Hi all - I have been working the past month or so to move more towards eating vegetarian - at least 75% of the time to start out & eventually moving full fledged. I can't seem to find any info on calorie counting & weight loss though.

Usually I eat pretty clean - not a lot of cheese or dairy, lots of fresh veggies & raw fruits & veggies when possible, and I usually don't eat a lot of processed foods or snacks. I do eat a lot of grains like quinoa, bulgar, etc instead of rice though. I am trying desperately to cut back on sugar + breads as well. In watching my calories lately, I see that you can eat 1-2 cups of most veggies & still be under 100 calories -- to me, that's a lot of broccoli, or beans!

Sooo.... if I'm currently eating around 1700 calories per day, I don't see how I can make that many calories w/vegetables & fruits logistically (because I dont see how to eat that much!).

I work out a lot - I sometimes hit the gym 2x per day for solo weights in the morning, then classes in the evenings, so I know i should be eating on the upper end of the calorie scale, but how does this all work? Should I just stop counting cals if I'm eating clean, and just eat mini-meals every 1.5-2 hours?

Unfortunately, it's pretty easy to be a vegan/vegetarian and eat lots of calories. I eat mostly vegetarian, and with nuts and raisins in my oatmeal, avocado on my salad, and olive oil on my vegetables, I get plenty of calories. You should also know that tofu, tempeh, and seitan can pack in the calories as well.

If you are concerned with getting enough calories, add nuts, peanut butter and avocados to your diet. They add up quickly. Frankly, I find whole grains to also be calorically dense, so eating a couple servings of those will add up as well.

My favorite thing about eating whole foods and vegetables is that I eat large volumes for the calories - a cup of beans is pretty filling - and I get a good assortment of nutrients and micronutrients. Check out the Vegetarian chicks and whole foods threads - there are lots of experts in there.

Good luck to you!

I'm a calorie-counting vegetarian, eating vegan about 90% of the time. (I cannot give up yogurt, alas.) I eat a huge amount of fruits and vegetables; they are the primary components of my diet, and I pick up my protein mainly through pulses, beans and legumes, with small amounts of nuts and grains. I eat very little bread, because that stuff piles up the calories pretty quickly. The vegetables aren't terribly caloric, yes, since I generally avoid the starchy ones, but I do cook them, quite frequently, with olive, peanut oil or ghee, if I'm making something Indian (another vegan fail right there) and that stuff will definitely knock the calories up even in otherwise entirely veggie dishes.

Very similar and was for 15 years, though I recently began incorporating wild caught salmon into my diet (I stay far away from farmed fish for so many reasons). I also began incorporating more free roaming organic eggs into my diet as well.

I got to over 300lbs eating a strict vegetarian diet so no, I wouldn't stop counting the calories if I were you lol... although I think a vegetarian or near vegetarian whole foods' diet is a very healthy lifestyle

I am also a calorie-counting vegetarian, and there are plenty of ways to get calories from my diet. I'll be the first to admit that I don't like all veggies--my mother calls me a "carbotarian"--so it has taken me some time to incorporate them into my diet. I still like Smart Ones and Lean Cuisine maybe once a day, but I like to use my calories on veggies, fruits, yogurt, peanut butter and avocados. The other contributors to this thread have some great ideas. I am sure if you add some of their suggestions to your diet you won't have any problem loading up the calories!