I want to rid of some weight

[razorback11]

Hi, I am a vegetarian and I want to rid of some weight. So I’m going on a low carb diet plan for 2 weeks. If I eat one serving of special cereal with milk for breakfast, a 100 calorie pack for lunch and salad for dinner will I loose about 4-5 pounds in 2 weeks? Can anyone help me by any other foods I can eat on my diet? Also I don’t have that much time to exercise so I only workout about 20 minutes each day. Any other ideas or suggestions I should add to my diet plan?

[disgruntled]

that sounds like a good start. you have set good reasonable goals for your self (4-5 pounds in 2 weeks) and you have set time aside for exercise.

how much would you like to lose and why do you want to lose weight? i ask because that will affect my recommendations.

working out 20 mins a day is a good start, once you get a good soild routine in place you will probably be amazed to find that you can fit in more time to exercise (and probably will want too. being heathy is addictive). as far as your diet goes, i would not worry about calories so much as what you are eating. that special cereal (special k?) is bad for you because it is made of simple carbs (white flour). use a really grainy faberous cereal instead that does not have sugar added (your best bet is the organic section, generally stay away from brand names). you did not mention what you would have for dinner, and i do not think that you are eating enough. make sure to include little snacks. your goal should be to never feel hungry. you want to maintain your sugar level. as far as the veggie stuff goes... you have to start adding protein you your diet. you can do that through suppliments like whey, but you are better off with getting it through food (if you eat right you should not NEED suppliments). i am not too familar with good recipies, but you need to start incorporating lentals, chickpeas, beans, tofu and stuff like that in your diet.

may i ask why you are a vegetarian? if it is health reasons, then non-meat protien products are your best bet, but if it is do to animal rights issues then i suggest that you do eat meat. you can find ever kind of meat you want that has been raised free-run and organic. it is a little pricy, but that is why it is important to buy that meat then to stop eating meat. as the market and demand raises, the availibility will increase and the cost decrease. if you want to change the world, your most powerful weapon is your consumer power.

[sirdarksol]

Remember that you need to analyze different items, rather than count on something saying "low carb". For example, the wraps that a lot of places sell as "low carb" have more calories than bread for one sandwich, because most tortillas are made with a high quantity of fat.

The best way to do this kind of thing is to base your diet on good fruits and veggies (corn isn't a good veggie, since it's mostly sugar), as well as whole grains. Being a vegetarian gives you some advantages and some disadvantages. On the plus side, you're automatically avoiding things like high-fat meats (dark-meat chicken and the like). On the downside, however, you also miss chances for some healthy sources of protein.
Still, there are plenty of good ones, such as tempeh, soy, beans of all sorts, eggs (you say you drink milk, so I'm making a presumption that you also eat eggs. If I'm wrong, ignore the eggs comment), and milk products.
As disgruntled said, exercise is good.

What I disagree with disgruntled on is the animal-rights thing. This is a very good reason to be a vegetarian. Even organic food still kills an animal. This troubles me every time I have a steak. It's not that I don't think that nature should take its course, and humans are, physiologically, omnivores. However, we also have the capability of rising above nature (consider that monogamy is not normal in any of the "higher" apes, our closest relatives, yet monogamy is pretty much the norm in human society), and if a person can rise above nature in order to minimize the harm done to, and pain in the, world, I applaud them. In this aspect, that person is far greater than I. The amount of energy that goes into a meal's worth of steak is hundreds of times more than goes into a meal's worth of vegetable matter.

Oh, and...
Welcome to MAMeta!

[disgruntled]

Originally Posted by sirdarksol

What I disagree with disgruntled on is the animal-rights thing. This is a very good reason to be a vegetarian. Even organic food still kills an animal. This troubles me every time I have a steak. It's not that I don't think that nature should take its course, and humans are, physiologically, omnivores. However, we also have the capability of rising above nature (consider that monogamy is not normal in any of the "higher" apes, our closest relatives, yet monogamy is pretty much the norm in human society), and if a person can rise above nature in order to minimize the harm done to, and pain in the, world, I applaud them. In this aspect, that person is far greater than I. The amount of energy that goes into a meal's worth of steak is hundreds of times more than goes into a meal's worth of vegetable matter.

i can agree with that. my thoughts are thought that every one is not going to stop eating meat might as well create a market for good meat. even that meat is still not great because all the livestock being in one area and making all that do-do still buggers up the water and enviro, so you should still always limit your meat intake. good points though

[sirdarksol]

Agreed. I am a firm advocate of organic farming (which, if done right, means the waste matter does not go into the water, because it's going back into the soil it came from).

[beauty123]

Thanks! That's great!

____________________

[Spartan]

Go to Crossfit.com and you will learn a ton about training and diet...I have trained anything & everything for 35 years and these guys are the best...you will learn and you will be motivated!!

Any questions email me @ cqbspartan@yahoo.com
For every one hundred men you send us,
Ten should not even be here.
Eighty are nothing but targets.
Nine of them are real fighters;
We are lucky to have them, they the battle make.
Ah, but the one. One of them is a warrior.
And he will bring the others back.