Introducing myself

[imstarryeyed]

First I'd like to thank all of you for the wealth of information here, especially you, Pauline. What an inspiration!

I've done Atkins with great success in the past. It's the only WOE that seemed to work well for me. At that time I ate chicken and turkey. Now I'm pretty much vegetarian, occasionally eating fish. I do eat eggs and cheese. I need to lose about 100 lb and thought low carb was out for me. Then I read an article comparing several diets concluding low carb is most successful at weight loss, lowering cholesterol and blood pressure. I wondered if there was such a thing as low carb vegetarian and then I found you. So exciting.

I'll be turning 60 this year (in November) and would like to be much lighter, healthier and more energetic by then. My avatar is of me on my 59th birthday. I've been out of commission with major surgery this past December so haven't done much exercising except for walking. I know low carb is a way of life and I can't expect to lose it all by my birthday but I'm committed and have no more excuses.

Thanks again for the recipes, inspiration and knowledge!

gloria

[Nigel]

Welcome to the forum!!
Please visit us often.

[cheri]

Welcome to the site!! You are going to love it here! It is very easy to lowcarb while you are a Vegetarian! As you can see by this board! Check out the recipe room also as there are a ton of great lowcarb/non meat recipes there!!

cheri

[imstarryeyed]

Thanks for the welcome! Cheri, what an inspiration you are. I read your story.

Question. I'm wondering if I'm way off or on track here. I'm using My Fitness Pal to track what I'm eating. The last couple of days I've been pretty close to:

calories: 1200
carbs: 20
fat: 95
protein: 65

I really didn't feel like eating more than that. Does this sound too high or low in any area?

[TaDa!]

Welcome Gloria! Your food amounts sound perfect to me - if necessary you can go up a little on calories here and there.

I walked too for my first 60 lbs lost. Sounds to me like you are doing great!!!



Pauline

[imstarryeyed]

Thanks, Pauline!

[Sherril]

It's nice to see a new face here. I hope you can visit often. Low carb vegetarian is certainly possible and I hope you get a lot out of this forum. Pauline is a big help. I think your meal stats sound just about perfect. You might be too low in calories for your weight though. I'd go up to around 1600 on most days, you don't want your metabolism to shut down because your body isn't getting enough calories.

It's nice to have another Southern California in the ranks.

Keep us posted on your meals and your progress. Good luck and visit anytime you have some questions.

~Sherril~

[imstarryeyed]

Thanks Sherril! I plan on being here a lot to keep motivated. I think we may not live far from one another from something I read that you wrote on here. I'm in Redlands.

gloria

[TaDa!]

Re: The calorie thing .. age can also affect calorie amounts - and it is likely that if Gloria is satisfied at 1200 it might be a good amount for her as a starting point. I think the female calorie level mentioned for maintaining metabolism is "no lower than 1200".

I too ate around 1500-1600 regularly to lose and would usually recommend that too, but I was just under 40 at the time and am even finding with only 9 years forward my maintenance calories are dropping slightly ..

All that said, 1600 might be perfectly fine - just something to test out - we are each so different!

Just some thoughts!

P

[imstarryeyed]

Thanks, Pauline. I've found that some days my calorie intake is a little higher but I haven't reached 1500. I remember reading to change it up a little, meaning some days spike calories, not carbs, so body doesn't go into starvation mode at a constant low calorie intake.

I haven't really figured out what foods would be good for doing that. Obviously, meat, but most vegetarian food includes unwanted carbs.

gloria

[TaDa!]

Gloria, I think the 1200 figure most days is probably perfect right now, with a few slightly higher days as you mention! honestly the best way to up calories a couple times a week would be added fats, not necessarily protein like meat.

Good things to add (in small measured quantities):

avocado (nice in salad)
olive oil
coconut oil
butter
heavy cream (be careful and always measure exact amounts - very high calories)
macadamia nuts

[imstarryeyed]

Thank you Pauline! That sounds good to me. Being able to eat those fats is what makes this diet doable for me. And not hungry!

[imstarryeyed]

Just thought I'd update my progress. When I started out in April it was my goal to be much healthier by my 60th birthday which was last week. I've stayed low carb 99% of the past 7 months. Calories count is rarely over 1200 a day if I want to keep losing. Carb count is 30-50 a day. I walk and during the summer I swam. I've lost 60 lbs and several dress sizes. I can finally buy clothes in the "misses" section. I have much further to go to reach my goal but I realize it's a journey, not a destination.

Thanks for the inspiration and support to my Low Carb Friends.

[MargD]

Wow! This is so inspiring.

I'm so happy for you!!! Thanks for the update.

[Nigel]

I'm glad to hear that you are doing so well.

[imstarryeyed]

Thanks Guys!

[locarblady]

SPECTACULAR!! I love hearing that doing low carb vegetarian style will work successfully if we just keep at it! Thanks for your post - so encouraging! How much walking a day do you do?

[Madge17]

starry, that is great!! I am so impressed! Your will-power to keep both your carbs and your calories low is nothing less than amazing! I'm envious, but a nice envious , the kind that's happy for your success.

Are you at your goal weight now?

[locarblady]

Can you give us a day or two of your typical meals that you've been eating? Thanks!

[Sherril]

I feel like I need to re-introduce myself. I fell off the wagon around August, but I'm back on now and only after four days, am feeling so much better. Like my old low carb self again. Remind me never to go off again will you please.

This summer I gave away all my big fat clothes, and now I wish I still had them. I can probably fit into them again. I've been Goodwill shopping for clothes to fit until I can get myself back down again. I am so sick of this weight up weight down routine. My identical twin, who has never been a vegetarian, just basically starved herself into a size 6, then had a tummy tuck and botox. I look like a whale next to her now. I don't want to starve and not interested in a tummy tuck, maybe a face/neck lift though. Anyway, the bottom line is I'm at it again, and so happy about it. Oh, I forgot to mention that I've started a Master's program working on a Education Specialist credential so I'm busy, busy, busy.

[Sherril]

Starryeyed, that is so wonderful that you've lost so much and are staying on track. Keep up the good work!

[Nigel]

Sherril,
I do understand how hard it is and esp. when you are busy.
I say its just like falling off a horse, we gotta get up and dust ourselves off and get back on again.

Don't be hard on yourself about it--we are all just human after all.

[MargD]

Originally Posted by Sherril

I feel like I need to re-introduce myself. I fell off the wagon around August, but I'm back on now and only after four days, am feeling so much better. Like my old low carb self again. Remind me never to go off again will you please.

It's nice to see you back here, Sherril.

[Sherril]

Thank you MargD.

[imstarryeyed]

Thanks again everyone! As far as my day to day food plan goes- it's pretty much the same and pretty basic. I live alone so don't have to worry about anyone but me. That makes it so much easier. It's a little harder to stay on plan when I go out to eat. My extended family likes Mexican food so we celebrate in Mexican restaurants a lot. I usually eat a cheese enchilada and chile relleno. I ask for a side salad to replace beans and rice. NO CHIPS.

Typical day for me is:
B -2 eggs fried in a little coconut oil with a slice of cheese, sometimes onion

L -Morningstar Farm "turkey" patty, "bird nest" from Trader Joe's, 5 olives, small cucumber

D-Roasted cauliflower with parmesan (maybe half of a head of cauli)

Snack- 4 squares of Trader Joe's low carb dark chocolate - Simply Lite, string cheese

This is about 1,000 calories, 35 net carbs and 45 grams of protein. I walk about 30 min a day. I know the calories are not optimum but I don't lose when I eat more. Staying low carb keeps me from getting hungry and going off the program. I have been eating the occasional apple or pear lately. When I go out for non Mexican meals I plan ahead and usually know which salad I am ordering.

I think writing down every single thing I eat has helped a lot. I track at home and on my phone when I'm out. I haven't missed tracking a day since I started in April. I also weigh myself about 5 days a week.

Sherril, I gave away all of my clothes too. I now have 2 pair of pants that fit. Two pair of pants in my closet, period. I hope that's motivation enough for me to not gain it back. I want to lose several more sizes so I'm not buying anything else for a while.

[locarblady]

Thanks so much for posting this. It obviously is working for you! What is a "birds next" from Trader Joe's??

[imstarryeyed]

A bird's nest kind of looks like a nest. It has shredded onion, kale, carrot, and tempura batter frozen into a nest shape. It is 70 calories and 7 carbs. It might remind you of a hash brown patty.

The secret to keeping track of calories and carbs, for me, is to eat everything in very measured portions. Eggs, patties, nests, olives make it easy. I only eat cheese in pre-cut slices. I was using shredded cheese for a while and was being too liberal.

Good luck, locarblady! Keep at it and don't give up!