Cycling and vegetarianism

On 2004-09-01, Roger Zoul wrote:
As long as you don't have a problem with it, turkey is great! Other types
of fish & seafood are good too, like shrimp, catfish, talapia (sp?), trout,
etc.

I agree with your logic, too.

I appreciate that. This has been a difficult post. I have lost over 160lbs
in my journey. And I've gained back about 28 because of a bad year where I
was working long hours at work.

I'm just trying to shed those last 28 lbs. and maybe another 30 and to
finally get down to where I should be. So these discussions about nuts and
how I'm killing myself by eating fish aren't helping. I'm still
technically obese. So right now the quality of fish I'm eating and the
evils of meat are a distraction.

I'm being open-minded. If there's a low-fat, healthy non-meat solution
then I'm open minded about it. I'll do more research on whey protein, for
example. But my utmost concern right now is my health. It has to be.

Preston

On 2004-09-01, H wrote:
It certainly is possible, however, to be strictly vegetarian and meet
one's performance goals. There are a number of endurance athletes who
pull this off.

I think this depends partly on body type. I find myself needing protein
more than others.

Perhaps try popping a multi-vitamin every once in a while. It may be
that you are deficient in a particular vitamin/nutrient rather than
protein in general. If you look it up, you'll find that well-balanced
vegetarian diet has no problem meeting a human's protein requirements.

I do take a multi-vitamin. And generally I feel okay. It's just that in
the last year or so as my life has gotten busier I've replaced weekly meal
preparations of beans and rice (proof that a vegetarian diet when
well-balanced and planned can work) with easier things like cheese,
gardenburgers, etc. So I became a sloppy vegetarian.

Either way, I'm just being realistic and saying that for right now, one of
my requirements is that whatever I do be easy. I know you can lose weight
and be healthy as a vegetarian. I lost 160lbs. doing it. Problem is I
spent about 10 hours a week in the kitchen and planning meals. Time I just
don't have right now if I want to work full time, get my mileage in and
have some free time left over that isn't spent preparing food. Back when I
was losing all that weight as a vegetarian I was spending an inordinate
amount of time on the actual process of preparing food. I don't think
that's reasonable right now.

Preston

On 2004-08-31, Chalo wrote:
When I rode some 300 miles per week, I found that the problem was
getting enough to eat in the aggregate, and not a matter of consuming
enough protein specifically. I ate a lot of bean burritos;
nutritional density was less important to me by far than gross caloric
intake. No worries about too much starch, too much fat-- it all just
got shoveled into the firebox anyway.

This is assuming one is already healthy, though, right? I went from over
400lbs. to 238lbs and then back up to 260lbs. So I *need* to lose more
weight. So things like fat, starch, what kinds of carbs I'm eating, etc.
DO matter to me. They have to.

Whole eggs have higher quality protein than that from any other
source, and their cholesterol content has recently been found to be of
the beneficial type. Eggs from cage-free and vegetarian-fed hens have
become universally available over the past 10 years or so.

That's what my nutritionist said today. She said one change I could make
would be to go with boiled eggs rather than my current method of
scrambling egg beaters (egg whites).

If it matters to you, factory farmed turkeys are genetic freaks that
can no longer mate without human intervention or in some cases even
stand up.

I'm aware of this.

Preston

You don't mention pulses such as chick peas (garbanzos) and lentils. They have no
fat, are high in fibre, and can be bought in cans for an instant meal. They can
also be sprouted - I have a lentil sprout salad recipe with salsa, avocado and
feta to die for. There's more to beans than soy-milk!

EFR
Ile de France
Non-vegetarian gourmet cook and pulse-lover

Wed, 01 Sep 2004 01:35:10 -0500,
, Preston Crawford
wrote:

The drugs added to animal feed is primarily why I restrict my intake
of meat and dairy products.

Understood. But I live on planet earth. This is the way things are done
here, unfortunately. So I'm trying to make the best decisions I can. And
if I have to take obesity over the risk of hormones or drugs in the fish,
I think the obesity is a more sure bet to do me in, you know.

Free range unmedicated meat, eggs and poultry is available. So is wild
salmon, dolphin friendly tuna, etc. I'm not saying _you_ *should* eat
it. I prefer to do so when satisfying my occasional desire for meat.

I choose organic soy products when given the choice too but I don't
obsess about any of it. I like the idea of "slow food" and
"trophology" but I'll eat restaurant sushi without qualms.

Without allergies or weight concerns I'm lucky to be able to eat
pretty much what I feel like eating.

I generally tend to eat more meat during winter. I go completely off
dairy for a while in the spring and it's almost time to start my
annual grape fast.
--
zk

Wed, 01 Sep 2004 01:28:04 -0500,
, Preston Crawford
wrote:

Save for perhaps whey protein, so maybe you could
enlighten me as to how to use it.

You can add it to almost any recipe though it's most frequently used
in shakes (milk, yogurt or juice) for body-builders. It's a dairy
product so you might want to see if it agrees with your system.

I've used brown rice protein powder added to lentil stews.
--
zk

"Zoot Katz" wrote in message
...

and it's almost time to start my
annual grape fast.

If that involves avoiding wine, then count me out.

Dave

"Chalo" wrote in message

I went vegetarian in 1987, but I began eating seafood again in 2001.
This was a choice of preference rather than necessity; I believe that
you can get plenty of quality protein for any physical activity if you
eat soy products, dairy products, and eggs.

Imagine taking dietary advice from someone who weighs nearly as much as an
SUV.

I ate a lot of bean burritos

I'm sure that comes as a shock to us all.

If it matters to you, factory farmed turkeys are genetic freaks that
can no longer mate without human intervention or in some cases even
stand up.

Let's just hope YOU can no longer mate, if that were ever at all possible.

Dave

On Wed, 1 Sep 2004 06:33:08 -0400, Steve-o wrote
(in article ):

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 13:24:05 -0500, Preston Crawford
wrote:

I've foudn it hard, as busy as I am, to get enough protein to feel good,
especially as I ramp up my mileage.

FWIW: I've been eating a vegetarian diet ~6 years now, been an active
cyclist for 1. I eat a soy protein shake after almost every ride and
things seem to be going well so far, although I'm nowhere near 300
miles a week.

There are also vegetarian non-soy based protein powders. I add a scoop to a
multigrain hot cereal, along with fruit, for breakfast most mornings.

Hummus makes a great protein food. Make your own or buy it prepared.

White beans (eg, great Northern) also make a really tasty hummus style spread
for sandwiches.

I add a cup or so of rinsed black beans to spaghetti sauce, and throw that on
top of whole wheat pasta for an after ride meal.

Indian restaurants tend to have good vegetarian, high protein (chickpeas,
lentils) options. Canned soups are an option, but I tend to avoid those
because of the insanely high sodium content.

I'm a vegan, averaging about 220 miles a week these days. I'd rather bike
than cook too, so quick and easy is what I look for.

Good luck with your continued weight loss!

Six pounds of wild fish (mostly from the southern hemisphere) were
harvested and processed into the meal for every pound of farmed fish
you eat.

Plus they're spiked with hormones and antibiotics, just like poultry
and any other livestock raised commercially.

The drugs added to animal feed is primarily why I restrict my intake
of meat and dairy products.
--
zk








I eat wild fish, but then again, I think I wasn't worried about overfishing.
Mostly salmon.