300 lb vegetarian - what program would you pick? - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

InfertileMyrtle · 11-04-2007, 02:55 PM

300 vegetarian may sound odd - but it just goes to show that being a veggie does mean you are healthy!

I am so excited because my husband just told me today that he would join me in any meal delivery plan I would choose! The problem is, we have very different needs.

Me:
I have about 140 lbs to lose in total and I'm a vegetarian

He:
Has only about 30 lbs to lose and is a big meat eater.

Cost doesn't matter so much, but food that tastes good and offers more than just one or two veggie options does.

What would you all recommend? I have just started this search and I'm not finding a lot of options...

Thanks so much for you input!!!

Spinymouse · 11-04-2007, 03:23 PM

I have not tried this, but I heard good things about it:
http://www.healthychefcreations.com/

InfertileMyrtle · 11-04-2007, 03:29 PM

Thanks for the suggetion, Spinymouse! They looked great, I love the idea of organic -- but it didn't look like they had a vegetarian option (just no "red-meat").

Thanks again, though!!

meowee · 11-04-2007, 03:53 PM

Take a look at Medifast . . . there's a review about it (and a link to the Medifast site) on the 3FC homepage. http://www.3fatchicks.com/Diets/Diet..._We_tried_it!/

They give you options with what they call their "Lean and Green" meal for various types of protein, including vegetarian. Their meal replacements (lots of options) are mostly soy based and (I think acceptable for vegetarian eating). They also have plans that incorporate more than one L & G meal a day.

Good Luck finding something you'll both like . . .

Spinymouse · 11-04-2007, 04:28 PM

sorry - they used to offer a lot of vegetarian choices. weird that/if they don't. they used to have the option to just pick off the menu what you wanted. guess it changed!

InfertileMyrtle · 11-05-2007, 07:53 AM

Medifast looks good for me, but I am afraid my husband wouldn't like it. But I did give that one a lot of thought!! Thank you so much!

What I have decided on is Diets-to-Go. So I got myself the vegetarian 1200 calorie meals, my my husband the low fat 1600 calorie meals (but I think he will supplement with extra fruit to get the calories up a bit).

We'll see how it goes! I'm excited to get started!

lettingslenderin · 11-06-2007, 08:33 AM

Myrtle, I can't wait to hear what you think of the DTG program because I am thinking about going with them for my maintenance. So please post and let us know what you think.

I know you decided against medifast, but I am going to respond to your thread anyway because some future overweight vegetarian may see your thread. I have been a vegetarian for over 30 years, and this is the easiest diet ever for me. I have been in ketosis, which means my body is burning fat. Any vegetarian on a low carb diet can tell you how hard it is to get into ketosis, and how hard it is to lose weight on a low carb program. I am now in the 5th week of the diet, and I have lost 21 pounds. It was incredibly easy to lose that weight, and in addition to the numerous medifast meals that are vegetarian (but not vegan) there are lots of vegetarian options for the lean and green meal, which you can see here:

http://www.medifast1.com/community/d...ss_options.pdf

I have major compulsive eating issues, as you might guess by the fact that I let my weight get up to 215 pounds. So it is very helpful to have those eating decisions made for me, and it is tremendously motivating to see the weight slide off so fast. I would go crazy watching myself lose weight at one or two pounds a week for a year. Once I have made the decision, I want to lose the weight.

Anyway -- once I transition off MF I am considering going with DTG for maintenance, so I am eager to hear your perceptions of that plan as a vegetarian.

lettingslenderin · 11-06-2007, 08:39 AM

http://www.chefsdiet.com/CDMenuVegDa...m=MenuVegDaily

I almost forgot, did you see this incredibly delicious vegetarian meal service for LA and NYC? YUM. http://www.chefsdiet.com/CDMenuVegDa...m=MenuVegDaily Of course, if you live in LA you have multiple choices for vegetarian diet delivery, but this menu looks great.

InfertileMyrtle · 11-12-2007, 12:54 PM

I live in the midwest, actually a part of the midwest were the term vegetarian is a bit foreign. People think it means I eat only chicken and fish. LOL... I grew up in Iowa and I've been vegetarian for 12+ years, so I'm used to having to explain. I'm the only vegetarian in my family, and my parents were involved in agriculture for most of my childhood. My dad would just shake his head and wonder where he went wrong.

So I have done a few days of the DietsToGo now. The food is DELICIOUS, except for a few bread items which were sort of mushy, even though they were heated in the oven.

The food is great, but my biggest problem so far is that they screwed up the order. They didn't send my husband any of his breakfast items and they left out several sides on my menu.

We are making a list of missing food and I'll e-mail the company at the end of the week. The other annoyance is that many of my meals do not have heating instructions. Those meals that do have heating instructions are generic... so a frozen pasta dish has the same instructions as a sandwich? That doesn't seem right. So that is a bit frustrating in that you just have to guess. Some items were weren't sure if they were supposed to be heated up or eaten cold (like the greek pasta salad).

My first offical weigh-in since starting the diet is Wednesday. But I have been weighing myself all along and I have aleady lost 2 lbs in 4 days! Of cousre, that could just be a fluctuation, especially given my high weight to begin with.

Welp, that's the update.

audrabolster · 11-16-2007, 08:29 AM

My wife is vegetarian (who is also 300+), and is looking into a delivery program. It's hard to find ones with good options, that would hopefully taste good!

InfertileMyrtle · 11-16-2007, 09:30 AM

She might like DietsToGo. The food has been pretty good - and you get 4 weeks of rotating menus, so there is a LOT more variety than you'd get with most delivery programs.

If decides to go with the program and she wants a diet buddy (who is also a 300 lb vegetarian

) send me a PM and I'll give you my e-mail address to share with her. We can compare notes.

lettingslenderin · 11-25-2007, 10:39 PM

Hmmm... thanks for the DTG info. I would be interested in hearing about the food in more detail, if you would talk about the individual meals. At this rate, transition is just a few months away and I want to be ready with a serious back up plan.

I like Medifast better than ever. Fifty days as of today, 33 pound loss (I checked my notes and actually started at 217). So... less than two months and I am well on my way. It's still the easiest, least expensive diet I have ever tried.

InfertileMyrtle · 11-26-2007, 10:54 AM

I've been on the plan for about 2.5 weeks now, and this morning I weighed 304!!!

So I am losing about 2.5 lbs per week. Not bad, especially given that I cheated a bit on Thanksgiving.

Here is a bit more info on the food.

Breakfasts are really a hit or a miss. I am suprised that about half the time, the breakfast is a muffin. It doesn't seem that nutritious, but whatevah. And they tend to be dry and crumbly muffins. A few egg breakfasts have been great. The other day I had eggs with spinach and asperagus. (Sorry I can't spell - especially healthy foods). It was VERY GOOD. I also had apple pancakes which were terrible... I gave them to my husband to eat.

Lunch is often sandwiches (which again, I am not sure why they spend so many calories on bread...) Melts are very good - like a spinach and cheese melt with a side of fruit.

Dinner varies a lot. Last night it was lentil loaf with sweet potatoes and green beans. The loaf was OK... the green beans were fresh but they tasted like sweet potatoes since they were frozen in the same container. The sweet potatoes were suprisingly good, and seemed to have touch of lemon. The night before, dinner was outstanding! It was a tomato pie with cous cous. Basically, it was cooked veggies with cous cous, but it was cheesy and flavorful.

For diet food, this is great. And it feels like I am eating a lot more than 1200 calories a day. I believe they sell snack items you can have between meals, but we have cut out any snacking in our diet.

You can subsitute any meals you don't like (but I've read that many people have problems with them getting substitutions correct) ... but I think it is sort of a good think that we don't absolutely love every single meal put in front of us.

Also, I e-mailed the company to let them know that they forgot my DHs breakfast breads -- and they gave us a generous credit ($30 I think - more than what the meals cost) and said they would "hand review" DHs next shipment to make sure it doesn't happen again. Our second shipment (and 3rd) didn't have any errors.

So that is the update. Oh, and DH lost 9 lbs so far... but, then he gained six pounds back at thanksgiving... stupid holidays.

Saffronnile · 03-24-2008, 01:00 AM

Hi There!!!

I'm also a vegetarian and it's soo true....just because you're one doesn't mean you're a stick! I'm up to 235...down a bit from a couple weeks ago. Anyway....have you checked out Amyskitchen.com? It gives a diet plan useing frozen Amy's Organic meals. It's not a delivery service, but it's all vegetarian and all organic. I've been doing it and loseing weight, also feeling better!! I have PCOS, Endometriosis & Fibromyalgia to fight against too.

I counted the cost of it, and with 2 meals a day it's cheaper then nutrisystem...and obviously soo much better!! I put together my own diet plan because both nutrisystem & Jenny Craig are 1,200...so I went with that. 1,200 cal of mostly organic, vegetarian food!! Amy's meals are SOOOO good!! Just like homemade...sometimes better!!

If you go to there website it has a place of testemonials of people who've lost bunches of weight doing there plan. Check it out!!

Hang in there and I will too!!!
Amber
P.s sorry for my spelling....to lazy to check it!!