Well - I think you have to do your research in order to become a healthy vegetarian. Some people just think it is about giving up meat but you have to find vegetarian friendly foods that will give you adequate amounts of protein and vitamins that you lose by giving up meat. Also depending on where you live there may not be much in the way of choice at grocery stores.
One other problem that I find is that a lot of vegetarian recipes are full of fat and dairy so if you are lactose intolerante or concerned about fat intake then you have to incorporate that into your lifestyle too. My dad is always complaining that most of the recipes he finds are pasta and cheese or potato and cheese. I have been able to find low - fat vegetarian websites though.
Oh yeah, eating out is a bit tough sometimes too. Some places offer nothing or a salad or vegetarian lasagna or pizza and that is it. Things are getting a bit better though as vegetarianism and healthier eating in general is growing in popularity.
My biggest obstacle is carbs. I eat tons of fruits, veggies and soy products but they're always paired with some kind of carb, whether it's bread, pitas, tortillas, english muffins, pasta, or rice. Since I've become a vegetarian bread has become my "meat." It just doesn't feel like a meal without it. The problem isn't necessarily all about the carbs, but also the fact that my meals are mostly carbs with very little protein. Another complication is that it's difficult to eat pure protein in the vegetarian form, such as vegetarian chicken cutlets and other faux-meats. They tend to be very dry and flavorless (or just plain gross) unless you add some type of sauce, breading or marinade (as well as rice!)
The best weight loss food I have discovered so far has been Egg Beaters and Yves (veggie) Canadian bacon diced up. That is pure protein and hardly any fat or carbs, which makes room for more of those two evil-doers later in the day. However, the canadian bacon by itself doesn't taste too great.
Eventhough I have gained weight over the past 6 years (while I have been a vegetarian), it has always been a slow and steady gain, which means I probably would weigh the same, or even more, if I still ate meat. I would definitely say carbs are my downfall though, especially because I only eat a small amount of dairy, and it's low-fat or fat-free. Ice cream is vegetarian too.
I think my biggest obstacle is falling into the trap of assuming that a vegetarian diet is automatically lower in fat and calories than a non-vegetarian diet. This can certainly be true: my current diet plan, now that I'm working on the weight loss, is definitely much healthier and well-balanced than your average American meat-eater's diet. On the other hand, there are plenty of vegetarians out there who don't pay attention to portion control or fat content and end up eating just as poorly as someone who lunches on roast beef & mayo heroes every day.
I eat way to many carbs as well. I buy the Boca/Morning Star/Gardenburger stuff and then use that as a replacement, not realizing sometimes that its probably worse for me then if I were eating the meat. I've been a vegetarian for 8 years now, and I have no plan on ever eating meat again. I just need to start balancing out what I eat more. Less carbs, more veggies and protein.
I have found that the weight problem is related more to eating to many grains and not carbs in general. Once I cut back on rice and kasha I began to lose weight. For protein I do soy or I eat some sort of legume. The rest of my food is either green leafy veg or fruit. I buy very little packaged or frozen foods.
At first the biggest obstacle was dairy, because many many people make up for no meat by adding too much full fat dairy to everything. It was how I was raised to eat in a vegetarian house. Once I cut out the dairy and became Vegan, I didn't know much about nutrition so I focused on protein and carbs, at the expense of a balanced diet. I ate a lot of fat as well, and had no concept of calorie control.
It really took WW to teach me how to eat properly, with a lot of Fruits and Veggies as well as healthy fats, and it took their Core program to show me how to make those carbs healthy ones. Now I eat a pretty balanced diet, lots of whole grains, healthy low fat proteins and usually 10 servings of F/V a day. Carbs remain a temptation, and sugar is always an obstacle, but I think I do pretty well in general.
Eating out as a vegan is still hard, though. Usually you have 5 options as a vegan: plain salad (sometimes a sub that's basically a salad on bread), veggie burger and fries, some type of asian/ steamed dish (the best choice), burritos or mexican food (if you can find them lard free), and pasta. It's really really hard to eat well when travelling. You usually end up settling for iceburgh and some type of bread product. Taking along health-friendly snacks that won't spoil is difficult for long trips.
Also, I find that I have to cook and not depend on pre-packaged stuff, or I find myself tempted to overeat. I can make a really filling low fat/calorie dinner myself, but healthy convienence food is much harder to find. Amy's makes some good frozen meals, although they're a bit high in sodium.
On the Pro side, I find that a lot of the tempting foods other people talk about are off-limits to me. If I want cheesecake or lasagna I have to make it myself, and most of the time I can find a healthier alternative. It's a lot more difficult to spend 3 hours making something I want vs. picking it up from the store, and most of the time it's not worth the trouble.
I try to stay far, far away from soy dream ice cream and cookies. It's hard to see a new product come up for sale. On the one hand, I love it when veggie stuff becomes more available, but on the other it's just one more temptation for me. I find it frustrating that most of the new stuff on the market is either crazy unhealthy or really tastless. There's a middle ground, but very few companies find it.
Like the others said, carbs can become too central to veg*n diets. Same with over-reliance on cheese or eggs (for non-vegans).
I also think relying on meat substitutes rather than using more whole foods (such as beans) is not healthy. Almost all commerical meat analogues are soy-based (and soy is a controversial topic) and high in sodium.
I will note that while it is true that it takes research & work to eat a healthy vegetarian diet, the same is true of non-vegetarian diets! The standard American diet is *not* a healthy one.
Most research shows that veg*ns as a group do eat less fat and more vegetables than omnivores, and tend to have lower BMIs. It may be that veg*ns tend to be better informed about nutrition and pay more attention to what they eat than do omnivores, simply because they are forced to, being in a meat-rich culture.
I am actually way over the anti-carb thing. I think the advantage we have as vegetrians is that we can get tons of energy for exercise from good unrefined low gi carbs if we choose the right ones. I also find it a bit annoying when people say you can eat healthily as a vegetarian 'if you do your research and plan carefully'. Its true but certainly not only for vegetarians. It applies to everyone. It reminds me of people who when they see me pop vitamins at work ask if its because I'm a vegetarian. Um, no, I probably ingest more vitamins and minerals than they do in a day, I just take a multi for 'insurance' as everyone should, omnivore or herbivore..
I've been lacto-ovo for nine years and vegan for nearly two months and I'd say going vegan has been a big eye opener for me. I've become aware of just how reliant on dairy products (read CHEESE) I'd become and more alarmingly on frozen readymeals and 'salads' (loaded with oil and gooey white pasta shapes). I've always been very careful to read labels and choose the best of the lot but I know realise its been the best of a bad lot. Now that there's no dairy and I'm also staying clear of refined carbs I'm finding I'm eating so much more whole real unprocessed foods. The simpler the better, I'm staying away from my recipe books and just having easy meals of mostly five ingredients or less. I think it would be much harder to get to this point were I not a vegetarian because as a vegan I really don't have very much choice, I HAVE to go for the healthy unprocessed stuff (where I live there aren't many fancy vegan cheese type things either).
However, as a lacto-ovo I had periods where all I would eat was pasta in cheese/creamy sauce, veg burgers and chips chips and more chips. That's insane. I now don't even consider that stuff food, its something I'll have on an odd occasion like wine - and expect a hangover. So yes, if food is your addictive substance of choice, then you can do your body damage on a vegetarian diet just as easily as on a meat eating one.
weight loss obstacles for vegetarians?
we'd like to know....
