I'm in a tough spot here. I've grown up eating and preparing meals that include meat my whole life (26yrs) until Jan 04' when i decided not to eat meat anymore. Up until this point I NEVER ate fish...it grossed me out, but again i was obviously a kid. I slowly increased fish (for health/protein reasons) in my diet since cutting out the meat, but I'm not very good/confident in my cooking skills when it comes to fish. Lately I've become bored with food and was contemplating eating chicken or beef again just to get a change but i really DO NOT WANT TO DO THAT. I figure theres GOT to be some great recipes out there for vegetables and for fish. I'm a great cook but I feel so limited on the knowledge that I alone have. I make alot of veggie recipes and usually serve brown rice or cous cous when I have a need for something with "more substance" but again, I'm getting bored with these. My boyfriend and I are about to start the south beach diet as vegeterians that include fish and dairy. We both need to loose weight and our cholesterol levels are dangerously high. I imagine that I'm a blood test away from type 2 diabetes (it runs in my family).

If I ask my friends and family for some ideas they all just tell me to eat meat again, that it wont hurt me and that I can just eat it SOMETIMES and still be a vegeterian. thats not what I'm looking for and they all seem to WANT me to eat meat again...like they're personally offended that i dont anymore. So they are no help...perhaps you people are....I'm hoping!

All info is welcome; links, personal recipes, ect...I'm looking for a fresh start with food as I begin this South Beach journey. I am looking for a lifestyle change that I can really stick with and keep those carbs at bay. Again, thank you all for any advice.

Welcome to Vegetarian low carbing Weezah!

I wouldn't worry too much about what other people say. Even Dr. Atkins himself said that vegetarians might get bored low carbing!

I have been low carbing for about 1 1/2 years and haven't found that to be the case. I have found a couple of links with delicious recipes and even meat eating recipes can be made into vegetarian ones by using meat substitutes (if the substitutes are low in carb, which most are!)

Here is my favorite recipe site and I would also search the recipe section of the forums if I were you, lots of good stuff there too.

You can do this!! Don't let all those people trick you into thinking you can't!

Yep. I gotta agree with Etoiles. I'm a veggie, and I lost 21 pds last summer by doing low carb Atkins style, and exercising to videos. And I DON'T eat fish. (I'm lacto/ovo.) So if you are a veggie, you can do it. If you eat fish, you can really do it. It will take creativity, but you can keep those carbs in check and benefit from it.

Faith

I've got an article coming out next issue in Natural Bodybuilding & Fitness on this very subject. You do not need to eat meat or fish to do a successful CKD.

Thanks so much for all the great info, and encouragement. I will have to check out the recipes section of this site today. I just need to be more creative. Thanks again.

Also check out tofu.com. It has a ton of tofu recipe's. And vegsource.com has mega tons of recipes.

i just made a wonderful fillet of red snapper last night and it was a 'snap' to prepare...haha. im hilarious.

anyways.

i just took a few small fillets, about half a lb total weight and put them on top of a large piece of foil. drizzled with an herbed olive oil, chopped heirloom tomato (about 1/4 c), crushed red pepper, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste and a splash of white wine...folded it all up nice and tight and then popped it on the barbecue at med. heat for about fifteen minutes, no need to turn...open and voila!!! a lowfat, very lo carb creation that is delicious and sooooo easy!

served w/ brussels sprouts, and asparagus and mushrooms which were also cooked on the grill...

keep the heat outta the kitchen.

becky*

I'm sure it's great, but I don't know why this would be posted in the vegetarian forum...

I was thinking the same thing. I really like to be inclusive, really I do. And I'm glad you've found a dish that was low-carb and easy for you to make. But while a lot of fish eaters (and even chicken eaters) identify with the vegetarian lifestyle.....those foods are not vegetarian foods.

I just had somebody in another forum say that all us people who say we are vegetarians are liars because we really eat fish and chicken when nobody's looking. (In fact, this guy has a whole section of his website devoted to calling us vegetarians liars and evil.) Well, this perception makes things hard on those of us who actually go by the dictionary definition of vegetarian, and actually don't eat any animal flesh at all. Whenever we go out and say that we are vegetarians, someone invariably says, "oh, but you eat fish right?" Or "Oh, I'm a vegetarian too. I only eat chicken." It's to the point that the masses of Americans no longer have any idea of what it means to be a vegetarian.

All of this confussion doesn't mean I'm not happy to see those who eat fish express their desire to include more vegetarian meals in their days. Really, I think that is fabulous, and I love seeing you guys included in conversations on vegetarianism. But at some point we vegetarians really do need to stand up and say "fish" is not a vegetarian food-- not because we want to be exclusionary. But rather, because people are getting way too confused aboutwhat is and what is not vegetarian-- and that's a shame.

Faith
(A 21 year lacto/ovo vegetarian who's very own husband has eaten vegetarian meals in our home for 15 years. But he eats fish too.)

I think that you all are getting off the point with the fish issue...bring back the focus.

im sorry, i think im just new to the board and didnt realize what i was doing...

i do apologize.

i am not a vegetarian by definition, but i do love to cook meatless as often as possible, which is why i was perusing this forum in the first place...then i followed a link in my email and posted fish in the wrong place.

i do apologize wholeheartedly.

becky*

oh wait. now i know why i did that...i was replying to the poster who actually does eat fish...and lending a recipe to someone who had requested it.

becky*

Sorry for causing trouble. I posted for help mainly for vegeterian dishes. I said i sometimes eat fish and i understand the argument against vegeterians eating fish and I agree. Usually I dont label myself as vegeterian for just that reason. Its in the works to leave any and all meat/fish behind but being new I find it difficult to do so, that is why i am looking here for help. Thanks again to EVERYONE that offered suggestions.

Well here's some additional and easy advice. When you are running short on time and don't want to find yourself weighed down with cooking, consider many of the veggie burgers and veggie chicken patties that you can find in your grocer's freezer section. (Just check the back of the package to make sure it's low carb before you buy.) They've also got veggie sandwich meats at the regular grocery store. It's a quick and simple thing to just throw together a low carb sandwich on low carb bread-- and you've stayed on your diet with no worries. Also, there are lots of low carb cereals, which you can eat with lc milk or lc soy milk. Sometimes being a veggie low carber is a lot of work. Having convenience foods around that are low carb can save your diet in a pinch. (And don't forget how easy it is to make a quick omlette! And Dreamfields pasta is the best tasting choice if you get a craving for that kind of stuff.)

Faith
(Who ate many an omlette or a veggie burger and salad from a bag during Atkins Induction.)

As of October 21st, I eliminated poultry from my diet, I was consider a Semi and now I Want to do it all the way , when cook for my family, I tend to take a bite to taste the flavor, but I don't eat fish or seafood , just fat free cheese and fat free yogurt, eggs from time to time .