Trying to lose weight, vegan, and feeling weak

mary5832

I'm so down. I had some blood work done because I was tired all the time and there were some abnormalities. For example, normal thyroid levels are between 0.25-4.94 but mine was <0.01! I had no idea it could even go that low. I also had very high red blood cell count which I'm not sure has anything to do with being vegan. I don't know if i developed all this because I have beer vegan for 3 months now or I was always this way. I never went in for blood tests before until yesterday. This is why I had so much trouble losing weight in spite of working out every single day! I was beginning to wonder...has anyone experienced this???

MorgueBabe

You aren't enough at all. Not enough food, not enough food with nutrients, not enough protein or variety.
I eat pescatarian with no dairy. My food dairy is open if you want to check it out.

Please learn about vegan nutrition.

CoachReddy

PCRM has been repeatedly criticized by the mainstream medical community. The American Medical Association has called PCRM a “fringe organization” that uses “unethical tactics” and is “interested in perverting medical science.” When he was the AMA’s Vice President for Scientific Affairs, Dr. Jerod M. Loeb wrote that PCRM was “officially censured” by the AMA. That statement also condemned PCRM for supporting “a campaign of misinformation against important animal research of AIDS.” And the American Academy of Neurology has denounced PCRM for “engag[ing] in a multi-year crusade against the March of Dimes including protests directed at March walkers, volunteers, and donors.”

http://www.physicianscam.com/articles/7things.php

My favorite quote on the PCRM is "They are neither physicians, nor are they responsible." - a quote from the Sr. Vice President of the American Medical Association.

PCRM is basically PETA in disguise. They're funded by PETA, the president is the life-partner of PETA's president, PCRM employees write for PETA, but they wanted to try to come up with a way to look like there was medical reasoning for their animal-activist beliefs - thus the birth of the PCRM.

Heck, the PCRM is closely linked to animal-activist organizations officially classified as "terrorists" by the US government. The president of the PCRM was written letters on these terrorist-organizations letterheads ... They're THAT closely linked...

hey there. you and Neanderthin need to quit. you guys don't believe in veganism, you don't believe in holistic medicine. great. wonderful.

now let's have this anti-vegan and anti-holistic discussion in a different thread and actually discuss the OP? sound good?

and yeah OP, I echo others' sentiments, you're just not eating enough. Being a vegan does take an awful lot of research and you really need to know how your body works and what nutrients you require. A B12 supplement is necessary. and you will need to boost those calories a bit. if you feel tired and hungry, that's your body telling you it needs more energy! and calories = energy. simple as that.

Good luck!

(oh, and Dr Andrew Weil is actually very well respected)

Raeontherun

I'm 34, and I am vegan. From what I see you are eating too much "processed" foods..... You need to try whole foods instead to make up your balance of nutrients.

MorgueBabe

I would suggest if you are struggling with ethics of things, you spend a holiday in a farming community where soy, quinoa, and other high on the food chain vegan foods are produced. I have lived in deep deep farming country and worked for them for my whole life, and for ethical reasons I could never be a vegan. Unsustainable, the insane inputs to grow them, what it is doing for the environment (ever tried to raise a bee or a garden when you are surrounded by farmland that is sprayed 1-2x a week for bugs because dem bugs just LOVE the soybeans?), and what it does for my health on several counts. I hope for wisdom for you and health for me who lives in the middle of this farmland and inhales all this wonderful vegan spray. . .

Sorry my ethics for being a vegan/vegetarian/pescatarian still win out. That's why I buy organic and avoid soy. Farm to Fridge gives me nightmares.

affacat

no vegan should require laxatives. i say that with all seriousness, with much experience. if you do, somethings wrong. i mean, it's well known that if you're vegan, you poop a lot. it's a good thing. requiring laxatives is worth going to a doctor over.

CoachReddy

no vegan should require laxatives. i say that with all seriousness, with much experience. if you do, somethings wrong. i mean, it's well known that if you're vegan, you poop a lot. it's a good thing. requiring laxatives is worth going to a doctor over.

ain't that the truth

affacat

I would suggest if you are struggling with ethics of things, you spend a holiday in a farming community where soy, quinoa, and other high on the food chain vegan foods are produced. I have lived in deep deep farming country and worked for them for my whole life, and for ethical reasons I could never be a vegan. Unsustainable, the insane inputs to grow them, what it is doing for the environment (ever tried to raise a bee or a garden when you are surrounded by farmland that is sprayed 1-2x a week for bugs because dem bugs just LOVE the soybeans?), and what it does for my health on several counts. I hope for wisdom for you and health for me who lives in the middle of this farmland and inhales all this wonderful vegan spray. . .

Stuff like 'quinoa' isn't "vegan foods", it's food that happens to be vegan. Vegans aren't driving the quinoa industry, and to suggest that is just silly, as if 'meat eaters' somehow don't support destructive farming in addition to supporting the meat industry. Not to mention, any industry can be abusive, so misdirecting to that while ignoring that the meat industry is far, far, more destructive and vile is just plain silly. Can both be improved? Certainly. But in the meantime, animals aren't dying wholesale for my meals.

And furthermore, the vast majority of vegans i know source their veggies as locally as possible.

And no, I'm not currently vegan, but I have been.

daffodilsoup

A vegan diet can be perfectly healthy if you are educated and diligent about meeting your macro and micronutrients.

http://www.vegansociety.com/lifestyle/nutrition/
http://www.happycow.net/vegan_nutrition101.html

Please do a little research on what your body needs - I've provided two resources above - and also, do not hesitate to look through my diary for ideas.

servilia

It doesn't look like your daily menu adds up anywhere NEAR 1500. Add more food and eat more protein.