Success on a Vegetarian Diet?

kaittea
kaittea Posts: 96 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hellooo! I've done a lot of research regarding low-carb diets and I've been following one (varying in intensity) for quite a while, on and off. I was a vegetarian for 3 months until a nutritionist recommended I start eating meat because it would make my progress quicker. I don't really think I saw many results, but then again I'm not sure I saw many when I was vegetarian either-- but I suspect it might have been because I wasn't tracking calories... and I ate my fair share of cheese!
I want to go vegetarian for the second time around, this time for good, and I was just wondering if any of you have lost weight by going vegetarian and if so, how much dairy do you eat and how many grains do you intake?

Also I would love if vegetarians with open diaries commented here so I could add you and get inspired by your food <3
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Replies

  • annabakingthomson
    annabakingthomson Posts: 3
    Hi

    I've been a veggie for most of my life. I lost 2 and a half stone (35lbs) about 3 years ago. I lost it doing Weightwatchers but I've stopped that now and I'm on here instead. The food I eat on MFP is very similar to what I was eating on Weightwatchers. I've pretty much managed to maintain my weight although a holiday in Italy and being a bit rubbish in the last few months means I've put on about 6lbs which I want to lose again before Christmas.

    I tend to steer away from too many grains (apart from cereal in the morning) and I eat quite a lot of low calorie proteins such as tofu, cottage cheese etc. Take a look at my diary. Iv'e been naughty recently and haven't tracked for ages but I'm back on track as of today.

    I make a lots of curries, soups and so on and use lots of "filling" veg like butternut squash. I also eat pulses quite a lot - homemade hummus (easy on the oil) chickpeas and lentils. If you like cheese what about goats cheese especially Feta. I eat quite a few Greek Salads, tasty and filling.

    It is harder to eat out being a veggie, as most restaurants rely very heavily on pasta and cheese. I'll quite often have a starter and a side salad instead of a main.

    Good luck
  • annabakingthomson
    annabakingthomson Posts: 3
    PS - I don't normally eat cheese and mayo sandwiches for lunch but I'm recovering from the winter vomiting bug, and it's all I fancied!

    :-)
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
    If you want to go vegetarian for moral & ethical reasons, go for it. If you want to do it to lose weight, don't bother. You can lose weight eating meat and you can lose weight not eating meat.

    I was a vegetarian for about 18 years, and just recently started eating seafood. My advice, just track your calories and stay under your TDEE, and you'll lose weight regardless of what you eat. Just make sure you get enough protein. Try to keep your diet balanced and don't fall into the "I gave up meat & now all I eat is bread and cheese" group. I know a lot of people who do that.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    I am not a vegetarian...but I eat mostly pescetarian. This means, for me, that I stopped eating beef, pork & poultry one year ago this week...but have eaten a tiny bit of chicken in pad Thai a half dozen times and one hamburger "just to see if I missed it" (not really).

    The initial reasons I stopped eating meat were A) my then-boyfriend (now husband) is completely pescetarian and I never really loved meat and hating cooking meat and B) his best male friend gave up meat and lost 80 lb in a year.

    I lost about 5 lb in 5 months. Not a drastic loss whatsoever, especially for someone who was 267 lb to start with. So from my personal experience I'd say no, it didn't really help my weight loss. But I love the new protein sources I've discovered and I am happier not cooking and preparing meat. I really don't miss it and when I had that burger (for example) I was expecting to either be like "nom nom nom, going back to beef" or "eww, I feel sick". Neither thing happened. It was just okay.
  • dandelyon
    dandelyon Posts: 620 Member
    Yes, you can lose weight without eating meat. Anna has broken it down pretty well. :) Experimenting with beans, tofu, and new and different vegetables was helpful for me, although you can just eat less of what you already eat to lose weight. Greek yogurt and eggs are probably a bit part of my protein intake.

    So true about eating out as a vegetarian trying to watch calories. You'll learn pretty quickly that some places have nothing to offer but battered and fried cheese.
  • redraidergirl2009
    redraidergirl2009 Posts: 2,560 Member
    What was your reasoning for going vegetarian? If it was weightloss it's not a good option since it's not a fad diet that will help drop weight fast.

    Eating vegetarian and losing is about eating healthy fresh foods. Check out Happy Herbivore, light and lean. It's a lo-cal, healthy recipe book that diet friendly. Cheap on amazon. Picking it up myself. Losing weight and being vegetarian does take some tinkering, but eating meat won't make you lose weight any faster. You still have to count calories and balance macros.
  • lizzardsm
    lizzardsm Posts: 271 Member
    You don't need to go low carb or eat meat to lose weight. Check out Sarauk2sf's story here:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/903628-one-year-of-barbells-and-ice-cream-my-story-so-far-pics

    She's AMAZING and a vegetarian. She's also very friendly and accepts friend requests with a message. She's a huge source of knowledge and inspiration. :)
  • KinoM
    KinoM Posts: 359 Member
    Hey, I'm a long term vegetarian who went pescetarian about a year back, and I've lost 43 lbs so far. In terms of limiting carbs I went with a 40/30/30 macro split fairly early on in and it's worked well for me, though it can be tough to hit my protein target without a protein shake & even tougher without some fish in the day, but it's do-able. I cook dinner from scratch almost every night with plenty of fresh veg, beans, pulses, etc. and use Quorn or other meat substitutes quite a bit. I often cook extra for lunch the following day. Other than that you need to watch your iron & B vitamin intake, and try to stay in your macros. And watch the cheese portion sizes! My diary's open if you want to have a look.
  • besaro
    besaro Posts: 1,858 Member
    I've been a vegetarian for over 20 years and while I consider to part of the reason I got fat, that combined with a sedentary job, quitting smoking and laziness, I have lost about 100 pounds eating no meat and frankly, once I started learning about nutrition it has been super easy. (no, I dont want to talk about the last 15 to go)

    As a veg i turned to the easy things, pasta, cheese, breads for my meals. Going out to dinner these were my options, oh, or a house salad. But thankfully the world has responded and more and more chefs are creative and thoughtful.

    Feel free to check my diary, its is always open. Nothing to hide, except maybe an occasional splurge on pizza!!

    I wouldn't compromise my morals for a diet. Its too easy to make better choices for nutrients.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    No one lifestyle is better than the next. Weight loss occurs when you create a deficit of 3500 calories and it doesn't matter which macronutrient you use to create that deficit. You can gain weight on any type of diet you choose. Best advice, regardless of lifestyle, get a food scale and aim for about 1g of protein and .35g of fats per lb of lean body mass. Also, do a combination of weight training and cardio. So if you do go vegetarian, make sure you research it enough to ensure you get getting the right amount of macronutrients (especially protein).
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Being a vegetarian doesn't guarantee anything...either weight control or nutritionally speaking. There's nothing inherently "evil" about meat and in deed, we've evolved to consume it...so if your reasons for going veg are because you think that by eliminating "evil" meat you will some how lose weight then that is a stupid reason...there are many legit reasons to go veg, but that isn't one of them.

    Keep in mind that you will have to make up for the nutrients lost from not eating meat...this isn't necessarily difficult, but you do need to know which foods to choose and make sure you're eating them to get proper nutrition. It is likely you will need to supplement with B-12 as well. Also a lot of veggies suffer from anemia so keep an eye on your iron and make sure you're getting enough

    Being a vegetarian can be a healthy lifestyle if you make it a healthy lifestyle...just as being carnivorous can be a healthy lifestyle or not...it's all what you make of it and ultimately comes down to your nutritional decisions. One or the other is not necessarily better or worse...either way, if you consume a balance of energy then you will maintain weight...if you consume a surplus of energy you will gain weight...if you consume a deficit of energy you will lose weight...the weight loss part is just math and has ZERO to do with whether you are carnivorous or veggie or vegan or paleo or whatever...
  • annabakingthomson
    annabakingthomson Posts: 3
    To Besaro, I'm confused - I see turkey sausage on your diary?
  • Sarahnade42x
    Sarahnade42x Posts: 308 Member
    I lost 75 pounds vegetarian. I reintroduced very lean meats into my diet literally just this week only because I'm trying to build muscle and need the extra protein. Most vegetarian foods that are as protein-dense as meat are also processed and high sodium, unfortunately, but it's entirely possible to lose weight that way.
  • TheGymGypsy
    TheGymGypsy Posts: 1,023 Member
    I have been vegetarian literally all my life. I have been obese and I have been healthy. It's easy to get fat on a vegetarian diet, just like any other. I would do it only if you have moral reasons to do so, it is not a diet that will guarantee you any weight loss. In fact, it can do quite the opposite since most vegetarian meals are pasta and bread centered. Just make healthy choices and you will be successful. :)
  • twixlepennie
    twixlepennie Posts: 1,074 Member
    To Besaro, I'm confused - I see turkey sausage on your diary?

    and pepperoni pizza, but maybe she picked off the pepperoni :tongue:

    OP-weight loss is about calories. Period. Becoming a vegetarian for AR or environmental issues is one thing, but to become a vegetarian because you think it will help you lose weight is just not necessary-a calorie deficit is.
  • topazora
    topazora Posts: 82 Member
    I see no reason why you couldn't loose weight on a vegetarian/vegan diet. Its all about calories in calories out. Just make sure that the plant based foods you're eating are good. If you're not allergic to gluten, whole wheat is really good, eat foods like beans, rice (brown or white- both are good), oats...etc
    Even though I'm a proponent of a diverse, omnivorous diet, the nice thing about being human is that we can choose what part of the food pyramid we can eat and what not to eat, and still be healthy. There are a lot of people who live off on meat and potatoes and are doing fantastic- just as there are lot of veggies that are doing really good too. Though, I do eat a lot of poultry, cheese and eggs, the main sources of my protein. Not a huge fan of beef, won't touch pork or lamb, and doing very little to get myself to eat fish.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    I'm a vegan as you can see by my ticker it has really impeded my weight loss ;-)
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
    To Besaro, I'm confused - I see turkey sausage on your diary?

    and pepperoni pizza, but maybe she picked off the pepperoni :tongue:


    She's a vegetarian... except for when she eats meat. :tongue:
  • willrun4bagels
    willrun4bagels Posts: 838 Member
    I've been a vegetarian since I was five years old. I never liked eating meat prior to that (it's a texture thing for me. I cook meat for my SO, and have no problem buying it, preparing it, etc. in my house, I just can't stomach the idea of eating it. Believe me, I've tried). I used to ask "did the turkey have a mother? did it hurt when it died?" when I was three years old at the dinner table. I also pretended I was a dog (out of protest) at age 4 until my parents took me to the shelter to get a dog. I must have been such a joy to raise...

    Anyway. I track everything I eat, weigh all of my food, and experiment with a lot of recipes. My diary is open for friends to view. Feel free to add me, just send a message with your friend request. :)
  • besaro
    besaro Posts: 1,858 Member
    ya, sometimes i just put in approximations since the mfp database doesnt have exact things. no worries though, I know turkey isnt a vegetable! I am still lazy, but 100% vegetarian, no gelatin, no rennet, etc I know my shizz,
  • trishmattice
    trishmattice Posts: 1
    I've lost over 30 pounds and I eat a mostly vegetarian diet.
  • Gkfrkv
    Gkfrkv Posts: 120
    Changing your diet, or cutting out something that you previously ate much of you most likely will lose weight. I've lost weight just by starting to have more control of what I eat by making most of it myself and practicing portion control.
  • Gkfrkv
    Gkfrkv Posts: 120
    I've been a vegetarian since I was five years old. I never liked eating meat prior to that (it's a texture thing for me. I cook meat for my SO, and have no problem buying it, preparing it, etc. in my house, I just can't stomach the idea of eating it. Believe me, I've tried). I used to ask "did the turkey have a mother? did it hurt when it died?" when I was three years old at the dinner table. I also pretended I was a dog (out of protest) at age 4 until my parents took me to the shelter to get a dog. I must have been such a joy to raise...

    Anyway. I track everything I eat, weigh all of my food, and experiment with a lot of recipes. My diary is open for friends to view. Feel free to add me, just send a message with your friend request. :)

    When I was 5 my mother had me and my sisters help cut up wild sheep and deer that we got from family. We had entire carcases in the basement on a table and my task was to remove tenions (?). We knew where our meat came from, down to the spot where they were shot.

    That said I don't like the concept of modern farming where animals are cramped together and never get to move let alone show any natural behaviour. I get my meat from ecological farms that I know threat the animals good when they are alive, or from wild caught game. I'm going to send you a friend request, because you sound nice.
  • runitskat
    runitskat Posts: 30
    I'm not vegetarian but I eat meat on vary rare occasions. For every day meals I eat a lot of grains/beans (quinoa, barley, lentils) with veggies. I've never been big into dairy as it makes me break out so I eat a little bit of cheese but that's pretty much it. When I started getting healthier I would eat a few ounces of meat with each meal but gradually phased it out as I don't like the way meat makes me feel in general. I've lost about 80lbs by doing this but I can't say that eating meat vs. not eating meat made much of a difference. Like everyone else said it's all about in vs. out.
  • kaittea
    kaittea Posts: 96 Member
    Just to clarify, my going vegetarian is absolutely a moral thing. I have every intention of returning to vegetarianism regardless of what you guys say in terms of whether or not it's helpful for weightloss, I was just curious if any of you were effected by cutting out meat just because of the whole idea that low-fat diets are what the government recommends to lose weight and be healthy.

    I do expect to lose weight from going vegetarian just because right now my downfall is eating a lot of processed meat with not very many vegetables. The first time I became vegetarian I remember eating significantly more vegetables but my lack of tracking/excess of cheese and bread probably cancelled out my efforts. Thanks everyone for your input!
  • kaittea
    kaittea Posts: 96 Member
    Being a vegetarian doesn't guarantee anything...either weight control or nutritionally speaking. There's nothing inherently "evil" about meat and in deed, we've evolved to consume it...so if your reasons for going veg are because you think that by eliminating "evil" meat you will some how lose weight then that is a stupid reason...there are many legit reasons to go veg, but that isn't one of them.

    Keep in mind that you will have to make up for the nutrients lost from not eating meat...this isn't necessarily difficult, but you do need to know which foods to choose and make sure you're eating them to get proper nutrition. It is likely you will need to supplement with B-12 as well. Also a lot of veggies suffer from anemia so keep an eye on your iron and make sure you're getting enough

    Being a vegetarian can be a healthy lifestyle if you make it a healthy lifestyle...just as being carnivorous can be a healthy lifestyle or not...it's all what you make of it and ultimately comes down to your nutritional decisions. One or the other is not necessarily better or worse...either way, if you consume a balance of energy then you will maintain weight...if you consume a surplus of energy you will gain weight...if you consume a deficit of energy you will lose weight...the weight loss part is just math and has ZERO to do with whether you are carnivorous or veggie or vegan or paleo or whatever...

    I'm not eliminating it because I think it's "evil". If that were the case I never would have gone back to eating meat once I stopped in the first place. I've done a lot of research and realize that meat is fine for our body. I don't believe eating it is unhealthy or stopping it will make me lose weight. My issue is that I eat a lot of processed meat... not so healthy. So by eliminating meat, not only am I clearing my conscience (because I really hate that I currently support cruelty and the envrionmental issues and everything associated with a meat-heavy diet) but hopefully forcing myself to incorporate more clean foods. Thanks for the input!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    What are your goals anyways? And have you tried to eat whole lean meats and stop eating processed meats? And has eating processed meats caused you to go over your calories?
  • kaittea
    kaittea Posts: 96 Member
    What are your goals anyways? And have you tried to eat whole lean meats and stop eating processed meats? And has eating processed meats caused you to go over your calories?

    There have been points where I've limited myself to lean unprocessed meats, but it seems easy for it to sneak back in my diet (especially when I was following a really strict high fat low carb diet). It's a little harder on my calories but my main issue is the sodium that these processed meats have. When I was a vegetarian I was very experimental with trying new veg and recipes and (even despite the cheese/bread) felt pretty great.
    Like, for example, when I was doing the ketogenic diet, for snacks on road trips I had a pepperoni stick and a cheese stick. When I went vegetarian I had a dish of raw broccoli and cauliflower and some nuts. Eating meat has me more worried about my macros than the actual content of where my calories are coming from, I think.
  • peasantsong
    peasantsong Posts: 107 Member
    I've been a vegetarian for 15+ years and I have not found it to hinder or help weight loss. When I gain weight it's because I'm eating too much and when I lose weight it's because I'm eating less.
  • TheBoldCat
    TheBoldCat Posts: 159 Member
    Am trying to go close to raw veganism (80%). But honestly i wouldn't go for it for weight lost. For me it's a lifestyle, doing something good according to my body (eating meat makes me tired) and for the planet when I see how the large companies grow and treat the animals...

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