Anyone Vegan and trying to loose weight?
waterwoman78
Posts: 2 Member
Would love to here what's working for you fellow Vegans 😁
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Replies
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I lost over 40 pounds as a vegan. I did it the same way everyone does, through a calorie deficit. I've been maintaining that weight loss since fall of 2015.
Specifically what that looked like for me: I set a reasonable calorie goal and logged to ensure I hit it consistently. I found that I personally preferred to eat larger meals, so this meant I was temporarily limiting things like grains (more calorie-dense) and nuts/seeds in favor of more vegetables (not mandatory, I just didn't miss them much and preferred to eat other things). I ate lots of beans and tofu to ensure I met my protein needs, I also ate lots of seitan.5 -
My pilates instructor went vegan with her dad so he could lose weight. To be supportive. She lives at home. She lost weight and didn’t need too. He dad lost weight also.0
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I'd also love to hear specifics about meeting protein goals on a low calorie vegan diet. (I was vegan for 2 years but added back in occasional fish, and eggs for health reasons.) Even with that I have trouble meeting my protein target daily with only 1400 calories to work with. I have been adding a Vega shake to help but that is just 200 calories of food I don't get to eat. Does anyone have a diary I can look at to get some ideas of daily food choices?0
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I concur with @janejellyroll. It's all about calorie deficits. Before I chose to be vegan, I lost 60 pounds on Weight Watchers. Gained about 40 of it back, though. When I went vegan, I was able to lose that 40 pounds fairly quickly. Gained weight back due to family/mental health issues, but I've been (slowly) working on re-losing the last 30 pounds. I know I had the best weight loss when I kept within my calorie limit and walked about an hour 5 days a week. You are welcome to send me a friend request, if you'd like
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I'd also love to hear specifics about meeting protein goals on a low calorie vegan diet. (I was vegan for 2 years but added back in occasional fish, and eggs for health reasons.) Even with that I have trouble meeting my protein target daily with only 1400 calories to work with. I have been adding a Vega shake to help but that is just 200 calories of food I don't get to eat. Does anyone have a diary I can look at to get some ideas of daily food choices?
Is your protein target set at the MFP default of 25%?0 -
I'd also love to hear specifics about meeting protein goals on a low calorie vegan diet. (I was vegan for 2 years but added back in occasional fish, and eggs for health reasons.) Even with that I have trouble meeting my protein target daily with only 1400 calories to work with. I have been adding a Vega shake to help but that is just 200 calories of food I don't get to eat. Does anyone have a diary I can look at to get some ideas of daily food choices?
I was around 1,400 plus exercise calories when I was losing weight. I eat a lot of variety, but this is what a day might have looked like for me.
Breakfast: Baked or scrambled tofu with vegetables (either mixed into the tofu or on the side, usually roasted), V8 or coffee with almond milk (and maybe a couple tablespoons of protein powder)
Lunch: Brothy soup with vegetables or "peanut noodles" with baked tofu (zucchini or cucumber noodles with a PB2-based sauce), seitan or tempeh with vegetables (raw and/or roasted)
Dinner: Big green salad with low calorie dressing (hot sauce or salsa), beans (chili, curry, etc) with raw/roasted vegetables
Extras (if I had calories): Wine, dark chocolate, pasta added to a meal, high calorie vegetables like avocado or potato, fruit, nut butter. I went out to eat 1-2 times a week and would have things like pizza (either without cheese or with vegan cheese), portobello mushroom sandwiches, or Indian/Thai food.
I tried to build my meals around a higher protein source -- tofu, tempeh, seitan. I ate a lot of vegetables (still do). My particular favorites were broccoli, shredded cabbage, romaine lettuce, spinach, collard greens, cauliflower, kohlrabi, and bell peppers . . . but really any lower calorie vegetable will work to bulk out your meals and add great flavors.
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kshama2001 wrote: »I'd also love to hear specifics about meeting protein goals on a low calorie vegan diet. (I was vegan for 2 years but added back in occasional fish, and eggs for health reasons.) Even with that I have trouble meeting my protein target daily with only 1400 calories to work with. I have been adding a Vega shake to help but that is just 200 calories of food I don't get to eat. Does anyone have a diary I can look at to get some ideas of daily food choices?
Is your protein target set at the MFP default of 25%?
It is the default but I think it is 20%. It is 74 grams anyway and I am lucky if I hit 50 grams even with eating eggs for breakfast. Like the day that "janejellyroll" posted above I don't think would get me even close 74 grams of protein.
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kshama2001 wrote: »I'd also love to hear specifics about meeting protein goals on a low calorie vegan diet. (I was vegan for 2 years but added back in occasional fish, and eggs for health reasons.) Even with that I have trouble meeting my protein target daily with only 1400 calories to work with. I have been adding a Vega shake to help but that is just 200 calories of food I don't get to eat. Does anyone have a diary I can look at to get some ideas of daily food choices?
Is your protein target set at the MFP default of 25%?
It is the default but I think it is 20%. It is 74 grams anyway and I am lucky if I hit 50 grams even with eating eggs for breakfast. Like the day that "janejellyroll" posted above I don't think would get me even close 74 grams of protein.
I just plugged an example of a day like this into MFP and am already at 80 grams of protein for 923 calories. The 923 calorie day:
Breakfast: 1 serving baked tofu (149 calories), 3 cups broccoli, 2 tablespoons hemp protein powder
Lunch: 1 serving miso soup, 3 cups shredded cabbage, 1 serving seitan (127 calories)
Dinner: 1 serving seasoned black beans (281 calories), 10 ounces cauliflower, 1.5 cups okra
This menu was built for protein, so it's very low fat. But you would have plenty of calories left to do things like dress the cabbage salad or use oil to roast the vegetables. You'd also be able to add a higher fat snack. The calories for the protein are based on my past recipe entries, so you potentially could make them lower calorie by reducing some of the fat I used to cook them.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I'd also love to hear specifics about meeting protein goals on a low calorie vegan diet. (I was vegan for 2 years but added back in occasional fish, and eggs for health reasons.) Even with that I have trouble meeting my protein target daily with only 1400 calories to work with. I have been adding a Vega shake to help but that is just 200 calories of food I don't get to eat. Does anyone have a diary I can look at to get some ideas of daily food choices?
Is your protein target set at the MFP default of 25%?
It is the default but I think it is 20%. It is 74 grams anyway and I am lucky if I hit 50 grams even with eating eggs for breakfast. Like the day that "janejellyroll" posted above I don't think would get me even close 74 grams of protein.
I just plugged an example of a day like this into MFP and am already at 80 grams of protein for 923 calories. The 923 calorie day:
Breakfast: 1 serving baked tofu (149 calories), 3 cups broccoli, 2 tablespoons hemp protein powder
Lunch: 1 serving miso soup, 3 cups shredded cabbage, 1 serving seitan (127 calories)
Dinner: 1 serving seasoned black beans (281 calories), 10 ounces cauliflower, 1.5 cups okra
This menu was built for protein, so it's very low fat. But you would have plenty of calories left to do things like dress the cabbage salad or use oil to roast the vegetables. You'd also be able to add a higher fat snack. The calories for the protein are based on my past recipe entries, so you potentially could make them lower calorie by reducing some of the fat I used to cook them.
Oh interesting thank you. I guess the protein powder boosts it up too - but I am not averse to using protein powder anyway. Just wondering how others were doing it.
I do eat tofu and tempeh, but usually just a couple of times a week, not daily. I think that might be the key. Maybe I will have to add more of those into my diet. I think trying to build up my protein with beans and quinoa and such was resulting in higher calories and lower protein than I was looking for.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I'd also love to hear specifics about meeting protein goals on a low calorie vegan diet. (I was vegan for 2 years but added back in occasional fish, and eggs for health reasons.) Even with that I have trouble meeting my protein target daily with only 1400 calories to work with. I have been adding a Vega shake to help but that is just 200 calories of food I don't get to eat. Does anyone have a diary I can look at to get some ideas of daily food choices?
Is your protein target set at the MFP default of 25%?
It is the default but I think it is 20%. It is 74 grams anyway and I am lucky if I hit 50 grams even with eating eggs for breakfast. Like the day that "janejellyroll" posted above I don't think would get me even close 74 grams of protein.
I just plugged an example of a day like this into MFP and am already at 80 grams of protein for 923 calories. The 923 calorie day:
Breakfast: 1 serving baked tofu (149 calories), 3 cups broccoli, 2 tablespoons hemp protein powder
Lunch: 1 serving miso soup, 3 cups shredded cabbage, 1 serving seitan (127 calories)
Dinner: 1 serving seasoned black beans (281 calories), 10 ounces cauliflower, 1.5 cups okra
This menu was built for protein, so it's very low fat. But you would have plenty of calories left to do things like dress the cabbage salad or use oil to roast the vegetables. You'd also be able to add a higher fat snack. The calories for the protein are based on my past recipe entries, so you potentially could make them lower calorie by reducing some of the fat I used to cook them.
Oh interesting thank you. I guess the protein powder boosts it up too - but I am not averse to using protein powder anyway. Just wondering how others were doing it.
I do eat tofu and tempeh, but usually just a couple of times a week, not daily. I think that might be the key. Maybe I will have to add more of those into my diet. I think trying to build up my protein with beans and quinoa and such was resulting in higher calories and lower protein than I was looking for.
The protein powder is just six grams of protein, but when you're lower calorie every little bit counts!
Quinoa is often touted as a great food for people trying to boost protein, but I would still treat it like a grain. It's a complete protein and it has more protein than some grains, but it isn't great for people who are trying to really boost the amount of protein in their diet (relative to the amount of calories that it has). Beans are good, but I found it hard to eat beans three times a day and stay within my calorie goal (and not be very hungry).1 -
janejellyroll wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I'd also love to hear specifics about meeting protein goals on a low calorie vegan diet. (I was vegan for 2 years but added back in occasional fish, and eggs for health reasons.) Even with that I have trouble meeting my protein target daily with only 1400 calories to work with. I have been adding a Vega shake to help but that is just 200 calories of food I don't get to eat. Does anyone have a diary I can look at to get some ideas of daily food choices?
Is your protein target set at the MFP default of 25%?
It is the default but I think it is 20%. It is 74 grams anyway and I am lucky if I hit 50 grams even with eating eggs for breakfast. Like the day that "janejellyroll" posted above I don't think would get me even close 74 grams of protein.
I just plugged an example of a day like this into MFP and am already at 80 grams of protein for 923 calories. The 923 calorie day:
Breakfast: 1 serving baked tofu (149 calories), 3 cups broccoli, 2 tablespoons hemp protein powder
Lunch: 1 serving miso soup, 3 cups shredded cabbage, 1 serving seitan (127 calories)
Dinner: 1 serving seasoned black beans (281 calories), 10 ounces cauliflower, 1.5 cups okra
This menu was built for protein, so it's very low fat. But you would have plenty of calories left to do things like dress the cabbage salad or use oil to roast the vegetables. You'd also be able to add a higher fat snack. The calories for the protein are based on my past recipe entries, so you potentially could make them lower calorie by reducing some of the fat I used to cook them.
Oh interesting thank you. I guess the protein powder boosts it up too - but I am not averse to using protein powder anyway. Just wondering how others were doing it.
I do eat tofu and tempeh, but usually just a couple of times a week, not daily. I think that might be the key. Maybe I will have to add more of those into my diet. I think trying to build up my protein with beans and quinoa and such was resulting in higher calories and lower protein than I was looking for.
If you are looking for a complete protein powder, look into pea protein. Very good stuff. Add it to you coffee, makes shakes with it, mix it with yogurt etc. etc. Like the poster above said, when you are vegan / vegetarian, every bit counts.
I use Vega which is a mix of protein sources I believe. Is straight pea protein better? I have been using Vega for years so it is my default I always go to.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I'd also love to hear specifics about meeting protein goals on a low calorie vegan diet. (I was vegan for 2 years but added back in occasional fish, and eggs for health reasons.) Even with that I have trouble meeting my protein target daily with only 1400 calories to work with. I have been adding a Vega shake to help but that is just 200 calories of food I don't get to eat. Does anyone have a diary I can look at to get some ideas of daily food choices?
Is your protein target set at the MFP default of 25%?
It is the default but I think it is 20%. It is 74 grams anyway and I am lucky if I hit 50 grams even with eating eggs for breakfast. Like the day that "janejellyroll" posted above I don't think would get me even close 74 grams of protein.
I just plugged an example of a day like this into MFP and am already at 80 grams of protein for 923 calories. The 923 calorie day:
Breakfast: 1 serving baked tofu (149 calories), 3 cups broccoli, 2 tablespoons hemp protein powder
Lunch: 1 serving miso soup, 3 cups shredded cabbage, 1 serving seitan (127 calories)
Dinner: 1 serving seasoned black beans (281 calories), 10 ounces cauliflower, 1.5 cups okra
This menu was built for protein, so it's very low fat. But you would have plenty of calories left to do things like dress the cabbage salad or use oil to roast the vegetables. You'd also be able to add a higher fat snack. The calories for the protein are based on my past recipe entries, so you potentially could make them lower calorie by reducing some of the fat I used to cook them.
Oh interesting thank you. I guess the protein powder boosts it up too - but I am not averse to using protein powder anyway. Just wondering how others were doing it.
I do eat tofu and tempeh, but usually just a couple of times a week, not daily. I think that might be the key. Maybe I will have to add more of those into my diet. I think trying to build up my protein with beans and quinoa and such was resulting in higher calories and lower protein than I was looking for.
The protein powder is just six grams of protein, but when you're lower calorie every little bit counts!
Quinoa is often touted as a great food for people trying to boost protein, but I would still treat it like a grain. It's a complete protein and it has more protein than some grains, but it isn't great for people who are trying to really boost the amount of protein in their diet (relative to the amount of calories that it has). Beans are good, but I found it hard to eat beans three times a day and stay within my calorie goal (and not be very hungry).
Yea I just really like quinoa. I often mix it with black beans, spinach and nutritional yeast for breakfast, or use it like rice with curries and such. I just find it keeps me full which I don't think I would get with just beans, or tofu, and veggies. Maybe I just have to up the veggies more than I already do. Will have to get experimenting with combinations I guess.0 -
Vegan here for 7yrs, trying to clean up my diet and lose all this weight! Glad to find you all! 😊0
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Ethical vegan of 10 years here just looking for some good vegan buddies to add!0
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Please forgive me for asking a more personal question, but, if anyone is comfortable with and willing to answer (as well as offer any advice!!) I would tremendously appreciate it:
Do any of you who consume mostly fresh vegetables and fruits tend to feel "bloated" or very full, like, on a daily basis? Do you think it is possible to feel physically overstuffed but still be in enough of a deficit to be losing fat? (I know that seems like a silly, "no-brainer" question. . . .)
Thank you (:0 -
Please forgive me for asking a more personal question, but, if anyone is comfortable with and willing to answer (as well as offer any advice!!) I would tremendously appreciate it:
Do any of you who consume mostly fresh vegetables and fruits tend to feel "bloated" or very full, like, on a daily basis? Do you think it is possible to feel physically overstuffed but still be in enough of a deficit to be losing fat? (I know that seems like a silly, "no-brainer" question. . . .)
Thank you (:
It is quite common for a sudden increase in fiber to make people feel bloated.
Lots of people here are "volume" eaters and like bulky foods like fruits and veggies to feel full.
When I was in Costa Rico for 6 weeks I ate mostly plant-based, and dropped a size without even trying.0 -
Thanks for all the information, I like to learn what other vegans are eating for protein. I am always looking for more protein and calcium!! I was a vegetarian since my twenties and this year and half gave up dairy, eggs and fish. I started eating more tofu and found that the spices and way I cooked it mostly in veggie stir fry made a difference in taste. My favorite is eggplant, squash, collard greens, garlic, olives, onion, peppers and tofu. All together and use turmeric, curry, garlic salt and lil vegan marinara. That’s my favorite dish!! Added the nutritional yeast and Vega shakes recently. Seeds,Beans, most veggies, not too much fruits, and like to hear others meals. Also hummus and guac added to a lot. Always looking for recipes w out oil and pastas if can be avoided. Hope to hear more ideas on snacks or meals so thx I really find it beneficial to keep learning and experimenting!!0
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I love to eat a big salad or pounds and pounds of steam veggies till I feel stuffed I love it.
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As far as protein goes,
- I always have some kind of legume in the fridge (red beans, spicy black beans, Morroccan lentils, etc) that I like both hot or cold mixed into a salad;
- I keep plain hummus and silken tofu on hand to add to cooking sauces, gravies, and salad dressings for great texture as well as a protein boost.
- I also make my own seitan out of vital wheat gluten. It took some experimenting, but I've found it to be very versatile, and it gives me a break from the legumes and soy. Some of my favorites are grillable juicy burgers with mushrooms, tomato, and onion; a roast-loaf with poultry seasonings that makes a great holiday turkey or substitute; and a spicy chorizo sausage that's great seared as a breakfast side, or shredded in tacos and burritos.
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I like to make a big batch of no-oil chilli and serve it over a baked potato. Most times I cook up some greens to add to the mix. Also, I make curries with various veggies and beans to have over brown rice. Since I don't use oil, even eating potatoes keeps the calorie count low.0
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