Reconsidering My Vegetarian Diet...

kkzmom11

i choose not to eat a lot of beef, poultry, and pork for moral reasons. it's got nothing to do with weightloss (mostly because i haven't seen any since doing that. :grumble: ). however, i do eat those things occassionally, so i am more of a flexitarian. so, OP, if your reason for changing from a vegetarian plan to something else is purely for weight loss reasons, then it's a bad idea. ANY plan, as others have said, whether promoting certain foods or disallowing certain foods, is going to be unhealthy. calories in vs calories out is the only way for permanent weight loss. my thing is mindful eating (paying attention to what i am eating, when i am eating, and why). otherwise, i am not going to be following any "diet", especially if it is excluding any foods.

jennaworksout

I am skeptical that a vegetarian diet will help you lose weight. Unless your macros are adjusted accordingly. I know many vegetarians, and they are all big people.. as you know a vegetarians can have cake, cookies, candy, pop, etc etc.... I don't think this is a valid weight loss diet IMO.

I know many vegetarians who are healthy weights. And I know many meat-eaters who are very overweight.

*shrug*

exactly, cutting out certain foods is not going to help weight loss. vegetarians are all sizes too, its the crap , processed foods, breads, crackers, chips, etc etc, that is the problem. Not meat.

redraidergirl2009

Obviously, it wasn't just to lose weight. Part of it was to support my wife while she became one, and another part was to challenge myself to see if I could do it. The animal-rights aspect is there, but it's not really governing anything. But now that I've been sticking to it for a year and a half and the wife is going to be the ex-wife, I'm just questioning why I'm still doing it. I might still stick to it, but I miss having fish or chicken once in a while and I might bring those back. The low-carb part makes sense, and it's worth a try to see if it makes a difference.

The scientist in me is telling me to rule stuff out. Sure, since I've started the diet, I've lost a pretty significant amount. But I've also started working out again, I haven't had burger fast food (still the occasional veggie sub or pizza) in almost two years, and I've made an effort to control portions. I wonder if it isn't those contributing to the weight loss instead of just the change in diet.

But that's the point that I'm getting from Taubes' book: it isn't just calories-in/calories-out, it's also a matter of WHAT you're eating, not just how much. And considering I'm still sitting around 290-300 lbs. after two years (I was around 320 when I started), I'm looking at anything that will help break that.

So I'm still not getting that your choice was a moral aspect to become vegetarian, you just said your wife was and you saw it as a challenge? If you went vegetarian for someone else or as a challenge to see if you could do it I don't see why you're still doing it?

Personally, I don't go by obscure books or bad science (obscure paid to find certain "results" studies). I go by math, while not always my best subject, calories in v calories out is the math to weightloss or gain. Have you been measuring every single thing that goes in your mouth? Getting as accurate calorie burns as possible to log? Are you eating calories back or not? Adjusted your activity level? I don't think you just going back to eating meat is going to make your magically lose weight from some magical undiscovered meat vitamin. Apparently you became overweight eating meat is my understanding so going back to won't make you lose weight. Any diet can be unhealthy, vegetarian or not. It's about personal responsibility. There are alot of unanswered questions here about your weight struggles, but to just pin it on being vegetarian is stupid flat out.

davidrapp5

Obviously, it wasn't just to lose weight. Part of it was to support my wife while she became one, and another part was to challenge myself to see if I could do it. The animal-rights aspect is there, but it's not really governing anything. But now that I've been sticking to it for a year and a half and the wife is going to be the ex-wife, I'm just questioning why I'm still doing it. I might still stick to it, but I miss having fish or chicken once in a while and I might bring those back. The low-carb part makes sense, and it's worth a try to see if it makes a difference.

The scientist in me is telling me to rule stuff out. Sure, since I've started the diet, I've lost a pretty significant amount. But I've also started working out again, I haven't had burger fast food (still the occasional veggie sub or pizza) in almost two years, and I've made an effort to control portions. I wonder if it isn't those contributing to the weight loss instead of just the change in diet.

But that's the point that I'm getting from Taubes' book: it isn't just calories-in/calories-out, it's also a matter of WHAT you're eating, not just how much. And considering I'm still sitting around 290-300 lbs. after two years (I was around 320 when I started), I'm looking at anything that will help break that.

So I'm still not getting that your choice was a moral aspect to become vegetarian, you just said your wife was and you saw it as a challenge? If you went vegetarian for someone else or as a challenge to see if you could do it I don't see why you're still doing it?

Personally, I don't go by obscure books or bad science (obscure paid to find certain "results" studies). I go by math, while not always my best subject, calories in v calories out is the math to weightloss or gain. Have you been measuring every single thing that goes in your mouth? Getting as accurate calorie burns as possible to log? Are you eating calories back or not? Adjusted your activity level? I don't think you just going back to eating meat is going to make your magically lose weight from some magical undiscovered meat vitamin. Apparently you became overweight eating meat is my understanding so going back to won't make you lose weight. Any diet can be unhealthy, vegetarian or not. It's about personal responsibility. There are alot of unanswered questions here about your weight struggles, but to just pin it on being vegetarian is stupid flat out.

If I had to pin it on any one thing, it'd be the fact that I just eat too much. When I became a vegetarian, I also exercised a little more portion control (still eat a lot, though) and went with healthier options - less greasy food, more colorful foods...you get the idea. I understand that I can probably do the same things and drop the vegetarian part while I'm at it, but I feel like I'd just be opening the flood gates if I tried to reintroduce certain foods.

But redraidergirl, you made the exact point I can't get past...if I did to help someone else out, or even just to challenge myself, why keep doing it? The "someone else" is gone, and pulling off a big change like that and sticking it for a year and a half is impressive, especially for a guy like me. So I suppose I'm just trying to convince myself to not be an idiot when it comes to food. That, and I'm still trying to figure out what works.

davidrapp5

Maybe you should explore Paleo or Primal as an option.

ETA: Plus, just think about all the thousands of plants that are senselessly murdered to make your salads! THE HORROR!

1.) Heard tons of good things about Paleo...hard to do with my budget. If money were no object, absolutely.

2.) STILL laughing about the murdered plants line.