llamamuffinmama

i was over 255 lbs myself and i also love carbohydrates and never liked much meat, so i'll tell you what worked for me! i decided to go vegan (more out of concern for the animals than anything else), and the happy side benefit was weightloss- over 100 pounds to reach a healthy body weight for my height. i feel better than i ever have in my whole life! and except for the last 10-20 pounds, it came off REALLY easily. I didn't feel like I was "on a diet" at all.


here's some of the things i eat as a vegan:
(*note: i do also try to reduce the amount of fat in my diet, but i'm not fanatical about it. i do little things like having salsa or a low fat gravy with my baked potato instead of margarine or a richer gravy, etc.)

BREAKFAST: coffee with almond milk or silk soy creamer, frozen waffles (from vans or nature's path), blueberry pancakes or french toast (made without egg or dairy with substitutes instead) with maple syrup or agave nectar, vegan breakfast sausage links, scrambled tofu, tempeh skillet with potatoes and other veggies sauteed in small amount of olive oil, english muffins or toast w/ light nonhydrogenated margarine or just jam, fruit salad, smoothies, cereal w/ soymilk or almond milk or rice milk or oat milk, oatmeal, tofu "omelettes", whole grain breakfast porridges, homemade muffins (corn, apple cinnamon, blueberry, carrot cake style, you name it), apple juice, orange juice, grapefruit juice, veggie canadian bacon, tempeh bacon, homemade tofu bacon, breakfast sausage patties, chilled melon soup, soya yogurt with fresh fruit, silk live! soy yogurt drink (mango, peach, raspberry or strawberry), homefries, hash browns, bagels with tofutti cream cheese or peanutbutter or almond butter (these are higher in fat, but they're a good treat) and jam or hummus and veggies, biscuits and gravy...

LUNCH: rice and bean burritos with veggies, a little guacamole and salsa plus tofutti sour cream substitute and/or vegan soy cheese if i'm treating myself, fat free veggie chili (amy's makes a good one) and tortillas, pb&j, pasta with marinara sauce and sometimes vegan meatballs, veg lasagne with crumbled tofu instead of ricotta, mock turkey sandwiches with soy mayo or mustard and veggies, hummus and roasted veggie sandwiches, baked felafel, veggie sushi, baked potatoes with soy sour cream and chives, mashed potatoes and gravy, gardenburger riblets or veggie sweet and sour pork, baked tofu and avocado sandwich with mustard, soy cheese quesadillas, tempeh burger or boca burger and roasted potatoes, veggie soups (carrot ginger, mulligatawny, potato leek, minestrone, lentil, split pea, tomato...), indian vegetable curries over rice, vietnamese tofu cristal rolls, veggie sub with garlic and vinegar and a little olive oil, grilled soy cheese and tomato sandwich, seitan "philly" sub...

I tend to be less strict about fat and richer foods at dinner time. If I'm "good" all day, I'll throw a little caution to the wind. But when I eat some of the richer foods, I try to limit the amount to a reasonable (not bird-sized but not huge) portion.

DINNER: Chinese food (vegetable chow fun, szechuan spicy string beans, yu xiang broccoli, sesame tofu, ma po tofu, kung pao tofu, eggplant in garlic sauce, etc), Japanese food (pan fried udon noodles with veggies and tofu, inari, avocado/cucumber/tofu/carrot/shiitake nori rolls, agedashi tofu, etc), Italian food (homemade lasagne with almond-tofu "ricotta" and veggies, tuscan white bean soup, bruchetta, garlic bread with non-hydrogenated margarine and soy parmesan, pasta with veggies and assorted styles of sauce, etc), tempeh scallopini, seitan "parmesan", dairy-free tofu-mushroom stroganoff, Thai food (assorted curries with veggies and tofu asking waiters to leave off the fish sauce, sticky rice with mango, pineapple tofu fried rice, etc), Indian food (see above), potato onion pierogies with herb infused margarine, cheeseless pizza piled high with veggie toppings with or without vegan soy cheese, vegan meatless buffalo "chicken" fingers or plain meatless chicken fingers with barbecue sauce and tater tots, barbecue tofu or seitan and veggies, meat-free shepard's pie or veggie pot pie, chili and cornbread, green veggies (kale, broccoli, chard, spinach), salads with grilled tofu and to'feta (marinated tofu which tastes a lot like feta cheese), vegan mac & cheez, tofu-veggie stir fry, vegetarian baked beans and tofu hot dogs (smart dogs rule)...

DESSERTS: sometimes I have a fruit salad with a little soy yogurt on top, sometimes i make low fat muffins or brownies without eggs, applesauce, puddings made with silken tofu and chocolate chips, or pudding mix made with soymilk instead of cow's milk, etc. there are also some very good lower fat and lower calorie soy "ice creams" that taste GREAT with a little chocolate syrup over the top.

i drink pretty much only water, sometimes a little sparkling water with fruit flavoring and no calories...

for recipes and more info on trying vegetarianism/veganism, look up Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). They have a great free veg starter kit they'll mail to you or you can download it for free!

You can do it!!!!