Trying on Veganism - seeing if it fits.

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baldmitch
baldmitch Posts: 90 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm a week and two days into a change of diet. No meat, no dairy, no eggs, no processed-bleached-refined foods like oil, sugar, bleached flour or rice. Whole foods, whole grains.

I am trying this as a last ditch effort to lose weight and become healthier. I've tried calorie counting, working out in the gym 3-4 hours a day. None of it worked.

I'm a diabetic and cardio patient with one HA under my belt.

Speaking of my belt, I'm a health vegan, not an ideological vegan. I'll be keeping my leather belts, shoes, and will cheer on my neighbor hunters this coming autumn, even if I can't accept their gifts of venison, deer sausage, and turkey jerky.

EFFECTS SO FAR

Greater sensitivity to insulin - both my injections and the stuff coming from my pancreas. Less insulin injections, some meals no injections.

After a week of rabbit-dropping poop, by body now produces some healthy-sized excrement.

This week so far, I've lost 3 lbs officially, and probably around 5 lbs total since 8 days ago.

I'm not always hungry. As a matter of fact, I'm rather satiated after meals and between meals.

---

Anybody considering Vegan-vegetarianism-flexitarianism?
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Replies

  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
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    whatever floats your boat.

    I would never try it. If there isnt some sort of dead animal on my plate then it is not considered a meal.
  • baldmitch
    baldmitch Posts: 90 Member
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    Yes, you eat food, I eat stuff food eats. All very interesting.

    Maybe this thread isn't for you...?
  • racicot85
    racicot85 Posts: 8
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    I also recently switched to eating vegan about a month ago to try to lose weight. I am not as strict as you're going. I cook with oil sometimes and things like that. However, I have lost 23 lbs so far. I work out about an hour a day six days a week as well. The first week I had cravings like crazy, but not since. I also stopped tracking my calories cuz somehow I ended up eating more when I tracked them. I'm kind of different though, so that may not be the case for you. Anyway, you should at least try it. And if you slip up once in a while that's better than just eating bad all the time right?
  • NaeNaeJanae
    NaeNaeJanae Posts: 261 Member
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    I'm considering doing a vegan diet to see how I feel. I am definitely a meat eater, but I've been reading up on the health effects of veganism. How hard were your first few days?

    Did you find any books that were helpful?
  • chickennugger13
    chickennugger13 Posts: 22 Member
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    Hi.
    I've been a vegetarian all my life, and I do it for the animals (anyone that has ever seen animals off to get killed with that "Won't somebody please help me?" look in their eyes is the same, from my experience).
    I've been vegan for a week now. I think I'll stick to it. I just feel so much better, and can run so much further.
    Food just tastes better too. There's something so calming and freeing about a purely plant based diet that I didn't realise I was missing when I kept dumping cheese on everything. It may sound odd, but I'm drinking a coffee right now with soy milk, and I realised that regular milk always tastes kind of...Slimy to me.
    I feel better emotionally and physically.
  • VitaminAmy
    VitaminAmy Posts: 130 Member
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    I switched to a vegan diet for my health... after several months I feel so much better so sticking with it. :)
  • 12bfree
    12bfree Posts: 67 Member
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    Nothing is going to work for you, regardless of what you choose to eat, unless you determine the correct caloric deficit for your lifestyle. People can argue about it all they want but it is impossible to loose weight if a person is eating more calories than they expend. Another common error is overestimating calories expended during exercise.

    My point is 3000 calories of asparagus is still 3000 calories.

    Good luck on your journey.
  • baldmitch
    baldmitch Posts: 90 Member
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    12bfree,

    You are absolutely correct about calorie intake. The great thing about no-oil vegan is that 300-500 calories of plant-based whole foods reaches biological satiation, where oil and meats pack on the calories in much smaller packages, less filling packages, so you eat more.

    NaeNae,

    The first few days were OK. I'm probably still in them, to tell you the truth - starting my second week. I screwed up just a couple of times. Once when I was at the Asian market - taste-testing a tofu broth (it had oil in it). The second time was a wild night that involved poker and a whole bag of cashews that I ain't talking about ;) . But I haven't had meat-egg-dairy in a week and a day.

    I've been studying about it online. If you have NETFLIX, you might want to watch FORKS OVER KNIVES and a companion docu by ENGINE 2. There's also another docu about juicing which is good. To tell you the truth, I find a lot of the proponents to be propagandizing on the subject and some of the opinions I don't agree with, but I can't deny the general science and the effects on real people is compelling.
  • gogoellen
    gogoellen Posts: 2 Member
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    The more I research - the more confused I get! Each side (vegan vs. paleo) is so passionate that they are right! However what they BOTH agree on is cut the PROCESSED food and the SUGAR!!! I've cut sugar, grains, and dairy to see if it works for my body. Feeling good and have dropped 4 pounds in two weeks. It's easy to stay below my daily calories and I get full easily. I really do think the key is the sugar and the processed junk!!!! It's gotta go - what ever program you follow!!!
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
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    I just went vegan, too, but for ethical reasons. However, added bonus if it's finally what works to get this last bit of weight off and help me keep it off without being crazy hungry all the time. I will consider giving up oil if it gets in my way. It's interesting how many people are doing that.

    Groups you might find useful:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/45-happy-herbivores

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/46-team-vegan
  • baldmitch
    baldmitch Posts: 90 Member
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    Go - don't be confused. I was considering Paleo also, and still might if vegan becomes too hard. Or flexitarian.

    My cardiologist recommended gluten-free or no-white, for some reason. For me, though, I just figured I didn't want to be on a diet, I wanted to have a diet. So, throw away the fads, go with what seems to work over time. For my long term goals, plant-based whole foods seems to be optimal..

    My short-term goal next week may be to have a cheesburger. I don't know. Bridges must be crossed only when present.

    But, yeah, processed-refined-bleached foods have no place in the regular diet.
  • thepetiterunner
    thepetiterunner Posts: 1,238 Member
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    I've been vegan (for health reasons) for a few months now (and did it for a few months last year) and for me, it works out really well. I was never much of a meat eater anyway and I was never really one for cheese, so the loss wasn't that great to me when I switched.

    If it feels good to you, keep on it. It's definitely not for everyone. I really enjoy how I feel eating this way and I feel like I recover from my workouts better. Just personal experience. Feel free to add me as a friend if you want support :)
  • MaaKeMeThinn3r
    MaaKeMeThinn3r Posts: 135 Member
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    Ahhh lemme know if it works, I've been reading up on doing that and am really curious if it actually works!! Good luck!!
    :heart: :heart: Kayleigh Anne:heart::heart:
  • segovm
    segovm Posts: 512 Member
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    I was a vegan for ethical reasons when I was in my twenties...

    A hot girl I liked was into the vegan lifestyle and ipso facto I believed it was wrong to eat animals.

    I went along with it for years, no meat, no dairy, I got rid of all my leather stuff.

    I would say it worked amazing for me in that I got the girl(s) and had a ton of energy but objectively I was pretty malnourished and I eventually got sick of people asking if I had cancer or AIDS. This was twenty years ago though and there are many more vegan food options available now, specifically the proteins that I was lacking so you might fare better than I.

    For the five years I did it I was perpetually hungry. I ate non-stop because I was pretty big on endurance activities and it was hard to get enough fuel in me with what I knew at the time about healthy vegan eating. I would do it again though if I was as into running which was a big thing for me at the time and the lean body wasn't at all a hinderance for me with that sport.

    Just thought I would offer a real guy's perspective on having had done it for some length of time. For me the perks were lots of energy at the cost of having any noticeable muscle development despite thousands of hours working out in a protein deficient state.

    Hope that helps a little.
  • kfleschner
    kfleschner Posts: 2 Member
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    I've been vegan for several years, with some days of eating cheese. It's easy to eat poorly as a vegan. Oreos, crescent rolls, and french fries (most) are vegan. What it will do is make you realize how little vegetables you ate previously, and how much of the typical diet consists of meat and refined starch. Starting out, I'd suggest doing some reading on protein profiles of different foods. Learn what foods to pair with what to make sure you get essential amino acids. Continue to track your diet, and watch for B12 or Vit. D deficiencies. A good multivitamin can help, especially if you're under 2000 kcal/day.
  • DecemberPsalm
    DecemberPsalm Posts: 96 Member
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    This thread is making me miss my vegan days! Thanks for the interesting description of how it's going for you, looks like your body is reacting great to it.

    I was vegan sporadically since age 14 -- a couple years on, a few years off, and so on. Always been vegetarian though.

    UNTIL NOW, that is. A few months ago I started eating fish and find that canned tuna with smart balance mayo and veggies and/or crackers is the most life altering delicious and satisfying meal ever. I'm easy to please, eh? ;)

    I'm really interested in cutting out all dairy but still eating fish. And maybe after I get accustomed to that I could cut out the fish and do the vegan thang for a while. Sorry, I'm basically just rambling about my diet now, haha!
  • Sawieger88
    Sawieger88 Posts: 25 Member
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    Started a vegan diet this week and am loving it. No cravings what so ever. My biggest enemy was cheese and baked goods. Vegan ism has made those difficult to come by. I already ate 80% vegetarian so the switch wasn't difficult. I hope it works for both of us. I have only committed to doing it for a couple of weeks to retrain myself when choosing meals. I want to reach for tha avocado over the dairy and the veggies over the bacon. I think this will train me to make bettera no more sustainable life choices. I hope it does for you as we'll.
  • SkimFlatWhite68
    SkimFlatWhite68 Posts: 1,254 Member
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    I couldn't do it personally, I like my meat and eggs - with a good amount of vegetables too but I'm not sure where I'd get my protein from if I wasn't eating animal products. I'm more of a primal/paleo eater.

    Anyway, good for you! It's good to try new things and if you are doing it for health reasons and it's working for you then I say give it a good hard try. If it doesn't work, well you can say that you gave it a shot.

    Funny thought that you mention "flexitarian" - I saw that only today for the first time in a magazine. It was about Vegan people who after years and years started eating meat a couple of times a week. Was interesting.
  • nikiste
    nikiste Posts: 861 Member
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    I'm a vegetarian, for ethical reasons. Will probably transition to veganism once this has stuck, but I'm still a brand new baby vegetarian. A month and a half old. :P
    Fair warning that if you're doing TRUE vegan, there's no honey allowed, either. It counts as an animal product. Not sure if you included that in your original post, but if you're just in it for health reasons and not for ethical reasons, do it how you will.
  • itistobeme
    itistobeme Posts: 12
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    Try ohsheglows.com for great recipes.

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