Just wondering if there are any vegetarians in the group, and what ideas you might have for meals and proteins.

I like my tofu, but I have heard it can be bad for your hormonal balance. Since I don't have the same female hormone fluctuations any more, I wonder if that is still an issue.

I also eat a lot of egg whites.
But I'm sure there are other ideas.

I try to mix things up, but I am still having soy products in the mix.
I had read that tempeh can be one of the better soy choices because it is fermented. You need to look at the calorie charts closely because some have a lot of carbs and some have very few, much like the tofu varies.

Consider eating the yokes of the eggs some of the time because there is b-12 in there that vegetarians can become deficient in.

My p4 additions are plain greek yoghurt (because it is higher in protein than the regular) and cottage cheese.

The Quorn products get their protein from egg whites and mushrooms. They tend to be a little low in protein and higher in carbs.

I also think there is a way to use beans, lentils and peas for p4 dinners as they are high in carbs and fiber, along with more protein than typical vegetables.

Yesterday I found Tempt Hemp tofu at whole foods, which I will give a try soon.

My go-to stuff is Gardein Chick'n Scallopini and classic Buffalo Wings (without sauce). Occasionally the beefless tips, which are higher in carbs. Kroger is also carrying suspiciously similar products under the "Simple Truth" brand, such as the Meatless Grillers. Costco has some awesome Boca Burgers that were 19g protein each and maybe 1 net carb; they are trying to get them back (per the buyers book) but I haven't seen them yet. Those are all soy containing products, along with wheat proteins and ancient grains.

There is also peanutbutter and nuts to a limited extent in p4.

Plus, whey protein powder can be purchased unflavored if you want to experiment with that.

In p1 you can also use two non-restricted packets, which might make a good "back up" in p4 but not a continued practice ALTHOUGH Ideal Protein is selling the "Complete" packet that is supposed to be a p4 meal replacement so maybe that is a tool that would be useful to some people.

I'd really like to start doing more beans and lentils in p4. I swear that the few times I did it at dinner it had no impact at all. I was very, very careful about portion control.

What all have you been using?

There doesn't seem to be solid scientific evidence that tofu interferes with hormones, but everyone is unique. In addition to various forms of tofu out there (have you tried shirataki noodles and yuba?), I'm gradually re-introducing kidney beans and quinoa into my diet. I use a lot of whey powder shakes. Looks like are getting close to your goal---way to go!

In terms of re-introducing the kidney beans and quinoa...
What are you using for serving size and are you using them only at your "carb rich" meal (typically dinner)? Or, are you modifying p4 in some way?

I'm not sticking precisely to P4 protocol, though it seems to work for a lot of people. For lunch, I've been having 1/4 cup kidney beans each day with a big veggie salad that also has about 2-3 oz of tofu. More beans would probably be okay. I use 1-2 tsp oil on the salad and/or on steamed broccoli or butternut squash.

Usually I have 8oz of chicken for dinner, but will soon use the quinoa here instead--1/4 cup uncooked to start, with 1-2 tsp oil & some veggies. I have snacks of whey shakes & yuba wraps filled with veggies (that's the tofu sheets).

I use myfitnesspal.com to track and also weigh myself each day--not to obsess but just for consistency and to get a sense of how the added foods affect me. I should tell you I've been on maintenance for 5.5 months--I'm still on the learning curve .

Thanks, Mars735, those portion sizes seem reasonable although probably not really "proteiny". You seem to be getting additional protein from your snacks. What a great loss you are maintaining!
Do your shakes still have sucralose or have you quit artificial sweeteners too?

By the way, the hemp tofu is really good. I tried the sweet and spicy chili lime one by Tempt. It has a different texture and kind of a "seed" taste. A little higher in fat (350cal, 30gProtein, 10gCarbs, 8gFiber and 22g Fat) but figure 4 whole eggs are 18g and maybe use 1t instead of 2t for the day of oil and it seems to work out.

Thanks for the hemp ideas & encouragement, infoplease! Looking forward to trying hemp tofu.

I'm still working to easing sucralose out of my diet. I think the sweetness is addictive, and generally avoid artificial ingredients as much as possible. If I eat regular food, I get satisfied pretty easily. When I have anything with sucralose, I want more right away, whether or not I'm hungry. But I'm taking it one step at a time and trying not to make things feel too restricted. For now, sucralose is better than for me than carbs.

mars735, my trouble with eliminating sucralose was that I still wanted a treat "thing", so I found one in the right calorie/protein range but too many real sugars (like cane juice sugars) and I wanted those all the time. I have a couple of bars I like (but not like the arctic zero) such as Nugo Slim Dark Chocolate Brownie that only has 2g of sugar. It doesn't trigger anything. The other one I like is the BHRG Power Crunch is Mint Chocolate, which is sweetened with stevia and also doesn't set things off; the Nugo is a protein blend and the power crunch is whey. But I really like ice cream...so maybe I save the Arctic Zero JUST for fun day and things will work out better. So to bring this back to the thread topic, sometimes in balancing soy meat analogs with whey things, I get a little off track with processed things when I should be sticking to whole foods (yoghurt, cottage cheese, beans, lentils).

Eating the entire 2 serving package of the hemp tofu maybe was more fat than I could comfortably process, so maybe mix it with another protein next time. But it was really good. If you are up to experimenting, I found a veggie burger recipe that uses hemp hearts, but it wouold need quite a bit of modifying to make it more IP compliant.

Thank you for that great info! I think I will check in with our whole foods market. And we have a Lucky's coming to Billings. I hear it is supposed to be a good source of unprocessed foods and vegetarian foods. I have not seen any of the things you mention, so I will do some research.

Anyone ever shop at Lucky's?

Hemp tofu. Interesting. Do you where can find it?

I found it at Whole Foods in the tofu section. Maybe the Tempt site has other stores if you do not have one of those in your area.

Try this link: http://www.livingharvest.com/stores?..._units%5D=mile

It can be challenging to get vegetarian, non-processed, and low carb all together without a monotonous diet Exercise will allow a little more leeway with the carbs. I've have been having a hard time working it into my day, but this thread is motivating.

I would love to see your veggie burger recipe.

Yay! 2 locations in Billings!
Thanks!

here is the recipe:
http://askgeorgie.com/high-protein-vegetarian-burgers/

Let me know if you make it. If I were to make it I would definitely just use half or three quarters of a serving.

And yeah, if I went to the gym less than 4 times a week it would be p1 as the maintenance plan. Hopefully once I'm back to p4 I will branch out from my same breakfast and lunch everyday lazyness and put some "good" (non-sugar) carbs into dinner to mix it up.

infoplease: That hemp hearts burger looks good--going to Whole Foods now to see if they carry it. Thanks! My foray into exercise today was to use stairs instead of elevators. It's a start : )