Gaining weight after being a Vegetarian
ColeyBear88
Posts: 6
Hey everyone. I'm a little dumbfounded. In an attempt to cut out the amount of fat I was consuming (via meat obviously) I became a vegetarian. The funny thing is, not only have I not lost any weight, I've actually GAINED weight. I log EVERYTHING I eat and exercise for 45 min including cardio that incorporates light hand weights. I'm always within my calorie goal but no weight has dropped. Here is a sample of what I've been eating:
Yesterday:
Breakfast:
Non-fat greek vanilla yogurt (1/2 cup)
4 strawberies
12 grapes
Lunch:
2 cups of homemade 3 bean vegetarian chili
Dinner:
Veggie burger with light wheat bread, onion, romaine lettuce, and spicy pepper spread
veggie stix
Snacks:
1 orange
2 cups baby carrots with fat free dressing
3 cups of coffee with 2 tablespoons non-fat creamer
8 glasses of water
Can anyone tell me where I might be going wrong???
Yesterday:
Breakfast:
Non-fat greek vanilla yogurt (1/2 cup)
4 strawberies
12 grapes
Lunch:
2 cups of homemade 3 bean vegetarian chili
Dinner:
Veggie burger with light wheat bread, onion, romaine lettuce, and spicy pepper spread
veggie stix
Snacks:
1 orange
2 cups baby carrots with fat free dressing
3 cups of coffee with 2 tablespoons non-fat creamer
8 glasses of water
Can anyone tell me where I might be going wrong???
0
Replies
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Do not become a vegetarian as a diet if you could otherwise eat meat! Unless you don't believe in eating meat, it really will not help you lose weight. I'm a vegetarian, and I struggle with it. I wish I could just eat a piece of grilled chicken!
I can't stress enough - don't do it!
Edit - from what you've logged, you should be fine calorically, unless you are piling cheese and avacado and other toppings onto your chilli and burgers without logging them. But you don't need to avoid fat so much. Fat is part of the human diet, and a calorie is a calorie is a calorie.0 -
You should really open up your diary. One day with no indication of the calorie amounts is really not that helpful. I also agree with the poster above that vegetarianism is not really useful as a weightloss plan. It's just about the calories. Good luck!0
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How does your protein intake now compare to what it was when you were eating meat? The sample day you posted doesn't have a lot of protein at all -- beans are actually a really poor source of protein, and depending on the brand, veggie burgers can have almost no protein. What happens pretty often when people go veggie is that they replace the protein they were getting in meat with extra carbs, and since you're also trying to reduce fat, your macros are probably out of whack.0
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How much fats are you getting? Your body needs fats to process the food you do eat. If you are really low in fats, you can be stalling your progress.0
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How does your protein intake now compare to what it was when you were eating meat? The sample day you posted doesn't have a lot of protein at all -- beans are actually a really poor source of protein, and depending on the brand, veggie burgers can have almost no protein. What happens pretty often when people go veggie is that they replace the protein they were getting in meat with extra carbs, and since you're also trying to reduce fat, your macros are probably out of whack.
This. Protein is hard as a veggie.
Greek yoghurt only goes so far, and tofu gets tiring.
Protein shakes are really crucial to meeting protein goals, at least for me.0 -
Edit: double post.0
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How much fat were you consuming? How much fat are you consuming now?
Fat is not a bad thing. You need fat in your diet. Unless you were eating a big, fatty steak every day I don't see the point in cutting out meat. Actually, there's no reason to cut meat out at all unless you have a moral obligation. There are plenty of meats that are low in fat.0 -
Becoming a vegetarian in order to lose weight is a poor plan doomed to failure, I think. Most restrictive diets are.
Anyway, open your diary. Also tell us how much weight you've gained, over what period of time, and when you started your current exercise routine.0 -
Being vegetarian does not cause weight loss. You can still eat too many calories.0
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Check out my before and after picture. I was a vegetarian in both of them. It is not synonymous with healthy. I had high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and all sorts of junk and I have never eaten meat in my life.0
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In an attempt to cut out the amount of fat I was consuming (via meat obviously).
I don't follow. What sort of meat were you eating? There are tons of meat sources that don't have much fat, and if they do, it's fine... because fat isn't bad. Fat doesn't make you fat. Too many calories does.0 -
the entire post is silly.
1) being a vegetarian or vegan or whatever is more of an ethical / moral type of lifestyle. not a weight loss method.
2) you can eat nothing but fruit, and still gain weight, because it comes down to the amount of calories you are consuming. who ever told you to become a vegetarian without having a moral conviction to do so, just to lose weight gave you silly advice.
3) if you want to lose weight, you need to control your calorie consumption, not deprive yourself of entire food groups without having a history of education in that type of lifestyle which would direct you on healthy alternatives to the nutriebts that you were depriving your body of.0 -
Also this. And you can eat plenty of vegetarian sources of fat (avocados, potato chips, oils).In an attempt to cut out the amount of fat I was consuming (via meat obviously).
I don't follow. What sort of meat were you eating? There are tons of meat sources that don't have much fat, and if they do, it's fine... because fat isn't bad. Fat doesn't make you fat. Too many calories does.0 -
I was a vegetarian for many years and did not have a weight problem. I was not getting enough protein so I added fish back a few years ago. You can lose muscle if you aren't careful. More muscle burns more calories. Many of the vegetarian sources of protein are high in carbs. It is hard to say exactly why you have gained, could be too much sodium. Review your diary and see where your numbers are.0
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You eat more than you think.0
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Just eat Grilled Chicken or Boiled meat to avoid fat, don't stop eating meat just to lose weight.0
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You eat more than you think.
Yep, it seems like that might be the case.
OP, how many calories do you eat per day (at least according to your estimates)?0 -
I measure everything out that I eat. I eat anywhere form 1300-1250 a day and have been consuming around 50g of protein. I have other reasons for being a vegetarian other than the fat consumption, but I don't think I have to explain every reason to people I don't know, so I'll decide to ignore anyone commenting for the soul reason of criticizing my lifestyle choices.0
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If you are to be a vegetarian, it might be a good idea to get into cooking, as there is a lot of processed vegetarian food out there, including veggie burgers and sausages, that is very high in salt and in carbs. Not that there is anything wrong with carbs, but a vegetarian diet does tend to be more carb heavy compared to a Pescetarian or Omnivore diet and can cause a change in the amount of water your body holds onto. I was vegetarian for a decade, then switched to eating fish and seafood as well. It works for me. 50g of protein is really not an awful lot. I aim for at least 80g, preferably 100g+.0
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I measure everything out that I eat. I eat anywhere form 1300-1250 a day and have been consuming around 50g of protein. I have other reasons for being a vegetarian other than the fat consumption, but I don't think I have to explain every reason to people I don't know, so I'll decide to ignore anyone commenting for the soul reason of criticizing my lifestyle choices.
Actually the first thing you said was that you cut out the meat to reduce your fat intake, not for other reasons? So that is why people are telling you to eat lower fat meats, they are not trying to criticize your lifestyle choices. If you are also an ethical vegetarian, then that is a totally different conversation. :flowerforyou:0 -
I lost 10 pounds with mfp using an IIFYM approach. Then I stopped eating meat, gained a little, and plateaued for months. When I looked back at my diary I could see that I was often eating at maintenance or over, probably because I was focusing on a different eating plan and it was hard to do both at once. I had reasons unrelated to health and weight for my change, that were more important to me than losing, so i stuck with it. Eventually I figured it out and lost the rest of the weight I wanted, but changing my diet so drastically definitely put a temporary halt to my weight loss.
This is why I believe so strongly that we need to keep things as simple and as routine as possible in order to reach our goals. And you have to have a deficit to lose. Patience helps too.0 -
I think i would go nuts if I had to be a vegtarian -I took the opposite route- I dont really care too much about fat (as long as it is mostly healthy fat) but I do watch my protein so I get enough and I try not to eat carbs that come from white flour, white rice, corn, potatos, carrots etc .... I do allow myself yams though and brown rice on occation - as well as a cheat meal here and there. Has worked for me! I've lost weight and I probably eat more fat than I ever have.0
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what is IIFYM0
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If you are to be a vegetarian, it might be a good idea to get into cooking, as there is a lot of processed vegetarian food out there, including veggie burgers and sausages, that is very high in salt and in carbs. Not that there is anything wrong with carbs, but a vegetarian diet does tend to be more carb heavy compared to a Pescetarian or Omnivore diet and can cause a change in the amount of water your body holds onto. I was vegetarian for a decade, then switched to eating fish and seafood as well. It works for me. 50g of protein is really not an awful lot. I aim for at least 80g, preferably 100g+.
I have been making more homemade meals. I love the feeling of eating clean fresh meals in which I know exactly what is going into them, Thanks for the valuable advice about eating more protein and advising me about the water retention. I appreciate the advice :happy:0 -
I measure everything out that I eat. I eat anywhere form 1300-1250 a day and have been consuming around 50g of protein. I have other reasons for being a vegetarian other than the fat consumption, but I don't think I have to explain every reason to people I don't know, so I'll decide to ignore anyone commenting for the soul reason of criticizing my lifestyle choices.
Are you measuring your food by volume; like cups and tbsp, or are you weighing it with a food scale? Food scales are generally much more accurate and the difference can be up to several hundred calories a day more than you think you are getting when using measuring cups.0 -
I measure everything out that I eat. I eat anywhere form 1300-1250 a day and have been consuming around 50g of protein. I have other reasons for being a vegetarian other than the fat consumption, but I don't think I have to explain every reason to people I don't know, so I'll decide to ignore anyone commenting for the soul reason of criticizing my lifestyle choices.
Are you measuring your food by volume; like cups and tbsp, or are you weighing it with a food scale? Food scales are generally much more accurate and the difference can be up to several hundred calories a day more than you think you are getting when using measuring cups.
I haven't been using a food scale yet, however, I don't believe that measuring is the issue. A cup of carrots isn't going to cost me tons of calories if the serving size is measured in oz. . I go by whatever the label says is in the container as far as calorie and serving size of the product. For example, my extra firm tofu says there are 5, 3 oz servings in a container, so I slice the tofu into 5 equal parts and package them separately from each other in single servings so I don't eat more than the 3oz serving (give or take a few grams or so). Most of the food I eat is measured in cups or tablespoons because that's the serving size on the package.0 -
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-thinkI measure everything out that I eat. I eat anywhere form 1300-1250 a day and have been consuming around 50g of protein. I have other reasons for being a vegetarian other than the fat consumption, but I don't think I have to explain every reason to people I don't know, so I'll decide to ignore anyone commenting for the soul reason of criticizing my lifestyle choices.
Are you measuring your food by volume; like cups and tbsp, or are you weighing it with a food scale? Food scales are generally much more accurate and the difference can be up to several hundred calories a day more than you think you are getting when using measuring cups.
I haven't been using a food scale yet, however, I don't believe that measuring is the issue. A cup of carrots isn't going to cost me tons of calories if the serving size is measured in oz. . I go by whatever the label says is in the container as far as calorie and serving size of the product. For example, my extra firm tofu says there are 5, 3 oz servings in a container, so I slice the tofu into 5 equal parts and package them separately from each other in single servings so I don't eat more than the 3oz serving (give or take a few grams or so). Most of the food I eat is measured in cups or tablespoons because that's the serving size on the package.0 -
log a day of food you ate typically before you became vegetarian and compare your macros. I added protein shakes and reduced sugar and simple carbs and started to see myself losing more fat. In fact the last time I was at the weight I am now I had a lower muscle mass and was a size bigger in clothes. .I see the best results when I hang around 100g protein. There are many vegetarian and vegan protein options including shakes and bars to help you meet your goals.0
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Also I am vegetarian and I was not losing weight when I was hanging around 50g of protein a day. I do soy protein shakes and quest bars to keep my protein up since I can't tolerate eggs or alot of dairy. fats are healthy, I looove avocado0
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