Those are excellent points, letsgorunning. I do take vitamin supplements, but I'm probably not getting enough B, and that may also be a key to my wooziness the past few days.

My ultimate goal is not necessarily to stay strictly vegetarian or vegan once I decide I'm in maintenance mode, but I was not a red meat eater before this anyway. I've been considering going solely pescetarian when I'm done.

Just to reinforce the supplementation suggestion, especially for B-12 -

I've been vegetarian for 18 years and vegan for 2 and recently had a vitamin panel done by my doctor. Every nutrient level was perfect, and my B-12 level was even higher than most omnivores. I supplement B-12, and very occassionally take a multivitamin.

Do you supplement with the liquid B-12? Which brand?

I do understand that there are certain deficiencies that you need to watch out for. That's why I thought it was a good idea to get a good book that breaks down vegetarianism so that if that is what I choose to do, I do it safely.

I am sure there are a lot of vegetarians out there with deficiencies as well as others who are completely healthy. I guess it all depends on the individual and how they take care of their bodies. I am sure there also are people who arent really considered vegetarians that have a number of deficiences. Other things play a role in this too. I've been trying to read as much as I can. I do think that one has a much better chance and not getting certain deficiencies if they are responsible about what they eat.

Other things play a factor as well. I have a friend who is vegetarian, and yes she has vitamin deficiencies (B12) included HOWEVER she also had suffered from eating disorders, extreme dieting, etc. I used to think that it was because she was a vegetarian, but once she came out and told me about the other things she struggled with (anorexia/bulimia) I realized that I could not simply blame it on the fact that she was vegetarian.... Undereating, purging, extreme dieting, etc., would also cause deficiencies.

She is still vegetarian, but in much better health this time around. She's not just on a "no-meat" diet.... Before, yes, she was a vegetarian, but now she is a healthy vegetarian because she now eats responsibly..partaking in a variety of foods to nourish her as well as correct any deficiences.

I’m on Day 6 of the meal plan, down 2.8lb total. Tonight I’m going to have Amy’s non-dairy Vegetable Pot Pie instead of the Baked Ziti. I’ve had the Baked Ziti before and I didn’t like it.

Letsgorunning, I became vegan for about 4 months my senior year in high school. I, unfortunately, was one of those irresponsible vegans. I pretty much only ate lettuce with white vinegar & salt, chick peas and broccoli. I screwed up my body so much in those 4 months; it took me about a year to recover physically and mentally. It wasn’t veganism that made me sick though; I made myself sick by not eating a well-balanced diet.

I was a vegetarian for about 7 months, until recently I started eating eggs and fish again. I also take Biotin and a Multi-vitamin daily. When I’m done with this diet plan I’ll be eating eggs and fish again, but very little meat - maybe the occasional hamburger or piece of fried chicken. Anyways, I felt fine physically when I was a vegetarian, but I was also taking vitamin supplements and eating enough proteins, fats ect.

It sounds like you guys are already aware of the issue with vitamins. I guess I wanted to share because it was not something I had ever considered until I got those blood tests recently. So I thought maybe there were others out there in the dark, like I was. I absolutely agree that every body is different; we react differently to foods and absorb vitamins differently. So my issues probably won't come up for some of you guys.

In any case, congrats again on all your success with this meal plan

hey everyone, i'm not interested in doing this particular diet, but i LOVE amy's food for quick meals. I recently tried their vegan spinach indian wrap, and although it left me super full, it was pretty rank. I can only describe the consistency of it as something similar to baby food, mushy and with no texture. I still love their pizza's, and eat them on occasion, but i think I'll chill out with trying out their other meals.

Yeah, that particular item is on the vegan version of the diet and I'd never tried it before. I felt exactly the same way. Which is super weird, because I love their regular Indian meals, even the ones with a heavy load of spinach. I think the problem was that it was, like, JUST spinach, and reheated, cooked spinach has the consistency of lumpy paste.

I take Deva Sublingual B-12.

I'm on Day 4 of the diet and I'm eating toaster pastries for breakfast. I find it hard to believe that eating this much sugar at breakfast is a good idea. I know it has wheat germ and real fruit juice in in ... but it's still a toaster pastry. I'm feeling a little like they included this item in the diet plan primarily as a product promotion, rather than because it was the best healthy and diet-friendly choice.

I couldn't find their toaster pastries at my local health food store, so I substituted the Kashi cereal bars instead, which are a lot lighter on the sugar but have similar calorie counts.

Thanks for the b12 info.

I saw the toaster pastries on the plan... lol. That was another reason I was afraid of doing the vegan version. I think that something like a pop-tart would make me hungrier or possibly set off cravings... and I definitely DONT WANT that..

Other than that, how do you feel on the plan ?

I will probably just stick with my gluten free version. I definitely can't risk the bloating from adding products with gluten...

Day 8, and I'm down 2 lbs.

I feel really satisfied on plan most of the time ... though I do think the toaster pastries made me a bit hungrier that day. I'm rarely hungry on it, and when I am it's usually just before mealtime. Just the right time to be hungry!

Woo! Go you!

I'm on Day 8 of the veggie plan now and I'm still not loving it like I did the vegan version. I may do another cycle of that after all. It also felt a little easier somehow. Again, even though I've been doing the snack thing more, I still feel way hungrier than I did on the vegan plan. And I've only lost 1 pound in this 8 day period, when on the vegan plan I was losing more faster. Still, 1 pound in 8 days is reasonable, I suppose; it just doesn't feel as dramatic.

I suspect that since I'm now in my home stretch of weight loss (only need 9 more lbs. to reach goal) that it may all be coming off slower no matter what I'm doing. Which is fine. As long as I keep making progress, it's all good.

That's a great attitude. You are right - it is soooo much harder to lose once you're down to the last ten pounds. A pound a week is great! As long as you're headed in the right direction, you're doing fine. It's not a race.

That's right, and I know that wanting to lose faster is probably not a healthy way to feel, especially when in a totally reasonable weight zone as it is. Losing the last few "vanity pounds" will come.

I have a flu bug today anyway and am taking it easy, not worrying about staying on plan today.