Becoming a Healthy Vegetarian
Meat-Free Does Not Mean Fat-Free: Get the Most of Your Veggie Diet
Although many people believe they can automatically lose weight and become healthier with a vegetarian diet, such is not always the case. If your main reason for cutting out meat is the health factor (or even if it isn´t) you need to make sure you´re getting enough protein and fiber while limiting your fat intake.
Stay Away From Whole Milk and Cheese
One of the biggest mistakes most new vegetarians make is thinking they need to get all their protein from milk products. A vegetarian diet does not give you license to eat a plateful of dairy products for every meal. Instead, try 1% or skim milk, or better yet, reduced fat soy milk, and low fat or fat-free cheese. Eggs are a good source of protein but they are also high in fat and calories.
Tofu and Tempeh
While tofu and tempeh are a little bit hard to get used to at first, both are extremely high in protein and low in fat. Try to work up to making these foods your main source of protein. In the meantime, you can experiment with some great tofu and tempeh recipes at allrecipes.com.
Pay Attention to Your Hunger
As with any diet, or lifestyle in general, it is important to eat only when you´re hungry and to eat consistently throughout the day to keep your metabolism up. Don´t eat if you aren´t hungry, of course. However, contrary to popular belief, it is OK, in fact it is necessary to eat between meals. This keeps your metabolism high so that your body doesn´t go into starvation mode.
Keep Healthy Snack on Hand
Stay away from the Twinkies and Haagen Das! Since you´ve changed your diet and you´re not getting the same amount of vitamins and minerals you were used to, your body may be confused. It´s also likely that in the first few weeks you won´t be getting enough protein because you´re trying new foods and testing what you like. That´s fine, but it´s extremely important to stay away from very fatty foods. They´ll only weigh your body down even more and you´ll feel tired and sluggish. Instead, in between meals snack on fruits and raw veggies. The occasional granola bar is fine, but they´re usually pretty high in fat.
Nuts, Nuts, Nuts
Nuts, such as almonds and cashews, are a fantastic source of protein. However, they are also a fantastic source of fat. It´s a good idea for vegetarians to have about a handful of nuts a day; any more is too many and you´re filling your body with unnecessary calories.
As with any lifestyle, you need to make sure your diet is balanced and you´re getting the right amount of all important minerals as well as the minimum number of servings from each food group. For vegetarians, it is especially important to limit fat and watch the amount of protein you´re getting.
