SO FED UP

Oh I'm sorry you are feeling this bad. It's not the easiest to start low carbing I must say but it sounds like you do indeed have easily boring diet. Do you eat nuts or seeds? They are fab filling foods that you can use in cooking and toast on a frying pan and put a little chilli in to spice them up. Also if you are aiming at having 40-50 grams of carbs a day, you can include some oatcakes or ryvita as long as you count the carbs. The sugars may be raised because you aren't eating regularly and your liver ends up dumping glucose into your blood. Are you a pure veggie or do you eat fish? I found that being prepared was one of the most difficult things in low carbing since I had to think three four days ahead instead of just plodding on but now carry a supply of low carb shakes, bars and nuts, seeds and some dark chocolate with me for snacking. It also can take some time before the sugars really go down so patience is needed... :wink: Good luck Shan!

How about a low carb vegetarian cook book?
There is one by Rose Elliot that other members recommend but I don't know the title.

If you google, "LOW CARB VEGETARIAN RECIPES" there are loads of websites for you to look at.

Do you eat fish? As mentioned before Rose Elliott does a low carb vegetarian cook book and Celia Brown has brought one out too.

Apart from eggs, there are loads and loads of different cheeses, quorn, quorn mince, nuts and seeds, tofu, soya and dairy products, - you can make sauces and stir fries just let your imagination run riot, how do you have your vegetables just plain steamed or boiled? Make mash out of them and soups, do a wonderful cauliflower and cheese soup, dont let meat recipes put you off, just adapt them by substituting with quorn or tofu or fish, make a bolognese style sauce and use courgette noodles with it, make up a lovely curry with cauliflower rice, read through the recipe thread and the low carb recipe thread too, there is no need to become bored with food at all, get a quorn steak or low carb vegetarian sausages have them with veggie mash, or make ratatouille with that, is all really yummy. Check out these links to give you more ideas.

http://www.low-carb.org.uk/links.htm
http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipes/searchr ... Vegetarian
http://www.low-carb-recipes.co.uk/Chunk ... Chili.html
http://www.low-carb-recipes.co.uk/index.htm

I think you are just a bit thrown and dont know what to eat because it has been drummed into you right from childhood to eat starchy foods, just like the rest of us but dont worry too much about it, you will get used to it and adapt.

Have you got hold of a carb counting book so that you know which foods are low/medium? This will really help you and if you just eat veg and cheese and eggs over and over again then you will need more recipes to alleviate boredom from eating the same stuff again and again. If you have headaches and a funny tum drink more water or even sugarfree squash, you may have eaten high carb veg and not enough fats, maybe this is why you have put on weight? What did you eat before? What was your normal diet like? I am sure you can eat similar things just not the starches, you can make some really nice chips from aubergines for exampe, and noodles from courgettes and so on, there is no need to suffer like you are doing at the moment.

All the best and a big virtual hug to you

Karen x

Hi Shandromada,
Believe me, I understand how hard cutting down on carbs is at the beginning (and I eat meat).
Many is the day I ended up in tears, until it was recommended to me that I might be better off taking smaller steps. That was the best piece of advice I was given. I decided that instead of trying to go 'the whole hog', I'd reduce my carbs. little by little instead. You will know by your readings when you have found a level of carbs. that suits you, both readings-wise and sustainability-wise and by that I mean a level that leaves you coping mentally too and from personal experience,I feel that cannot be underestimated.
You are doing well because you are trying to help yourself. It's not easy but many of us understand how hard reducing the carbs. is initially. Remember...... little steps.......eventually you'll arrive at the same place as those who take the bigger steps. Promise.
All the best, chocoholic.

Hi Shan

Sorry to hear that you are feeling so down trying to stick to a low carb diet and be vegetarian, I can't offer any useful advice myself I'm afraid being an out and out carnivore but just wanted to say that we are all routing for you to get it sorted

Shandra
I invented a tasty recipe last night which you might like
Stamed cauliflower with crunch topping.
Naturally first stem your cauli
Then take some crushed nuts and toast in a frying pan.
Serve cauli and sprinkle nuts over.
Could add some seeds to the nuts if you like.
Hana

shandromeda said:

I use to drink a lot of flavoured water with sweetner but my nurse said don't drink it as it has sugar in it,but theres no trace of it or the hidden ways they sneek in so i think i'll drink it again.

Click to expand...

You'll be surprised at the things people (even people who should know better like your nurse!) assume have sugar in, multiple people have tried to tell me diet soft drinks have sugar in them! Check the nutrition information lable, that will list sugars even if they are fruit sugars etc.

I was a vegetarian when I was diagnosed (I'm not anymore, I figured it was too much work to work around eating meat AND carbs)

But if you really want to do it that badly, there's no reason you can't. Instead of eating the same vegetables and cheese, though, I'd try to get more tofu and soy products into your diet. They have the protein you need, they're much less fattening than dairy products, They're not as low carb as meat but you can definitely eat more of it than you can bread or noodles.

Try boca burgers or some other kind of faux meat. Morningstar Farms makes these delicious TVP sausage patties, and they are the best thing. Even though I am eating meat regularly, I eat these sausage things instead of real sausage.

HLW said:

shandromeda said:

I use to drink a lot of flavoured water with sweetner but my nurse said don't drink it as it has sugar in it,but theres no trace of it or the hidden ways they sneek in so i think i'll drink it again.

Click to expand...

You'll be surprised at the things people (even people who should know better like your nurse!) assume have sugar in, multiple people have tried to tell me diet soft drinks have sugar in them! Check the nutrition information lable, that will list sugars even if they are fruit sugars etc.

Click to expand...

Anything that ends in 'ose' or ole' is a type of sugar so many soft drinks do have these 'hidden' sugars in them.As you said, check the labels.