When you think of healthy eating you would think a vegetarian would have it made, right??? WRONG......So I have been a vegetarian my whole life. Not a choice I made just for some reason I have never liked the flavor of meat. I also happen to be a very picky eater. I eat all the bad for you but delicious foods that normal ppl eat I just dont eat meat.
Alot of ppl assume vegetarians are thin and skinny. I even had someone say "your not skinny though" after telling them I was a vegetarian. But here is problem. Yes we eat friuts and vegetables...but we also eat breads, pasta, chips, fried foods.....the bad food is limitless....
So the problem I personally run into is how do I knock out the bad food and carbs, which leaves me with nothing but fruits and veggies and still stay satisfied and full????
You don't say whether you're following a diet plan, I personally calorie count.
Here's some things I've noted about how we can eat sensibly;
-I often fry up some veggies with 1 cal EVOO spray, and add things like chick peas/kidney beans/lentils etc. These add 'bulk' and will give you sustained energy.
-I still have LF cheddar and cottage cheese, since they're a great source of protein, and as you said we can't live off a few sticks of vegetables.
-Bananas, potatoes and avocados are great since they're more filling.
-Obviously a good way to prepare vegetables is to steam them, if you don't like boiled veg much maybe consider using a 1 calorie spray oil (Preferably olive oil) and lightly fry them.
-If you want to have pasta and bread (Aim for wholegrain), don't go overboard on amounts, and add vegetables/salad to it so it fills you up more
-You can also get pasta makers, which turn vegetables like zucchini and squash into spaghetti pieces, this is great if you're aiming for low carb, we get to have our pasta and eat it!
-There are a lot of substitutes for typically unhealthy foods, I'm am quite fond of the cauliflower pizza
I'll add more when I think of it, but I'm not very with it atm
I'm sure someone else will have more suggestions, I am by no means a great cook and so limited in that respect
Last edited by serendipity907; 05-03-2010 at 01:59 PM.
Been a vegetarian my whole life and have heard the same comments. But people don't realize that cookies and chips are vegetarian, right? Hehe. I eat alot of brown rice and frozen veggies with curry powder. I also use Mrs. Dash on everything now (I have alot of the varieties). Like serendipity said, use whole grain pasta or my fav Trader Joe's brown rice pasta - add a mix of beans with EVOO and it is a great tasting pasta dish. I use those new sandwich thins to make yum-o sandwiches for lunch with hummus spread.
thanks so much for the tips....alot of times it hard for me to find food I even like outside of being a vegetarian...so its hard to be open to foods I normally wouldnt eat
haha... I TOTALLY know what you mean! tons of bad things are vegetarian, people just don't get it. I also do a lot of brown rice and veggies. Also several times a week I'll eat a veggie chicken pattie with a thin 100 cal bun, or take a wheat wrap and lettuce, tomato, feta, a couple sprays of balsamic vin with the pattie cut up. Or a spicey black bean burger with some salsa on it. I eat sweet potatos alot and a small mix green salad with almost every dinner. Also vegetarian chilli is delicious!
See the problem I run into is I dont like the flavor of meat so I wont eat anything like soy burgers or anything that looks like meat....I also dont like tofu or rice, lol......it just gets very hard for me
I am the same with meat imitation food, having never eaten meat, the look and smell of it really puts me off.
You could go for the vegetable burgers, which are made up of peas/sweetcorn/carrots/potato etc inside, I think the outside is bread crumbed. They aren't supposed to look like meat =)
Veggie grills from the freezer section of the supermarket, or even homemade. I love these.
How about some soups? I make lentil soup with veg stock, loads of root veggies, a little garlic... its sooooo filling and delicious.
SO makes this soup with split green peas and veggies, its so thick the spoon stands up by itself! One bowl is enough to fill me for hours and hours.
Veggie Pasta. Pasta cooked and cooled with chopped onions, tomato, cucumber and peppers. Maybe add some vegetarian dressing/mayo to it and some black pepper. Yummmmmm.
i eat lettuce wraps (black beans, tomatoes/salsa, sunflower seeds, guacamole, brown rice); whole wheat pasta with vegetables in the sauce like baby spinach, broccoli, and mushrooms; portebella steaks; kale chips; green smoothies (milk, frozen banana, spinach, and either another frozen fruit or peanut butter or cinnamon with a sweetener); lots of fruit including fruit salads; homemade pizza (i make the dough and then put tons of veggies on top and leave the cheese off); salads; green bean salads (green beans instead of lettuce); i do like tofu and the new thing I have been making with it is tofu manwiches (if you don;t like tofu but perhaps want to try it this is the way to go since the tofu is masked by lots of sauce and is crumbled up)...
anyway i hope that helps. its just some of the things i eat
thats the dough recipe I use. last time on my pizza I used tomato sauce, thinly sliced tomatoes, baby spinach, sliced mushrooms, garlic, and Italian seasoning. I love it, and I really enjoyed making it!
California burgers are usually the ones that are filled with veggies. Also, I love love sunshine burgers, they are made with sunflower seeds and other things. They are the best veggie burgers on the planet but don't taste meaty at all.
Do you like beans? I eat tons of beans.
Here is a run down of some of the things I'm eating today:
Veggie salad with lettuce, cucumbers, celery, apples and chickpeas.
Hummus and Avocado on toasted sprouted grain bread
Black rice with oven roasted zucchini and lentils
Plain soy yogurt with frozen blueberries
California burgers are usually the ones that are filled with veggies. Also, I love love sunshine burgers, they are made with sunflower seeds and other things. They are the best veggie burgers on the planet but don't taste meaty at all.
I second the vote for Sunshine burgers. I had a falafel for lunch today made by them, with hummus, and it was really tasty.
I always thought of myself as a picky eater until I started making myself try things. Perceptions of what tastes good vs. bad can change over time, so even if you hated something a while ago, you might actually like it now. I am a big fan of fruits of all kinds, especially pineapple. Anything with hummus, nut butters, beans, more fruit , various legumes and veggies, spicy foods, are some of my favorites at the moment. There are so many things out there to try.
Vegetarian / Picky Eater
