The fear of not getting enough protein is generaly believed to be unfounded. The only reason the myth still exists in our society is that powerful lobbying groups like the meat and dairy boards have spent a fortune perpetuating it. Most (non-partisan) researchers will tell you it is virtually impossible to eat too little protein. If you eat a wide range of foods, including grains, legumes (beans), fruit, vegetables, and seeds, you will get all the protein you could possibly need. The risk only occurs when you are eating an unbalanced diet, and then you are more likely to be getting too little of something else, not protein.Frances Moore Lappe wrote the book "Diet for a Small Planet", in which she proposed a vegetarian diet, but warned about the risks of protein defficiency. Several years later, she revised her statements, or rather dismissed completely the concerns she had raised before. To read up on this, try to find a revised edition of that book, or else read John Robbins' "Diet for a New World".
If you ever feel you are not getting enough protein, a little tofu in your stir-fry, or soy flour (the very highest concentration of protein in any food) in your baking will make up for that. Otherwise, eat some beans fairly often and you should not have a problem. (That has been my experience as a vegan.)
As for putting on pounds, I have little advice to offer, except you can make a great stir fry without oil, just use a splash of water. Cutting out animal products should not increase your weight. It SHOULD only reduce it, as there is MUCH more fat in virtually every animal product. (The 1% milk etc. is measured by weight, not by calories, since fat is far less heavy. Those low fat foods are really not so low fat... it is yet another scam.)
We are inundated with all this information about protein, and the first question asked of any vegetarian is, without fail, "How do you get your protein?" Only in recent years have studies begun to show that this scare is unrealistic. One must only take a look at who is spreading the myth, and what their vested interests are. The four food groups is a product of meat and dairy farmers, and it somehow found its way into our education systems. Interestingly enough, many recent studies show that one can actually eat TOO MUCH PROTEIN, and that this is responsible for calcium deficiency, since the extra protein leeches the calcium out of your system. Food for thought, anyways.
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