Help with Vegan Weight Loss

fitnessnfries

Hi all -

5'4" 140lb female here. I weighed in at 160lb at the beginning of the year so so far I feel like I'm doing pretty good but no matter what I do I can't get the scale to budge past 140 for a couple of weeks now and it's getting frustrating because my goal is 120. I eat a vegan diet but it's not "junk food vegan" by any means - fruit or oatmeal/cereal or a smoothie for breakfast, a big salad for lunch sometimes with a sandwich, and usually roasted veggies with rice or a soup for dinner. I'm getting plenty of carbs and I feel like I'm getting enough healthy fats too - I don't really cook with oil at home but I eat probably 4-5 avocados a week and a small portion of raw nuts or peanut butter most days. The only thing that was maybe holding me back for a while was I was going through some personal stuff and hitting the wine bottle a little heavy but once I realized how many calories that cost I cut back and now I'll just have a glass of wine (or a vodka with calorie-free soda water) at night but nothing major. I don't count calories every day or anything but every once in a while I'll type everything in just to see what I'm consuming and it's pretty much been between 1200-1600 every time I've spot checked.

As far as exercise, I practice vinyasa yoga 3-4 times per week at 60-90 minutes each time, plus I will run a couple of miles about once a week and I usually throw at least one at home HIIT workout in there too. I take my dog on walks, go hiking with friends, bike to the bar when we do decide to go out… what I'm saying is, I'm a generally active person without it being a thing that takes over my life.

The only encouraging thing is that I have noticed a pretty significant change in my body composition, even if the scale won't budge. I'm gaining a lot of muscle from all that yoga and it's helping my clothes fit better, etc etc. I just still have quite a bit of uncomfortable body fat around my belly and thighs and I would love to start making some progress. Any thoughts? I'd love to move forward without having to do cardio for an hour a day or never eating an avocado again.

cathipa

If the scale isn't moving its because you are eating at maintenance. You need to log everything and maintain a deficit to lose. Despite eating healthy foods you can still over eat those and maintain/gain.

tinkerbellang83

Have you reviewed your calorie intake or your weight loss rate since dropping the first 20lb? A couple of weeks isn't really long enough to say that what you're doing isn't working, I sometimes go about 3-4 weeks with little to no loss and then have a big whoosh of weight come off. Have a look at the flow chart and see if anything sticks out...

apullum

Your problem is that you aren't tracking calories consistently. It's impossible to know whether or not you are in a calorie deficit unless you track accurately and consistently.

rainbowbow

Junk food vegan or not, you've got to control your calorie intake.

If you aren't tracking you have no way of knowing exactly how much you're eating. Alcohol may be one of the factors, but essentially we (MFP community AND yourself) don't have enough data.

My recommendation is to start tracking seriously and consistently for a month to six weeks. I mean weighing, tracking, hitting your goal everyday, etc. If you still haven't lost anything by then come back and we will have the data we need to evaluate what's going on.

sarahshinks2233

Did you update your current weight to adjust your calorie goal? If your old goal at 160lbs wasn't updated to reflect current weight, you could be eating at maintenance now. Are you weighing your food? Nuts and avocados are pretty dense and may take you over. I struggled a lot with this as a vegan/plant based because I thought I was eating right, but was actually taking in too many calories. Since weighing food and tracking, its gotten a lot better to manage. Feel free to add me as a friend too. Good luck!

peckchris3267

Also, yoga doesn't burn very many calories.

claudettem1

Yay! A fellow Vegan! Speaking from experience, measuring and tracking my food, ESPECIALLY oils, avocados, nut butters and other calorie dense and/or fatty foods (yup even wine) is what made the scale move for me. Well, one of the things. I weigh avocados to the gram and measure that Tablespoon of peanutbutter. If its a "mounded" spoon, I estimate that it could be 1.5 Tablespoons.

I can really eyeball things now but I find that when the scale doesn't move I am definitely getting loose with measuring and tracking.

Measure what goes into your smoothie and weigh those dates! One big yummy date can have almost 100 calories. Love those things! And is that REALLY a medium banana? Only weighing and measuring will tell you.

Im only 5'2" so 50 calories here and there really add up and cause a stall. Good luck with everything!!

cee134

Being vegan won't help with weight loss if you don't watch what you eat. It is completely possible to eat vegan and gain weight.

PlantPowered79

Eat more. I can't deal with 1200 calories and nor can my body. I'm now eating 1700 - 1900 whole plant foods each day and I'm losing.

janejellyroll

It sounds like you're eating a fair amount of calorie dense foods. Tracking them more accurately will probably help you meet your goals. I wasn't able to lose weight until I began weighing things like nuts, rice, and grains -- I'm one of the many people who just isn't that great at eyeballing portions and measuring cups aren't nearly as accurate as a scale.

I would begin tracking each day and focus on accurately capturing your portion size. Some people can lose weight without counting calories, but many people find (like you) they just stay in the same place without more accuracy.

nevadavis1

claudettem1 wrote: »

Yay! A fellow Vegan! Speaking from experience, measuring and tracking my food, ESPECIALLY oils, avocados, nut butters and other calorie dense and/or fatty foods (yup even wine) is what made the scale move for me. Well, one of the things. I weigh avocados to the gram and measure that Tablespoon of peanutbutter. If its a "mounded" spoon, I estimate that it could be 1.5 Tablespoons.

I can really eyeball things now but I find that when the scale doesn't move I am definitely getting loose with measuring and tracking.

Measure what goes into your smoothie and weigh those dates! One big yummy date can have almost 100 calories. Love those things! And is that REALLY a medium banana? Only weighing and measuring will tell you.

Im only 5'2" so 50 calories here and there really add up and cause a stall. Good luck with everything!!

This! I'm vegan too. I found I'm really, REALLY bad at estimating. I have to measure everything, including the healthy things, even oatmeal. For something like a bun or slice of bread, the calories per serving on the package can be way off--one bun could be bigger, another smaller. Had to start weighing fruit too because I can over-indulge in fruit.

Summerweightlosscollege

I can give you good advice because I have the exact same body statistics as you. I'm 5'4, 140.8 pounds and want to get to 120 or 118, because that is where i look and feel my best. I am also a vegan, and i do intermittent fasting, and i'm just beginning ketogenic (vegan-style) diet as well. I lost 6.6 pounds in the first month.
I recommend:
Intermittent fasting: Don't eat until 2pm, and then stop eating at 8pm. This will naturally cause you to feel fuller and eat less.

Track every calorie- if its a calorie, doesn't matter where it comes from, even those 5 calorie sticks of gum! count it.Consistency is key.

Try ketogenic vegan- i know you may be against me because a lot of vegans have strong values that they should be
high carb. But a high carb,plant-based vegan lifestyle is what got me to gain like 20 pounds. By going low carb, you can enjoy healthy fats and stay fuller for sooooo much longer, and still eat lots of plants and veggies!

Good luck!

kdavid1987

As many have already pointed out, you really need to track calories in order to lose weight. Adjust your parameters on MFP, measure your foods, and log log log! Based off what you're saying here you may be eating too many calorie dense foods, too. Since I am watching my calories in an effort to lose I eat things like avocados and nuts sparingly. If I have 3-4 servings of nuts a week that's quite a lot, and I wouldn't have any avocado during that week (just as an example). I also never eat a whole avocado in 1 sitting - 1/2 an avocado is plenty in a day for me. Upping your cardio can also help obviously. Best of luck!