I went vegan and GAINED weight?!?!

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  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    xtineart wrote: »
    It doesn't surprise me, 2 of the largest people i know are long term vegan. Plant based doesnt mean you'll naturally eat less calories, in fact a lot of vegans eschew vegetables in favour of bulky carbs. One vegan friend practically lives on bread and pasta and another of my vegan friends is a baker, he makes the most incredible vegan cakes but the portions are massive. Calories are calories and people cutting out a food source such as meat or fish replace it with bulk from another source. That source will not necessarily be healthier or lower in calories.

    Good luck on your journey

    Lots of people *period* don't eat many vegetables. It's a very common post topic here, non-vegans asking how they can lose weight without eating vegetables or asking how they can learn to like vegetables.
  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
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    xtineart wrote: »
    It doesn't surprise me, 2 of the largest people i know are long term vegan. Plant based doesnt mean you'll naturally eat less calories, in fact a lot of vegans eschew vegetables in favour of bulky carbs. One vegan friend practically lives on bread and pasta and another of my vegan friends is a baker, he makes the most incredible vegan cakes but the portions are massive. Calories are calories and people cutting out a food source such as meat or fish replace it with bulk from another source. That source will not necessarily be healthier or lower in calories.

    Good luck on your journey

    You can easily eat a bunch of bulky carbs and lose weight though as long as you fit them into your calorie goals. 🤷🏻‍♀️
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,008 Member
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    @ jane - do you think vegans statistically have a lower BMI than non vegans because

    1) vegan food on the whole tends to be lower in calories than non vegan foods

    2) vegans tend to be more health concious and active as a demographic and this correlates to lower BMI

    3) a combination of the above

    4) neither of the above, something else?


    My view (disclosure: as a non vegan) would be 3
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,933 Member
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    paperpudding wrote: »
    @ jane - do you think vegans statistically have a lower BMI than non vegans because

    1) vegan food on the whole tends to be lower in calories than non vegan foods

    2) vegans tend to be more health conscious and active as a demographic and this correlates to lower BMI

    3) a combination of the above

    4) neither of the above, something else?


    My view (disclosure: as a non vegan) would be 3

    During my three years living at yoga retreat centers I met hundreds of vegans who were at healthy weight BMIs and was good friends with a handful of them. This experience makes me say # 3.

    Many of these people were fans of athletic styles of yoga. The Jivan Mukti founders used to hold retreats at one of these yoga centers. I also met quite a few practitioners of Ashtanga. (If you are not familiar with these terms think "Power Yoga.")

    During this time, no one said they were eating vegan for weight loss - anyone who mentioned a reason was an ethical vegan.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,420 Member
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    It is also possible that those that visit yoga retreat centres are generally more health conscious as I know as many overweight vegans/vegetarians as I know mixed diet eaters.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    paperpudding wrote: »
    @ jane - do you think vegans statistically have a lower BMI than non vegans because

    1) vegan food on the whole tends to be lower in calories than non vegan foods

    2) vegans tend to be more health concious and active as a demographic and this correlates to lower BMI

    3) a combination of the above

    4) neither of the above, something else?


    My view (disclosure: as a non vegan) would be 3

    We'd just be talking about my guesses here, as unfortunately I don't think anybody has studied this particular question.

    I do not agree that vegan food on the whole is lower in calories than non-vegan foods, but an analysis of about forty studies has shown that vegans tend to consume fewer calories than non-vegans, which appears to be what accounts for the different (https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0209086). Some of us are probably doing this deliberately to control their weight (like me), while others may find plant foods satisfying enough that they wind up eating less overall (lucky!). I do think that the vegan community includes a LOT of people who were either already health conscious and active or became more so after becoming vegan.

    In other words, I think I'd agree with you -- if we ever find out the real answer, I think it would be a combination of the first two factors. I do know of many people who either lost weight when they went vegan or found that their weight sort of "automatically" stabilized once they went vegan. When you look at the diets that tend to promote satiety without conscious calorie limiting, a diet that is high fiber and high volume is one that is frequently cited and vegan meals can fall into this pattern. Of course, not EVERY vegan diet falls into this pattern and not everyone finds this type of diet high satiety.



  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
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    paperpudding wrote: »
    @ jane - do you think vegans statistically have a lower BMI than non vegans because

    1) vegan food on the whole tends to be lower in calories than non vegan foods

    2) vegans tend to be more health concious and active as a demographic and this correlates to lower BMI

    3) a combination of the above

    4) neither of the above, something else?


    My view (disclosure: as a non vegan) would be 3

    I think (3) -- mostly (2), but being vegan also makes a lot of impulse eating more difficult, as random snacks in an office breakroom (for one example) would be likely to be non vegan in many cases. Simply having to think more about a food item before eating it is a constraint that for many would likely help control cals (even if not counting, as most don't).
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
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    yirara wrote: »
    It is also possible that those that visit yoga retreat centres are generally more health conscious as I know as many overweight vegans/vegetarians as I know mixed diet eaters.

    But personal acquaintances aside, the stats are as janejellyroll indicated -- vegans on average have lower BMIs.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    paperpudding wrote: »
    @ jane - do you think vegans statistically have a lower BMI than non vegans because

    1) vegan food on the whole tends to be lower in calories than non vegan foods

    2) vegans tend to be more health concious and active as a demographic and this correlates to lower BMI

    3) a combination of the above

    4) neither of the above, something else?


    My view (disclosure: as a non vegan) would be 3

    I think (3) -- mostly (2), but being vegan also makes a lot of impulse eating more difficult, as random snacks in an office breakroom (for one example) would be likely to be non vegan in many cases. Simply having to think more about a food item before eating it is a constraint that for many would likely help control cals (even if not counting, as most don't).

    Anecdotally, I can absolutely attest to this. You're not eating the random birthday cake, cookies, or pizza at the office (unless you work with other vegans). Unless you're in a very vegan-friendly environment, it just removes a lot of the random food temptation that is thrown at us regularly.

    Yes, it can be replaced with other calories. But as someone who ALWAYS ate the birthday cake as a non-vegan, once I stopped eating it, I didn't feel like I had to go get myself some cake every time I didn't have some at the office. It just interrupts that automatic eating and for some of us, that's enough to cut some calories.

    (Note: I was still an overweight vegan until I began counting calories, I was just less overweight that I think I would have been as a non-vegan).

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