Hi, I have tried the south beach, too much fat and processed foods. the Low carb worked, but I did not maintain the "lifestyle." I tried Nutrimirror (not nutrisystem) with logging, but that got cumbersome.

So I am attempting to eat natural foods, not necessarily vegan, but more vegetarian than not. My Dr. recommended a vegetarian lifestyle to me, but to my frustration all the vegetarian food lists allow for soy products and push tofu, and other "meat" substitutes. those meat substitutes are processed and have additives in them that I do not know w hat they are. It's very frustrating. I think I'm going to have to find my own path.

What food lists are you looking at? I eat a whole foods type vegan diet. For the first 6 months, I didn't eat any soy products. I also think that tofu is a whole food. If you read SuperFoods RX, Dr Pratt does recommend soy including tofu, soy nuts, edamame, soy milk, tempeh and miso.

That doesn't mean you need to eat soy though. I know plenty of vegans that don't. I also generally don't eat meat substitutes but once in a while I might buy a veggie burger if it has minimal ingredients. I recently bought a quinoa based veggie burger and there are quite a few vegetable based ones and nut based ones. Sunshine burgers have about 5 ingredients in them and they are delicious.

My diet consists mostly of beans, whole grains, veggies, fruit, nuts, etc. It has been that way for 2.5 years. Sure once in a while I'll eat something not so 'whole foody' but that is more of an exception than a rule.

Some books you might be interested in are Eat to Live, books by Dr McDougall, Dr Ornish or Dr Barnard. The Engine2 diet book is also really good. I think Dr McDougall (author of The McDougall Program and The McDougall Plan for Maximum Weight loss) shuns soy. I have never read his books. I have read Eat to Live, Dr Neal Barnard's Program for Reversing Diabetes and Engine 2 diet book. All of them are focused on whole foods.

There are also many vegan and vegetarian cookbooks that focus on the whole foods aspect. I like Vegetarian cooking for everyone, Vegan with a Vengeance and Veganomicon. You might find a few 'speciality' ingredients in those cookbooks but not too many and they are more likely to give you a recipe for a veggie burger rather than tell you to buy one.

Oh and if you haven't looked at it, I do recommend looking at the SuperFoods Rx food list. It won't list all whole foods but does list the recommended ones. There are two meat products on it, wild salmon and turkey, the rest are vegetarian.
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/whol...oks-1-2-a.html

I agree with Nellie abour the Engine2 book, that's what I'm doing.

The food is tasty and the recipes i've tried so far have been easy and uncomplicated. All the included health info was a real eye opener for me too.

tempeh, tempeh, tempeh!

I am looking at the package of organic tempeh and the ingredients are:

organic soybeans
water
lactic acid (from plant sources), or vinegar
organic brown rice.

It's the best soy product ever! Delicious on pizza (our favorite: sliced/crumbled tempeh, asparagus, diced tomatos and seasoned to taste), chilis, soups---you name it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempeh

Favorite tempeh recipe, cajun tempeh bacon. Speaking of which, fat free vegan is my absolute favorite recipe site. I don't think she uses much, or any, meat substitutes.