I became vegetarian and heres what happened....

Ok guys and girls....random topic I thought I would ask about. I am both confused and dumbfounded, while also being very happy at my success.

I was on a strict diet, 1500-1800 calories a day. I'm a male who was only slightly overweight (30-40 pounds) and wanted to lose it to see his abs. In a shirt I looked skinny with a little bit of a bulge where my belly was.

I started dieting relentlessly, I walked 20KM a day and only ate 1500-1800 calories a day. My body was starving and on the point of exhaustion for almost 2 months. I had lost about 15 pounds doing this before I realized I couldn't continue. I stressed myself about ever pound and worked tirelessly around the clock eating WAY to little, and having WAY to much excercise. I lost 15 pounds in 2 months and was very suprised to see how little of a difference it seemed to make on my body. I looked the same overall.

I couldn't continue. I did more and more research and seen pictures of people who were light-weight but had too much body fat and who worked out and actually GAINED weight but also a great toned body. I figure'd I'd try this out.

I began to weight train vigorously daily and with a diet of now 2400-2700 calories, far less cardio, and plenty of weight training aswell as intermittently fasting till 3 o clock in the afternoon about 3x per week and following a fairly low carb diet plan, I maintained my weight almost to the T, being 158 pounds during my starvation period, i was still spot on 158 pounds the entire time during this workout period. However I became more toned and began to see my top 2 abs through the layer of body fat and when flexing my abs became more defined. I also had my first signs of some real pecks (i had been doing LOTS of benching) and my shoulders and back seemed much more muscular. This all occured within 1 month, I was also taking creatine and L-arginine at the time.


Then I randomnly had an epiphany and decided I would go vegetarian, not just for diet (although diet was a key factor) but also for the enviroment.


This is where it gets wierd.

I know people think a vegetarian would eat less altogether calories, and lose weight, but what happened was I was constantly hungry and craving food. I had realized that even just a can of black beans contained almost 1000 calories and that being on a vegetarian diet did NOT mean weight loss. Alot of the meals my body was craving was high in calories and easy to over-eat, such as chickpeas, hummus, peanut butter, black beans, ect.

I went from almost daily intermittently fasting to eating multiple peanut butter banana sandwiches for breakfast and spoonfuls of peanut butter throughout the day as a snack. I can assume there are days now where i eat 3000+ calories. I am also consuming HUGE quanities of carbs which is a huge no-no in weight training and fat loss.

I've been eating whole spinach pizzas to myself (oftentimes after snacking on multiple peanut butter banana sandwiches and spoonfuls of PB throughout the day), way more bread then I have in probably over a year (2-4 slices of bread a day), black beans (150 grams of carbs in just 1 can) chick peas, tons of potatos and vegetables like mushrooms, onions, garlic, tomatos, spinach, and tons of bananas and fruits aswell. I've also been drinking tons of milk and eating eggs.


I know for a fact there have been times in the last month where I have been eating WAAAAAAY to many carbs, maybe even upwards of 300 grams of carbs a day, while eating WAY to little protein, most days (when i try to get my protein) i eat about 60-90 grams of protein, on a good day, perhaps a little over 100 grams. I am weight training daily and thought this would mess up my weight training, and my muscle mass would decrease.

I have been eating WAY more then usual (I would say literally, twice as much as before), WAY more carbs then normal (2-3 times more carbs or more), i stopped fasting, stopped walking 20km a day, stopped most forms of cardio (i do like 10 min now at the gym as a warm up) but I did completely jack up my weight training and can say I've got an awesome weight training routine now.

Now this is where it gets shocking.


Not only have I rapidly lost 15 pounds doing this over the last 3 weeks (about 5 pounds a week), but I have gotten stronger and have finally reached my goal of doing the 2 45lb weights on the benchpress....so I went from benching 2 25lbs, or 50lb altogether(with the bar a total of 80lbs) to over 120lbs on the benchpress in this time.

So I've lost over 15 pounds, and put over 40lbs more on my benchpress. I also gained more endurance (somedays I was way to sore to make it to the gym...seen it as such a chore...now I can go everyday without complaining or feeling like its too much for me) and I would say I don't feel at all like the lack of protein is effecting me in my recovery times. I actually would say I feel stronger, more able bodied, and healthier.


So now.....


If its true that its really calories in>calories out for weight loss

If its true that intermittent fasting is really the best way to go to burn fat

If its true that carbs cause you to hold onto weight, gain weight, and only cause problems

and if its true that you need huge amounts of proteins (1 gram per pound of bodyweight when weight training) to put on muscle and maintain muscle


Why is it that since I stopped listening to all this crap. Cut meat out of my diet. Started eating massive amounts of peanutbutter, pizza, bread, bananas, vegetables, WAY TO MANY CARBS, WAY TO MANY CALORIES, and WAY TO LITTLE PROTEIN (there have been days I've only ate 45grams of protein), is when I see the most gains? Losing 5 pounds a week, while my benchpress has increased 50lbs, and I feel stronger, more able bodied, able to lift more, having more stamina and work ethic, confidence in my excercises, ect?

The only other thing I'd like to say to is, a friend of mine who is a serious bodybuilder (hes one of the biggest dudes ive ever met in person, hes borderline mutant sized, very little bodyfat and is PURE muscle, 7 feet tall, a chest like arnold swartz)

Is a vegan, struggles to get enough protein, and eats way to many carbs. Dude eats like 6 meals a day. I've seen him eat, I've spent quite a few days hanging out with him to watch him eat a whole thing of bananas and a papaya for breakfast, multiple huge plates of quinoa and brown rice, like 8-10 huge potatos a day. PURE CARBS and HUGE AMOUNTS of them, almost NO PROTEIN RICH FOODS (he avoids tofu and soy says there bad) and is one of the biggest most muscular dudes I've ever seen. Dude is like 7 feet tall and appears a little more muscular then the rock in some ways.

Why is this? Because it breaks all the conventional ideas of diet, weight loss, and bodybuilding, but I can verify for a fact I have noticed vegan and vegetarians (now myself aswell) as losing plenty of fat and putting on lots of muscle aswell as feeling all around better.

Why is this?