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So, I’ve actually received quite a few questions about what I eat in a day. Some of you have even requested a whole post dedicated to this! So, I thought I’d get my act together and actually document what I eat in a day (including macros), so you guys can see how easy it is to stick to a low carb vegan diet. 🙂
Of course, I don’t eat like this 100% of the time. I often have days where I don’t eat very low carb (mostly focused around social events), but when I do, it looks a lot like this!
Breakfast
I typically don’t eat breakfast, and subscribe to an intermittant fasting sort of system (no strict times, really). Instead, I’ll have coffee and coconut milk (the thick kind, from a can). I drink a few cups of coffee, and this sustains me until about 1 or 2pm.
- Calories: 100
- Net Carbs: 1g
Lunch
Today I decided to have breakfast for lunch, and make myself some muffins. Through an act of sheer will power, I somehow managed to avoid eating the entire batch and only ploughed through three (with some Earth Balance).
- Calories: 744
- Net Carbs: 11g
Afternoon Snack
Not really a snack today, but a shake. On days where I don’t feel like I’m getting enough protein from food, I’ll supplement with a shake. Usually my protein powder of choice is Vega Sport, but there are a several other low carb vegan protein powder options you can try. I also like to add a greens powder for some extra nutrtion.
I also had a quarter cup of roasted pumpkin seeds. I’m obsessed with these right now, and have been eating them pretty much every day. I often try to drink my protein shake while eating food, because the chewing action helps to release digestive enzymes to better break down and absorb the nutrients in the shake.
- Calories: 360
- Net Carbs: 5g
Dinner
This is a pretty typical dinner for me: I sauteed mixed veggies, kale, tempeh and miracle noodles in sesame oil, tamari and just a little bit of gochujang paste. I try to eat the more carb heavy meals at night, after my workout, in a mini attempt at carb cycling. I also just enjoy eating lots of veggies for dinner, so it works out.
- Calories: 372
- Net Carbs: 14g
Dessert:
I don’t really like sweet desserts, but I usually have some sort of snack after dinner (but before 9pm). Today, I indulged in some sunflower seed butter…straight from the jar…with a spoon.
- Calories: 200
- Net Carbs: 4g
Totals
This is a pretty average weekend day for me. Less baking happens during the week. When I’m working on fat loss, my calorie goal is around 1800, which is about a 15% defecit for me. I also try to keep things under 50g of net carbs per day, and usually average around 40g. This is obviously higher than a lot of meat based keto diets, but works great for me!
- Total Calories: 1776
- Total Net Carbs: 35g
thank you and I can’t wait for part 2.
My pleasure, Sandy! I hope the series is somewhat helpful! 🙂
Love to learn about vegan keto diet! Thanks!
Thanks for the comment! I’m glad you’re enjoying it 🙂
I’ve seen a lot of confusing posts on the use of sesame oil. So is it fine in moderation? e.g. for sauteing?
I’m a vegetarian who doesn’t eat eggs (family doesn’t like mushrooms being used in the kitchen) and live in India where most of the yummy stuff you’ve described like the shirataki noodles aren’t available. I’ve been *trying* to do keto for the past week (for weight loss) but find that I’m not able to do less than 30-35 net carbs a day, and I’ve been demotivated. But seeing your posts really helps! Thank you!
Hi! Don’t give up! 30-35 grams is still low!
I try not to heat sesame oil, but will very occasionally saute with it. I also try to buy cold pressed sesame oil where possible, as it will be more likely to remain unoxidized.
Good luck, and feel free to comment if you have any questions!
Liz ,,i am a very fussy vegan could i live just on veg cauli sweetcorn lettuce tomotoes and fruit as well as vegan sausage and vegan bacon
Hi Rebecca! You technically could live off of those things, but you might want to try switching up your protein source here and there. There are some good bean-based burgers out there that contain lots of veggies, and still taste reall good.
Thanks for comenting, and let me know if you have any other questions! 🙂
Love this idea! There really isn’t much out there about low carb vegan diets and it’d be super cool to see more of this!! Especially for days where you have more and less time for meal prep.
Thank you! I’m glad there’s interest in seeing more of this! I agree – there isn’t a lot out there. I’ll try to get myself in gear and do more of these! 🙂
Agree! Love reading them
😀 I’ll be sure to post more, then!
Thanks for the post, Liz. I’ve been Leto adapted for about a year and a half but meat based and today went veggie- not vegan-yet. I’m thinking eggs and cheese and veg seems like a good idea. I run marathons (a lot- like 4 a month min though currently recovering from injury) and was wondering about keeping my fat up and protein down whilst still being Keto. Any advice? Also- this is technical, the social media tabs on the left when using my iPad mini block the left 1cm of the screen with no way of getting rid of them? Can you help with that too? THANK YOU! Jake
Hey, Jake – thanks so much for the comment! Whoa, 4 marathons a month is an impressive workout regiment!
First the easy thing – thanks for letting me know about the social tabs! They’re supposed to be hidden on smaller screens, but it looks like that’s not the case. I’ll definitely look into that!
Keto is definitely possible on a vegetarian diet. Eggs and cheese are both great options, as they’re moderately low in protein while still providing lots of fats! I’ll be honest – I’m not really an expert on endurance exercise while in ketosis (I’m a fan of multi-day hikes, but that’s really just walking…), however, there is a couple who did a 2-month row across the ocean on a ketogenic diet and blogged about it here: http://www.fatchancerow.org/
Their adventures are completely inspiring! They share a bit about their food choices here: http://www.fatchancerow.org/blog?tag=Million%20Calories
Sorry I wasn’t able to be too much help, there! I can try to find other resources on keto and endurance sports for you, too!
Liz
Thanks for the link, Liz I’ll look into it. Glad that keto and no meat seems to work as I was a little concerned but no longer after reading this. Your recipes look great too!
I am so excited to find this blog!!! I feel so strongly about eating vegan, however, I have to keep it low carb for my over all health (creeping A1C, etc). Yay!!!
Hi Rebecca! I’m excited that you’re excited! 😀
I hope you enjoy these recipes, and feel free to reach out with any questions! I’m always happy to answer!
So happy to stumble upon this. I too do keto but not..Lol. Im actually new to all this. I get a lot of heat about how not sticking with keto all day everyday messes up the keto process. Love your muffins…which was the whole point of leaving this comment. can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Aww, I’m happy you like this!! Everyone’s Keto process is different – what works for one person might not work for someone else, so if it feels better to have more carbs or to take a day off here and there, then you’ve got to do what’s best for your body! 🙂
I hope you continue to enjoy these recipes!!
Love this type of post as it’s difficult to imagine an entire day of food while keeping carbs low. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Terry! I’m glad it’s helpful. I’ll be sure to keep posting them from time to time 🙂