My Low Carb Veg Diet

I can’t tell you the One True Way to follow a vegetarian low-carb diet, but I can tell you what worked for me. Since individual physiology varies, you will likely be able to eat some foods that I can’t. You may also have to avoid some ingredients in which I frequently indulged.

From the start, I logged my food intake in a daily diary to keep track of my calories, fat, carbs and protein. Omnivores might be able to get away with just counting net carbs on a low-carb diet, but vegetarians run the risk of eating way too many calories or eating far too little protein if they don't actively watch their macronutrient intake. I used Fitday every single day of my weight loss and continue to do so today.

You may read my early Fitday logs (before I moved to the offline version) here. The relevant entries were from February 2006 through May 2006. (At that point I started using the offline version for most logging. Also please be forewarned that I still use the online version to plan my daily foods when I'm away from my main computer. If you visit my current logs, you will probably find animal flesh listed. As I mentioned, I'm no longer a vegetarian, but I support those who are and who wish to lose weight as efficiently and healthfully as possible.)

In my first two low carb weeks, I did in fact stay below 20g net carbs in classic induction diet style. What did I eat? Mostly eggs, spinach, almonds, cheese, avocado and multivitamins. After those two weeks I moved my carb intake up to about 35-39 net grams daily for the remainder of the year. When I had little weight left to lose, I upped my carb intake to 55-59 net grams per day. This did significantly reduce the rate at which I lost pounds, but the boost in blood glucose allowed me to think quicker and more clearly. (I am apparently one of those rare ducks whose brains trudge slowly along on ketones. Ahh well.) Throughout my diet I was careful to get an adequate amount of protein. (Jenny offers a quick protein need calculator here.) As one might expect, I lost faster when I kept my total calories within reason for my short height--about 1250 to 1450 each day. On maintenance I upped my carb intake to 80 net grams. Several months later I moved that up to 105 net grams.

So as a vegetarian where did I find sources of ample protein?

The bulk of my protein came from eggs, neufatchel cheese, parmesan, skim mozzarella, whey protein and mycoprotein found in Quorn products. I had a low-carb yogurt (Dannon and Blue Bunny both offer them) a few days a week. When I could spare the carbs, I’d have a glass of lower carb milk. (The last time I checked Hood still made Calorie Countdown milk.)

Cheese truly is your friend when you’re looking to cut carbs and increase your protein intake. Let go of the misconception that fat is health’s enemy, and you find yourself with a glorious selection of dairy delights you used to think you could only enjoy on special occasions. Visit the cheese section in your co-op. You won’t be sorry.

Cream cheese—especially its lower fat incarnation Neufchatel—gives wonderful flavor and texture to several of my favorite recipes.

Eggs, so yummy in so many forms... They are not, however, all created equal. As a vegetarian you may well be deficient in the DHA and EPA forms of Omega3 fats. For a hefty price, you can buy organic, free-range eggs that are rich in these Omega3’s. Not only is it kinder to the hens, it is a more healthful option.

Parmesan – salty stuff and apparently laden with monosodium glutamate. For this reason I don’t use it abundantly or terribly often. Luckily a small amount of it imparts a lot of taste.

Mozzarella: I love it shamelessly.

Whey protein: I know, you think those canisters of protein powder are only for body builders suffering delusions of muscular grandeur. Think again: protein powders are your friends. They are also NOT all equivalent. Some dissolve wonderfully in heated liquid while others form disgusting glue-like globules. Some have an unpleasantly sweet aftertaste, others are helpfully neutral. When well-chosen, these powders serve brilliantly in recipes.

Mycoprotein: was my tasty salvation. If you are allergic to mushrooms or other fungi, you may want to approach Quorn’s products with extreme caution, but they’ve never caused me a problem. The roast is packed with protein at a low carb cost and the tenders are wonderfully convenient in rushed stir-fries even if they do dig a little deeper into your carb allotment. Edited 5/8/08 to add: A physician I respect, Dr John Briffa, has expressed misgivings about Quorn's safety because, as he explains it, it is not a very natural product. It is not something we've consumed historically. If my understanding is correct, mycoprotein is created using a rather involved process utilizing fungal microorganism found in soil, so this is a "processed" food in every respect. Furthermore, the palatability of the final product may rely more on its msg content than on any inherent tastiness of mycoprotein itself. If you're risk-averse, you might want to avoid this product. If you scoff at such notions and welcome soy and other such potential dangers in your diet with a carefree wave--well, Quorn may not be any better or worse. I just thought I should let you know there are concerns out there. In case you are interested, Briffa's thoughts on veggie meat substitutes continue in this post and the comments that follow it.

What you can probably eat that I can’t: wheat gluten. Since I don’t dare touch the stuff I can’t vouch for its viability in recipes or comment on its protein/carb content, but from its frequent mentions in low-carb havens I gather some find it delicious and useful. But please be careful. You can have a wheat gluten allergy without realizing it. I had stomach upsets constantly for years and just passed them off on bad genetics. I thought it was just *normal* for me to get sick every day or so on my meals. A friend even suggested to me years ago that I might have a gluten allergy and I just rolled my eyes. Do NOT ignore the possibility like I did. Consuming gluten when your GI tract can’t handle it increases your risk for a whole host of auto-immune diseases. My mother now has one of those diseases and I believe it’s in part because she ignored her own gluten allergy. My sister (who’d suffered, to a lesser degree, many of the symptoms I’d suffered for years) refused to entertain the notion that she, too, had a gluten allergy until she saw what has happened to our mother. She stopped eating wheat and, gee, her problems went away. Yes, I realize that just because I have the allergy doesn’t mean everyone else does. My brother is not the least bit allergic to gluten. Most people aren’t. But a great number who are don’t realize it. Don’t be one of them. Please. Auto-immune diseases really suck.

For vegans: you can no doubt devise scrumptious meals based on soy, rice bran protein and wheat gluten. I don't deny it would be an extra challenge to follow a carb-conscious path without dairy, but I also believe it absolutely can be done.

So that's it. I ate heartily and happily while low-carb vegging. I hope it works just as well for you.