Question regarding moving from a high animal-based protein diet to a high carb plant based diet

TinaKay51

I lost and am maintaining a nearly 100 pound weight loss for many years. I am plant powered and would really like to be plant based. However, when I up the carbohydrate intake (and I eat whole foods not junk) I start gaining weight. It seems as if animal sourced low fat protein at about 80 gms per day is what maintains my weight. If I eat higher fat, I likewise gain weight. However, in light of current research regarding excess protein contributing to disease/aging, as well as a diet high in animal products contributing to disease, I would really like to move away from this. Any suggestions regarding how to be more plant based and move to high carbohydrates/lower fat and not put on the weight? Of note, I do cardiac exercise daily and also weight train three days per week, but I am female, in my 50s and have a desk job. Tough going and the lack of hormones makes everything much harder!

TrishSeren

All those studies around excess protein and animal products causing health issues are all woo. Even vegans have disowned the What the Health doco on Netflix.

Weight loss is all calories, are you weighing your food on a food scale?

lorrpb

If you increase one macro (eg carbs) without decreasing another, you are consuming more calories. More calories=more weight. Carbs also attract water weight.
If you eat more fat without decreasing something else, you’re eating more calories and likely gaining weight.
One day or one meal does not make a big difference, but longer term, it does.

rnrifai79

I have the same problem. Had to use a lot of vegan protein powders to get anywhere near my protein goal without blowing my calorie limit. That did not agree with my guts so reluctantly stopped powders and switched back to chicken breast to supplement the difference, until I figure out a different strategy.

AlabasterVerve

Meat is healthful and nutritious.

wilson10102018

Statistical correlations between populations consuming a plant based diet and slightly increased lifespans are mumbo jumbo. If you like a vegan diet, or a vegetarian one, enjoy it. But its not about science.

hypocacculus

As far as I know, there is no scientific consensus on what constitutes excess protein in the diet, although it's accepted now that too much red and processed meat is bad, which is not the same thing at all. Eggs and fish are good if you want to avoid meat. Removing all animal protein from what sounds like a healthy diet and replacing it with carbohydrate sounds like a terrible idea and you risk pernicious anaemia if you aren't careful.

If you wish to go vegan, which is not a natural diet for humans, you must seek good vegan diet advice to ensure you are getting adequate protein, and very importantly, complete protein or anaemia will result. Most natural plant based sources of protein (legumes, nuts etc) are also high in either fat or carbs so you'd have to adjust your general diet accordingly.

zeejane03

I follow the DASH protocol which is based on plant foods, and limits meat/fish to 3oz or less a day and then 2-3 servings of low fat dairy. Everything else is from plants.

I average 200+ carbs a day. I maintain my weight (I'm in maintenance and currently have a BMI of 21.8), by keeping my calorie intake at the correct amount for my weight management goals.

Macros ratios don't matter for weight loss/gain-calories do.

zeejane03

OP, you may be interested in joining us over in the DASH thread, there's a few of us who are doing it If you don't know what DASH is, there's several links in the first post that explains it (it's a highly researched and medically recommended way of eating for better health markers)

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10720748/dash-diet-thread/p1

avmh11

Intermittent Fasting, we eat too much too often

kimny72

How long do you try changing your diet and watching how it affects your weight? If you are only talking about a couple of days, you are just seeing normal weight fluctuations like digestion differences or water weight swings and really can't draw any conclusions from that. You would need to stick to a new diet for more like 4 - 6 weeks before getting real data on how it affects your weight or makes you feel.

How many grams of protein are you currently eating? There is certainly no scientific consensus that animal protein is unhealthy, but if you would prefer to eliminate it, you need to give your body time to adjust before drawing conclusions. In order to gain fat, you need to eat extra calories, so perhaps accurate logging during the transition would put your mind at ease.

apullum

If you’re gaining and losing the same few pounds over a few weeks, that’s normal weight fluctuation.

If your weight is steadily going up, then you are eating more calories than your body burns.

Weight depends on your calorie intake. Macro percentages are important for health and satiety, but aren’t directly relevant for weight loss. “Clean” is meaningless when referring to food, unless you’re talking about washing your produce. Eating animal protein or not is a matter of personal preference unless you have a relevant medical condition, and that preference isn’t relevant to weight loss.

If you want to lose weight, you have to make sure you’re consistently in a calorie deficit. If you want to maintain your weight, your calories eaten and calories burned need to balance out on average. Weighing and logging your food is a good way to make sure your calorie intake matches your goals.

TinaKay51

Thank you all. I am currently an omnivore, and will likely stay one as I, too, have found no credible science that supports being vegan. I do believe, however, in being "plant-powered", i.e. eating at least half my plate in plants. At some point I may move to a more pescatarian diet; we will see how it all unfolds. I have maintained a 100 pound weight loss for over 25 years. Recently, due to menopause, it has become more difficult. I did recently cut my caloric intake, and that seems to be reversing the trend. Thank you all for your input; much appreciated!

Princesstri

Do you have any evidence that the way you’ve been eating is negatively impacting you? High cholesterol or triglycerides or pre-diabetic leanings or whatnot? It sounds as if your body has very clearly told you what it wants to eat to be healthy. Every nutritional study has one absolute result and only one: the same diet doesn’t work for everyone. If your concern is 100% health and not philosophy (aka an aversion to eating animals) then keep the animal protein in your diet, especially high quality fish.

akielroki

There is data showing a link between tmao and disease. Choline and carnitine, found in animal products, are processed by our bodies into harmful substances. I'd link videos but I find searching for yourself to be more effective.

MichelleSilverleaf

akielroki wrote: »

There is data showing a link between tmao and disease. Choline and carnitine, found in animal products, are processed by our bodies into harmful substances. I'd link videos but I find searching for yourself to be more effective.

Except the onus is on you to provide the proof, though...

kshama2001

akielroki wrote: »

There is data showing a link between tmao and disease. Choline and carnitine, found in animal products, are processed by our bodies into harmful substances. I'd link videos but I find searching for yourself to be more effective.

Please don't link videos. Do link peer-reviewed studies.

akielroki

How about a video based on peer reviewed studies?
https://youtu.be/x3yp0oTd1YA

akielroki

Here's the page with sources. Just scroll down and click sources.
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/carnitine-choline-cancer-and-cholesterol-the-tmao-connection/

zeejane03

akielroki wrote: »

Here's the page with sources. Just scroll down and click sources.
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/carnitine-choline-cancer-and-cholesterol-the-tmao-connection/

I eat a mostly plant based diet, but Greger is known for cherry picking data to suit his purposes. Using his site doesn't really give validity to a dietary claim.

kimny72

akielroki wrote: »

Here's the page with sources.

Nutrition "facts" is a vegan propaganda website, not a reliable source. After clicking on many of their links and seeing how they cherry pick studies and misrepresent results, I avoid there. It doesn't really matter, because OP came back and said she intends to remain an omnivore, and doesn't seem to be asking for people to convince her otherwise. She was just concerned about weight fluctuations.