Thread: Balanced diet without meat or fish?

I've always been overweight and generally unhealthy in terms of diet and lifestyle. I want to make a change. The enjoyment of eating junk like chips and pizza is being overtaken by being overweight, unfit and generally dissatisfied with myself.

Rather than go on a fad diet that i will not stick to, i want to really increase the amount of exercise i take and attempt to maintain a healthy, balanced diet. I've always been a fussy eater when it comes to some things and i cannot eat fish or chicken in any form. Beef i can manage but i really dont enjoy eating it. The only real protein i regularly eat is bacon. I have no problems with any veg or fruit.

I realise that along with healthy carbohydrate foods like brown bread and rice i need to have some protein in my diet. Can anyone advice me on how someone who eats very little meat get protein into their system? Tofu might be an idea, it's not particularly appetizing but im willing to make it work for me but any other suggestions on what i should be doing in terms of nutrition would be much appreciated.

There are tons of things you can do.

First thing I would do, if I woke up in your shoes, is realize that you didn't get here over night so you're not going to get to where you want to be over night either (at least not in a healthy way). The best thing you can do for yourself, is to make little simple lifestyle changes over time and stick with them. Nothing dramatic.

A couple of quick thoughts/ideas:

1. There are lots of ways to get protein in your diet without consuming meat of any kind. If you don't like it, don't eat it. Did you know that 40% of the calories in Broccoli are from protein? How about eggs? Try to consume only the white even though the yolk contains the healthy choline...it also contains a ton of cholesterol. Like nuts? Peanut butter? sprinkle heathy nuts (walnuts, almonds) on
salad or a thin layer of PB on your morning toast.

2. Try to increase your whole grain consumption along with your fiber consumption. Whole grains generally equate to an increase in fiber. So become a label reader when you're at the grocery store and compare items side by side. Always by the one with more whol grain and fiber.

3. Try to reduce your sodium intake too by buying more from the farm and less from the factory. Shop the outer edge of your grocery store because that's where the less processed items are. "If it comes without a box, it really rocks!"

I would avoid Tofu for now and recoomend subtle changes to food you're already eating. ie: Whole wheat pasta instead of regular pasta. Whole grain or Multi grain bread instead of white or so called whole wheat bread.

Try to consume a healthy fat, a protein and a complex carbohydrate at every meal. Eat less food, well balanced, as I've just described, more often. Five or six little meals is far better than the three squares a day most of us are used to.