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Originally Posted by Gem
"Baloney" was just a pun in the vegetarian context.
I praise the OP for researching nutrition, and encourage they continue to find information from qualified nutritionalists, and not 'spiritualists'. We can have a friendly conversation about food here, but this isn't a place to get proper nutritional advice.
I have done untold research in nutrition, so I know there's conflicting information out there, and nutrition is pretty compicated, but there are only three basic nutrients: Protein, carbs and fat, and then there's the total calories. One has to get the ratios right without going too far over or under the right amount of calories. You won't hear spiritual people say that, but that's the sort of thing one has to know in order to balance out their diet. The tradition of meat and 3 veg (one of them a starchy veg) in the usual proportions actually the perfect balance of macro-nutrients, which is why grandma brought us up on that, but a vegetarian needs alternative protein sources, and consume a lot of them. Lentils, chickpeas, tofu, peanutbutter are a few. The amount depends on how much physical activity a person does, so a sedentary person might need ).5 gram per pound of bodyweight where an very physically active person would need about .75g per pound of body weight. Cooked lentils, for example, have about 16-18 grams protein per 100g of lentils, so if that were a persons protein source, and said person is quite active (labourer and/or sportsperson)) and weighs 150lb, they require maybe 600-700g cooked lentils daily. That is what I call 'nutritional information': Knowing your bodies nutritional requirements, what foods contain them, and doing the math. Nothing spiritual about it at all.
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I've been a vegan for ten years now and you're right, there is a lot of conflicting information and nutrition has the potential to get pretty complicated, but it can also be very easy. I think it gets complicated when you start worrying about 'proper ratios' and the right amount of calories.
While I've made a point of learning which are 'primary' vegan protein sources (i.e. lentils, chick peas, nuts, beans, etc.) I haven't gotten bogged down in counting calories / amount of activity that I typically engage in. I'm more concerned with making sure the ones I eat are tasty.
I'm of the school that as long as at least one of my meals contains a load of the 'primary' protein source foods, then being a little light on that type of thing in the rest of the meals or snacks isn't dangerous to my health because to be honest, every plant food contains some level of those amazing 'partial-protein' enzymes and our bodies have an amazing ability to match them up to provide the perfect 'whole-protein'.
As to the right number of calories, your appetite and the resulting weight you gain or lose will tell you pretty quickly if you have it right. If you are hungry all the time, you're not eating enough. If you lose weight when you don't want to, eat more or if you are gaining weight, you're eating too much so cut back on portion sizes.
For example my typical day will look like this:
Breakfast will be: a homemade breakfast cookie (contains almonds, pecans, rolled oats, shredded carrot, shredded unsweetened coconut, raisins, an oil, some hemp seeds and maybe even a bit of kale for good measure) and a coffee
Lunch will be: a protein smoothie made of an orange, banana, handful of some greens, some unsweetened soy milk and of course, the scoop of Vega protein powder
and Supper will be: a plate load of a lentil curry with veggies cooked into it, on top of some quinoa or even potato chunks or some kind of pasta and with either a salad on the side or a whack of raw sliced veggies (if you want to cut back on the oil you eat)
I'm usually pretty full after that pile of food at supper and if anything, I might finish the day with a snack of a little bowl of wild blueberries or maybe even one of those little tofu dessert thingy's. I don't pay any attention to how many calories I'm eating or whether they are coming from the lentil sources or the veggie sources because I simply can't be bothered. My main focus is including as many veggies as I can, touches of fruit and definitely the smoothie (or something that fills me up equally like maybe a small bowl of some leftover vegetable soup with a handful of cooked lentils thrown in) and then of course something to do with the legumes or lentil type goodies. Might sound kind of haphazard but last year I had to get a blood test and among other things, my protein levels were checked and it was just where it's supposed to be.
I think when someone is deciding to change their eating habits, it's really important to simplify it in the beginning and point them to a great website that has a lot of easy, delicious recipes that will help them get started.