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Married071709
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XP: Anyone a vegetarian?
Married071709
member
It was suggested by my naturopath to not eat meat or dairy to see if it helps with my endometriosis (and inflammation). I don't know if I'm eating right and getting enough protein.
Could you list what you typically eat in a day (with snacks included)? I really appreciate it!After 4.5 years our miracle IVF baby is here!
Born 7/30/13
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Re: XP: Anyone a vegetarian?
Me, my H, and my LO are all vegetarians. We eat such a variety it's hard to list. But, protein is not usually where we lack, if anything. Just try and eat plenty of dark greens, beans & legumes, and nuts.
check out https://www.vegetariantimes.com/. they have really great recipes and give you the nutrition counts, so you can see how much protein you're getting.
overall, it's best to eat whole foods, rather than processed, but if you're transitioning from a meat-based diet to veggie-based, some of the fake meats on the market are a good way to help ease you in and boost that protein while you learn how to cook differently. i really like the morningstar farms brand, and they're available in most major grocery stores in my area at least.
i sub either beans for TVP or other 'fake meat' products into regular recipes. For spaghetti sauce, i add either a can of drained, rinsed Pink Beans, or 1/2 cup of dried TVP and 1/4 cup water into regular marinara sauce. I make tacos either out of seasoned black beans, or TVP with taco seasoning.
Honestly, I think the dairy is harder to sub out, but there are lots of rice or soy based cheeses you can use. Also, silken tofu is great as a ricotta replacement in italian dishes (i just add a little EVOO to it).
Can you eat fish? A few servings a week of certain fish is supposed to help with other inflammation, not sure if that is the case with your scenario.
Good luck!
Welcome to a world of new foods!
You have an interesting journey ahead of you...
I went vegetarian 8 years ago and then vegan 4 years ago. I agree with some of the PPers that meat substitutes can be helpful in the beginning but it takes some trial and error to find the ones that you will like. As for dairy substitutes, the soy and coconut milk ice creams are great, and the soy subs for sour cream and cream cheese are pretty good. I would stay away from cheese substitutes for a while. Quite frankly, most of them aren't very good and you might feel discouraged. It will be easier for you if you adjust to not eating cheese...
I encourage new veggies to eat a lot of "ethnic" foods - Indian (ask about cream and ghee, they can usually make it without), Ethiopian, Greek, Thai (I love, love, love Thai) and even Mexican (w/o cheese). You will feel less deprived with these cuisines than if you go to American style restaurants and eat pasta and salads all the time.
If you are really worried about nutrition, the books Becoming Vegan or Becoming Vegetarian are written by nutritionists and are excellent resources.
Also be sure to eat lots of greens for calcium and supplement for B12. Just remember that spinach is a good source of iron but calcium...
If you eat a lot of whole foods and whole grains and legumes I wouldn't worry too much about getting enough protein.
A good source of protein is nutritional yeast. You can add this to smoothies, pasta sause, sprinkle on salads and oatmeal.
I'm a vegan-leaning vegetarian...I still eat cheese and eggs on occasion, but have cut back on them enough that my cholesterol went from over 200 during my early days of being a vegetarian (when I relied on cheese a lot), to around 140 today. If you eat a balanced diet you should get plenty of protein. The truth is that most meat eaters get way too much protein! Breakfast & lunch are very similar from day to day, but dinners vary a lot so here's what yesterday's menu looked like:
Breakfast: Oatmeal with almond milk & a spoonful of sugar, oj, and coffee
Lunch: Whole wheat tortilla with artichoke hummus, red leaf lettuce, avocado, and some tempeh on it. Apple and some spinach artichoke chips (I usually have wheat thins instead of chips, but the chips were on sale so I splurged on my last grocery trip). For a snack I'll have a handful of almonds.
Dinner: Quinoa stuffed peppers (https://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/10896?section=) that I cooked for 5 minutes in the microwave instead of baking forever & left out mixing in cheese & just put a little on top. Also had Kale & White bean soup (https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2451) and leave out topping it with cheese.
The Vegetarian Times and Whole Foods have a lot of delicious vegetarian and vegan recipes you can check out. I visit my local library & get my VT issues from there to save money...although I'm thinking about just subscribing b/c I get so many recipes out of the magazines.