A lifestyle Change - Advice needed

So essentially i am vastly reducing meat from my diet bar 1 chicken and fish based meal per week.

The advice i need is what fruit or vegetables can fill the void that are not going to break the bank (total budget is around £20 per week).

What i have so far is...

Weetabix
Milk
Wholemeal bread
Quorn
Beans
Mushroom
Bannana
Apple
Pears
Onion

A big concern is obviously the vitamins and minerals i would be missing so as nutritious as possible please.

Why are you reducing?

What are you planning to add back into your diet to make up for the protein deficit you're gonna create?
Your body needs protein, it does not need carbs; but it does need the wonderful complex compounds found only in fruits and vegetables.

If you really gotta do away with meat, I'm assuming you just mean red meat,i.e. cows, then eggs and dairy are the next best protein sources.
Organic, free-range eggs & organic grass-fed dairy are the cleanest sources. A good protein powder can help maintain protein levels.

For veggies go with fresh, organic, locally grown is preferable. And the simplest way to remember the best for ya is: the green leafy veggies are fantastic sources of nutritition then go for the most colorful. Red peppers, orange squashes, the deeper the color the greater the concentration of nutrients.

Don't overlook herbs, cilantro, basil, parsley, watercress. Used fresh these are just like green leafy vitamins. Plus, they taste damn good.

Y'might wanna give up meat, but don't forgo your protein.

rakas;480880 said:

So essentially i am vastly reducing meat from my diet bar 1 chicken and fish based meal per week.

The advice i need is what fruit or vegetables can fill the void that are not going to break the bank (total budget is around £20 per week).

What i have so far is...

Weetabix
Milk
Wholemeal bread
Quorn
Beans
Mushroom
Bannana
Apple
Pears
Onion

A big concern is obviously the vitamins and minerals i would be missing so as nutritious as possible please.

Click to expand...

MAXAMEYES;480930 said:

What are you planning to add back into your diet to make up for the protein deficit you're gonna create?
Your body needs protein, it does not need carbs; but it does need the wonderful complex compounds found only in fruits and vegetables.

If you really gotta do away with meat, I'm assuming you just mean red meat,i.e. cows, then eggs and dairy are the next best protein sources.
Organic, free-range eggs & organic grass-fed dairy are the cleanest sources. A good protein powder can help maintain protein levels.

For veggies go with fresh, organic, locally grown is preferable. And the simplest way to remember the best for ya is: the green leafy veggies are fantastic sources of nutritition then go for the most colorful. Red peppers, orange squashes, the deeper the color the greater the concentration of nutrients.

Don't overlook herbs, cilantro, basil, parsley, watercress. Used fresh these are just like green leafy vitamins. Plus, they taste damn good.

Y'might wanna give up meat, but don't forgo your protein.

Click to expand...

I certainly do not want to forgo protein which should be made up via Quorn, mushrooms, beans, milk and cheese.

My main concern is nutritional deficits as i need to be varied as possible or eat the foods which the most nutritional value.

doublelongdaddy;480891 said:

Why are you reducing?

Click to expand...

Essentially i am tackling my current problem at its source.

I am pretty much addicted to pizzas (BBQ, chicken tikka ect), burgers and kebabs which has put me over the 300lb line.

I find that the less i eat of meat, the less i crave it and do not buy those things and as such i opted to go for a broadly vegetarian diet (bar 1 meat based meal and 1 fish based per week).

There are much smaller secondary factors such as the fact that i am indifferent rather than pro killing animals and also the fact that the human body is not made to eat meat and as such i want the kind of purity and healthy aspect of a largely vegetarian diet.

Watch your vitamin B12, iron and zinc levels. Omega fats can be found in nuts, but in smally quantities.
You might have to supplement on these, watch out with iron.

Don't forget nuts and seeds! Maybe add soy and seitan(gluten) to your list?

I think you might want to avoid the soy

going all out;480970 said:

I think you might want to avoid the soy

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Why is that?

http://www.westonaprice.org/search/search?q=soy
http://www.optimumchoices.com/Soy.htm
just threw in some links for yall to read if you want to but pretty much this somes up my reason why I avoid soy products but always do more research on your own to come up with your own conclusions peace out

If I would make a suggestion:Lose the "Quorn", it's just a highly processed food substitute and replace it with Qinoa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa. A completely natural grain that's been ignored by western society for far too long.

I think you'd really benefit from researching food combinations, because you mention beans, but nothing to complement them with to provide you with whole spectrum protein.http://www.thenutritiondr.com/compl...an-fruitarian-ovo-vegetarian-lactovegetarian/

Don't forget one simple fact: WE, people, are meat. Plain and simple. The best way to rebuild meat, is with meat. Once you take that one concentrated source of nutrients away your nutritional needs take on a much wider scope.
Here are the results of a really fascinating old study concerning diet: http://www.jbc.org/content/87/3/651.full.pdf

Luckily it's much easier in this day and age to get all your needs than it ever has been before.

Like Dr, Lendon Smith used to say: "Eat food that rots, but eat it before it does."

rakas;480944 said:

I certainly do not want to forgo protein which should be made up via Quorn, mushrooms, beans, milk and cheese.

My main concern is nutritional deficits as i need to be varied as possible or eat the foods which the most nutritional value.

Click to expand...

rakas;480945 said:

Essentially i am tackling my current problem at its source.

I am pretty much addicted to pizzas (BBQ, chicken tikka ect), burgers and kebabs which has put me over the 300lb line.

I find that the less i eat of meat, the less i crave it and do not buy those things and as such i opted to go for a broadly vegetarian diet (bar 1 meat based meal and 1 fish based per week).

Click to expand...

Rakas, It is not really the meat that is making you crave, it's the sugar content in the foods you are eating, pizzas, burger, kebabs etc... The fast food industry uses sugar to their advantage, makes it taste better and gets you addicted. Like Max said you need your protein, and the best source would be from ....meat. So eat lean chicken breast, beef steak etc... chicken breast is pretty cheap.
Also as long as you are in a calorie deficit, you will lose weight no matter what you eat. Hope this helps.

bjembe;481021 said:

Rakas, It is not really the meat that is making you crave, it's the sugar content in the foods you are eating, pizzas, burger, kebabs etc... The fast food industry uses sugar to their advantage, makes it taste better and gets you addicted. Like Max said you need your protein, and the best source would be from ....meat. So eat lean chicken breast, beef steak etc... chicken breast is pretty cheap.
Also as long as you are in a calorie deficit, you will lose weight no matter what you eat. Hope this helps.

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I do agree that it is the sugar (i noticed that when i stop eating takeaways i want sugar in my tea or cereal to make up for it (in significantly smaller amounts) but my problem is the feedback mechanism. If i have chicken chargrills for instance in the kitchen then i eat them and then a few days alter i end up thinking that i want chicken tikka from the takeaway which then gives me the sugar which them makes want a pizza the next time and the spiral continues.

My problem is not that i cannot stop per say, it is that after a few weeks i end up eating the same stuff again and as such i lose one month and then put it back on the next, hence by almost cutting out meat i can tackle the problem and then eventually try to slowly wean myself back on.

You point about the calorie deficits is correct however when you couple breakfast, dinner and snacks (all three generally healthy) with a takeaway i am soon over the 2600 mark (my BathmateR).

Thinking about it, i could switch to more fish. If i have tuna sandwiches for lunch then i just have to deal with dinner although i have heard that large amounts of fish can be bad (is that just some types?). How much protein do fish generally contain?

The biggest problem with fish is the accumulation of heavy metals in the fat and meat. Unfortunately some of the best fish for you is also the most likely to contain the most toxins.

Bluefin, shark, swordfish...that kinda thing. Suddenly, pet shop goldfish lookin' pretty good.

MAXAMEYES;481048 said:

The biggest problem with fish is the accumulation of heavy metals in the fat and meat. Unfortunately some of the best fish for you is also the most likely to contain the most toxins.

Bluefin, shark, swordfish...that kinda thing. Suddenly, pet shop goldfish lookin' pretty good.

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Indeed.

Having just done some research however i think that most of the standard supermarket fish are fairly safe to eat unless you have several per day (if you include the tinned tuna for lunch then i will probably eat 4-5 per week).

Environmental Defense Fund: http://www.edf.org/oceans

Have a look at their take on the subject.
http://apps.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=1521

Love shrimp, scallops, lobster and Maryland Crab but only once in a while.

Ok Rakas, I see your point, so basically these foods are trigger food for you. In that case try to limit the portions at first or count calories. If I were you I would count the calories, and its not hard as hard as people think. If you try and be accurate as possible with it, you can still enjoy your favorite food in moderation and still maintain your weight or whatever your goals are. Goal setting is key, otherwise if someone is just blindly changing their diet, its not going to work when temptation kicks in. Do you believe you are going to be able to stay away from these fast foods for the rest of your life. Diet change is a lifestyle, if you can see yourself sticking to a diet change long term it will work, If not then you will lose for a couple of months then like you said you will gain again. Also you can still enjoy your burger, kebabs etc... if you make it yourself and know what exactly its in it.

When it comes to fish, eating smaller fresh fish from your local fisherman is best. Toxin is more a problem in the predator fish, the fish that are at the top of the food chain. Basically they have an elevated accumulated toxins level because the toxin have been passed on from smaller fish being eaten by a big fish then big fish eaten by a bigger fish etc... Tuna is good but also has mercury in them, so as along as you do not go overboard with it should not really be a concern. You said you from Canada should be easy to get some fresh salmon.

Anyway this is just my opinions for consideration, you do what you think is best for you.

I'm from the UK, not Canada.

lol my bad mate, I was still jet lag from the other thread from canuckscup

Well things have been great since i made the change on the weight front, i did'nt go to the extreme that i suggested in cutting out meat but i did transition towards fish. I have had no more than a dozen takeaways since May and upto Oct 1st have lost 24lb from diet change alone.

Going to stick with it and perhaps be a little more diciplined with my food (small changes here and there perhaps) but other than that all i am going to do is go to the gym.

A 5lb loss by December 1st (highly likely) would put me at my lowest weight in over 2 years.

Body of a Greek God and the penis of a Titan!