I've been vegetarian all my life (my mother is also) and a main part of my meals as a veggi have always been carbs. For the last months i have cut out all the carbs.. no rice, no potatoes, no pasta and no bread!... It wasn't so bad at first but now i am really struggling. I find myself eating the same meals over and over and dreaming about jacket potatoes and french bread! anyone else on a low carb diet having this problem?.. or have any substitues to help reduce the cravings?

Did you ever try whole grains? I don't need to cut out carbs, just refined carbs.

I've looked at wholegrain bread and pasta and for the calories in them part of me thinks it's just not worth it. I don't know if i'm being too strict with my diet. (I'm only trying to eat around 800 cals a day) I'm just so determined to cut out anything that's likely to prohibit me losing weight.

That is extremely low in calories. You can't get enough nutrition out of 800 calories. Plus, very low carb diets don't restrict calories. To be honest, your cravings are probably related more to the extraordinarily low calories than to low carbs.

and for what it's worth, while starvation diets don't prohibit weight loss per se, they seriously damage your ability to keep weight off long-term. so unless you don't mind putting it all back on (and then some) in a few weeks or months, PLEASE eat more!

Sorry i think i've given the wrong impression i don't only eat 800 cals a day... i'd run out of steam! i'm just trying to measure around that amount so i know if i eat a slightly larger portion i know it's okay. i don't under eat by any means!.. what i'm trying to say is if i was faced with a small bowl of pasta or a large salad for the same amount of cals.... i'd take the salad!

do you think you're getting 50% more calories than you're planning for? that's a pretty large amount of wiggle room...i get it, it's like changing the time so when your alarm clock goes off you've actually got more time than you think. it's just that at the end of the day, you really don't know how much you're taking in, and at that level, it seems like it would be really, really easy to do bad things to your body unintentionally. any reason you wouldn't just measure and track accurately?

yeah I have heard 1,200-1,400 cals a day on a strict diet. But, even me im terrible with rules. I generally eat about 1,800-2,000 cals. a day and im still loosing weight. Im a vegetarian as well (about 2 yrs), I have modified my diet so many times!!!! I was doing what you were doing for awhile- cutting out complex carbs. Sometimes I realized I wasnt eating those type of carbs for a week at a time. But, recently my hair started shedding im not sure if its related. But, it probably is in one form or another. We really need to balance our diets as vegans/vegetarians! God intends for us to enjoy all natural foods- grains, veggies, nuts, fruits, legumes. Theres nothing wrong with these. Just modify them into your diet in a smaller amount if that makes you comfortable. This is what im doing in addiction to multi-vitamins!

I take it you are a "proper" vegetarian and not like me who eats fish and sea food.

I did low carb diets before w/a fish and found this difficult, too. I tended to rely on cheese a lot which is not so good in large quantities. How about vegetable soups and tofu?