About 6 months ago, Mike and I decided that we needed to do something to take charge of our health. Well, really, I guess you could say it was around a year ago. We'd been praying and discerning the idea of a second adoption, and what we both kept coming back to (and guys, it was VERY clear that we were supposed to be actually discerning something else, not an adoption, but that's a story for another blog post), was that we needed to change our life first before adding to our family. His job kept him away from home a good 12 hours a day, and those were "normal office days". That didn't even include the once-a-week 24 hour call shift, and every 3rd to 4th weekend 72-hour call shift.....where he usually didn't sleep more than a couple of hours, and was eating crap snacks just to be able to power through them. His "normal" days often started around 5:30 in the morning, so he could be at work by 7 for a pre-office meeting, then his lunch "break" would be filled with at least 1-2 more meetings, and then he'd often have a post-office meeting, keeping him from getting home until 6:30/7pm. Every non-meeting minute was filled with patient care and appointments. No time to eat, no time to exercise, and often so tired that he'd be falling asleep on the couch, unable to interact with (or help with) the kids.
It hadn't always been this way, but as his responsibilities at work increased with taking a director position in addition to his clinical load, we found that the stress at home was too much to bear. He wasn't happy with having to be so focused and occupied by work, even though he loved the patient care part, and I was buckling under the stress of caring for 6 kids at home. Kids who were getting older and more involved in activities and sports and whose academic loads (that I was responsible for, as a homeschooling parent) were growing exponentially. Our choices were to grin and bear it, or make a lifestyle change for the better.
We sat down and tried to figure out just what we could change to make life better. We could give up homeschooling and try to lighten my load that way (but traditional schools come with their own stressors and strains, so that wasn't perfect), we could hire help for me around the house (we already paid someone else to do landscaping and had a handyman for the repairs around the house that Mike couldn't get to, and honestly, our budget couldn't stretch much more), he could step down from his director position (which would involve a pay cut), we could ask the kids to give up their loved sports (which would also disconnect them socially from most of their friends, since we were homeschoolers), or we could do something wild and crazy and find a new job for Mike and move.
We opted for the latter, which is probably pretty evident from my last post. We moved halfway across the country for a job that pays less, but required much less time away from the family, and was only a few hours from his side of the family. We'd get to move back into the more rural setting that I love (I love living in the middle of nowhere), and the kids wouldn't have to give up their favorite sports or activities. Mike would get to go back to just patient care, instead of administration, and our budget would actually be more flexible because of the difference in the cost of living.
It was a really hard decision to make - we'd never thought we'd leave Maine - but it was definitely the right decision. Family life/work balance is back to where we needed it to be, in order to take care of ourselves and our children.
With our family life back in balance, we started working on getting ourselves healthier. We both hired a nutrition/diet coach (and friend and fellow adoptive mother), and started workout programs. As of right now, I've lost 38 lbs, and he's just behind me at just about 25 pounds.
The number one question we get asked is "What are you doing to lose weight?
Well, that answer is easy: we're counting macros, the slang term for macronutrients. We track our fat grams, carbohydrates, and protein daily. Each of us has a different goal that we're aiming to hit every day, and our coach helps us adjust that to keep the weight loss progression.
The second answer I get asked is this: WAIT, but aren't you guys vegans? How do you do that?
Okay, that's technically two questions, but they're usually asked in the same message, so I counted it ask one. This answer is a little bit harder for me. We never were 100% vegan - I love feta cheese and bacon too much to do that. We do prefer vegetarian menus and options, as a whole, and always aimed for a 90%veggie/10%animal protein split in our daily diets. (based on caloric intake). This has not changed, but it has gotten trickier. In the process of watching our macros, I started to realize just how many carbs (easily 200-250/day) I'd been eating with very little fat or protein (I was lucky to get to 50 gm fat and maybe 30-40 gm protein) per day. While that might be good for maintenance, it wasn't right for fat loss for me at that point in time. I do rely on a once-a-daily smoothie with protein powder and greek yogurt for a huge chunk of my protein goals. Without that, it would be even harder to hit my macros.
It seems that most people rely on meat to get to their protein goals when counting macros, and the interwebz are very lacking when it comes to veggie-based macro friendly meals and recipes. Especially ones that my kids would eat. My kids are very good, not-so-picky eaters, but even they turn their noses up at high-tofu meals and the like.
With that in mind, I wanted to share with you 9 of my go-to, Circus-clown-approved, macro-friendly vegetarian meals. These are my regulars that I keep in rotation. We do eat meat occasionally, usually meals that are "traditional" in our families (like tortiere at the holidays, or kielbasa and cabbage when Mike's Ukrainian is showing), but we try to stick to these meals in our regular weekly menus. I'll link to the source below, and then describe any changes I make to them for our macro-purposes, and their macro counts. My goal for meals is to have lots of "individual options", so that we can adjust it with toppings/sides to meet our own personal goals. Unless I state otherwise, I make 6 servings out of the recipes, as written on the links, regardless of what they list the serving count as.
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| Full disclosure: this is Easter dinner, and we did have ham, so not a vegetarian-meal picture! haha |
1. Indian Creamed Spinach - To make this more macro-friendly, I add 1 lb of paneer (a soft Indian cheese), and double the amount of spinach. You can make your own, or usually pick it up at grocery stores like Whole Foods. Mike needs more carbs than me, so I'll usually serve brown rice on the side, and take a little bit for me and he'll take a full serving. For the kids, I serve with naan bread. Some sort of fruit usually rounds out the table. Macros: 28 Fat, 8 Carbs (sans rice), and 20 Protein
2. Sticky Sesame Cauliflower and egg drop soup - My kids love this one, and I usually bulk it up by adding broccoli (macros are for cauliflower only). Tofu is an easy addition to this one, if you need to bulk up the protein. Homemade egg drop soup is easy - bring some chicken broth to a boil, and then stir in beaten eggs. I usually add sliced green onions on top when serving, but it's not necessary. I'll serve with rice, but don't usually take some myself. Macros: Cauliflower - 9 Fat, 27 Carbs, 4 protein; Egg drop soup - 2 fat, 3 carbs, 3 protein
3. Baked falafel - Guys, I cannot express to you just how much I love this recipe. I make it at least once a week. It's easy, quick, super versatile, and delicious. I typically eat it on a salad with Bolthouse Farms ranch dressing (low carb and high protein, as it's yogurt based), adding feta cheese to increase the protein count and deliciousness, but it's easy to do in a lettuce wrap, a pita (how the kids love it), or just plain and dipped into ranch or tzatziki. The leftovers are great and freeze wonderfully. Macros: 7 Fat, 8 Carbs, 3 Protein
4. Spring Pea and Asparagus Pasta - This falls into the "feels indulgent" category for me, since it's pasta-based. I love recipes like this because they help me meet my goals, without making me feel like I'm missing out on something. A diet won't actually stick if you feel like you're sacrificing something you love. Pasta is always a hit with the Circus clowns, too, so this is a great spring-time recipe. I'll serve it with fresh Parmesan cheese as a topping (it has some in it already, but you can always add more for yumminess and to increase the protein: Parm cheese is about 1Fat, 0 Carbs, 2 Protein per tablespoon). Macros: 15 Fat, 26 Carbs, 10 Protein
5. Black Bean and Quinoa Burgers - This is a go-to freezer meal for me. Simply make a bunch, allow it to cool, and then freeze in a ziplock bag, with waxed paper between the layers of burgers. It reheats easily. Adding cheese increases the fat and protein counts, and Mike can add a whole wheat bun to bump up his carbs. We usually have salads on the side. Macros: 7 Fat, 17 Carbs, 5 Protein
6. Miso Noodle Soup - This one does have tofu in it, but the kids don't seem to mind it as much in soup form, as long as I cut it up into pretty small chunks. Mike and I aren't big tofu fans, either, but this works. It's a great busy night meal, with salads (or sushi!) on the side. Macros: 3 Fat, 15 Carbs, 9 Protein
7. West African Peanut Soup - It never fails: I make this recipe (or send it to someone) and the response I get is a confused, "What the heck is this weird thing?" look......and then they take a bite. It is one of the yummiest, most amazing soups that we've ever made at home. I serve it with some sort of flat bread, and salads on the side. I also add a diced sweet potato into the recipe (macros include the sweet potato). It is crazy filling and a great dinner for a winter night. Macros: 12 Fat, 17 Carbs, 7 Protein
8. Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto - This is another one of those "decadent" meals that helps me recognize that this way of dieting doesn't mean giving up things that I love. It honestly feels like a splurge, but fits right into my macros easily. Adding Parmesan cheese on top would also bump up the fat and protein content (which is what Mike usually does), and a salad on the side will round out the meal. The kids *love* this one and we hardly ever have leftovers! Macros: 22 Fat, 36 Carbs, 10 Protein
9. Crock Pot Black Beans/Burrito bar - this one is typically on our weekly menus as "knock-off Chipotle night", and the kids look forward to it every week! I start with a base of these black beans in my crock pot, and serve with cilantro-lime rice, roasted bell peppers and onions, salad fixings, different salsas, tortilla chips, cheese, sour cream and avocados. I can't really give an accurate macro count because there's SO MUCH flexibility with this one, but wanted to share the bean recipe. It's a good one, and a great base for a macro-friendly, vegetarian salad, taco, or burrito.
So there you go - a basic list of macro-friendly, kid-approved vegetarian recipes to use when trying to stick to a vegetarian diet while counting macros. Like I said above, I do rely on getting a good 30-40 grams of protein daily through a smoothie (typically fruit, protein powder, almond milk, and greek yogurt), eggs, and one snack of cottage cheese, but the rest of my day comes from meals like this. With a little planning ahead and meals like the ones above, I'm usually able to hit my protein goal without blowing my carb count (the biggest struggle with eating veggie and counting macros). All of the recipes above have been kid-approved, and most of them freeze well for busy nights (the ones with more dairy, like the creamed spinach, would be the exception). I hope you can put them to good use and work some new recipes into your rotations at home!
Have a great Monday, y'all!
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