Gained a lot of weight. I'm eating too much rice and pasta with my veggies.?

Yes - I know exactly what you mean. I definitely have made the same connection. It's not just the number of calories, but how your body reacts to the foods you eat. I can tell you from years of experience that bagels, white rice and anything with too much white flour make me put on weight. They also make it hard for me to do my usual workouts. The simple carbs mess with my blood sugar. It would help a lot to cut down on any refined white flour but keep eating whole grains including brown rice. The possibilities are endless if you replace the white rice with these grains packed with protein, fiber, and complex carbs:

-Quinoa

-Bulgar wheat

-Whole grain couscous (cooks in minutes

-Millet

-Barley (even better if it's not pearled, but takes forever to cook)

-Whole grain pasta

I still eat white rice sometimes, with beans. Just not too much. This stuff can taste really good and be more satisfying than white rice. Make your calories count, don't just count the calories. Then you won't be as hungry.

You aren't gaining weight because of pasta and rice and bread. You are gaining weight because you are eating too many calories for your activity level.

While white grains can make you bulgy and bloated because of the carbs, it's that they are calorie dense that's the major problem with most vegetarians.

Count your calories, exercise more, and try to eat more whole grain products and fortified products. Barilla Plus Penne pasta has 370 calories, 3.5g fat, and 17g of protein per 100g. That's a fantastic protein source for a vegetarian, while still having low fat and not a ton of calories. 1/2 of Barilla Garden Veggie sauce adds 70 calories and 1.5g of fat. So that's 420 calories, 5g fat, and you can add veggies to fill you up even more.

I love rice and pasta and bread! I had to stop eating it all the time though in order to lose some weight. If you're looking for a healthier substitute use whole wheat bread and pasta and brown rice.

Yes try hole grain everything carb, and cut back on the amount :(