Taking the plunge into veganism and hoping to lose weight, too

What is urging you to be vegetarian? If your body is craving meat, especially?

Hey! So happy to hear you're wanting to make the switch!

I definitely recommend choosing one goal at a time -- losing weight vs. veganism. I really believe it is too much to take on at once, and if you try to do both at a time, you will accomplish neither. Totally my opinion of course. But since veganism often (though not always) leads to weight loss, I'd suggest working on that first.

So perhaps up your calories to maitanance (sp), or stop counting for 2-4 weeks or whenever you feel like you are comfortable turning down cheese and seafood and the rest!

The thing that is great with veganism that makes you lose weight naturally, is not just that non-animal foods tend to be lower calories, but a huuuge thing is that soo many processed foods (I'd estimate 90%) include milk, eggs, gelatin in them. So, (1) you will actively be looking at nutrition labels and ingredient lists. You will become more aware of calories counts of food, of which foods are good for you and which are bad. (2) You'll be forced to cook most of your food. Cooked food almost always trumps restaurant food and processed food. (3) You will also be so much more limited at restaurants. I don't really go out to eat (don't have any reason to), but at a standard American restaurant, the only things that will be available are : veg sides without butter, salads without cheese, pasta without butter or cheese. So it makes you want to go out to eat less, and when you do go, you save money, and it is pretty low-cal.

Finally, I've found it rediculously easy to stick to the vegan 'diet' because I do it for ethical reasons. If you haven't already, I highly highly recommend you sit through Earthlings and Cowspiracy. Then, if you see 'milk fat' as an ingredient, or you see yummy cheese sprinkled on something, conjure up those terrible images of those poor animals in your mind. Hold the item and say -- "Is supporting this, worth it, for just me tasting something good? Do I really value my short-lived pleasure over the lives of animals?" I can never go through with it.

I think once you are comfortable with off-limits foods, then you can shift gears to weightloss. It will be a lot less overwhelming then, I think.

I hope this helps!! Message me if you have any questions at all or just want to chat! ^_^


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Just to jump off what was already said in this thread:

malamoocow wrote: »

I think I might be craving meat because my body isn't getting enough of what meat used to provide. My diet when I eat meat has a much higher sodium content, for example.

Every nutrient that is in meat, is in meat because that animal ate plants. The exceptions are what they are fortified with (such as B12, which is made by a bacteria. This must be supplemented for humans as well), and what the animal makes (Vit D is the only one to my knowledge -- you can do this too, so no worries). In terms of macronutrients -- protein is found in all plants. If you get enough calories, you get enough protein (if you are body building or have a good amount of muscle mass you want to maintain, this changes). All plants also contain fat. But in terms of both fat and protein, it is good to eat some foods that are higher in both (for protein -- beans, lentils, oats, rice, soy products, etc ;; for fat -- avocados, seeds, nuts, nut/seed butters, olive oil). And if it helps you transition, I recommend taking a multivitamin to be 100% sure you are getting everything, then you have nothing to worry about! I take B12 (1x a week), iron daily (but I've done this for years, even when I was eating meat daily), and Vitamin D daily (because I don't go outside in the winter -- I live in Montreal).

besaro wrote: »

oh dear. well, for starters, being a vegan won;t be a default setting for losing weight. In fact, so many of those vegan products are loaded with calories to make them palatable.

This is sooo true. I am weaning myself off these specialty products now. When you want to lose weight, these fake meats and fake cheeses and fake butters are reaaally high calorie and very processed -- so less nutrition, more empty calories, more calorie dense.

Honestly I have been eating too much vegan butter and been baking like every few days the last month or two, and even though it's been 100% vegan, I have gained about 5lbs in a month. Cookies are cookies!!