Low-Carb Low-Glycemic Vegan Diet

Question
Hello,

I've been a Vegan for 19 years now and want to lose my spare tire. I find it strange that I have thin extremities with a beer gut. I thought my diet alone would take care of that but I guess it's not to be. I'm 37 yrs old, 6'1", 169lbs and I believe my doctor said I have 25% body fat. I also exercise for 40 minutes three times a week.

So, for the past week I've been a good boy, eliminating wheat, corn, and soy from my diet just in case I have a food sensitivity that might interfere with my weight loss. It's been a challenge but I'm managing.

I've read a lot about how a person should eat low-glycemic foods to control his blood sugar and prevent unwanted pounds from  accumulating on his abdomen. With that in mind, my day to day diets consists of the following:

Breakfast: 1 cup oatmeal (not instant) with 1/4 cup of some kind of nut such as almonds, brazil nuts, or cashews. Also, 1/4 cup of berries.

Lunch: 1 cup cooked grain such as millet ( which I'm going to stop since I found out it was a high glycemic grain), pearled barley, green lentil, etc. 4 cups of a cooked vegetable such as kale, broccoli, lacinata, etc. And, two sheets of nori to give it a bit of a salty flavor since I've also cut that out of my diet.

Dinner: Pretty much a repeat of lunch. I also use a flax seed oil that gives me 14g of fat. The nuts in the moring are giving me 15g of fat. I think this is too much.

What do you think? I have no clue about the pyramid or my pyramid plan for someone like myself. What amount of calories should I consume in a day. How much of those should be fat, carbs, and protein. Please state in grams please.

Thanks a lot.  

Answer
Dear Enzo!

   Thank you for your nutrition question. Your calorie intake in order to lose weight should be around 1600 calories according to your weight and height. In additionI believe your vegetarian eating plan sounds excellent.  You probably need to do more exercise to boost your metabolism(rate which you burn calories). There are various weight training activites that are designed to tone up your body and burn fat. I would recommend doing more weight lifting activities such as dumbell curls.  When you build muscle your body becomes leaner and burns more calories even after you have stopped working out.  I would advice working with a personal trainer who can get you moving in the right direction.

For more answers to your nutrition questions check out "Ask the Nutritionists" by George Rapitis at www.authorhouse.com or your favorite bookstore.

-George Rapitis, Bsc. Nutritionist
www.juiceblend.com

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