Changing a Vegan Diet to Low Carb

What is your diet like now?

"My diet now is much like it has been since becoming vegan (fresh, local, organic vegetables and fruits, some whole grains and whole grain products, some legumes, nuts and soy products), except I eat very few servings of grain: no toast, no sandwiches, for example. I absolutely love having a huge salad for lunch. I’ve never been a huge fan of corn chips, potato chips, pretzels, crackers or popcorn, so that’s not much of an issue. A little brown rice or pasta to go with all the vegetables. I can eat small amounts of potato or sweet potato; I just can’t overdo it. I’ve recently discovered that I can’t eat the meat substitutes using wheat protein, nor seitan. I eat three servings of fruit every day, but no more than that. I’m also careful to eat more protein than I used to. I minimize sweet baked goods (cookies, brownies, cakes), eating them only when they’re really special, and enjoy the fact that I still get to eat about 100 calories of really dark chocolate twice every day! Now that my diet has changed, my tolerance for sweet things has gone down. The timing of this has worked out well, though, since I no longer need to eat as much as I did when I was younger, anyway. "

What do you struggle with?

"The thing I struggle with the most is serving size. I know I don’t need to eat as much as I used to (now that I’m middle-aged, I get full on much less food), but it’s frustrating to not be able to eat as much as I’d like of something without feeling overly full, and it’s so easy to over-estimate what I can eat, since what fills me up is so small. A couple of bites of potato, pasta, or muffin is enough to satisfy me when I’ve got lots of vegetables to go with it. When I make a hearty soup for the family, I eat a very small bowl of it and have a side salad, so I don’t overdo the legumes. Even when I eat rice, oats or millet, I only eat about ½ cup, and that’s plenty. I also wish I could eat more baked goods, but I’m happy with my lower weight.

The other difficult thing is making food for the rest of the family that I don’t get to eat. It may be that, as I get more comfortable with this way of eating and my weight stabilizes at a lower level, I’ll get to the point where I can add things back into my diet that I avoid now, like corn tortillas or grain products, but I’m not there, yet."

Is it hard to get enough protein?

"No, that’s actually easy. I have soy milk and nuts for breakfast, tofu or tempeh for lunch and/or dinner, soy yogurt for a snack. Plus I eat a small amount of legumes several times a week."

With fewer carbs, do you find yourself eating more fat, and if so, what is your attitude towards this?

"I do eat more fat now, and I’m fine with that since I can see that it isn’t adversely affecting my weight or how I feel. I make sure to use olive, canola, sesame or peanut oil for cooking, and non-hydrogenated margarines or canola oil for baking. When we first went vegan, I concentrated on baking low-fat muffins and things by substituting applesauce for the oil, but now I’ve converted those back. My husband is okay with the switch back, as he eats less than he used to, as well, and our daughter is so active that the extra calories do her no harm at all."

Do you have any concerns about your nutritional status while trying to eat what some would view as a highly restricted diet?

"I don’t think I have any nutritional deficiencies. I do take daily multiple vitamins that include B-12, just in case. I eat a wide variety of vegetables and fruits; I eat nuts, rice, oats, millet, and some legumes. I eat lots of soy protein. I admit that it is a highly restricted diet, but I feel better than I ever have in my life (except for the arthritis, of course), and I feel good about what I eat."