A Star Is Born: Vegetarian Meets Low Carb
By Sylvie Charrier
by Sylvie Charrier
http://www.VegetarianLowCarb.com
I grew up in a vegetarian family.
As a child, I had more grains, vegetables, and soy products than most people
will eat in a lifetime. When I was about 16 years old, I had had enough—I
wanted to eat meat!
At first, it was strange cooking with real meat. After all, I had never touched
meat before, so I was a little repulsed by it at the beginning. But over time,
I learned how to cook meat and found that I really loved cooking. But, I never
really felt quite right about eating meat. Since my formative years were spent
living a healthy vegetarian lifestyle, the new meat-eating me felt sluggish
and unhealthy. Sluggish or not, I continued to eat meat into my adult years.
I knew I needed to make a change in my diet, but I wasn’t sure exactly
how to go about it. How could I have ever guessed that my daughter would be
that catalyst for a change that I’d needed since I was a teen myself?
One of the unique joys of motherhood
has been nurturing a mutual relationship with my children: I inspire them, and
they inspire me. As they grow into their own personalities and pursuits, I am
constantly amazed—and sometimes caught entirely off guard—by their
independence and self-declarations. For example, a short while ago, my eldest
daughter stood up at the dinner table, after stirring her food around on her
plate for a while, and announced that she wanted to be a vegetarian. I was surprised
at her announcement. I was not surprised at all, however, when—without
any arguments—the rest of the kids and I decided that we would all “go
vegetarian” together as a family. I’d been considering it for quite
some time, but wanted the kids to decide for themselves.
The impact of that decision was bigger
and better than I could have ever imagined. I quickly realized that, not only
was I reducing injury to the health of our planetary body and our animal friends,
I was also starting to see an amazing difference in my own body. Within weeks,
my digestion improved; I had more energy; and, the insomnia I had suffered from
for so many years was suddenly gone! But, with all this positive affirmation,
I was quite surprised to find that I wasn’t experiencing the kind of weight
loss I had anticipated when I returned to my vegetarian ways. Frankly, I was
disappointed because—health aside—I wanted to lose weight.
I began my search for the perfect,
veggie-friendly weight loss solution. As have so many others, I read extensively
on the most popular low carb diets on the marketplace today, including the Atkins
Nutritional Approach™, the South Beach Diet, The Zone, and other low-carb
diet plans. Although I could readily see the benefits of living the low carb
lifestyle, I found no low carb diet plans available in the marketplace that
would be acceptable to vegetarians. Meat is at the center of each and every
low carb plan.
If I wanted to lose weight by using
a low carb diet, I would have to either be A) willing to eat meat, or B) put
my research, cooking, and vegetarian skills to good use and develop a plan that
allows vegetarians to successfully lose weight without compromising their food
and lifestyle ideals. Since eating meat was not an option for me or my family,
I chose Plan B!
To those ends, I was particularly
interested in the G.I. Diet, a book by Rick Gallop, which emphasizes a healthy,
low carb diet plan that doesn’t completely exclude carbohydrates from
the daily meals. The diet is more focused on the process of reducing and/or
eliminating foods in the diet that increase blood sugar while increasing foods
that are low on the Glycemic Index scale. This combination leads to effective
and healthy weight loss.
The G.I. Diet asks people to consider
changing the way they think about themselves, the foods they eat, and dieting
in general. As such, if the commitment is made, the diet is sustainable and
nutritionally-viable so one could reasonably maintain it long after the weight
has come off. However, the G.I. Diet is not vegetarian.
So, with research in hand, I began
thinking about how I could merge the valuable contributions of Gallop and a
low carb diet together with a vegetarian lifestyle. After extensive trial and
error in the kitchen—some things just don’t taste right no matter
how good they are for you—I created a series of fun, easy, and amazing
ways to re-design some of the most delicious recipes to make them both low carb
and vegetarian. I’d finally found a way that I could lose weight, be healthy,
and live well as a vegetarian.
When my family and friends saw me
lose over 20 pounds in less than 3 months, the questions started pouring in:
How did you do that?
What are you eating?
How do you make vegetarian chicken
parmesan and vegetarian beef stroganoff?
Where’s the meat?
Where do you get your protein?
How can you eat low carb when you
aren’t eating meat?
My answers to those questions and
the countless recipes that I scribbled down for my friends and families became
the backbone of this FREE book, Living La Vida Low Carb: The Vegetarian Way,
which can be found for free at http://www.VegetarianLowCarb.com,that I share
with you now. I can’t tell you that you’ll experience the same results
as I did. I can tell you—with pride and honesty—that these recipes
can help you achieve a healthier, more balanced diet. And, thankfully, the book
demonstrates that losing weight as a low carb vegetarian no longer means peanut
butter and tofu at every meal! Good luck and good health!
Ready to learn more about this revolutionary
way to eat healthy, without sacrificing taste? Visit http://www.VegetarianLowCarb.com/Article_Vegetarian-Meets-Low-Carb.html
GET 400 MORE FREE TIPS AND RECIPES:
Incorporate health-filled, self affirming tips and ideas into your daily routine.
http://www.VegetarianLowCarb.com About the Author
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Sylvie Charrier is a busy work-at-home
mom, and she discovered simple ways to get more results from her low carb diet.
She shares her recipe makeovers, fitness and health tips on her website http://www.VegetarianLowCarb.com
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