hiya everyone, im a first time low-carber, ive been pretty much a vegetarian for as long as i can remember. My doc put me on this way of eating cuz he says my protein, iron etc levels are way too low. I am having an operation in 3 weeks and my neuro wants me to try to lose 20lbs, a big ask, but i will do the best i can. This is my first day and so far i have done very well, so heres hoping. Ive been sittin here all afternoon reading all the messages and its so encouraging to me, thankyou

chezza

Welcome, Chezza! You have found a great place for fun and info and general support!
The first few days of low carbing may be a bit hard for you but the weight will come off. Egg whites, fish and chicken are good protein sources that should help up your levels. Did the doc give you an iron supplement? Howver, eating meat will help the iron levels.
Please post any and all questions you have and take a tour of the FAQ section and recipes. We sure hope you will join us on the daily too.
Looking forward to getting to know you!

Welcome Chezza, I know that you will love the low carb way of eating, so many benfits to it tat you will discover yourself! Please do post on the daily thread so we can get to know you

Hi chezza. Are you low-carbing AND remaining vegetarian? That would certainly be hard. A very good friend of mine has been Vegan (no animal products of ANY kind, including milk, cheese, etc.) for years and years. But she got pregnant and went back to being vegetarian only because she was concerned with the proper health of the baby. She and I were talking about Low-carbing and we both concluded that it would be very difficult to do as a vegetarian. BUT that being said, I HAVE seen books (or maybe chapters in books) on vegetarian low-carbing. You probably made your mainstay on pasta and bread (like my friend.)

This is probably difficult for you in the very begining. It was VERY hard for me initially, but honestly, the cravings for the starchy stuff does go away. I don't lie awake thinking about candy any more (I did the first week!)

I've only been doing this for about 2 1/2 weeks now and I've lost 12 lbs. I've been staying strictly under 20-30 carbs daily and I've tried not to eat toooooo much fat, too. Meat and salads are my mainstay. You'd probably have to go with the cheeses and nuts... I'll see if I can't find any vegetarian helpful areas for you! Hang in there and welcome.

Here's a site to start with: http://www.geocities.com/msweathe/veggie.html

thanks for the welcome guys, everyone seems so nice here. Nope moving onto eating meat for the first time that i can remember. Today i got some boneless chicken breasts, sliced them up and put them in alfoil with a little butter then put them in the oven and when they were nearly ready i put some cheese on them and melted it, they were yummy. I think the red meat will cause me probs but the chicken was yum

Hi chezza and Welcome

great start, chezza. and tofu can also be a good choice, depending on the carbs you're allowing yourself.

don't give up!!!! you're doing fine