Hi – I have been on the BSD for a couple of weeks, and have done pretty well – lost 8 kgs so far. But……I am increasingly not wanting to eat meat of any kind – and am wondering what sort of adaptions I can make to ensure that I am getting enough protein. I dont like to eat much cheese…….and I do get bored of legumes/pulses. Can anyone suggest how I continue without meat? Is there a vegetarian page ?

I am vegetarian and on day 4. I am using quorn mince in the chilli at the moment and it is actually less calories than beef. You could also try the dried soya. I work on the philosophy that as long as I am broadly in line with it as a vegetarian, it is fine. Marinated tofu is nice too.

I’m not vegetarian, though our family eats meat max every second night, which has resulted in me really expanding my recipe repertoire. We use legumes often, really the key to stop them being boring is explore the cuisines of cultures who use them a lot, and those cuisines tend to rely on spice for flavour. Indian and Moroccan recipes would probably be a good start. I make dhal almost every week (red lentils are a staple in our pantry) and Jamie Oliver has a great veggie chilli recipe online which I make all the time (it has red kidney beans). I’ve just bought a new Moroccan recipe book full of vegetarian recipes and I’m looking forward to trying some out! Another option is to use paneer when making curries – we do that sometimes. And pan fried haloumi is wonderful!
I think our household could pretty easily cut out meat if we wanted and still not rely on meat replacement products.