New Vegan needs nutrient advice.

Hi my name is Jennifer.  I'm a new vegan and I'm still learning about my nutritional needs.  When I ate meat I never thought much about Iron and Calcium.  Now trying to plan a balanced diet I'm having a hard time figuring out how to get these without going over my calorie limit (only about 2,000 a day for weight maintainance).  Any low calorie foods that are high in these nutrients?  By the way I have a huge appetite this is the biggest part of my problem.  I'm doing a lot of almonds, oranges, and molasses right now but I think I will get tired of these eventually.

I drink a lot of fortified unsweetened soy milk (80 calories per cup), which has the same amount of calcium as regular milk.  I also often use kale in my salads or when I want greens to put in soup - it's a good source of calcium as well as other nutrients.

For iron, beans and dark leafy greens (like spinach, for instance) are good sources.  You can increase the amount of iron you absorb from these foods by eating something high in vitamin c at the same meal - so if you had lentil soup, for instance, you could also have an orange or a glass of orange juice.  Cooking in a cast iron skillet also boosts the iron content of your food.

This website has a lot of good information about vegan iron sources, and they also have information about vegan calcium sources here.

Taking a vegan multivitamin (if you don't already) is also a great idea!  I view it as insurance - I eat very healthily most days, but on the days that I don't, the multvitamin will cover any vitamins that I'm missing.

I hope this helped!

Eat a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains each day.  This goes for veggies and omnis alike--when picking veggies and fruits, you can make sure you get balanced nutrients by eating a wide array of different colours of them (as hokey as it sounds).  Eat every day some leafy greens like broccoli, spinach or kale; something orange like yam or squash; some 'fruit' vegetables liked red and green pepper; etc.  Same with fruit, try to eat several servings to curb sugar cravings and vary them ... blueberries, bananas, strawberries, pears, mango one day... etc.  Eat at least a cup of legumes (kidney beans, chickpeas, tofu/soy milk, etc.) and throw in a couple tbsp. of nut or seed butter to your salad dressing or on a sandwich, in hummus, etc. 

I followed the Eat to Live diet for a long time, and while I found it too restrictive to continue, my current diet in the way I ensure to balance nutrients when possible is still informed by Dr. Furhman's book. 

I agree...lots of fruits and vegetables and maybe a one a day vitamin.  Almonds as well. 

Thanks for the great tips guys.  I have been doing the vitamin c thing.  I have never eaten so many oranges in my life.  By the way a large orange has more than 70 mg calcium.  While I love yams and I know they are good for you they shoot my calorie count through the roof.  I've been relying on soups through my weight loss but I'll try adding more greens, in my mind they just never seem to go together.  I'll just have the salad first with a low fat dressing.  I think I really have to reduce my avocado consumption.  Another very healthy food but they just take up too many of my calories without contributing those vital nutrients.  Any more tips please send them my way.

Oh and thanks for those web links.  I hadn't found those ones yet!

I hear you on that one, I don`t eat red meat and find it impossible to get more than 50% of the iron RDA on most days (also maintaining on 2000). Had to face the facts and turn to a supplement, not that I advise you to, but it`s an option.

I always wonder how anyone can get all their recommended dosages of vitamins from natural sources every single day (without eating the same menu over and over), I`m sure it is possible but I think you`d go insane with all the planning - it`s hard enough for me to keep up with optimum macronutrient ratios as it is!

a great alternative to salad dressing is salsa :] Only like 14 calories for 2 tablespoons! Newman's own has some fruity salsas like Pineapple. So yummy! I find it to be waaayyy better than salad dressing :] I have spinach and kidney bean salads with salsa for lunch every day.

Great idea on the salsa!  I live in a smaller town so I'll see if I can find it.  I usually make my own salad dressings too.  I think they are healthier but that fat content (olive oil) adds up quickly.  Thanks again.  The salsa probably even has vit C to help iron absortions too.

To get more of those high nutrient greens in, how about green smoothies? Make a typical fruit smoothie, and add in either fresh or frozen greens. It sounds weird at first (not to Eat to Live folks), but the taste isn't really affected. Spinach and collards really disappear under the fruit taste, but anything works - Romaine, kale, etc. It's a great way to combine greens and high vit. C foods. You can add legumes too, but I don't put in more than about 1/2 cup of beans or the texture gets too heavy.

Today's breakfast was frozen blackberries and raspberries blended with a cup of frozen chopped collards, a little organic unsweetened soymilk, water and a tablespoon ground flax seed.

Thanks for that tip.  I just ordered some collard green seeds off the net since the stores here do not sell them.  I'll give the green shakes a try.  I do like smoothies.  I also do like salad I just have been off it for a while.  I also have a recipe for roasted chickpeas.  They would be a great travel food, a neccessity since I work on the road.  Thanks for all the help guys.