Vegan Weight Gain?

sararooskie1

Question for vegans - did you gain a lot of weight when transitioning to veganism? I seem to have and it's really hard to get off. Like, I lost 7 pounds without really trying the first couple months, but after that I have gained that back and then some. I don't know why it is though. I have read online that many people have this problem as well. Hmm...

_VoV

I have been consistently vegetarian for almost 40 years, but over that time, I have adopted various 'diets' over the years: vegan, gluten-free, veggie 'Atkins', all whole foods, etc. Whenever I change things up, I lose a nominal amount of weight just as you said you did for the first month or so. I credit that with the newness of it, and figuring it out. But eventually, I DO figure out how to shop and cook in whatever way I decide to go. Baking and making desserts are DEADLY to any diet endeavor where weight loss is my objective. I must treat sugar, fat and flour (white, gluten free or whole wheat)--particularly in combination--as my kryptonite. Candy, too.

'Binge foods' aside, I also think many vegan foods don't fill you up for very long. I find I need at least a couple of snacks during the day, and that can easily turn into a grazing pattern--again DOOM to any weight loss effort for me. At times, when the hunger seizes me in the evening before I go to bed, I actively try to think about what food might make me feel full--there aren't too many! Sometimes pasta or potatoes help to 'fill the hole in my stomach', other times not.

Some days, eating everything with a mind to balanced nutrition and loads of fiber helps. Still, as a 50+ year-old woman, it takes many days of such eating to see a single pound come off. Let's say, if a real famine hit this planet, I'd probably be a long-time survivor!

Sway

At very first I didn't, because I was not sure what to eat, but have since easily gained up to about 10ish pounds depending. It's really frustrating. It was just a change from vegetarian to vegan too... bummer.