice. And I thought I'd never be able to eat a lot of dark chocolate in one sitting because its so rich.... who am I kidding?

Anyone else got any ideas?

[Est]

come up with a vegan diet to suit myself, one that limits hunger, cravings, and blood sugar crashes.

Anyone else low-carbing .

Low GI

I used to get VERY bad hypoglycaemia, and as soon as I cut down on simple sugars/carbs and swapped to low GI foods (complex carbs) and low/no carb food it vanished - this was a problem that I'd had for years and it went completely within a few days. The cravings take a bit longer but only a couple of weeks.

This was all a while ago, and since then I've become vegan, done low carb, high carb (not deliberately, just lack of willpower!) and am now back to low carb again. I still eat masses of fruit with no trouble.

Low carb (and plenty of raw fruit/veggies/salads) this time started last Saturday and I feel amazing. More energy, skin cleared up, hair shinier and softer and I'm already slimmer. Less hungry too - I eat a bit and feel full/satisfied. No snack cravings!!!! Yay

Go for it Cobby and rainbowcarousel xx

[rainbowcarousel]

Thanks Est

So low -carb vegan is low GI foods, like vegetables, pulses and beans and granary bread but go easy on the white potatoes, (in fact anything white - pasta, rice, bread, potatoes)? How is fruit for GI purposes? I've been on the vegan society website which gave lots of ideas, but I need to put them into meals, iykwim?

[Est]

Yes, fewer breads/pasta/rice/bakery/potatoes/chips etc, and wholegrain rather than white. I was eating nothing but crumpets, ciabatta and crisps at my worst point, so basically carbs, fat and salt

Being honest, I've no idea how fruit suits the low GI/high GI thing - my mum can't eat fruit at all because she's diabetic, but I seem to be doing fine...

I am tending to eat a bowl of fruit for breakfast, tortilla wraps filled with salad (much yummier than it sounds - an explosion of flavour in fact!) for lunch (or soup etc) and then a "healthy" dinner like stir fry with brown rice/tofu, or pulses and veg, or homemade chilli, or jacket spud with spinach, salad, guacamole or hummous - that kind of thing. So I haven't eliminated the carbs but have drastically reduced them.

Snacks (when I need them - not that often now!) are olives, mixed nuts, pumpkin/sunflower seeds, fruit. If I'm not in a snack mood on any particular day, I try to have a few mixed nuts and seeds at lunch so I've had the nutrients from them.

Now my mum, as mentioned, is REAL low carb. She can't eat anything that has more than 5g carbs per 100g, and can't eat fruit, tomatoes, grains etc as they raise her blood sugar too high. So she has to eat a lot of nuts, avocado etc to get calories from fats and proteins. Despite that she's dropped a lot of weight and is down to 8.5 stone (she should be about 10 stone ) but with the diabetes she can't take any chances.

[Manzana]

at the risk of being very unhelpful... perharps is not the carbs that need to be limited but the amount of calories? (as well as increasing the amount of exercise?)...

I eat mainly carbs when I work out more and mainly vegetables (with tofu/sauces/and of course some carbs) when I dont work out as much and never seem to have a problem putting on weight... Then again I guess "when i dont work out" is still active for the level of activity of most people...

[pat sommer]

http://www.glycemicindex.com/ is a good place to start.

I worry about folks who eschew carbs to 'control' blood sugar. I haven't seen it done yet. 2 friends attempting that method have too many bad episodes for me to believe that system works.

Not that having a pocketful of raw almonds is a bad thing to carry around....
Long term scrimping on carbs is hard on the kidneys liver and even bone mass.

Try PCRM for their guidance on diabetes/hypoglycemia. Increasing the body's sensitivity to insulin seems to do the trick. Lotsa fiber keeps the fruit sugar entering the system slowly.

Who knew raisins were low GI?

[rainbowcarousel]

I worry about folks who eschew carbs to 'control' blood sugar. I haven't seen it done yet. 2 friends attempting that method have too many bad episodes for me to believe that system works.

We are taught (with evidence, though one can find evidence to support nearly anything if one tries, I am aware I'm a student nurse btw) that diabetics (type 2 primarily) should try to control and reduce their intake of high GI carbs eg white bread, white flour etc as this typically creates faster highs and lows in the blood sugar levels, but that if eaten as part of the meal the effects are lessened so def try not to snack on cake between meals but have it with a meal = better However, it is not advised at all to cut out carbs completely, just to eat the lower GI ones where possible for smoother blood sugar levels.


Manzana - I think what I am finding is that if I eat a portion of beans say in a chilli as my 'protein' part of the meal, with the same amount rice that I would have eaten before with a meat based chilli, that the total carb intake is much higher for the same calorie content. So what I am trying to do is work out where I should try to shave off a few carbs, like eat a half portion of brown rice (to adjust for the carbs in the beans) and throw extra veggies in the chilli, do you see what I mean?

I also think I want to try eating higher protein carbs eg quinoa with spinach & aubergine curry (the one off Come Dine With Me - its awesome, anyone else tried it?) so that my carb portion is doubling up as my protein. Anyone else still with me?!

[Manzana]

Hi rainbowcarousel,

I now get what you mean better

It is true that vegans tend to get a higher proportion of their calories from carbs than non vegans... but as a general rule, they also consume less fat (especially saturated fat) and I think that kind of makes up for it (in your example, I would expect bean chilli to have a lot less fat than meat chilli). This is why I think overall calorie intake is more significant.... then again, different diets work for different people!

Totally agree to cut down as much as possible on refined carbs (white rice/pasta/bread etc) - this is not so much from a calorie perspective but on the basis of how much nutritional value they add to your diet (i.e. if you are going to have the calories, make sure you also have the nutrients )