Protein supplement for a vegetarian

[maser_spyder]

Hi all,

Before the jokes start, I've been veggie for 18 years, and this isn't likely to change!

But I need some advice on diet supplements for exercise and muscle growth, would appreciate your help.

So, every year, I go skiing for a couple of months. Last year in particular, I noticed that after three or four weeks, I was getting tired very quickly (even a little dizzy) on a skiing day, which I immediately assumed diet.

Normally, I manage a good balanced diet at home, no health issues, but living in Austria, it's a little harder, and adding lots of daily exercise too stretches it too far.

In Austria, it's hard to get oily fish, etc. as they tend to only eat river fish, so my diet was mainly consisting of cheesy pasta, green veg, river fish, salad, potatoes. I made sure to eat plenty of veg, as normal.

But, what's clearly missing here is protein, and even though I did my best to add some, it clearly wasn't enough as I never really recovered for the rest of the season.

What I'm after, is a recommendation of some sort of protein supplement that will allow me to work out (ski), which inevitably builds muscle, without getting dizzy! I'm off next Friday, so ideally something I can buy locally.

I've done a bit of research, but was really after a personal recommendation for something. I'm not 'bodybuilding' so don't want anything too heavyweight, but just something that'll even out my diet for the extra exercise.

Assume I'm a total duffer about this, all suggestions gladly received!

[Ordinary_Chap]

This page has some good ideas about foods which contain protein although I don't know what is available there.

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/healthnutrition/tp/...

[Hilts]

I've been a veggie for 16 years and have used quite a lot of different protein supplements. The thing about protein is that it has to taste good and mix well or else you'll just take it for a week or two then stop.

I have one sachet of Met-Rx for my breakfast, it has 35g of protein and a lot of other nutrients. It mixes easily with milk or water in a plastic shaker.

There is a huge range of proteins out there, I don't think you'll go wrong with something like USN Pure Protein - it mixes easily and tastes good. It's a blend so has protein from different sources.

[Firefoot]

Apologies for being pedantic, but how can you be vegetarian if you eat fish?

[maser_spyder]

Firefoot said:

Apologies for being pedantic, but how can you be vegetarian if you eat fish?

Not pedantic at all. I gave up meat because I never liked it as a child, and as soon as I was old enough to cook for myself, I stopped eating it. Nothing to do with morals or eating living things, etc.

However, I do like fish, so that replaces almost everything in my diet. It's just a combination of lack of certain foods and continuous exercise that means I can't get enough of everything in a normal diet.

Thanks for the tips, just off to the health food shops to see what I can find!

[EarlOfHazard]

maser_spyder said:

Firefoot said:

Apologies for being pedantic, but how can you be vegetarian if you eat fish?

Not pedantic at all. I gave up meat because I never liked it as a child, and as soon as I was old enough to cook for myself, I stopped eating it. Nothing to do with morals or eating living things, etc.

However, I do like fish, so that replaces almost everything in my diet. It's just a combination of lack of certain foods and continuous exercise that means I can't get enough of everything in a normal diet.

Thanks for the tips, just off to the health food shops to see what I can find!

Quinoa! Replace rice with it, (or 50-50 split). It's versatile and like meat it has complete chains of protein. Very good stuff!

[Monty Zoomer]

maser_spyder said:

Firefoot said:

Apologies for being pedantic, but how can you be vegetarian if you eat fish?

Not pedantic at all. I gave up meat because I never liked it as a child, and as soon as I was old enough to cook for myself, I stopped eating it. Nothing to do with morals or eating living things, etc.

However, I do like fish, so that replaces almost everything in my diet. It's just a combination of lack of certain foods and continuous exercise that means I can't get enough of everything in a normal diet.

Thanks for the tips, just off to the health food shops to see what I can find!

Well then, you're not a vegetarian are you?

[garos]

Monty Zoomer said:

Well then, you're not a vegetarian are you?

Pescatarian (sp) I believe.

[Monty Zoomer]

garos said:

Monty Zoomer said:

Well then, you're not a vegetarian are you?

Pescatarian (sp) I believe.

Yes, you're right.

Wiki said:

A pescetarian diet is essentially a vegetarian diet that includes vegetables, fruit, nuts, grains and beans, and also permits eggs and dairy. However unlike a vegetarian diet it is distinguished by the inclusion of fish, and sometimes shellfish.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pescetarianism

[maser_spyder]

Monty Zoomer said:

garos said:

Monty Zoomer said:

Well then, you're not a vegetarian are you?

Pescatarian (sp) I believe.

Yes, you're right.

Wiki said:

A pescetarian diet is essentially a vegetarian diet that includes vegetables, fruit, nuts, grains and beans, and also permits eggs and dairy. However unlike a vegetarian diet it is distinguished by the inclusion of fish, and sometimes shellfish.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pescetarianism

You are quite right, but telling people you're a pescetarian is on par with swilling, sniffing suspiciously and listening to a glass of wine when presented to taste in a restaurant.

Much easier to say I just don't eat meat!

Thanks for the suggestions chaos, I got some quinola yesterday, and loads of dried fruit, etc, as well as some protein supplements.

Plan is to try each of them and see what works for me.

Any other suggestions gladly received!