Keto to Vegan

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kayhickey2003
kayhickey2003 Posts: 20 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I think this question has been running through my mind for the past 12 years. I have gone Lacto-ovo vegetarian for few years which is not too hard. I don't really have a taste for meat in general; for example, chicken I can live without. However, in the past 2 1/2 years I went from a health nut to eating junk food and gaining 45 pounds. I found myself extremely unhappy with a 30 pound belly. So, I decided to join a "box" crossfit gym and get my health back on track. With crossfit I saw immediate changes as far as inches coming off but my scale steady. I am not too concern about weight, but I know being 192 pounds for a 5'4 women is not healthy. I decided to do the Keto diet which was a WILD experience. I ate a lot of fatty food for one week and lost 5 pounds.

I did more research and yes Keto is recommended as a short term option. However, after a year there is no difference in losing weight than having a regular diet to lose weight. The shocking aspect is that a Keto diet that is followed for a long period of time can cause cardiovascular diseases. I am no expert this is my conclusion based on my research. Long story short I am no longer doing the Keto diet. I do not want a short term option for weight loss. I want to change my lifestyle, so I can slowly lose weight and gain muscle. I want to be the best healthy version of ME. Here I am with the decision that plant based diet is what is best for me. The challenge I see is how can I maintain my protein macros when I cannot eat any wheat, flour, rice, etc. Removing wheat, flour, and rice has cleared my skin and I don't get any more allergies. I know my post is lengthy and I thank you for your time! Is anyone going through the same dilemma? What are you doing for protein? :)
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Replies

  • OliveGirl128
    OliveGirl128 Posts: 801 Member
    edited July 2017
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    Do you need to go strict vegetarian or could you go the pescetarian route instead? I went from a pretty typical SAD diet, to experimenting with a mostly whole foods, low fat plant based diet, to now transitioning to a mostly whole foods, higher fat pescetarian diet and I'm really liking it so far-way easier to get in protein with fish 2-4 times a week! Otherwise I eat a lot of beans, whole grains (which wouldn't help you), a small amount of dairy, eggs, lentils etc. Actually what I eat is fairly in line with the Mediterranean diet.

    As a sidenote-I thought it was kind of interesting that Bob Harper (fitness guru and paleo eating advocate), had a massive heart attack earlier this year and is now eating a mostly vegan/Mediterranean style diet now....
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,750 Member
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    What are your reasons for being vegan? Not eating rice, wheat or flour is very limiting in a vegan diet, so unless you have a good reason for wanting to be vegan (health or ethical), I'd minimise the number of dietary restrictions you're living with. Don't make life harder than it needs to be.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
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    There are tons of vegan websites and recipies out there, just need to do your homework. I find it easy, but pretty boring --but it's because I don't like cooking complicated recipes that smell up the house, especially when it's hot. Like lava spewing from hades hot. I normally just grill some veggies, add beans & rice, sometimes tempeh or tofu.
  • CokieWoodlawn
    CokieWoodlawn Posts: 28 Member
    edited July 2017
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    Hi there,

    I'm new to this site and was about to start looking for other vegans and this popped up!

    I've been vegan for about 4 years, although I was pretty close to vegan for about 10. I don't find it restrictive at all any more, although I do remember missing cheese at first.

    I eat a lot of legumes and get adequate protein. Lentils and split peas are my go-to, because they cook so quickly. Cruciferous vegetables have a surprising amount of protein, too.

    I'm trying to lose some weight, and I do find that I need to keep eating the same amount of legumes (so my protein intake stays high-ish), so I have to find other places to cut calories. I'm having to limit my intake of grains and sweet fruit a little bit.

    Edit: I don't eat much wheat, either (just because someone in my household has celiac--I do eat it when I'm out sometimes), but other grains have lots of protein, such as oats and barley. If you can eat wild rice, it has a lot of protein, as does quinoa.
  • kayhickey2003
    kayhickey2003 Posts: 20 Member
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    All your comments are amazing and very insightful. Thank you! Today I went grocery shopping after eating soo much meat all week my soul was happy buying a verify of veggies and fruits. Based on the fact that soy is predominately a GMO crop I will not consume any soy. The alternative that I am going with is Hemp milk, lentils, crucifix vegetables, nuts, seeds, Hemp protein 20g per serving. I will try not to consume any wheat and flour because since I stop eating it is feel soo good no more digestive or skin allergies. I will definitely consider wild rice in my next grocery extravaganza. Has any one tried Hemp?
  • peraltapiano
    peraltapiano Posts: 26 Member
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    Chiming in to say yes, I enjoy hemp hearts and especially the Manitoba Harvest brand.
  • OliveGirl128
    OliveGirl128 Posts: 801 Member
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    kayhickey2003 wrote: »
    All your comments are amazing and very insightful. Thank you! Today I went grocery shopping after eating soo much meat all week my soul was happy buying a verify of veggies and fruits. Based on the fact that soy is predominately a GMO crop I will not consume any soy. The alternative that I am going with is Hemp milk, lentils, crucifix vegetables, nuts, seeds, Hemp protein 20g per serving. I will try not to consume any wheat and flour because since I stop eating it is feel soo good no more digestive or skin allergies. I will definitely consider wild rice in my next grocery extravaganza. Has any one tried Hemp?

    I put hemp seeds seeds in my daily green smoothie, (I do 2 kinds of seeds with each one and rotate with hemp, chia, ground flax and then sunflower. Going to also try pumpkin this week and see how it goes ).
  • Bob314159
    Bob314159 Posts: 1,178 Member
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    kayhickey2003 wrote: »
    The shocking aspect is that a Keto diet that is followed for a long period of time can cause cardiovascular diseases. I am no expert this is my conclusion based on my research.

    Is there any link you can provide that backs this up?

  • kayhickey2003
    kayhickey2003 Posts: 20 Member
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    CattOfTheGarage wrote: »
    kayhickey2003 wrote: »
    Has any one tried Hemp?

    Now, that's a question which could have many interesting answers.

    LOL. I never even thought about it like that!!
  • ugofatcat
    ugofatcat Posts: 385 Member
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    You said you used to be a Lacto-ovo vegetarian and a health nut. Why not just go back to eating the way you did before you gained the 40 pounds?

    If you are going to be a vegan, make sure you are supplementing with Vitamin B12. You may also want to consider an iron, calcium, and Vitamin D supplement.

    Other ideas for plant based proteins: black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, chick peas, cannelloni beans, and quinoa. I have seen some pasta made from chick peas and/or lentils that were high in protein, too.
  • OliveGirl128
    OliveGirl128 Posts: 801 Member
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    ugofatcat wrote: »
    You said you used to be a Lacto-ovo vegetarian and a health nut. Why not just go back to eating the way you did before you gained the 40 pounds?

    If you are going to be a vegan, make sure you are supplementing with Vitamin B12. You may also want to consider an iron, calcium, and Vitamin D supplement.

    Other ideas for plant based proteins: black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, chick peas, cannelloni beans, and quinoa. I have seen some pasta made from chick peas and/or lentils that were high in protein, too.

    I have those in my cupboard-Banza brand chickpeas penne has 190 calories per serving and 14g protein/8g fiber. POW! brand black bean elbow pasta has 190 calories per serving, 12g protein/7g fiber. I found both in the gluten free section at my grocery store.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    edited July 2017
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    Bob314159 wrote: »
    kayhickey2003 wrote: »
    The shocking aspect is that a Keto diet that is followed for a long period of time can cause cardiovascular diseases. I am no expert this is my conclusion based on my research.

    Is there any link you can provide that backs this up?

    This was my question as well.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    edited July 2017
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    kayhickey2003 wrote: »
    Bob314159 wrote: »
    kayhickey2003 wrote: »
    The shocking aspect is that a Keto diet that is followed for a long period of time can cause cardiovascular diseases. I am no expert this is my conclusion based on my research.

    Is there any link you can provide that backs this up?

    The study is, "Effects on Ketogenic Diets on Cardiovascular Rick Factors: Evidence from Animal and Human Studies," by Christophe Kosinski and Francois Jornayvaz." You can Google it and download the PDF.

    Conclusions from above:
    Based on the available literature, KD may be associated with some improvements in some cardiovascular risk factors, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and HDL cholesterol levels, but these effects
    are usually limited in time. As KD are often rich in fats, some negative effects could happen. Mainly in rodents, developments of NAFLD and insulin resistance were described. In humans, insulin resistance is also a potential negative effect, but some studies have shown improvements in insulin sensitivity. Nevertheless, many subjects contemplating such diets are overweight or obese at baseline, and even a moderate weight loss could be metabolically beneficial for them. However, it is mandatory to maintain body weight after weight loss, which is usually a major problem. More studies are therefore warranted to better assess the effects of long term use of KD on metabolic diseases and cardiovascular risk factors, but also to better define which dietary macronutrient composition is optimal.

    This is a pretty tame conclusion.
  • kayhickey2003
    kayhickey2003 Posts: 20 Member
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    @ugofatcat -- going back to to how I used to eat is not easy anymore. I had a lot of acne and would break out in different spots of my body. Not to mention have allergic reactions to the foods I ate with terrible stomach pains. After eliminating certain foods from my diet my skin and allergies are gone and I feel great. Something I should have done a while back but usually we don't always listen to advise.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    kayhickey2003 wrote: »
    All your comments are amazing and very insightful. Thank you! Today I went grocery shopping after eating soo much meat all week my soul was happy buying a verify of veggies and fruits. Based on the fact that soy is predominately a GMO crop I will not consume any soy. The alternative that I am going with is Hemp milk, lentils, crucifix vegetables, nuts, seeds, Hemp protein 20g per serving. I will try not to consume any wheat and flour because since I stop eating it is feel soo good no more digestive or skin allergies. I will definitely consider wild rice in my next grocery extravaganza. Has any one tried Hemp?
    For a while I was putting hemp seeds in my smoothies: https://www.amazon.com/Manitoba-Harvest-Hearts-Shelled-Packets/dp/B005VUH9XA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1500919839&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=hemp+seeds&th=1
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    edited July 2017
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    Did you watch What the Health by any chance lol?

    Honestly it doesn't matter how you eat, keto, iifym, vegan... what you need to be successful is a caloric deficit. I wouldn't argue any one of those diets is healthier than the other. Consider adherence more than the orthorexic notion that one is better than the other.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,898 Member
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    kayhickey2003 wrote: »
    All your comments are amazing and very insightful. Thank you! Today I went grocery shopping after eating soo much meat all week my soul was happy buying a verify of veggies and fruits. Based on the fact that soy is predominately a GMO crop I will not consume any soy. The alternative that I am going with is Hemp milk, lentils, crucifix vegetables, nuts, seeds, Hemp protein 20g per serving. I will try not to consume any wheat and flour because since I stop eating it is feel soo good no more digestive or skin allergies. I will definitely consider wild rice in my next grocery extravaganza. Has any one tried Hemp?

    Any place that carries hemp products should also carry organic soy, which is not GMO.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    edited July 2017
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    kayhickey2003 wrote: »
    I think this question has been running through my mind for the past 12 years. I have gone Lacto-ovo vegetarian for few years which is not too hard. I don't really have a taste for meat in general; for example, chicken I can live without. However, in the past 2 1/2 years I went from a health nut to eating junk food and gaining 45 pounds. I found myself extremely unhappy with a 30 pound belly. So, I decided to join a "box" crossfit gym and get my health back on track. With crossfit I saw immediate changes as far as inches coming off but my scale steady. I am not too concern about weight, but I know being 192 pounds for a 5'4 women is not healthy. I decided to do the Keto diet which was a WILD experience. I ate a lot of fatty food for one week and lost 5 pounds.

    I did more research and yes Keto is recommended as a short term option. However, after a year there is no difference in losing weight than having a regular diet to lose weight. The shocking aspect is that a Keto diet that is followed for a long period of time can cause cardiovascular diseases. I am no expert this is my conclusion based on my research. Long story short I am no longer doing the Keto diet. I do not want a short term option for weight loss. I want to change my lifestyle, so I can slowly lose weight and gain muscle. I want to be the best healthy version of ME. Here I am with the decision that plant based diet is what is best for me. The challenge I see is how can I maintain my protein macros when I cannot eat any wheat, flour, rice, etc. Removing wheat, flour, and rice has cleared my skin and I don't get any more allergies. I know my post is lengthy and I thank you for your time! Is anyone going through the same dilemma? What are you doing for protein? :)

    I'm another that disagrees with this conclusion. There is no scientific evidence that a ketogenic diet causes CAD. The paper you cited did not actually say that. it stated a ketogenic diet could have improvements in CAD risk factors. The increase in insulin resistance that was mentioned is of a transient variety and only applies to people who are not eating much carbohydrate - sort of like how people who do eat lots of carbohydrates are more fat oxidizing resistant until their body has adapted to a higher fat diet.

    All that being said though, I say it is best to pursue a healthy diet that you can maintain. Most diets have the possibility for junk food (food that is not a good nutritional choice if it made up a large portion of your diet). I think oreos are even vegan. It's mainly a matter of finding the foods that you can eat on a daily basis.

    I eat hemp (even though I have been eating keto for a few years). I like it in smoothies too - spinach, hemp, avocado, cucumber and kiwi is yummy. I add it to all of my baking for my family, which is low carb too. Hemp, flax meal, chia, and coconut flour is in most of the foods I bake. I also add a vegan protein powder to my baking for extra nutrition (one of my kids does not do well with dairy).

    Goo luck.

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