Vegan and weight loss?

sweetbug0130
sweetbug0130 Posts: 125 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Anyone vegan/plant based and having weight loss success?

Replies

  • kathrynjean_
    kathrynjean_ Posts: 428 Member
    I am vegan. I have both gained and lost weight following a plant based diet. In the end, it all comes down to a calorie deficit - no matter where those calories are coming from.

    If you think eating plant based is something you'd like to try, go ahead! But I'd recommend taking it slowly and figuring out where you can get adequate protein sources. Do some research. Find some recipes you like the sound of and try them out. But don't just do it to lose weight.
  • AlabamaMama224
    AlabamaMama224 Posts: 137 Member
    Yes. But only when I eat in deficit. I've been a fat vegan for four years. I didn't magically lose weight when I ditched meat, eggs and dairy.
  • thesash
    thesash Posts: 5 Member
    I can understand measuring beans and lentils and avocado and nuts, etc...but I can't imagine having weight gain due to eating vegetables
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    You can have weight gain eating anything....
  • thatboyjosh73
    thatboyjosh73 Posts: 15 Member
    I am..I went Vegan about a month and a half ago...I lost 45 pounds. I am actually a butcher/meat cutter and being around meat and chicken has turned me away...I do workout at least a hour a day...I usually do weights for 20 min and then stairmaster and treadmill...I have about a 1k deficit a day.Keep in mind that I am on my feet 8 to 10 hours a day plus lifting heavy at work as well.
    I literally eat massive amounts of spinach and Walden farms dressing or Ken's light balsamic with tomatoes and mushrooms for lunch and I do intermittent fasting daily.
    Turning into a Vegan has been one of the best choices I have made...my energy is out the roof...my Gains at the gym have been outrageous and the eating part has actually been pretty easy .
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    You haven't gained muscle while losing 45 lbs in a month...
  • LUHAN27
    LUHAN27 Posts: 211 Member
    edited September 2016
    withoutasaddle wrote: »
    Yes, but only becaus of a calorie deficit. Not because of some plant-magic

    I agree with this. I try to mainly eat plant based(not vegan yet) but a calorie deficit really works. Also, a lot of veggies are low in calories but too much of anything may not work well.
  • thatboyjosh73
    thatboyjosh73 Posts: 15 Member
    singingflutelady wrote: »
    You haven't gained muscle while losing 45 lbs in a month...

    Really ??? My bench has increased by 30 pounds...squat has increased by 50 and almost all other lifts have increased by 20 or more....please explain...
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    edited September 2016
    thatboyjosh73 wrote: »
    singingflutelady wrote: »
    You haven't gained muscle while losing 45 lbs in a month...

    Really ??? My bench has increased by 30 pounds...squat has increased by 50 and almost all other lifts have increased by 20 or more....please explain...

    Hint: Google "Neuromuscular adaptation".
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    Strength does equal muscle growth. You can get a lot stronger without gaining muscle. As anvilhead said, look up neuromuscular adaption.in order to add muscle you need to be at a small deficit, maintenance (the two are very slow) or surplus. A 1k deficit is huge
  • thatboyjosh73
    thatboyjosh73 Posts: 15 Member
    I did say my GAINS right ? My bad...next time I need to be more specific for you guys....I did not say muscle mass.
  • thatboyjosh73
    thatboyjosh73 Posts: 15 Member

    And actually...I need to drop to 220 to enlist into the air force academy so dropping muscle weight will actually help me achieve this faster.
  • thatboyjosh73
    thatboyjosh73 Posts: 15 Member
    And to add to this....it is probably more than a 1k deficit...I have a Fitbit tracker and it says I burned roughly 3 to 3.5 k calories A DAY....Yes I move around that much plus my gym time and I don't even include this or sync my Fitbit to MFP because I believe that to be absolutely too high of a calorie burn for 1 day. A vegan diet has helped me maintain my lifts "gains" as y'all put it and to have a calorie deficit.
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    Is the salad the only thing you are eating though? It sounds like an extremely unbalanced diet.
  • thatboyjosh73
    thatboyjosh73 Posts: 15 Member
    singingflutelady wrote: »
    Is the salad the only thing you are eating though? It sounds like an extremely unbalanced diet.

    No not at all...I'm doing whole foods plant based...it's just so many Vegan foods are low calorie that is why I have been able to keep my cals so low but trust me..I am STUFFED by the end of the day...a plant based diet keeps more more full than any kind of meat or fish protein has. I also eat a good amount of Portobello and Pico and tofu as well the spinach is just what I mainly eat and I have trouble hitting 2500 cals a day
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    That's awesome. Sorry since the salad is the only thing you mentioned you scared me!
  • thatboyjosh73
    thatboyjosh73 Posts: 15 Member
    Thanks...no it's not...I have tried Atkins,paleo and a ton of other and vegan actually has been easy to maintain for me.
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    Vegan would be the worst for me, but I'm on low residue/ fiber plus tons of other restrictions for medical reasons so there wouldn't be much I could eat lol

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