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Desperate to get shredded! (Ultra Low carb...?)


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For the past 2(!) years, I've been trying to lose my last 10-15 lbs - lifting heavily regularly, doing regular (spin) cardio, and eating clean. It HASN'T gone away.

 

This has been amazingly frustrating for me... Before I was vegan, I was on Atkins and the fat *melted* off my body, no problem. It seems that low carb just works for me, really well. I was in the best shape of my life. But now...it's an absolute struggle. I've tried focusing on tofu, tofurky, low carb vegan munchies, but not much luck.

 

So I'd love to hear any suggestions for a low carb *vegan* diet. I just can't accept that I have to sacrifice my goals to stay veggie...!

 

Thanks.

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I can relate. I want to go on a low carb vegan diet NOT ultra low, but its difficult to go on a low carb vegan diet without getting most of my protein from either processed soy products or high fat foods (nuts). Tofu is cheap but other processed soy products are not.

 

I don't know of many quick TVP recipes that only require a FEW ingredients. I get tired of eating salsa or tomato sauce and TVP all the time.

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I don't really eat low carb, but I don't eat a lot of grains, and that helps me a lot. I do eat fruits and vegetables.

 

This may sound silly, but have you tried cutting out wheat or gluten? Because all those processed vegan "meats", like tofurkey, that are high in protein, are also really high in gluten, whereas real meat is not. So that could explain why eliminating carbs on a omnivorous diet worked, and on a vegan diet with meat substitutes, it isn't. I think more people are sensitive to gluten than they think...it might be worth a shot.

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You know, I don't know - technically - if I'm allergic to wheat or gluten. (Would that keep someone from losing weight?)

 

Among the things I've tried are: low carb with protein powder and meat substitutes (tofurky, tofu, seitan and tempeh), and on the other end, raw(ish) with lots of fruit. Neither did the trick. And raw--though I was enthusiatic about the concept--made me ravenously hungry all the time. I'll likely try it again at some point, but since low carb's worked really well for me in the past, it makes sense to try to veganize it and use it again.

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The way I diet for a comp is relatively low carb, moderate protein and high fat.

Most of the protein I get is from tempeh, shakes, nut and seeds. The carbohydrates I get are from the tempeh and vegetables.

I don't think it is feasible to go for an almost zero carbohydrate diet but getting rid of most grains and as much processed stuff as you can will help reduce body fat.

It's also probably a lot healthier than following the Atkins diet properly

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Joelk, Rainra -

 

Thx...

 

You know, I wonder if it's partially a gender thing? (I'm female, and my body just seems to react to carbs by automatically storing it as fat.)

 

Re: raw options - a question for Rainra... What do you eat? I've tried raw (ish), with a focus on fruit and nuts, and not only did it not work, but I was ravenous constantly, and tended to binge on the nuts (not to mention that it was incredibly expensive...!)

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I like what Joel and Rainra said, and I'll throw in my two cents as well.

 

I think you should also try to keep your metabolism guessing. I know after a while if I've been eating low carbs and/or low calories to shed some fat, but my body adjusts fairly quickly, and gets into fat storage mode and my metabolism slows. I started adding 1 higher calorie day per week, just to keep my metabolism revved up and had good success shedding fat.

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Yep, I do the same. Usually once every week I bump my calories right up, keeps me sane too.

This years comp I'm going to try a massive carb up once a week, i.e. 600-1000 carbs for the day and then go back to my 80-100 carbs for the rest of the week.

We'll see how it goes.

VegannNY, I don't know if it is a gender thing but based on what I've discovered, women generally seem to respond better to a lower fat intake than what I would recommend for a male. The protein would be relatively the same but the women I have written diets for responded better to a higher intake of vegetable based carbohydrates and less fats, compared to the guys I have helped.

It is still a work in progress though as everyone responds slightly differently.

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