I've been pretty successful losing weight so far, but I think it's time to make healthier food choices. I want to cut down on carbs, but 1) I'm a vegetarian and 2) I don't eat eggs, so sometimes I just have no idea what to eat. Any ideas on what I can change?

Here's a typical day:

Breakfast: Steelcut oatmeal (150 cal)

Snack: almonds (100 cal)

Lunch: Low carb tortilla w/ 1 Tbsp. reduced fat peanut butter (170 cal); celery, carrots, and sugar snap peas with light ranch (80 cal)

Snack: Tall skinny vanilla latte (100 cal); Mini Babybel Light cheese (50 cal)

Dinner: Lean Cuisine Mac & Cheese (280 cal)

Snack: Protein Shake (160 cal)

Thanks!

It looks to me like you could really use some fruits, veggies, and/or legumes in your diet. Eg. Some broccoli or spinach with your lean cuisine, some berries in your steel cut oats, a bowl of bean or lentil soup (black bean or red lentil are my favourites) with your veggies and dip at lunch.

I've cut way back on refined carbs, but as a vegetarian you (and I) need carbs in the form of legumes and veggies to get our iron especially. Too much dairy will contribute to anemia because dairy has pretty much no iron and it replaces foods that contain more of it in your diet.

Thanks, Only Me. I will try some of your suggestions.

try adding pumpkin seeds to your snack they are a good source of iron, zinc, and a bunch of other stuff

Tofu and what Only Me said.

Thanks guys!

You may use some whey protein

How about some hummus and celery?

Hmmm... looking over your food, your cals seem really low... is that why you eat the low fat cheese and light stuff? I ask because to do lower carbs, you will pretty much have to step away from anything that is 'light' for the most part because to make things 'lighter' they usually take out some of the fats and stuff and fill it with sugars. Which makes the carbs go higher. Your cals will go up some, but in your case, it looks like you could easily go up with no issues. But for sure, adding more veggies in would be great like spinach, broccoli, kale (in your protein shakes!). Then some fruits as sides... especially berries as those are low carb and yummy fresh or even frozen. Many melons, too. And beans.... oh yummy beans! You can do SO many things with beans! You can make spreads, dips, sides, soups, etc. My fave beans are for sure lentils and black beans. Overall, sounds like you only need little tweaks! And from your stats, you're doing really well! So, I have no doubt you'll get this figured out, too. Good luck!

I have choc protein powder in my coffee every morning and it makes it taste so good!

Do you like Veggie Burgers? The Boca kind I get are low carb (7 carb 4 fiber) and taste great! I usually have mine on some lettuce with pickles.

I agree you need to add more veggies. You can mash boiled cauliflower to make fake potatoes (I use garlic and green onion in mine)

Stir Fry or Roast veggies brings out a yummy flavor! You can also make a bunch at once and have left overs.

I would really try to get rid of the Lean Cuisine.. You can easily make your own Mac and Cheese using fresh ingredients and it will taste a whole lot better. I heard Dreamfields pasta is low carb and taste great. (never tried it)

I have made veggie pizzas out of low carb wraps, pizza sauce (careful since some sauce has alot of sugar!) cheese and a bunch of veggies! Filling and tastes great.

JustJ280, thanks for pointing out that low-cal stuff is often higher in carbs. That makes so much sense, but I never realized that. You're right, I have some room to go up in calories, so I will try to do that.

Jonsgurl, I do like veggie burgers. Great idea!

Thank you all so much for the helpful ideas! I really appreciate it!