Vegan - I'm going vegan again, any tips to getting and stay on track?

Lala478910
Lala478910 Posts: 13 Member
edited August 2015 in Food and Nutrition
I've been vegan before when I was trying to lose weight for my wedding. I was also working in a restaurant, on my feet all day, juiced green juice everyday, and got free food from work so it was easy to eat salad all of the time. I felt awesome, motivated and almost reached my goal weight. Post wedding, I completely indulged on my honeymoon and after my honeymoon, and enjoyed it, I guess. It's been 3 years, 80 pounds, and I've switched careers and now sit at a desk all day. I want to get back to feeling healthy but I'm having a hard time getting rid of my bad habits.

Does anyone have any advice to getting back on track? And STAYING?

Replies

  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    Unless you are doing this for moral reasons, or health reasons, I seriously doubt it will work on the long run.
    And beign vegan is not about green juices and salads. This is a crash diet, not being vegan.
  • JustMissTracy
    JustMissTracy Posts: 6,338 Member
    aggelikik wrote: »
    Unless you are doing this for moral reasons, or health reasons, I seriously doubt it will work on the long run.
    And beign vegan is not about green juices and salads. This is a crash diet, not being vegan.

    Agreed.

    What you are thinking of is becoming vegetarian...or possibly a plant based diet.....easy cheesie...get rid of anything in your house that is not, and stick to it. It's like anything, if you want it bad enough, for the right reasons, you'll find a way. Good luck!
  • dblaacker
    dblaacker Posts: 153 Member
    Do you exercise much, or plan to? The vegan diet is very difficult to maintain. I agree with JustMissTracy; vegetarian may be a best bet. A good first step would be to cut out red meat. Becoming vegan or vegetarian too quickly can be hard on your body. I learned this the hard way. Be sure to find good alternative sources of protein and begin to eat those as you work other meats out of your diet. Legumes and dairy are good sources, and I've heard the same of tofu, though I never mastered cooking it.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    Vegan - vegetarian, etc in and of itself will not affect weight loss. If you're doing it for that reason alone, I suggest you step back and educate yourself on weight management (MFP forums are a pretty good place to learn if you're willing to do so).

    If it's not something you plan on committing to for life (and it doesn't sound like you are), it's not going to be a good choice for you.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I don't know a single vegetarian or vegan that has become that for the purpose of weight loss...being vegetarian or vegan is generally a moral stance, not about weight management. I have vegan and vegetarian friends that are fat...I'm an omnivore and have other omnivore friends who are very lean, healthy, and fit...

    I would also add that most of my vegetarian and vegan friends actually don't eat all that well...again, it's not about their nutrition...it's about morality for them. I on the other hand, I eat very well and healthfully...my diet is substantially plant and grain based, but I also eat a lot of fish and chicken and lean cuts of beef and pork...one can eat very healthfully and also be an omnivore or anything really...
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    I've worked in vegan/vegetarian kitchens and since cooking this way is a lot more work than slapping together a protein, veggie, and starch, it would help if you were doing this for ethical reasons instead of just for losing weight. (I am distressed at the way animals are raised for meat in this country so buy meat from brands that raise them more humanely.)

    But if you are committed to being vegan, I applaud you! You'll just need to commit to slicing out the time to cook and exercise.
  • Lala478910
    Lala478910 Posts: 13 Member
    Appreciate the responses.... Just want to add, I'm already vegetarian and the only animal sources I eat are eggs, cheese and butter. I do plan on this being a lifestyle, not crash diet. I am doing it for health effects (such as I'm lactose intolerant), but also know that I will lose weight in the process. I enjoy the juices and salads. I guess what I mean is that I need advice with the transition from junk food vegetarian to plant based vegan. Tips to make it easier...
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    Lala478910 wrote: »
    Appreciate the responses.... Just want to add, I'm already vegetarian and the only animal sources I eat are eggs, cheese and butter. I do plan on this being a lifestyle, not crash diet. I am doing it for health effects (such as I'm lactose intolerant), but also know that I will lose weight in the process. I enjoy the juices and salads. I guess what I mean is that I need advice with the transition from junk food vegetarian to plant based vegan. Tips to make it easier...

    To the bolded: not necessarily.

    Losing weight involves eating less calories than you burn - the make up of those calories is immaterial.

    There are fat vegans, there are lean omnivores.
  • Traveler120
    Traveler120 Posts: 712 Member
    ceoverturf wrote: »
    Vegan - vegetarian, etc in and of itself will not affect weight loss. If you're doing it for that reason alone, I suggest you step back and educate yourself on weight management (MFP forums are a pretty good place to learn if you're willing to do so).

    If it's not something you plan on committing to for life (and it doesn't sound like you are), it's not going to be a good choice for you.

    How absurd. A person can't eliminate animal foods unless they plan on doing so for ever and ever? Hilarious!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Lala478910 wrote: »
    Appreciate the responses.... Just want to add, I'm already vegetarian and the only animal sources I eat are eggs, cheese and butter. I do plan on this being a lifestyle, not crash diet. I am doing it for health effects (such as I'm lactose intolerant), but also know that I will lose weight in the process. I enjoy the juices and salads. I guess what I mean is that I need advice with the transition from junk food vegetarian to plant based vegan. Tips to make it easier...

    Where are your problem areas? Do you need tips from a time-management perspective, cooking perspective, or something else?

  • Traveler120
    Traveler120 Posts: 712 Member
    dblaacker wrote: »
    Do you exercise much, or plan to? The vegan diet is very difficult to maintain. I agree with JustMissTracy; vegetarian may be a best bet. A good first step would be to cut out red meat. Becoming vegan or vegetarian too quickly can be hard on your body. I learned this the hard way. Be sure to find good alternative sources of protein and begin to eat those as you work other meats out of your diet. Legumes and dairy are good sources, and I've heard the same of tofu, though I never mastered cooking it.
    What exactly would cause it to be hard on your body? All you're doing is cutting out animal products and eating more plant foods - grains, legumes, tubers, fruits, veggies, seeds, nuts, which you were presumably eating before.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    edited August 2015
    Traveler120 wrote: »
    ceoverturf wrote: »
    Vegan - vegetarian, etc in and of itself will not affect weight loss. If you're doing it for that reason alone, I suggest you step back and educate yourself on weight management (MFP forums are a pretty good place to learn if you're willing to do so).

    If it's not something you plan on committing to for life (and it doesn't sound like you are), it's not going to be a good choice for you.

    How absurd. A person can't eliminate animal foods unless they plan on doing so for ever and ever? Hilarious!

    As a weight management tool...any choice of eating style that you can't commit to for life is not going to be a good choice. Vegan or otherwise.

    Context of the thread is important.
  • Traveler120
    Traveler120 Posts: 712 Member
    Lala478910 wrote: »
    Appreciate the responses.... Just want to add, I'm already vegetarian and the only animal sources I eat are eggs, cheese and butter. I do plan on this being a lifestyle, not crash diet. I am doing it for health effects (such as I'm lactose intolerant), but also know that I will lose weight in the process. I enjoy the juices and salads. I guess what I mean is that I need advice with the transition from junk food vegetarian to plant based vegan. Tips to make it easier...
    There's really no other tip other than to stop buying vegan/vegetarian junk food, or at least reduce amount or frequency of consumption. I believe it's easier if you stock up on a wide variety of whole foods that you like. For starches, I like potatoes, whole wheat pasta, quinoa, brown basmati rice, oatmeal. I buy a variety of different types of beans and lentils, nuts/seeds and pretty much any veggies and fruits I want. I don't buy vegan meats or cheeses, I've never even tried them (only 2 months in).
  • Lala478910
    Lala478910 Posts: 13 Member
    I struggle with my time management for sure. I'm always looking for quick and convenient foods. I'm also a terrible cook so I'm intimidated by recipes and hate cooking every night. I also live with someone else who doesn't share the same goals as me, so removing all temptation is out of the question. It's overwhelming
  • Traveler120
    Traveler120 Posts: 712 Member
    I'm one of the laziest cooks I know and don't do recipes either, mostly because they're too elaborate for my skills/interest. But surely you can boil some rice or pasta or chop up some potatoes and bake some fries. For lentils, I just boil them and add powdered spices (cumin, onion, curry, garam masala etc). I do the same to black beans (canned coz I can't be bothered to start from scratch). Leafy greens are just steamed and spices added. Veggies just chop, into the pot, a bunch of herbs or not, spices and that's it. It doesn't have to be complicated.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    The MFP blog recipes are pretty easy. I did a search for "vegan" and got 6 pages of results: https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/?s=vegan

    Bonus - you can click a button to log them into your food diary!
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    There's no inherent health benefit to not having eggs/dairy/honey etc. So if you can't stick to it, just don't do it, it means it's not sustainable for you.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Site with lots of good vegan recipes: http://veganyumyum.com/

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