Weight gain from vegetables?

neuronutrition

Just read a comment from an Internet Person outside of MFP who said she had experienced significant weight gain while adhering to a clean vegan diet (albeit it might have been one that emphasized whole grains more so than vegetables, no way of knowing). She went on to note that she later discovered she was a "protein type" and has since been following a ketogenic diet, with great results.

This might be a silly question, but has anyone had the experience of gaining weight from over-doing it on veggies (or maybe under-doing it on animal protein)? If so, did going back to being a carni/omnivore fix the problem? I'm super curious to find out whether this is a thing!

Ready2Rock206

No matter what you eat if you're in a calorie surplus you'll gain weight. Doesn't matter if it is veggies or oreos that put you there.

janejellyroll

A "clean vegan" diet would include more than just vegetables, but you can gain weight on anything if you consume more than you burn. Vegans gain weight just like everyone else does, clean eaters gain weight just like everyone else does.

I gained my excess weight as a vegan and lost it as a vegan. It wasn't necessary to consume any animal protein at all, just figure out how to eat the amount of calories I actually needed. That said, if someone gained weight as a vegan, they could certainly lose it on a ketogenic diet or any type of diet that created a calorie deficit. If that is what someone means by "fix the problem," then I agree it's possible. If they mean that eating vegan is inherently a problem that creates weight gain and the only way to address it is to reintroduce foods from animals . . . that doesn't make sense to me and it ignores the way that our bodies use and store energy.

If being an omnivore was a solution to excess weight, we wouldn't have the obesity problems we do.

slaite1

I have no idea what a "protein type" is, but I gained my recent 15 pounds when I was vegan. This is because I did a *kitten* job of being vegan, and am lazy. I did not cook enough and was hungry a lot, and ate a LOT of "junk food". (Did you know that oreos are vegan? So is peanut butter and oil ...... )

Well, I did cook actually. I baked lots of vegan desserts just to see if I could, and then i ate them.

So, yes. You can gain as a vegan. You can gain as a healthy vegan. Technically, you can even gain eating nothing but vegetables. FWIW-you can also lose as a vegan, or an omnivore. And you can absolutely get plenty of protein as a vegan as well. It sounds like this person is just jumping from fad to fad, and probably tried to eat a very strict vegan diet-and was starving. So she binged and gained weight. Once she went keto, she found something more sustainable for herself and is now losing....

janejellyroll

slaite1 wrote: »

I have no idea what a "protein type" is, but I gained my recent 15 pounds when I was vegan. This is because I did a *kitten* job of being vegan, and am lazy. I did not cook enough and was hungry a lot, and ate a LOT of "junk food". (Did you know that oreos are vegan? So is peanut butter and oil ...... )

Well, I did cook actually. I baked lots of vegan desserts just to see if I could, and then i ate them.

So, yes. You can gain as a vegan. You can gain as a healthy vegan. Technically, you can even gain eating nothing but vegetables. FWIW-you can also lose as a vegan, or an omnivore. And you can absolutely get plenty of protein as a vegan as well. It sounds like this person is just jumping from fad to fad, and probably tried to eat a very strict vegan diet-and was starving. So she binged and gained weight. Once she went keto, she found something more sustainable for herself and is now losing....

"Protein type" sounds completely made up. Obviously, there are people who feel satiated more by protein than, say, fat or carbohydrates. But you can get that protein from plant foods or animal foods.

clicketykeys

Also, vegan doesn't mean vegetables only. Vegans eat nuts, legumes, grains, etc. as well.

JustRobby1

In the simplest of terms, calories in vs. calories out always applies, regardless if you are eating brussel sprouts or cheesecake.

AliceDark

I gained weight as a vegan, because as it turns out, I don't find carbs to be particularly satiating on their own, and also I was eating a very unbalanced/low-protein diet as a vegan. So I was constantly chucking my blood sugar all over hell's half acre and crashing, which left me hangry, and then eating carbs in the form of vegetables/fruits, which started the whole process over again. The fact that I was choosing not to include ANIMAL protein had nothing to do with it; I was just not eating in a way that worked for me, which inadvertently put me at a surplus. I'm no longer vegan, but I am vegetarian because that way of eating fits my preferences and lifestyle, and I have no issues losing weight without eating meat.

Is anyone else confused about why a "protein type" person is doing keto instead of any kind of high-protein diet?

dfwesq

neuronutrition wrote: »

This might be a silly question, but has anyone had the experience of gaining weight from over-doing it on veggies (or maybe under-doing it on animal protein)? If so, did going back to being a carni/omnivore fix the problem? I'm super curious to find out whether this is a thing!

To answer your original question, it would be very difficult to gain weight by eating too many vegetables. If someone were eating a LOT of vegetables and still gaining weight, I'd look at what else they were eating. In the case of a vegan, it could include fats, grains and baked goods, beans, nuts, seeds, fresh or dried fruit, juices, sweets, alcohol, and vegan proteins like soy. Except for fresh fruits, those all have a lot calories and could contribute to the significant weight gain you mentioned.

Debmal77

Ready2Rock206 wrote: »

No matter what you eat if you're in a calorie surplus you'll gain weight. Doesn't matter if it is veggies or oreos that put you there.

This!

Verity1111

You can lose weight eating only pizza...only oreos...whatever. You can gain weight eating only vegetables. It is about how many calories you eat, not what kind of food.

cmriverside

I could live on trail mix, given the opportunity. It would be vegan, and I could easily eat 5000 calories of it in a day. It would fit my minimum macro goals. I am supposed to eat around 1800. Yes, I would gain weight.

Alatariel75

If you eat enough of anything to go over your maintenance, you will gain weight. It's physics. Sure a clean vegan might be able to eat more in volume than someone eating pizza on the daily, but the fact remains that they will gain weight if they're going over maintenance.

I've actually noticed that a lot of "clean" recipes, particularly for sweet stuff tend to be quite high in calories - dates and nuts for example REALLY add up quickly.

crazyycatladyy1

Verity1111 wrote: »

You can lose weight eating only pizza...only oreos...whatever. You can gain weight eating only vegetables. It is about how many calories you eat, not what kind of food.

This pretty much sums it up.

Op-I eat between 800g-1,00g+ of veggies and fruit a day (that's a lot of veggies), and I'm in my maintenance range of 125lbs-130lbs, no problem. If your friend gained weight it's because she was eating too many calories overall, not because of one certain food/food category.

eta: I also eat a mostly whole foods, plant based diet and eat very little animal protein (besides fish). Again-no problems because my calorie intake lines up with my weight management goals.

Niki_Fitz

Yeah, calories in vs calories out...

rybo

If you truly ate only vegetables, you would have to eat a ridiculous amount in order to gain weight. It's very likely the other calorie dense foods pushed the intake above and beyond

estherdragonbat

Well, starchy vegetables, like potatoes, peas, corn, squash, and parsnips have more calories and their intake needs to be more carefully monitored. In other words, despite all the wisdom and advice about weighing everything and not using generic entries like "1 medium cucumber", "1 celery rib", there are times when I do. It might mean I missed logging another 5-30 calories, but, for the most part, the extra calories are still probably too few to have a significant impact. (Caveat: I have 66 lbs to lose right now and I had 130 at starting weight. When I get down to the last 25 or so, more experienced posters have commented that everything will count more. For now, I'm still losing 1.5-2 lbs/week, so not fixing what ain't broke yet.) However, there is a more serious difference between a 300gram potato and a 400gram potato: 231 vs 308, according to the USDA than between a 300 and 400 gram cucumber: 45 vs 60.

Still, as the posters above me have pointed out, when it comes to weight loss, it's all about the calorie deficit. (When it comes to health, it gets more complex.)