Sore Joints

[MattD]

So I have been making sure I get a fair amount of calories per day, and have been vegan for 4.5 years.  My diet has been mostly oatmeal for breakfast and lunch during the weekends.  For the week, its usually a "whole-grain" bagel for breakfast, oatmeal for lunch and dinner, and also some bananas prior to dinner.  The oatmeal is the 5-minute quick oats, and not the instant oatmeal.

Every night I have fortified soymilk and have been recently adding flax seeds to it.  My dinners, if they are oatmeal, I do try to add some greens and such (which has been 2 cups of spinach more recently).

1 -- Am I eating too much?
2 -- I addition of inserts in my shoes?  (Had a stress-fracture in my heal over the summer)
3 -- I did stop eating peanut butter + bread for week-lunch, and changed to oatmeal.  But now I add flax in the evenings to my soymilk.

My joints are starting to feel sore.  Wrists, knees, elbows.  Suggestions as to what I can do to alleviate this tenderness?

Thanks

-Matt

[Renee Radenberg]

As a vegan you need to add protein to your diet. You are consuming plenty of carbohydrates but very little protein, vitamins and minerals. You did not mention if you were taking any supplements. Vegans need vitamin B12 and calcium supplements. Suggest you take a daily multi-vitamin and increase calcium consummation (soy milk, soy cheese, soy yogurt, leafy green vegetables) for stronger bones. It is important to eat the right combination of foods so you have the proper proteins and nutrients for your body too. Eat non-meat sources (soy products, nuts), vegetarian combinations (rice & beans, pasta & beans, soy cheese & pasta, salads with nuts & seeds), substitute dairy products (low fat soy milk/soy yogurt), use plant oils, non trans-fat margarines, and eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. Eat daily high fiber breads and cereals (oatmeal) which you are doing already. I recommend you read up on vegetarian and combinations of starches / vegetables and beans / nuts for protein, calcium, and other nutrients. Good sources of information are the American Dietetic Association website, www.eatright.org and Vegetarian Resource Group website, www.vrg.org

[MattD]

Excuse my typo on point two above.  "In addition, I added some shoe-inserts, thinking they would resolve the pain in my heal when I had a stress fracture"

[MattD]

Renee,
Thank you very much.  I am very much calorie focused, so my intake is quite robotic. I need to stop living by calories and start eating more variety.  I do appreciate your suggestions.  

-Matt