Vegetarian, Whole Foods and Calorie Counting?
 

Hi guys,

I've been a vegetarian for about 15 years and generally eat a very whole foods lifestyle...however, i've been calorie counting for a month and have trouble keeping under 1500 calories if I don't eat processed stuff like tofurky slices and Boca Fake Chicken/burgers. Basically fake meats, which are low in calories/high in protein and make me full.

Any advice? Anyone else doing whole foods vegetarian and calorie counting?

I have a similar problem. To get enough protein and stay on track it's hard to avoid veggie burgers and the like. You can make them at home yourself so it's not so processed. There are many veggie burger and black bean burger recipes out there, just google it. I, however, have just accepted this because I don't care to make them from scratch. Or you could add more eggs and low fat dairy to fill the protein gap if you're not vegan. Or soy milk. So yeah, unfortunately those are my only suggestions. Make from scratch, use animal protein, or just accept it as what it is and have some processed foods in your diet. The way I look at it, as long as most of your diet is whole foods then you're ok.

Thanks Remisgod.

I'm not vegan, I've tried it in the past but am not currently following it. I have started eating eggs and cheese more since dieting. A slice of cheese is only about a 100 calories and eggs 60-70 and while I was never one to really like eggs, I find they fill me up like nothing else.

I hope my cholesterol doesn't go up on this diet!

Can you post your meals if you are eating whole foods? What are you eating that has so many calories?

For me, I eat a good amount of beans, lots of veggies, some whole grains, some fruit and some added fats (nuts, avocado, etc) and I don't have trouble keeping under 1500 calories as long as I don't eat too much bread, nuts or dried fruits. I also eat some tofu or tempeh once in a while.

Hi Nelie,

I post my meals under Calorie Counters, but I have been having a lot of veggie burgers/tofurky stuff lately so not totally whole foods.

The things I find that have so many calories are beans/lentils/hummus and just general fruits and veggies surprise me. I used to eat a ton of fruit, but 130 calories for a large apple and 140 for a large banana is about an entire meal's calories. I can't believe baby carrots have 4 calories each. I used to snack on those endlessly but now I try to watch them.

Of course, it's obvious, but things like rice, nuts and nut butters, oils, honey, maple syrup are whole foods with a lot of calories. I still eat peanutbutter but limit it to 1 T and I try to limit almonds to 6 for 35 calories.

I'm not 100% vegetarian, but some day I hope to be again (I have been in the past).

There are days when I can go without eating meat and I can easily eat less than 1200.

A typical dinner on one of those days is 1/2 cup brown rice, 3/4 cup of black beans, 1 bunch of collard greens sauteed in olive oil. That meal is under 400 calories total and it keeps me full for a long time.

For a while, I was macrobiotic, which meant that I was vegan too. My lunches were similar to my dinners and my breakfast was a bowl of miso soup, oatmeal, and greens. I was eating under 1500 calories then (and I was thinner, too!). Snacks were fruits/veggies. I don't like tofu or tempeh, so I avoided those like the plague. I didn't mind Boca burgers so much, but they didn't sit well in my stomach after a while.

You may have to rethink how you're counting your protein the way you did with South Beach. It may not be necessary anymore because you're eating whole grains (and fiber has a similar impact on blood sugar as protein does in terms of balancing it).

And maybe some macro recipes might help you too?

Are you weighing your food to get your calorie counts? For beans, are you making sure you are getting the calories for cooked versus dried? For instance, 1/2 cup of beans should be around 100 calories. Also with hummus, it is a lot lower calorie if you make your own and limit the fat you add. I usually put tahini and skip the olive oil. If I buy commercial, I limit myself to 2 tbsp/day but I'll cut up a bunch of veggies to eat with that 2 tbsp. And as for baby carrots, I think it is better to weigh because I looked it up and I got 35 calories for 14 baby carrots but then again it depends on size. I've seen some huge 'baby' carrots.

To give you an example, I inputted my food for tomorrow minus dinner into daily plate and I got a little over 800 calories. Here is what I'm having and its a lot of food.

Breakfast - Millet and amaranth (~ 3/4 cup cooked) with 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree and 1/3 cup of reduced fat coconut milk (approximately 250 calories)

Morning snack - 1/2 cup soy yogurt with 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries (approximately 115 calories)

Lunch - 1/2 cup black chickpeas with 1/2 cup green beans and roasted leeks and a medium sized apple (approximately 230 calories)

Afternoon snack - 1/4 cup chickpeas, lettuce, cucumber, celery, 1/2 mango, a sprinkling of pumpkin seeds and topped with some flavored balsamic and lime juice (approximately 230 calories)

And I'll also probably have some tea with almond milk in the morning (about 20 calories) and then dinner, I'm not sure yet, it'll probably be about 400-500 calories depending on how I feel.

Thanks Rana and Nelie.

Rana, I haven't tried SB, and honestly am not too concerend with protien. I just try to eat a lot because it fills me up more than something like raw carrots does and seems to help me lose weight more than eating lots of beans/rice - but perhaps I just need to watch portions better. I am interested in macro recipes! Do you have a cookbook or what is a good resource for checking those? I love miso and it interests me to eat more in line with health, the seasons, etc.

Nelie - I think you have a great point and I might be over estimating my calories on fruits and veggies. I don't have a scale, i just get counts off the internet and I was suprised they were so high. Sometimes I want to have an apple or banana but it's like jeez, for 140 calories I could eat a boca burger or luna bar and that will keep me full way longer than an apple would! my body seems to burn fruits/veggie and basically anything without fat/protien very quickly. If my stomach is growling and i eat some carrots it's usually still growling afterwords like I didn't even have anything to eat. I can prevent this by having the carrots with some natural pb or hummus.

Ok, so I will get a food scale...could you share with me your resource for the calorie counts by weight?

And also...you inspired me. :) When I was making my lunch today (salad of baby spinach, shredded carrots, grape tomatoes) instead of grabbing the boca chicken patty (160 calories) I measured out a 1/2 cup of chickpeas (110) calories. And last night I had lentils with a brown rice/black quinoa mix.

Hi Wildflower, I must have gotten you mixed up with another thread, my apologies.

Christina Pirelli is a great macro chef. She has a program on PBS (at least, in my PBS) that you can watch and learn to cook from her. It's usually on in the afternoon, you might want to check your TV listings for it.

She has a number of different books too.

There are some Macrobiotic forums out there that share recipes and they are probably your best source.

Personally, foods with high fiber keep me full longer. For example, I buy brown rice (not the instant/parboiled type) and that can keep me full for a long time. The same thing with beans or chickpeas, their fiber (as well as protein) make me feel full. I think eating fat (for example, EVOO) will also help you get that feeling of fullness. Snacking on carrots is not a bad idea, because they have fiber, but I would combine it with celery too and possibly almond butter or cashew butter if you want to avoid peanut butter.

Also, I think 140 calories for an apple is really extreme (that's one LARGE apple). I use Fitday to count my calories and I think it has pretty good amounts for calories. I am more careful about my calories with grains/legumes, than I am about vegetables. I avoid bananas because they are high in calories (and not too good for my IR), but the difference between a cup of collards (or kale, or bok choy or dandelion greens or lettuce or spinach) versus 2 cups is like 8 calories. I would be full long before I could over-eat on my greens.

Most calorie counter websites will allow you to enter in grams and get a calorie count. It helps especially when you are initially trying to get a good estimate of how many calories something is based on the serving side. Daily plate, Fit day, etc should all allow you to do calories by weight.