New Vegetarian.....but not loosing weight?

npenar

Per my Doc's orders i have switched to a vegetarian diet closer to vegan, based on my online research of the meanings. For almost 2 months now i have very carefully read labels, have had no meat, cheese, dairy the only thing i slipped on after 3 weeks was i had some eggs while out to breakfast. I am trying to eat all organic foods and just haven't seen much weight change. I only want to loose 15-20 lbs just not sure what to do?

Sarahnade42x

To lose weight, you just have to eat fewer calories than you burn. Sometimes a vegetarian diet helps people do that (it helped me a lot), but if you just stop eating meat/dairy and still take in a large amount of calories, you won't lose weight.

npenar

TY "Sarahnade42" ....i thought i was being really careful so i will keep a journal like i should have done from the beginning. I was just overwhelmed when i left the Dr's office with not much info to go on, i spent so much time online researching. So today i started MFP and i found 1 problem i love my morning coffee and switched my regular creamer to "So Delicious" non dairy creamer but it's still costing me empty calories. Love your puppy too cute!

gigglesinthesun

I am a vegetarian too for medical reasons (for the last 2 months and for at least another 10), so I do feel like I know where you are coming from.

It is calories in and calories out. Are you weighing everything (measuring only the liquids) and itemising it? By itemising I mean instead of logging a sandwich, you log the bread, you log the spread, you log each item separately. Veggies is something most people estimate, because they don't have a lot of calories, but if as a vegetarian you actually take in considerable amounts of vegetables then everything does add up.

When I started I estimated my veggies and logged 1100 calories. The I started weighing and turns out I was actually eating 1350. Also log supplements, because my fish oil turned out to be 180 calories a day.

It's not the end of the world, but if you are not losing weight it means you are not in a calorie deficit. As a closing note a banana has about 100 calories, so I could eat 16 and not lose weight and be a little constipated. Good luck, it is sometimes a bit of trial and error, but you'll get there :-)

npenar

Good morning Giggles, as of last night i am measuring everything since i started MFP yesterday. Your right, things really add up. I went home and evaluated my breakast cause i realized my so called healthy organic cereal with unsweetened almond milk & dairy free coffee creamer really packs a punch. So this morning i switched to an organic waffle & veggie sausage alot less calories. Based on the allowance MFP has set up for me i can almost have no sugar which is pretty hard considering since i started i have not craved any treats been sticking to fruit but again being careful cause i know fruit is high in sugar.

Thanks for the update on the bananas i saw yesterday when i put it in my food it hits pretty hard on the calories and sugar. I did not know that they can cause constipation...so i will limit them.

Little by little i am gaining more knowledge. My Dr did not ask me to change my eating for weight but for bloating & intestinal issues, he wanted me to try this before doing any tests. So far the bloating is all but gone and things are moving better. I am glad for this knowledge on food that i have gained and will continue to eat much healthier but i do not plan to never have a piece of steak again but i am enjoying a lot of the food that i have prepared so most i will always continue with. Even my picky daughter has enjoyed it. The way i see it since i have only lost 5-6 lbs i must not have been eating that bad before starting this.

lua_

Per my Doc's orders i have switched to a vegetarian diet closer to vegan, based on my online research of the meanings. For almost 2 months now i have very carefully read labels, have had no meat, cheese, dairy the only thing i slipped on after 3 weeks was i had some eggs while out to breakfast. I am trying to eat all organic foods and just haven't seen much weight change. I only want to loose 15-20 lbs just not sure what to do?

That sounds absolutely horrendous. I have had intestinal issues in the past, but it's generally recommended that you cut out one thing at a time, then slowly add it back and see how that works. Cutting out meat and dairy at the same time seems extreme, especially if you don't want to be a vegan for the rest of your life. This isn't sustainable, as your slip proves, so why don't you try cutting out dairy for a few weeks, then eating eggs, then cheese, etc. Once you get the issues after eating a certain food, then you know what the problem is. It might only be triggered by certain foods, for example, I tend to have issues when I have too much cow's milk/cheese/yogurt, but I can eat as many eggs as I want without a problem

Regarding the weight loss, being a vegetarian/vegan doesn't equal weight loss. You can have a diet of 100% meat and cheese, and still lose weight. Make sure you're in a calorie deficit, that's all you need to lose weight. If you have intestinal issues, you'll certainly feel better if you find out what your trigger food is and cut it out, but cutting out food groups won't make you lose weight any faster

Edit: You are losing weight...so what's the problem? Slow and steady

Edit 2: your dogs are adorable

michaluna1231

CONGRATS on your weight loss of 5 to 6 pounds! That is GREAT for only working at this for 2 months to have lost 6 pounds!

Especially since you haven't been weighing/measuring or counting calories for everything. I wish I was losing weight faster also but I know that gradual weight loss is more sustainable. And I know that when I feel like I'm ravenous, I don't stick with it very long....

jrbb03092

Based on the allowance MFP has set up for me i can almost have no sugar which is pretty hard considering since i started i have not craved any treats been sticking to fruit but again being careful cause i know fruit is high in sugar.

Everyone's allowance for sugar on MFP is low. Unless you have issues with sugar (high blood sugar) or your doctor has warned you to cut down, do NOT worry about the sugar in fruit and other unprocessed foods. Only watch the ones in refined & processed foods. (Not that you should eat 3 pineapples a day or anything, but in general, this is the rule)

3foldchord

Good morning Giggles, as of last night i am measuring everything since i started MFP yesterday. Your right, things really add up. I went home and evaluated my breakast cause i realized my so called healthy organic cereal with unsweetened almond milk & dairy free coffee creamer really packs a punch. So this morning i switched to an organic waffle & veggie sausage alot less calories. Based on the allowance MFP has set up for me i can almost have no sugar which is pretty hard considering since i started i have not craved any treats been sticking to fruit but again being careful cause i know fruit is high in sugar.

Sounds like you are figuring everything out very quickly! Good for you!
Part of my weight gain a few years ago was the naive assumption that if it's from the health food store, surely I can eat as much as I want...it's HEALTHY!

LOL

Measure and track every calorie! It won,t take long for you to figure our how to eat on your new diet.
I don't track sugar, thankfully I don't have a problem with sugar. I just track calories and the three main macros and sodium. (Sodium DOES affect me unlike his friend Sugar)

Good luck! And congrats on the less intestinal issues!

TheGymGypsy

I have been vegetarian since I was a child and I still managed to be 60 pounds overweight before I started running a year and a half ago. Vegetarian does not equal healthy by any means. There are plenty of high calorie vegan/veggie junk foods out there, trust me.

dsjohndrow

You can't out run a bad diet. Unless you have some specific hormonal issue that could be identified with a blood test, you eat too much, and/or exercise too little. If all you are doing is loosing weight, you can do that on a Twinkies and chips diet. I wish there was another answer.

davepearson86

You can't out run a bad diet. Unless you have some specific hormonal issue that could be identified with a blood test, you eat too much, and/or exercise too little. If all you are doing is loosing weight, you can do that on a Twinkies and chips diet. I wish there was another answer.

This^^^

You'll do much better eating clean foods. The vegitarian image that comes to mind is a skinny person but it can easily be a fat person eating processed junk. You might also want to look up vegitarian bodybuilding, there's information on how you can get enough protein to make that happen. Maybe ask your doctor about whey isolate, there's not really any lactose in that if that's the issue.

Good luck

RaeLB

vegetarianism/veganism ≠ weight loss or slimness - let's say you're only eating fruit, while if you're eating 3000 calories of fruit you're not going to lose any weight!

For vegetarian support you should join the group Happy Herbivores! we're awesome :bigsmile: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/45-happy-herbivores

For weight loss, make sure you have your dairy settings set up properly and try to stay close to the calories allocated.

lua_

You can't out run a bad diet. Unless you have some specific hormonal issue that could be identified with a blood test, you eat too much, and/or exercise too little. If all you are doing is loosing weight, you can do that on a Twinkies and chips diet. I wish there was another answer.

This^^^

You'll do much better eating clean foods. The vegitarian image that comes to mind is a skinny person but it can easily be a fat person eating processed junk. You might also want to look up vegitarian bodybuilding, there's information on how you can get enough protein to make that happen. Maybe ask your doctor about whey isolate, there's not really any lactose in that if that's the issue.

Good luck

Rubbish. I'm sick of seeing 'EAT CLEAN' everywhere. Weight loss is calories in vs. calories out, that's it. You can lose as much weight eating 'dirty' fast food as you can eating 'clean' foods. Whether you'll feel better and have more muscle mass, that is another question. I believe in eating lots of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, but I will never label myself a 'clean eater' because I think applying labels like 'clean' and 'dirty' to food is completely f*cked up. I can't wait until everyone either gets over this 'clean eating' obsession, or just stops preaching about it

dsjohndrow

You can't out run a bad diet. Unless you have some specific hormonal issue that could be identified with a blood test, you eat too much, and/or exercise too little. If all you are doing is loosing weight, you can do that on a Twinkies and chips diet. I wish there was another answer.

This^^^

You'll do much better eating clean foods. The vegitarian image that comes to mind is a skinny person but it can easily be a fat person eating processed junk. You might also want to look up vegitarian bodybuilding, there's information on how you can get enough protein to make that happen. Maybe ask your doctor about whey isolate, there's not really any lactose in that if that's the issue.

Good luck

Rubbish. I'm sick of seeing 'EAT CLEAN' everywhere. Weight loss is calories in vs. calories out, that's it. You can lose as much weight eating 'dirty' fast food as you can eating 'clean' foods. Whether you'll feel better and have more muscle mass, that is another question. I believe in eating lots of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, but I will never label myself a 'clean eater' because I think applying labels like 'clean' and 'dirty' to food is completely f*cked up. I can't wait until everyone either gets over this 'clean eating' obsession, or just stops preaching about it

I would agree that what you eat generally isn't that important; its the calories that make you fat. I am not trying to be argumentative. However; there have been studies which show that an equal amount of calories in salmon vs beef (one containing omega 3s, the latter trans fats) showed that the salmon eaters, calorie for calorie, lost slightly more weight. The same has been studied using refined grains vs. whole grains with a similar result. Both are a slight edge. The most drastic is the diet soda drinkers vs. sugar-laden soda have a very slight edge over the soda drinkers when it should be significant.

Then there is genetics. Some people gain weight who eat their calories when they are high in carbohydrates, and others do not.

lua_

You can't out run a bad diet. Unless you have some specific hormonal issue that could be identified with a blood test, you eat too much, and/or exercise too little. If all you are doing is loosing weight, you can do that on a Twinkies and chips diet. I wish there was another answer.

This^^^

You'll do much better eating clean foods. The vegitarian image that comes to mind is a skinny person but it can easily be a fat person eating processed junk. You might also want to look up vegitarian bodybuilding, there's information on how you can get enough protein to make that happen. Maybe ask your doctor about whey isolate, there's not really any lactose in that if that's the issue.

Good luck

Rubbish. I'm sick of seeing 'EAT CLEAN' everywhere. Weight loss is calories in vs. calories out, that's it. You can lose as much weight eating 'dirty' fast food as you can eating 'clean' foods. Whether you'll feel better and have more muscle mass, that is another question. I believe in eating lots of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, but I will never label myself a 'clean eater' because I think applying labels like 'clean' and 'dirty' to food is completely f*cked up. I can't wait until everyone either gets over this 'clean eating' obsession, or just stops preaching about it

I would agree that what you eat generally isn't that important; its the calories that make you fat. I am not trying to be argumentative. However; there have been studies which show that an equal amount of calories in salmon vs beef (one containing omega 3s, the latter trans fats) showed that the salmon eaters, calorie for calorie, lost slightly more weight. The same has been studied using refined grains vs. whole grains with a similar result. Both are a slight edge. The most drastic is the diet soda drinkers vs. sugar-laden soda have a very slight edge over the soda drinkers when it should be significant.

Then there is genetics. Some people gain weight who eat their calories when they are high in carbohydrates, and others do not.

I definitely agree that certain foods will help you maintain a better lifestyle and contribute to weight loss, but I'm just tired of seeing people talk about 'clean' eating as if it's the HG of weight loss. Sorry if I sounded argumentative :flowerforyou:

diane_slone

I have been a vegetarian for 9 months and i gained weight! french fries, cheese and bread. Those white starchy carbs will get ya everytime! Start tracking your carbs and you should see an immediate difference in the scale.

npenar

Thank you all for the replies and all the great info. I have always tried to eat farely healthy but i am not a huge fan of working out....i know i know. I do a lot of things in the yard i am not lazy at all, most of the time i cannot sit still but this 20 lbs i gained in the last few years has thrown me for a loop. Yes, i am one of those i have been skinny all my life even to skinny and just never had to worry about what i ate except the opposite i just didn't feel like eating but i had to force myself cause if not i would loose weight. I made it to my low 40's and then bam the last 2 years it came on and i was lost i didn't know what to do. So now i am trying to make a change. I blame it on my husband who around that time came home for good after retiring from the Navy lol

I enjoy how i feel since going vegetarian and plan to eat as healthy as i can, but i want to loose the 15 lbs get back in my clothes that i miss and then use my new knowledge of food to eat healthy, keep things moving, but still enjoy life and the foods in it. Luckily i am not a junk food junkie i do crave once in a while but i can walk away with no regret.

My daughter and my puppies Bella & Buck had me dancing and jumping around last night to the worst song i ever heard but we had fun and hey i''m sure that got rid of a few calories.

npenar

No worries Lua_ i appreciate your advice! Yeah it was a bit of a shock to get up on Monday bring my normal lunch, go to the GI and then get to work look at my lunch...throw it away & say if i don't start this now i never will. I wanted the frustration, bloating, just plan feeling run down and crappy to go away, but very busy life and can't stop. I do feel alot better but doing this has forced to me see food for what it's worth so i am doing the min 6 weeks (actually passed) my Dr asked to see how my intestinal track did....as he put it "i have never had a vegetarian patient on a high fiber, whole food diet with back up issues" ok i walked out shaking my head saying uhm what next he didn't have a sheet of info to help and uhm i have never eaten quite this strick, but TG for the internet!

npenar

BTW all, forgive me if i am not posting or replying properly. I am great with computers but not with blog type stuff. I don't even do Facebook and this is the first time i have ever done any type of messaging. So i see the reply button i type and hit post, hopefully that's all i need to do lol. My posts won't always be so long but i just had to get some things off my chest.

breanazank

I was raised vegetarian and now have 90% vegan diet (I have the occasional frozen yogurt haha)
Number one mistake newly vegetarians do is consume TOO MANY carbs; they instantly turn to breads, pastas, and various other types of starches and high sugar/caloric foods. You have to do your research, and frequently. Vegetarian diets are very innovative and constantly coming up with new protein alternatives and other healthy good eats and health benefit discoveries. Just because something is vegetarian, doesn't necessarily mean it's healthier for you. I have seen maaany mock-meats that are extremely processed and fatty. Always read the label and see what you are putting into your body.

My suggestion: Eat clean. Whole grains, leafy greens, beans/legumes, and vegetables. Use very little oil when cooking (I usually do water sautees!) and minimal salt/sugar (I use tamari or a sea salt mix with sesame seeds, and for my sweetener, I like using agave). Look on blogs for new meal ideas; get creative and make it fun instead of an obligation

npenar

breanazank....i soooo agree with you! That was the first thing i was worried about was to many carbs. Yes i thought ok i will watch the processed foods & looked at the faux meats and thought uhm these are pretty processed, so i have only had them a few times. I still have lots to learn. I just bought some agave for a wrap recipe i found, i will have to try that. The whole grains has me a little confused when i think of whole grains pasta, rice & cereal come to mind but they seem to have lots of carbs?

Slrajr

The same thing happened to me. I lost weight very nicely for six months and I just had about four more to go. Then I stopped eating meat and eggs and reduced dairy. I plateaued for about three months. I think my brain just had to ajust. I think I was probably focusing on B12 and protein and new recipes a little more than eating less than TDEE and measuring carefully. After three months I started to lose again and I reached my goal weight quickly. My secret I think is that I just kept believing in myself and I didn't give up.

kittiebittie

Dietician or nutritionist call? They should def be able to help out and help you build meals you will enjoy. :flowerforyou:

lbesaw

Vegetarian is not low calorie. It "can be" but you have to read labels. Since you have been doing that I assume you are aware. Vegetarian or non-vegetarian it still boils down to calories in, calories out. It will take awhile for you to get into your groove so I hightly recommend measuring "everything" intially so you can keep on top of it.
Good luck.

SuMcP

I'm a life long veggie, but it is not necessarily the key to a healthier diet; for example, I know lots of veggies who eat no veggies, but live on carbs.

Log your food, but also ensure you get a good balance of carbs, proteins and fats (yes fats - you need them!) Protein can be tricky, but there is quorn, eggs, cheese, milk, nuts, tofu and beans. Try to avoid processed foods, although if you do need to use ready meals Amy's Kitchen are the best.

Ping me a friend request if you'd like support. :flowerforyou:

sloth3toes

BTW all, forgive me if i am not posting or replying properly. I am great with computers but not with blog type stuff. I don't even do Facebook and this is the first time i have ever done any type of messaging. So i see the reply button i type and hit post, hopefully that's all i need to do lol. My posts won't always be so long but i just had to get some things off my chest.

That's all you have to do... hit REPLY, type your message, and POST REPLY. You don't have to feel obligated to reply to every other poster's reply.... but it's very nice that you do. Many posters, start a thread, and get pages and pages of replies, and never return, or at least never reply in their own thread.

I'm kind of pleasantly surprised that your Dr believes that changing your diet will help your symptoms. It seems that most Dr's aren't well versed in nutrition, and will automatically just prescribe drugs. That he didn't school you properly in exactly what you should be doing.... that's bad.... but you are doing your own research, and that's good.

As for weight loss.... IMHO, you have a minimal amount of weight to lose... and because of that, you shouldn't expect it to fall off too quickly.... TV shows like the biggest loser, where the contestants have alot of weight to lose, have caused people to think that losing 10 lbs a week, is normal, for everyone, somehow. If the scale is going down for you, at any speed, that's progress.

npenar

Quote - I'm kind of pleasantly surprised that your Dr believes that changing your diet will help your symptoms. It seems that most Dr's aren't well versed in nutrition, and will automatically just prescribe drugs. That he didn't school you properly in exactly what you should be doing.... that's bad.... but you are doing your own research, and that's good.

Sloth3toes....very cute picture! Yeah i was suprised i thought for sure i was headed for a colonoscopy. He pushed around on my stomach, asked lots of questions, then said i don't think you have cancer or anything so for now i want you to change your diet. He really didn't ask what i ate. Alot has changed but my husband is insistant that i still go back for a follow up and keeps reminding me that this was not to lose weight but to try & figure out what was going on. Well i thought i just made a huge overall on my diet had to be better for me and lose so weight to boot and i have just not as much as i thought. My waitress at Waffle House (i know lol) suggested i check into MFP so i did and again i am learning more! TY ok so i messed up doing the quote thing lol

sloth3toes

Quote - I'm kind of pleasantly surprised that your Dr believes that changing your diet will help your symptoms. It seems that most Dr's aren't well versed in nutrition, and will automatically just prescribe drugs. That he didn't school you properly in exactly what you should be doing.... that's bad.... but you are doing your own research, and that's good.

Sloth3toes....very cute picture! Yeah i was suprised i thought for sure i was headed for a colonoscopy. He pushed around on my stomach, asked lots of questions, then said i don't think you have cancer or anything so for now i want you to change your diet. He really didn't ask what i ate. Alot has changed but my husband is insistant that i still go back for a follow up and keeps reminding me that this was not to lose weight but to try & figure out what was going on. Well i thought i just made a huge overall on my diet had to be better for me and lose so weight to boot and i have just not as much as i thought. My waitress at Waffle House (i know lol) suggested i check into MFP so i did and again i am learning more! TY ok so i messed up doing the quote thing lol

If you just hit QUOTE to the left of REPLY, it will quote everything from the previous post. Thanks, not too many people tell me I'm cute. Lazy, maybe... but not cute. I think alot of us get hung up on the vanity perspective of weight loss. I'm down from my all-time high, to close enough to my 1st goal weight, to feel a LOT healthier, and for that, I'm grateful.... but, I'm still rather obsessive about the last 10 lbs. I mean, I can swim 50% more laps than when I started... I can walk up the stairs to work without getting winded.... I know I look and feel 100% better than I did 5 or 6 months ago.... but, I'm still bent outa shape over the last 10 lbs.

Oh ya... I was losing my focus there... the point is.... you're trying to get healthy here. If the diet is helping to correct the symptoms you're suffering from.... that WAS supposed to be the #1 goal here, wasn't it? IMHO ( I'm not a Dr, and I don't even play one on TV ) weight loss often helps relieve alot of symptoms, so, your current diet, can be aimed at both things at once.

ETA * You might be interested in a book by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, called 'Eat to Live.' It is basically his argument for developing a vegan, or as close to it, lifestyle.

There's also a group, here... who are generally trying to eat the ETL way. That sounds a little more 'cultish,' than it actually is.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/2061-eating-to-live

npenar

Your progress on your exercise routine sounds great! The key words in everything you wrote that sticks out to me is "loosing focus" i needed to be reminded of that. I have done an amazing job and have seen great progress i just need to stay focused...TY

Since your stuck on that last 10 lbs is there an adjustment you can make that will shock your system per say. I feel once the newness of the change our bodies get used to it and adapt and then we may not see much change. Like you i am not a DR just my thoughts

I will check into that book you recommened & the group!

sloth3toes

Your progress on your exercise routine sounds great! The key words in everything you wrote that sticks out to me is "loosing focus" i needed to be reminded of that. I have done an amazing job and have seen great progress i just need to stay focused...TY

Since your stuck on that last 10 lbs is there an adjustment you can make that will shock your system per say. I feel once the newness of the change our bodies get used to it and adapt and then we may not see much change. Like you i am not a DR just my thoughts

I will check into that book you recommened & the group!

And here, I was only referring to 'losing focus' with my post, that is, I was starting to babble. :blushing:

I actually thought I saw a fairly recent thread about 'Weight Setpoints.... ' but when I searched for it here, I couldn't find the one I thought I saw, and never read thoroughly. I did find an older thread on the subject though. Some people believe that your body may have certain 'go to' setpoints, that it truly wants to be at, regardless ( within reason ) of your diet. I kind of wonder if I am at one of those.

However.... that said.... I commit one of the cardinal sins of MFP.... I don't log accurately. I know this, yet I do it anyways. I don't weigh my food.... and I'm sloppy and lazy about logging accurately. So, I have no right to complain, that I'm not losing, if I don't know for a fact, how many calories I'm taking in. I also don't know for a fact, what I'm burning through exercise, either. What I do know, is that what I'm eating at the moment, seems to have me maintaining my current weight. So, I could drop some more calories, and in theory, I should lose weight.

I actually prefer your idea, and have been kind of entertaining the same idea for awhile now. I've just been kind of comfortable with what I've been doing, so, I haven't felt too obligated to make any radical changes. But, that's likely to be my next move. I'm only 52, and I don't plan on dying until I'm at least 100, so time is on my side.

:bigsmile:

Oh, and about the book, ETL.... the author does have a website... and he does promote products and stuff on his website... so, most of the 'orthodox MFPers....' will automatically write him off as a snake oil salesman, who is out for the almighty dollar.... I got his book from the library, and I've never sent him a dime. The information is free. What you take from it, is entirely up to you.