Wednesday, January 28, 2009

People who shouldn't be giving advice on vegetarianism.

I'm hating lunges a bit less these days. The first few times it was like: STEP - curse a lot, wobble - STEP - curse some more, try not to fall over - STEP - pretend to hear the phone ringing and stop to go answer it. But now, it is getting easier.

Meanwhile.

As I stated before, I'm determined to finish THE CHALLENGE as a vegetarian who sucks down a LOT of Splenda and hasn't had one single enema. And I don't want to come off sounding like I'm all that because I'm a vegetarian - it's my decision. What I'm annoyed about today is non-vegetarians or non-dieticians giving advice about vegetarian diets.

My platoon leader is supposedly a vegetarian, but doesn't seem to be a very educated or adventurous one.  She means well.

(edited: 1/29)

Here's her suggested daily menu "tweaks" (with vegetarian options, in red):

=======================================
Breakfast: 3-4 egg whites, 1/4 cup of oatmeal

Snack: Protein shake with high protein and medium carbs
or 3.5 oz of tuna and a tomato

Lunch: 2 cups of lettuce, and 1 -5oz chicken breast or another lean meat

Snack: Protein shake with high protein and medium carbs,
or 3.5 oz of tuna and a tomato

Dinner: 6 oz lean meat and 1 cup vegetables.

Snack: Protein shake with high protein and medium carbs
or 3.5 oz of tuna and a tomato

==================================

Ugh! Bland. Boring. Restrictive. And hey, where is my fuel? Is it just me or are there next to NO carbs this entire day, after breakfast? How am I supposed to do any cardio at all on that? Plus, if you analyze this, you'll find that it's very calorie restrictive - I'd be afraid that it would throw my body into some sort of starvation mode. And my body doesn't need any excuse to hang onto fat.

Don't pee on my skirt, as Judge Judy used to say, and tell me it's raining; don't tell me that in order to eat realistically as a vegetarian that I have to drink meal replacements all day long, because that isn't realistic or sustainable. Here's my real daily menu (sample day):

First thing in the morning: I get up and drink 16 ounces of water.

Snack: Chocolate Protein shake with protein powder, 2 cups of soy milk, Splenda-based syrup flavoring, 2 shots of espresso, unsweetened cocoa.

Breakfast: Yoplait or Kroger Light non-fat yogurt with fruit & Kroger Active Life (high-protein, high-fiber) oatmeal stirred in dry. 16 ounces of water with peach green tea Crystal Lite.
(on weekends, I have an egg beaters omelet with egg beaters, fat-free cheese, and some black beans, veggies and salsa or maybe spinach and mushrooms with fat-free cheese on my omelet. AND YES, IT'S COOKED IN A HIGHLY TOXIC, NON-STICK PAN.)

Lunch: Boca or Morningstar Farms Burger with fat-free american cheese slice on a whole-wheat bun, some fat-free dressing, and maybe some mushrooms on it. I like to dress up my veggie burgers. A cup or two of veggies, and 16 ounces of water. Other options: egg-salad sandwich, hummus sandwich, or chick-pea salad sandwich.

Snack: Protein bar from Costco + more water with crystal lite. Sometimes, I have some V8 soup too.

Dinner: Egg-beaters omelet, or seitan, or a tofu dish. Veggies or (my personal favorite) a HUGE salad of field greens, dried cranberries, almonds, and low-fat blue-cheese dressing.

Snack: Fat-free cottage cheese with a bit of fruit or just salt-and-pepper. Or yogurt. Sometimes I fall asleep and don't get my snack.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I'm currently looking through vegetarian and vegan bodybuilding forums to get ideas for homemade protein bars. These things are rediculously expensive! even from Costco. And, they have a lot of saturated fat in them.


It's really, really, really cold today so I'm going to go climb stairs during my lunch hour.


That's all. Thanks for letting me rant.


...

8 comments:

  1. Alton Brown did a "Good Eats" episode on protein bars...I keep meaning to make them.
    http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/protein-bars-recipe/index.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your meal plan sounds WAY better than hers. Not to mention easier to stick to because it's probably more filling as well as more diverse.

    You're liking lunges more, eh? I don't have a problem with doing them. It's the next day where my ass hurts so bad I have trouble going from standing to sitting on my own...

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm with Molly. Your plan sounds way better. And I don't think anybody likes lunges. It takes about 4 lunges before my body gets the idea that I'm doing lunges again. Then I don't fall over as much. I wouldn't do lunges if they weren't so darn effective.

    ReplyDelete
  4. What bugs me is when people still talk about needing to combine vegetarian proteins in order to make them complete. This practice is not necessary and yet it was mentioned recently in an article I read in a fitness magazine (!). The article served to support my suspicion that fitness magazines are written by "muscle heads."

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, her diet looks bland, but also like I might go stark raving mad because i would be so starving on it, even for a day. Everytime I look at a daily eating plan I think "when would I work out on this? where would my run fit in?" If the asnwer is nowhere (because I would be too weak or hungry0, then I know it is not the daily plan for me. Yours looks much more reasonable.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Even her meat eating option looks terrible. Three rounds of tuna and a tomato a day? Your plan sounds a lot yummier! Hmm, you've given me a good idea for lunches at work - veggie burgers! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you for posting this for 2 reasons:

    1. These boring restrictive diets are why FOR YEARS I have been unable to work with a diets or nutritionist recommendations. I like that you are using a moderation and modification approach instead of my typical "all or nothing" approach.

    2. It made me take a look at my nutrient breakdown instead of just the total calories. I realized that I am not getting nearly enough protein and WAY too much fat.

    Good information. I am really glad you are doing this challenge thing I am learning a lot. LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I like your diet a lot except I think you could eat some lite cheese or even regular cheese. Fat is not a demon and your body does need some even though that is what you are trying to lose.

    ReplyDelete

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