Questions for vegans/vegetarians

leavemealonee

Hello!
I am thinking of becoming a vegan or a vegetarian. Is it true that this diet can make you loose weight or is that a lie? Also what is the hardest thing about switching over to becoming a vegan or a vegetarian? What are some of the struggles?

tinkerbellang83

No more true than eating normal food can cause you to lose weight. There are people who lose, maintain and gain as vegans and veggies.

You need to eat less than you burn whether you're vegan, veggie, pescatarian or an omnivore. Calories are what matters. If your only motivation to become vegan or veggie is weight loss, I imagine your motivationwill be short-lived.

If you have other motivations, do your research into getting adequate nutrition as you will need to consider alternatives if you get a lot of your existing fat, protein and micronutrients from animal products.

veganbaum

Becoming vegan or vegetarian is based on ethical reasons. If you are wanting to go plant-based for other reasons, have at it.

However, weight loss comes down to eating in a calorie deficit. That's it. You can eat however you like to create a deficit, but you need a deficit to lose weight.

If you're wanting to lose weight, I'd suggest logging your usual diet for a couple of weeks to get used to logging and how everything here works. Then, start making changes to reach your calorie goal for a deficit.

YalithKBK

Solely changing your diet to "not eating meat/animal products" does not automatically mean you will lose weight. Think of it this way: donuts are vegetarian (if you're ok with still eating eggs) and potato chips are vegan. Most of my overweight friends are vegetarian/vegan.

What causes you to lose weight is consuming fewer calories than you burn.

cwolfman13

leavemealonee wrote: »

Hello!
I am thinking of becoming a vegan or a vegetarian. Is it true that this diet can make you loose weight or is that a lie? Also what is the hardest thing about switching over to becoming a vegan or a vegetarian? What are some of the struggles?

Depends on calories...there are plenty of vegetarian and vegan foods that have loads of calories...weight management comes down to calories, not a particular diet. You can lose, maintain, or gain weight with any diet depending on calories in/out.

fossrdogg

I'm a morbidly obese vegetarian, so no, it doesn't automatically make you lose weight. In fact, the go-to meat-free meal at the majority of restaurants is either a plate of lettuce (they call them salads, but you order it without the meat and you're still paying the same price) or pasta. Becoming a vegetarian or vegan is something that most people have decided to do based on ethical reasons, not health reasons.

AliceDark

CAN it? Sure. So can a diet where you only eat animal products. Either of those could also make you gain weight.

The biggest problem I've seen new vegetarians encounter is that they just remove the meat from their diets and don't replace the nutrients they get from meat. Meat substitutes are not necessarily nutritionally similar to meat. A good example is a portobello mushroom cap substituting for a hamburger -- it takes the place of the meat in the meal, but it doesn't give you what you were going to get from a hamburger.

This is why you get people who went vegetarian or vegan for a short amount of time, then come back complaining about how they became anemic, or felt awful the whole time, because they didn't think about things like where they were going to get their protein or their iron or their B vitamins, etc. Most long-term, healthy vegetarians (and ESPECIALLY vegans) have to know more about nutrition than the average meat-eater.

If you really want to become a vegetarian or vegan, welcome! Spend some time learning about the nutritional side of it first. This is a fairly active MFP group you could join: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/45-happy-herbivores. But don't do it just to lose weight, because those diets don't make you lose weight in and of themselves.

janejellyroll

Veganism is an ethical position on how to treat animals. Just like non-vegans, we can consume more energy than our body needs (and gain weight) or less energy than our body needs (and lose weight). Some people lose weight when they go vegan because they wind up creating a calorie deficit. But many other people maintain their weight and some even gain weight. I came to MFP because I was an overweight vegan and I lost the weight by counting calories to ensure that I was in a deficit.

For me, the hardest thing about going vegan was learning how to read labels to find animal products (and that was only a problem for a short time because you figure it out pretty quickly) and figuring out how to find stuff to eat when I was eating out (and again, that got easier quickly). Some people have issues if they share meals with family members. Fortunately, this wasn't a concern for me.

fuzzylop72

I'm vegan, but avoiding animal products won't make you lose weight in and of itself. Some of the most calorically dense foods don't contain animal products (eg: vegetable based oils). Certainly eating nutrient dense food can be a factor in weight loss, if you're a volume eater, but I'm not sure i'd really suggest a plant based diet purely for weight loss. I feel adherence will be difficult if you are doing so purely for weight loss reasons (although, certainly many people start off plant based for health reasons, and stay vegan for ethical reasons).

The difficulties transitioning to a plant based diet mostly center around how important animal products are to you. A lot of people find dairy to be more of a struggle than meat, and sometimes the things you think would be a struggle end up not really being a factor (that was me with cheese, which I thought would be problematic, but it hasn't been -- and I don't usually bother with vegan cheese).

Obviously a lacto-ovo, ovo, or lacto vegetarian would be an even easier transition.

Whatever foods you choose to consume, you'll need to be eating at a deficit to lose weight.

leggup

I'm a vegetarian. I lost weight when I first became a vegetarian because I was in a calorie deficit--- I didn't really know how to cook well (I was 11? 12?). I gained that weight back. I have been a vegetarian for 17 years now and I've been overweight, borderline obese and a vegetarian. I've also been normal weight.

WhereIsPJSoles

I maintained easily as a vegan "without trying" because pretty much any social food is off the table and an awful lot of convenience food. I would eat whatever portions of food that I wanted, but I guess it was evening out my calories somewhere to not be able to just stop at any restaurant for a meal, eat office freebies, or just stop at a gas station for ice cream I could eat. It worked for me the same way that keto probably works for keto people.

apullum

The only thing that leads to weight loss is a calorie deficit. You can create a calorie deficit with or without animal products in your diet. There is nothing special about vegetarian or vegan diets themselves that will lead to weight loss.

I have been a fat vegetarian, and I am now an “optimal BMI” vegetarian. I lost weight by eating fewer calories than I burned, not simply by being vegetarian.

If you have objections to eating meat or other animal products, then being vegetarian or vegan might be a good choice for you, but it’s completely unnecessary if all you want is to lose weight.

AnnPT77

I've been vegetarian for 43+ years. Yup, since 1974. There is no weight loss magic in vegetarianism.

In my early 20s, I was a thin vegetarian. Got a desk job, became a fat vegetarian in my 30s, then an obese vegetarian in my 40s & 50s. I became very active in my mid 40s, part way through the obese phase (intense workouts most days, competed as an athlete), but out-ate the activity and stayed obese. At 59, I started eating fewer calories, lost 50+ pounds, became a thin vegetarian again, and am now in my 3rd year maintaining a healthy weight, still vegetarian.

Unless you have strong reasons to become vegetarian or vegan (other than weight loss or abstract ideas about "healthy eating"), I'd recommend against it.

Either lifestyle is very doable, but both are slightly less convenient than staying an omnivore: Veg people need to pay more attention to get optimal nutrition - not just protein, but also certain vitamins and minerals. Travel, especially international travel in meat-centric cultures, can present challenges. You have to gracefully negotiate social situations like being invited to your non-vegetarian new boss's house for dinner. If you're single, vegetarianism could even constrain your choices of life partner.

None of this is even remotely insurmountable, but it's really not worthwhile unless you have ethical reasons to go that route.

I think you can read between the lines about what issues you need to address if you make the switch. IME, there are no "struggles", just things to learn & do.

Edited: typos.

ritzvin

If your only reason is that you think it will help you lose weight, then I would strongly suggest against it. You'll only be creating more work for yourself to get adequate nutrition (protein, iron, etc) while simultaneously learning to log and eat at a calorie deficit. A lot of the excess calories in our typical diets today (that made us fat) come in from non-meat sources (huge portions of starchy courses like pasta, rice, etc; drinking too many calories in the form of beer/juice/soda; excessive snack foods; liberal application of high-fat sauces/condiments; etc).

kshama2001

Any way of eating that creates a calorie deficit will result in weight loss.

kshama2001

While I applaud ethical vegans and vegetarians, if your only reason for doing this is to lose weight, I advise against it.

Most vegans and vegetarians I know do it for the animals, but here's another reason to reduce red meat: https://www.vox.com/videos/2017/12/12/16762900/mediterranean-diet-pescatarian-climate-change

LauraJ440

I used to be a vegetarian, since I was 12 and then became pescetarian when I was 30, so now eat fish. The thing you have to be careful of is that you get enough protein as it is harder to do that when you don't eat fish or meat. Protein helps you feel fuller for longer so you could end up eating more carbs etc just to try and fill yourself up. I agree with others, it's not a good idea to do this if the only reason you are doing it is to lose weight. You could try having some meat free days and eating more fruit and veg and see how that goes.

veganbaum

ljbs440 wrote: »

I used to be a vegetarian, since I was 12 and then became pescetarian when I was 30, so now eat fish. The thing you have to be careful of is that you get enough protein as it is harder to do that when you don't eat fish or meat. Protein helps you feel fuller for longer so you could end up eating more carbs etc just to try and fill yourself up. I agree with others, it's not a good idea to do this if the only reason you are doing it is to lose weight. You could try having some meat free days and eating more fruit and veg and see how that goes.

I just have to address this, as it is a false assumption. More protein is NOT satiating for everyone. Luckily, many people on the boards will provide personal examples of what they find satiating so that this myth is not perpetuated. And eating "more" carbs, whatever "more" is, isn't a problem if you are meeting your nutritional goals and your deficit.

aribel95

I'm mostly vegetarian sometimes pescetarian, I didn't lose any weight until I started counting calories, the hardest part about being vegetarian for me is finding something to eat at fast food places or restaurants, that's why I eat seafood sometimes at restaurants.

nowine4me

Oreos are vegan! Enuf said.

estherdragonbat

leavemealonee wrote: »

Hello!
I am thinking of becoming a vegan or a vegetarian. Is it true that this diet can make you loose weight or is that a lie? Also what is the hardest thing about switching over to becoming a vegan or a vegetarian? What are some of the struggles?

Ovo-lacto vegetarian here. I got up to 254lbs this way. I've gotten down to 156.2 (as of Sunday's weigh-in) this way. There's nothing magical about it.

OldHobo

I'm about half tempted to at least try it for a while, but even though I'm pretty confident with my cooking skills, I'm not going to commit, even temporarily, until I learn more about, and get more experience with, vegan meat and dairy alternatives. An enjoyable adventure so far by the way.

katijjaa

I was vegetarian for around 4 years on and off. Before that, I was one of those ppl who never gain weight regardless of what I eat. In the beginning, In the beginning, I lost few pounds but with time my metabolism got so slow and even though I started eating healthy vegetarian food (veggies, legumes, green smoothies and lentil) but I would still not lose much weight. Eventually, I had to go back to normal diet because of iron deficiency and also to lose weight. On the other hand, I know someone skinny who told me that she was always overweight till she turned vegan, but also she go to the gym and monitor her food very strictly and she is only 25). I personally believe in vegetarian and vegan diets for moral reasons, but not for weight loss.

janejellyroll

veganbaum wrote: »

ljbs440 wrote: »

I used to be a vegetarian, since I was 12 and then became pescetarian when I was 30, so now eat fish. The thing you have to be careful of is that you get enough protein as it is harder to do that when you don't eat fish or meat. Protein helps you feel fuller for longer so you could end up eating more carbs etc just to try and fill yourself up. I agree with others, it's not a good idea to do this if the only reason you are doing it is to lose weight. You could try having some meat free days and eating more fruit and veg and see how that goes.

I just have to address this, as it is a false assumption. More protein is NOT satiating for everyone. Luckily, many people on the boards will provide personal examples of what they find satiating so that this myth is not perpetuated. And eating "more" carbs, whatever "more" is, isn't a problem if you are meeting your nutritional goals and your deficit.

Great points.

I am someone who finds carbohydrates to be very satiating. I lost weight while eating lots of carbohydrates (relatively speaking). As long as you are meeting your needs for protein and fat, getting more calories from carbohydrates isn't going to be an obstacle to weight loss (in the context of a calorie deficit).