Any ideas on how to eat a low carb healthy vegan diet? My BG is spiking too high after meals and I'm thinking about how to cut carbs on my meals. What in the world can I eat besides a ton of salads and vegetables? I love them but it gets boring.
And I don't like to eat a lot of soy so tofu is out.
What are your favorite low carb meals? By low carb I'm thinking no more than 30 carbs for a meal. I'm probably averaging about 60 so cutting it in half seems like an attainable goal....
I often make large salads with everything I can find( veggies, nuts, chickpeas or any other bean, flax meal, nutritional yeast, avacado…olive oil, basalmic, .and call it a meal.
Quinoa tossed with stir fry vegies…lots of veggies and little quinoa.
Tempeh is fermented soy and delicious and nutritios.
veggie burgers made of beans and veggies.
Hope this is a start.
It is, thank you. I just started on the Dexcom CGM and am a little shocked at my spikes while eating. So I thought lower carb and earlier insulin dose might help.
I love tempeh too and I don’t limit that soy product 
Thanks again!
I don’t know if my diet with help you. I eat alot of soy (not tofu but other soy things). Don’t know what kind of stuff you like too.
Here is a general list of what I eat and the majority of my meals are under 30 carbs (and sometimes under 15!). I am Type 2 though so it might be different for you.
Breakfast:
Low carb bread (7 carbs a slice)
Peanut butter (6 carbs)
WestSoy Slender Cappucino drink ( 4 carbs) - it comes in other flavors too. This one tastes like a Starbucks drink to me.
Snacks/Lunch:
ClifBars (Not low carb but I but the bars in pieces and end up with a 6-11 carb piece - I love these things so I had to work into my diet somehow!)
Nuts - peanuts, almonds, mixed etc (5 carbs a servings)
Peaceful Planet Rice Protein drink with unsweetened Hemp Milk and Stevia ( ends up around 13 carbs per serving - no soy)
Hummus (I don’t always count the carbs in this but I think it is like 5 per 2 tablespoons depending on what brand you get)
I eat alot of carrots and cucumbers (the cucumbers I marianted in vineagar and water - I think for me the vinegar helps my BG to go down).
Light life Jumbo Veggie dogs (made of soy but only 3 carbs for one dog and 15 grams of protein!) No bun of course.
I also eat the Smart Bacon too sometimes (has no carbs).
I eat one avocado a day (not sure on the carbs on this depends on size and type but I eat it by itself if I get hungry (I eat more for the oils than anything else)
I eat other stuff for lunch and snacks too but the above if mostly what I have.
Dinner:
I always have either steamed veggies (broccoli or cauliflower usually but watch the portions they have carbs too)
or wild green salad (where I might have tomatoe, olives, cukes, olive oil, ground flaxseed or other things on top)
I make my own vegan parma sub with walnuts, nut. yeast and sunflowers seeds (walnuts for the omega 3s)
Sometimes I put portion of vegan gravy on my steamed veggies (Roads End Organics 5 carbs a servings)
Than I have a vegan “meat”:
Veggie Burger/Other
I eat:
Amy’s American Burger - 15 carbs I think
Food for Life Moophrey Burgers -I think 10 carbs -
Food for Life Cluckaroos - 10 too I think (faux Chick Mc Nuggests sort of deal)
Beans (either refried or kidney) - not really low carbs 23 for a serving - I buy canned but I like beans and need the folic acid.
Gardein Seven Grain Strips - I think 9 carbs for a serving.
I usually put Veganaise (no carbs) or gravy or vegan sour cream on top of these things.
I eat other things for dinner too - more randomly. As winter is now coming around I am looking into soups. Most veggie broth has no carbs.
I think I remember you saying you work for WF right? That is where I do most of my shopping too. Not sure what your normal meals are like compared to mine. I am not a big tempeh lover so…I do try to avoid soy if I can find a product with none in it that I like that is low carb but doesn’t always exist vegan.
Gerri on here had some great low carb recipes that you can make vegan - she had a lot of tips for me at the beginning but she doesn’t eat soy so …But unsweetned milks like hemp and almond are always low in carbs (I prefer the Hemp milk Vanilla one I get at WF). Nuts are good to fill you up as a snack and only 5 carbs for a serving (hard to stay below that sometimes I know!)
If you are averaging 60 carbs a meal, I am wondering if your portions are either too high or that you are eating lots of refined carb foods like bread, pasta, rice and potatoes - I avoid that stuff - (not that I want to - I LOVE bread - but that I have too) and honestly that has made a huge difference. If you do have that stuff, eat smaller portions - smaller the portions the less carbs you get obviously. I avoid cereals (can’t have oatmeal it seems), fruit, corn etc… again if you have these things, have smaller portions.
Maybe if you post what you eat now - might be able to give more suggestions?
Thanks for all the ideas KimKat! I really appreciate it. I eat most of the things you talked about above-minus some of the veggie meats. I do love Amy’s California Burger (soy free and so yummy). I’m not allergic to soy; just feel like most vegetarians and vegans get so much of it without even trying. There’s been so much bad press about it, and I take it with a grain of salt but I look for non-soy alternatives anyway.
As for what I eat currently…I do not eat pasta or rice because I don’t like them, but I do eat bread. I know I should give it up and I’m trying but I grew up with my mom making fresh whole wheat bread every other day or so. It’s so crazy love that I developed my entire childhood! I do eat open faced sandwiches and the bread I eat has 19 C per slice so that doesn’t seem too horrible, and it’s whole grain, but if I want to stay within 30C/meal then 19 is a lot.
I drink unsweetened almond milk, eat veganaise on things like you, lots of veggies and beans. Sometimes I eat tortilla chips with mexican meals which already have beans- tortilla chips, another serious love I need to give up. I eat lots of sauteed greens like kale and swiss chard with tons of garlic.
I think my problem is time! I know I could balance my meals and eat better if I had more time. I’m actually a manager of the grocery dept at whole foods (and that is where I get all my grocery’s too) and I have crazy hours. So I need easy plans most days.
About the spike though…yesterday I ate about 28-30C for lunch: some eggplant with tomato, large serving green beans and about 5 cubes of tempeh. My BG still spiked over 200. I’ve been reading about symlin and the side affects are really off-putting so I don’t know if I want to try it.
Thanks for the feedback!
I hear you. I would like to eat less soy myself. Right now, I am trying to build muscle so I need more protein and the soy meat are one of the highest sources and are on the low carb side. I don’t think I am allergic either but lot of people on here talk about thyroid disorders etc.
I think the bread might be the problem for you. I don’t blame you though. I was a total breadaholic before diagnosis. I love bread esp. the fresh stuff that you are talking about. I used to make my own vegan biscuits and have those with gravy for bunch all the time - geez, we are talking about probably close to 100 carbs per meal! I miss bread myself too. I have some recipes for some low carb biscuits that I will trying now that the weather is getting cold - made with almond flour (which is lower carb than regular) rather than regular white. Hopefully they will taste decent enough to have with my gravy.
Right I eat a low carb bread that I buy at regular chain grocery call Healthy Way (I think). It has a bunch of additives and such but at least i get to have some toast. Breakfast is a hard one for me. I can’t imagine no bread for breakfast. The Healthy Ways bread has different types - it isn’t like one of the nice crunchy fresh homemade things but only 7 carbs per slice - so until I find another way to go - this is my bread for now. 
My favorite bread is Sourdough - San Francicso style.
I was disapoointed that Whole Foods didn’t have any lower carb bread. Maybe lots of additives are needed for such an endeavor - I know Gerri had found one that didnt have a bunch of additives and was low carb - you need to buy it online though.
Tortilla chips are hard for me too. I have noticed that I can have half of a Bearitos taco shell and use it like a tostasta and put my beans on it.
Maybe if you cut down on your bread portions it might help you out or perhaps look into mixing flours? Almond flour would cut down on the carbs in the bread and if you make your own - the carbs wouldn’t be as high as they would with using all wheat flour. Might be worth experiments and than you can still have your bread! (or maybe since you are manager - suggest that the bakery department make a bread with almond flour!)
One thing I do notice is that if I eat something vinegary with my meals I think it helps my blood sugar - it tends to be lower at my two hours than if I didn’t include it. For me this would be putting mustard on something or eating the vingeared cucumbers I make.
I wish there were more options at whole foods too. I’m going to read ALL the labels today after work:)
Unfortunately, or not, low-carb isn’t so much the fad anymore so there isn’t the same search to find and stock those products. Everyone always brings customers looking for sugar-free or low-carb to me and we’re so limited on prepared/packaged items because of quality standards (and I’m not complaining about it!). If you’re looking for gluten-free though we’ve got everything in the world!!!
By the way, I have a couple ways to cook tempeh that I think almost anyone would like if you’re interested? One is a BBQ tempeh (sort of like sloppy joe type BBQ) and the other is like a sweet n sour curry tempeh salad (like a cold chicken salad).
Hey courtney,
I was just shopping at Trader Joes yesterday and for some odd reason I decide to look over the breads and torture myself. Well, they have two breads that are low carb! It doesn’t SAY low carb on the package but it is only 7 carbs a slice! Which is how much my other one with the additives is. Good thing is that these breads have only a few ingredients and they are Sprouted 7 grain and Sprouted rye - I have tried them yet but I happy to have a bread that is more wholesome and doens’t have a ton of questionable crap in it. The other bread I have has soy but I am sure it is not non-GMO and I try really hard to avoid GMOS. The breads do have some honey in them (I think both do) so if you object to honey they will not work out for you. But since I only eat one slice of bread a day right now - I am fine with that compromise as opposed to eating the other bread. I would rather have the wholesome bread.
I’ll let you know when I try them.
I like these Brown Rice, gluten free, tortillas from the health food store. 1/2 has 12 gm cho and its delicious and filling.
On days when I feel I should eat a low carb breakfast, I’ll make myself some pancakes with flaxseed meal, almond flour, baking powder, and some stevia and cinnamon. (I usually then cover them with peanut butter or almond butter). They are REALLY good… Though not as light and fluffy as traditional pancakes.
Also, unsweetened almond milk is very good all by itself and is only 3g carb per cup. (And if you want something really decadent, you can have So Delicious’ sugar-free coconut milk ice cream (only like 5g carb per serving) and/or some coconut milk pudding (made with stevia, coconut milk from a can, and cocoa powder).
Hope I helped 
Well, I would like to add, that I have dropped my A1C levels in seven weeks or so through greater exercise. I found that when I burn at least 60% of my daily caloric intake, my numbers went down. I Am talking about from 8.5 to 6.1. This is in addition to being a low fat vegan. You can get recipes from such sites as pcrm.org, fatfreevegan.com and the like.
As far as burning the calories, I Am a walker, at least twice a day on my treadmill and I do try to get two to three hours of bicycle riding in when I can. Plus a 10 minute meditation when I wake up in the morning and before I go to bed at night.
Try it for several weeks and see if this works for you, I Am sure it will. I have been looking for a ‘lazy’ way to reduce my #'s from drugs, to vitamins to ‘magic’ foods. While they helped, to a degree, exercise and low-fat vegan diet is the key.
Good luck in which ever method(s) you choose.
hi all, new to the group but i just wanted to put my 2 cents in. i am trying to get away from the processes soy products, love 'em but i know they're not that healthy. i'm going to make the switch to tempeh & my all time favorite, seitan. you can buy it in strips or chunks in the refrigerated section in whole foods where they sell the soy products. you can do many things with it, i made some kale & carmelized onions with white beans & seitan, take the beans out & you're low carb. very good info here, glad i joined. cheers, liz
Vegan T1 here too. I do eat some soy as in organic tofu, soymilk, etc. feel fantastic, maintaining thin body and A1C in low 6s. Do we have a group on here? If not, how do we start one?
Lisa C! Can you tell us about your diet? I'm impressed with the A1C, and that you feel fantastic! Thanks!
II try to eat lots of raw foods and less cooked foods. Sample meals and snacks are
Breakfast- large bowl of buckwheat groats, deydrted into crunchies,chia seeds, flax meal, hemp seeds, coconut chips, berries, cinnamon, nutmed and a doop of tahini. Mixed with Almond milk.
Snack- apple or a couple meool dates
lunch- huge salad chopped with avacado, lemon, EVOO, Celtic sea salt, and slice of izekial toaste with tahini and cinnamon or small bowl of soup and a couple crackers.
Snack- apple or nuta and dried fruit mix.
Dinner- huge salad, quinoa or sweet potato , baked tofu, steamed veg or stirfry. Dark choc for dessert.
snack- big popcorn with salt and sometimes flax oil.
I average 13-15 total units in pump/day.
let me know your thoughts.
Thank you for those meal ideas, lisa c. It seems like you've settled on kind-of a balance between low carb things like the salads, and moderate carb things such as quinoa and ... yum, dark chocolate :)
Does anyone have ideas for a homemade low carb vegan bread? I'm interested in making one, and my husband- who has type 1- would be pretty grateful. i'd be grateful not to depend on Trader Joe's for our low carb bread (we get Alvarado St. Bakery's low carb flax bread). In past attempts i've used flax meal for cracker like breads and pizza dough, but breads made completely out of flax are.. a little strange tasting. Still it has a definite place in repacing the wheat flour. Also i've been reading about alot of people who use almond meal, or ground up almonds, to make breads. I'm thinking i might try a combo of these, possibly adding baking powder to try to make it puff. What other ingredients might help make a good low carb bread?
I am also a vegan (type 1) and am trying to find the perfect vegan foods to stay in tight control. I eat LOTS of nuts (almonds, cashews, peanuts), lots of salads (spinach, tomatoes with lime juice and salt and pepper), also eat hummus and whole wheat bread. Don't eat any soy burgers, hot dogs or things like that. I also eat tofu and brown rice and black beans.
I was trying to eat more low fat (cutting down on nuts), but adding more bread, and its not working well for me. I think I may just stick to my nuts, which I absolutely love. Was actually cutting down on them to see if this cleared up my skin, but I'm thinking I'd rather have good BS and a few pimples, then a clear complexion and high BS. Weight is not a problem, even with all the fat I consume (nuts) . I am thin and very active. I agree, we should have a vegan diabetic group.
Please start vegan T1 group! I am not sure how or I would do it.
I massage avacado into kale almost daily. Add lemon juice celtic sea salt, hempseeds, nutritional yeast, etc. Tried eating less fat and BGs were awful and actually started gaining weight on low carb as you did. . Thin on many fats because the fats are Needed by our bodies! Also do bean soups, izekial bread and tahini is a brakfast staple, and lots of popcorn! Raw salad and roasted veggies on top another good idea for winter, add avo, nuts, seeds, etc.
Lisa, you only take 15 of insulin a day?
will try to start a vegan T1 group