Vegetarians swaying blue!

[HopingForPigtails]

You should read The China Study...It's my fav book in the world! Doesn't get that interesting until page 60-something but after that, you'll be hooked! As for cookbooks aside from what others have mentioned, I love Vegan Planet & Veganomicon (I know you love cheese but you can add it!).

With DS#1, I was a vegetarian and w/DS#2 I was a very strict vegan for almost a year leading up to his conception. I wasn't counting cals and was a size 6-8 (now size 2 again). I ate a lot of soy (even though it sways girl usually), legumes/beans and nuts. I also consumed quinoa quite frequently. It's a great complete protein! I always had Larabars, nuts or Raw Bars stashed in my car. I ate TONS of leafy greens (Kale, spinach, broccoli, wheatgrass, etc.). I used to have Vega (a vegan meal replacement w/lots of vities) for breakfast every morning w/juice or Soy milk. One of my favorite meals was steamed brown rice topped w/steamed kale/carrots/broc/cauliflower/cabbage strips. I would drizzle (okay, drench) everything w/ a sauce made of of Tahini, soy sauce (I used Bragg) and a bit of water. I know tahini is a traditional "girl food" but I really don't think it is unless you eat a teeny, tiny bit (and even still, I don't really buy that it sways "girl"). Can't wait until I can have that again, lol...

Also, if you want to treat yourself to veggie meat once in awhile, I highly recommend http://www.fieldroast.com/products.htm. No so in there, just whole grains, etc. Mexican Chipotle is my favie! You can look on the label and see if it would fit your boy sway or not (???) but I know it sure doesn't fit mine.

I hope this helps! Best of luck to you and throwing lots of boy dust your way!

Edited to add: Almost everything I cooked had garlic and onions in it, FWIW.

Pretty much exactly how both DH and I eat and we have 2 kids, both boys! I was raised vegetarian and have always been a size 0 or size 2. I eat all of the time but it is always foods high in nutrients. Another thing DH and I love to do is make a "smoothie" in the morning with kale, mango, pineapple, alfalfa sprouts (great protein!) and coconut water. Blend until completely smooth (you need a heavy duty blender- we have a Vitamix). Even our boys love it!!

I would advise the bit swayers that it's not necessarily about gaining weight (I've always been thin)- but thinking about maximum nutrition for EVERYTHiNG you put in your mouth. If you eat lots of white processed stuff PLUS try to compensate with lots of veg and healthy fats- you'll prob gain weight. But if you stick to healthy fats (I eat half an avocado a day as well as lots of hemp oil, olive oil, and almonds), lean proteins, and TONS of antioxidant rich foods (blueberries, kale, beets, broccoli, etc), you'll do great!!

[atomic sagebrush]

Great advice as always HFP!! Blue swayers need to eat smarter, not harder!! Max nutrients for min. calories because we don't want anyone to gain too much.

I ate SO MUCH avocado before I conceived DS 3. I think he's like 47% avocado.

[atomic sagebrush]

Im a vegetarian and have been since I was 9 and I have 4 boys and only 1 girl. I do eat a lot of soy, cereal, whole grain, and beans though.

Vegetarians can and do have many boys, it's just that the overall trend is that across the entire population, vegetarains/vegans have more daughters than meat eaters. Protein and healthy fats = boys!

[LolaInLove]

Great advice as always HFP!! Blue swayers need to eat smarter, not harder!! Max nutrients for min. calories because we don't want anyone to gain too much.

I ate SO MUCH avocado before I conceived DS 3. I think he's like 47% avocado.

YES, I agree, great advice, HFP! That was my problem- just too much of everything. I really want a Vitamax blender myself and want to start juicing for my kids also.

[Pearl327]

This is great information. I have been a vegetarian for about 22 years now. But when I was a child and first turned veggie I developed really bad habits as I had gone off meat but didn't really like vegetables (probably because they were overcooked mush - sorry mum) and the varity of foods in Ireland at the time was very poor to the normal shopper eg. Beans were just baked beans. So I went for about the first 12 years of me being a veggie eating potatoes, chips, pizza, beans on toast, sugary breakfast cereal and lots and lots of fatty cheese. Since then I have grown to love my veg and you can now get every varity of bean and lentil in the shops but even up to last year I had been a calorie rich nutrient poor veggie with high cholesterol and about 6 months after my DD was born I realised that by eating such terrible bad fatty foods that I may not make it to see my little girl off to college or walk down the aisle or even to become a grandmother myself.

I have completely changed my diet now thoughand I have lost over 20lb now a size 8/10 UK (4/6 US) with BMI of 22 and a 5% drop in my Body fat levels to be in the healthy 25%.
I
am gathering together all my recipes that are high in protein, high in good fats and low in saturated fats in preparation for my blue sway. I can share them if you like and of course if Atomic approves of them, but I think I will need another good week or two to work on them

[atomic sagebrush]

We recipes and that would be wonderful!!!!

[LolaInLove]

Yes! Thank you! I have started eating meat again, but we do eat veg meals about 3 or 4 nights of the week. Right now, I am on a big weight loss thing for a few weeks so I only eat a small portion of lean meat and steamed veggies 3x a day, but I once I start adding carbs back in, I am going to try some more veg recipes. I subscribed to Vegetarian Times, which is pretty cool, but there are not as many non-soy recipes as I'd like. I am not a big fan of eating much soy, so that is kind of a challenge.

[atomic sagebrush]

I totally agree on Vegetarian Times Lola! It's all soy, all the time.

[LolaInLove]

I totally agree on Vegetarian Times Lola! It's all soy, all the time.

And way more food ads that I anticipated, too! I don't think I cut a single item out of the last issue. I really use my How to Cook Everything Vegetarian (Mark Bittman) cookbook the most.

[Pearl327]

Hi Lola, I totally agree with you about the soy. I am not a big fan of it either except in the form of tofu or its natural bean state. I have posted some of my recipes in the dream member TTC Boy section (European measurements though as they are the ones I am most comfortable with). Hope you enjoy.