losing weight on a vegan diet!!
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tensleysiham
Posts: 9 Member
Hello guys, i became vegan 4 months ago to get healthy and also lose weight, i would love to hear from other vegan members on a weight loss journey.
2
Replies
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The best piece of advice i can give you is to stick to a calorie deficit. Don't fall for the vegan pseudoscience out there.10
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Vegan does not equal healthier or weight loss. To lose weight you have to be in a calorie deficit. Like Rainbowbow said, don't fall for the vegan pseudoscience nonsense out there.
Being vegan is more than just food. It is an ethical stand point that also includes not using ANY animal products. That means no animal hair products, beauty supplies etc that are in a lot of products.8 -
Be nice. She asked for support and advice not a lecture. This is not the space to vent your feelings about a vegan diet or what it means to tensleysiham and whether she is "doing it right".
I am vegan and just work on a calorie deficit mindset. I mainly eat homemade whole foods, having said that I live in an area with very little processed vegan meats, cheeses, etc. I eat lots of vegetables, fruit, grains, tempeh, tofu and legumes. These are my favourite foods plus they fill me up. I do tend to use many herbs and spices as I like highly flavoured food and cuisines. I exercise most days. When I need to lose weight I track my food and excerise daily. Mainly because I eat too much otherwise.
I have been vegan for over 10 years and are very healthy and have never had a problem being so. There are a ton of great cookbooks and blogs out there for new and fresh recipe ideas. Have fun with it. There are so many awesome plant foods that most people never even think of. My diet expanded once becoming vegan. Enjoy!
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My only advice is to be careful and make sure you are getting the nutrients you need. When I went vegan I developed all kinds of health problems including tendinitis, brittle nails, etc. Don't do it the way I did lol4
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Be nice. She asked for support and advice not a lecture. This is not the space to vent your feelings about a vegan diet or what it means to tensleysiham and whether she is "doing it right".
I am vegan and just work on a calorie deficit mindset. I mainly eat homemade whole foods, having said that I live in an area with very little processed vegan meats, cheeses, etc. I eat lots of vegetables, fruit, grains, tempeh, tofu and legumes. These are my favourite foods plus they fill me up. I do tend to use many herbs and spices as I like highly flavoured food and cuisines. I exercise most days. When I need to lose weight I track my food and excerise daily. Mainly because I eat too much otherwise.
I have been vegan for over 10 years and are very healthy and have never had a problem being so. There are a ton of great cookbooks and blogs out there for new and fresh recipe ideas. Have fun with it. There are so many awesome plant foods that most people never even think of. My diet expanded once becoming vegan. Enjoy!
No one was "not being nice". There is a lot of psuedoscientific junk out there regarding vegan and vegetarian diets. Many actually believe that cutting out meat will automatically result in weight loss and are confused when they don't lose weight, or even gain weight (see the numerous threads here about going vegetarian/vegan and gain in weight). Telling someone they should be skeptical about what they read is not "not being supportive" or "not nice".10 -
Be nice. She asked for support and advice not a lecture. This is not the space to vent your feelings about a vegan diet or what it means to tensleysiham and whether she is "doing it right".
I am vegan and just work on a calorie deficit mindset. I mainly eat homemade whole foods, having said that I live in an area with very little processed vegan meats, cheeses, etc. I eat lots of vegetables, fruit, grains, tempeh, tofu and legumes. These are my favourite foods plus they fill me up. I do tend to use many herbs and spices as I like highly flavoured food and cuisines. I exercise most days. When I need to lose weight I track my food and excerise daily. Mainly because I eat too much otherwise.
I have been vegan for over 10 years and are very healthy and have never had a problem being so. There are a ton of great cookbooks and blogs out there for new and fresh recipe ideas. Have fun with it. There are so many awesome plant foods that most people never even think of. My diet expanded once becoming vegan. Enjoy!
No one was "not being nice". There is a lot of psuedoscientific junk out there regarding vegan and vegetarian diets. Many actually believe that cutting out meat will automatically result in weight loss and are confused when they don't lose weight, or even gain weight (see the numerous threads here about going vegetarian/vegan and gain in weight). Telling someone they should be skeptical about what they read is not "not being supportive" or "not nice".
I agree, it is very important that the OP know that in order to lose weight it requires a calorie deficit and unfortauntly most of the information on Vegan diet just suggest to cut out animal products. which doesn't necessarily mean that you will lose weight.3 -
Be nice. She asked for support and advice not a lecture. This is not the space to vent your feelings about a vegan diet or what it means to tensleysiham and whether she is "doing it right".
I am vegan and just work on a calorie deficit mindset. I mainly eat homemade whole foods, having said that I live in an area with very little processed vegan meats, cheeses, etc. I eat lots of vegetables, fruit, grains, tempeh, tofu and legumes. These are my favourite foods plus they fill me up. I do tend to use many herbs and spices as I like highly flavoured food and cuisines. I exercise most days. When I need to lose weight I track my food and excerise daily. Mainly because I eat too much otherwise.
I have been vegan for over 10 years and are very healthy and have never had a problem being so. There are a ton of great cookbooks and blogs out there for new and fresh recipe ideas. Have fun with it. There are so many awesome plant foods that most people never even think of. My diet expanded once becoming vegan. Enjoy!
No one was "not being nice". There is a lot of psuedoscientific junk out there regarding vegan and vegetarian diets. Many actually believe that cutting out meat will automatically result in weight loss and are confused when they don't lose weight, or even gain weight (see the numerous threads here about going vegetarian/vegan and gain in weight). Telling someone they should be skeptical about what they read is not "not being supportive" or "not nice".
I agree, it is very important that the OP know that in order to lose weight it requires a calorie deficit and unfortauntly most of the information on Vegan diet just suggest to cut out animal products. which doesn't necessarily mean that you will lose weight.
Which could be why the OP is hoping to hear from other vegans on a weight loss journey, perhaps for advice and to hear how they're doing this?
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Be nice. She asked for support and advice not a lecture. This is not the space to vent your feelings about a vegan diet or what it means to tensleysiham and whether she is "doing it right".
I am vegan and just work on a calorie deficit mindset. I mainly eat homemade whole foods, having said that I live in an area with very little processed vegan meats, cheeses, etc. I eat lots of vegetables, fruit, grains, tempeh, tofu and legumes. These are my favourite foods plus they fill me up. I do tend to use many herbs and spices as I like highly flavoured food and cuisines. I exercise most days. When I need to lose weight I track my food and excerise daily. Mainly because I eat too much otherwise.
I have been vegan for over 10 years and are very healthy and have never had a problem being so. There are a ton of great cookbooks and blogs out there for new and fresh recipe ideas. Have fun with it. There are so many awesome plant foods that most people never even think of. My diet expanded once becoming vegan. Enjoy!
No one was "not being nice". There is a lot of psuedoscientific junk out there regarding vegan and vegetarian diets. Many actually believe that cutting out meat will automatically result in weight loss and are confused when they don't lose weight, or even gain weight (see the numerous threads here about going vegetarian/vegan and gain in weight). Telling someone they should be skeptical about what they read is not "not being supportive" or "not nice".
I agree, it is very important that the OP know that in order to lose weight it requires a calorie deficit and unfortauntly most of the information on Vegan diet just suggest to cut out animal products. which doesn't necessarily mean that you will lose weight.
Which could be why the OP is hoping to hear from other vegans on a weight loss journey, perhaps for advice and to hear how they're doing this?
ahem.The best piece of advice i can give you is to stick to a calorie deficit. Don't fall for the vegan pseudoscience out there.7 -
I mean... If she just reads five threads on here she will quickly see that a caloric deficit is required for weight loss regardless of what those calories are made up of (meat or otherwise).
It does seem like people often jump right on posters with their own assumptions before all of the information has been provided.
I was a vegan for four years for both health and animal reasons. Not all vegans cut out all animals products, those would be "strict vegans." I eventually did.
I went through phases of veganism... And I did lose a lot of weight twice during my four years as a vegan. At one point I was eating all whole foods and another time I was eating mostly processed began foods (fake meat, fake cheese, etc). I wouldn't recommend the latter (although you can still lose weight is a deficit is present) and the former is difficult to maintain long term. It's all about finding balance.
I stopped being vegan because at one point I realized that if someone asked me why I was a vegan, I had lost my answer. Next, i went out and got sushi lol.
A vegan diet does not help you lose weight any faster. All about the calories in versus calories out. Good luck!2 -
Ummm lots of science out there that vegans and vegetarians have some advantages over meat eaters. Loma Linda study also shows vegans have lower BMI's overall.
One thing you will need to make sure of is that you take B12 supplement that is one thing vegans can't get eating a plant based diet.
I have 2 vegans in my family and they are skinny.
I ate vegan for one year and I felt the most energy I had in a long time. I'm vegetarian now (sometimes eating tuna) and I will probably go back for dietary and health reasons.
Good luck!1 -
Ummm lots of science out there that vegans and vegetarians have some advantages over meat eaters. Loma Linda study also shows vegans have lower BMI's overall.
One thing you will need to make sure of is that you take B12 supplement that is one thing vegans can't get eating a plant based diet.
I have 2 vegans in my family and they are skinny.
I ate vegan for one year and I felt the most energy I had in a long time. I'm vegetarian now (sometimes eating tuna) and I will probably go back for dietary and health reasons.
Good luck!
If you sometimes eat tuna on a vegetarian diet, its actually considered a pescetarian diet. There's a difference between the two (I'm pescetarian and wouldn't pass as a vegetarian just because I eat seafood on some days).
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FeedMeFish wrote: »Ummm lots of science out there that vegans and vegetarians have some advantages over meat eaters. Loma Linda study also shows vegans have lower BMI's overall.
One thing you will need to make sure of is that you take B12 supplement that is one thing vegans can't get eating a plant based diet.
I have 2 vegans in my family and they are skinny.
I ate vegan for one year and I felt the most energy I had in a long time. I'm vegetarian now (sometimes eating tuna) and I will probably go back for dietary and health reasons.
Good luck!
If you sometimes eat tuna on a vegetarian diet, its actually considered a pescetarian diet. There's a difference between the two (I'm pescetarian and wouldn't pass as a vegetarian just because I eat seafood on some days).
Thanks. Just for simplicity I used the term vegetarian which I am most of the time although technically pescetarian, you are correct.1 -
The mistake I made with vegan foods was thinking any 'plant-based whole food' concoction was good. So i made vegan 'cheese'cake, ice-cream, cookies etc. Needless to say, just cos I was replacing the dairy and eggs in my baking with nuts, avocado and coconut cream did not mean I was avoiding the fat!
Find a good vegan cookbook (Thug Kitchen is great, unless you're sensitive to swear words!) and still keep watch on your caloric intake. As long as you're in deficit, you should drop weigh.
Good Luck!3 -
Ummm lots of science out there that vegans and vegetarians have some advantages over meat eaters. Loma Linda study also shows vegans have lower BMI's overall.
One thing you will need to make sure of is that you take B12 supplement that is one thing vegans can't get eating a plant based diet.
I have 2 vegans in my family and they are skinny.
I ate vegan for one year and I felt the most energy I had in a long time. I'm vegetarian now (sometimes eating tuna) and I will probably go back for dietary and health reasons.
Good luck!
And 95% of the basketbal players in the NBA are considerd overweight if you look at their BMI. Now your not going to say that playing basketbal makes you fat right? Vegans have a overall lower BMI because people who are vegan tend to be more concious about there health and lifestyle. Its say's something about the people, it doesnt mean that cutting out meat will make you loose weight.
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Most people understand that the "healthy bmi" is just a guide and that there are some who have more muscle mass that are perfectly healthy outside of the "normal" bmi. My apologies for not stating what I thought most people understood. I'm kinda new here and I'm not sure how to go about posting comments that are short and concise.hjlourenshj wrote: »Ummm lots of science out there that vegans and vegetarians have some advantages over meat eaters. Loma Linda study also shows vegans have lower BMI's overall.
One thing you will need to make sure of is that you take B12 supplement that is one thing vegans can't get eating a plant based diet.
I have 2 vegans in my family and they are skinny.
I ate vegan for one year and I felt the most energy I had in a long time. I'm vegetarian now (sometimes eating tuna) and I will probably go back for dietary and health reasons.
Good luck!
And 95% of the basketbal players in the NBA are considerd overweight if you look at their BMI. Now your not going to say that playing basketbal makes you fat right? Vegans have a overall lower BMI because people who are vegan tend to be more concious about there health and lifestyle. Its say's something about the people, it doesnt mean that cutting out meat will make you loose weight.
There are some studies like this one that say cutting out meat helps you loose weight and faster.
https://www.springer.com/gp/about-springer/media/springer-select/-to-shed-weight--go-vegan/679206
But listen to each his own. I only responded because I have some knowledge of veganism and there is some science to back that there are some advantages of eating a plant based diet. Boy thats a run on sentence.
I'm not a vegan however I tried it and I had more energy and I maintained my weight for a year not counting calories or watching what I ate.1 -
But many newcomers don't read five threads before they post, and even if they read five hundred threads, they still don't "believe" in calories.IllustratedxGirl wrote: »I mean... If she just reads five threads on here she will quickly see that a caloric deficit is required for weight loss regardless of what those calories are made up of (meat or otherwise).1 -
kommodevaran wrote: »
But many newcomers don't read five threads before they post, and even if they read five hundred threads, they still don't "believe" in calories.IllustratedxGirl wrote: »I mean... If she just reads five threads on here she will quickly see that a caloric deficit is required for weight loss regardless of what those calories are made up of (meat or otherwise).
This is the real issue and one that seems to be unique to the vegan community thanks to characters such as fullyrawkristina, Freelee, and more.
They perpetuate ignorance on nutrition and convince people they can:
Eat an unlimited number of calories because "fruit and veggies can't make you fat"
You need to eat low fat because fat makes you fat
You need excessive carbs to be: happy, satiated, healthy, sane, and more
You need to "carb the eff up" by drinking 1,000s of calories worth of blended bananas and dates
You gain weight on this lifestyle because of "metabolic damage" not because you're overeating
As long as you're eating a variety of food you're meeting your nutrient needs
You don't need to watch the foods your eating because deficiencies don't happen
and more
It's a shame that it needs to be said, but these pseudoscience hucksters spread so much misinformation and make eating vegan (an ethical choice) so complicated that most people can't actually stick to being vegan. What do they do? They don't switch to eating other vegan foods, they just give up and go back to their old diets.
This is a huge pet peeve of mine because this misinformation (along with militant black and white arguments they make) are harming a movement that could do a lot of good.
In any case, none of those things i mentioned above are true. Learning to track your intake, macros and micronutrients, and learning to eat a balanced diet you can sustain are VITAL.7 -
rainbowbow wrote: »kommodevaran wrote: »
But many newcomers don't read five threads before they post, and even if they read five hundred threads, they still don't "believe" in calories.IllustratedxGirl wrote: »I mean... If she just reads five threads on here she will quickly see that a caloric deficit is required for weight loss regardless of what those calories are made up of (meat or otherwise).
This is the real issue and one that seems to be unique to the vegan community thanks to characters such as fullyrawkristina, Freelee, and more.
They perpetuate ignorance on nutrition and convince people they can:
Eat an unlimited number of calories because "fruit and veggies can't make you fat"
You need to eat low fat because fat makes you fat
You need excessive carbs to be: happy, satiated, healthy, sane, and more
You need to "carb the eff up" by drinking 1,000s of calories worth of blended bananas and dates
You gain weight on this lifestyle because of "metabolic damage" not because you're overeating
As long as you're eating a variety of food you're meeting your nutrient needs
You don't need to watch the foods your eating because deficiencies don't happen
and more
It's a shame that it needs to be said, but these pseudoscience hucksters spread so much misinformation and make eating vegan (an ethical choice) so complicated that most people can't actually stick to being vegan. What do they do? They don't switch to eating other vegan foods, they just give up and go back to their old diets.
This is a huge pet peeve of mine because this misinformation (along with militant black and white arguments they make) are harming a movement that could do a lot of good.
In any case, none of those things i mentioned above are true. Learning to track your intake, macros and micronutrients, and learning to eat a balanced diet you can sustain are VITAL.
Amen,
It is also important to mention that many people don't disagree with Vegan diet, but mostly about the idiotic information some people say like "Eat unlimited food and +30 bananas a day and you will lose weight.
If it works for some people, eating unlimited on Vegan diet, this could be due to fast metabolism or maybe they are very active. Doesn't meam it works for everyone. I've seen lots of people who eat non-Vegan junk food unlimited and they don't gain a pound. Again that is probably due to their fast metabolism.
I personally have been cutting my meat daily intake for a month, and i am seriously considering going vegan but that doesn't mean i will eat everything i want.
Calorie deficit to lose weight.0 -
I am not sure if it has already been mentioned; but be aware of the sugar content in vegan foods & recipes. I love vegan food, don't get me wrong, but like all other foods you need to choose the healthier options for weight loss to be achieved. As a side note you will need to take a B12 supplement when going vegan.1
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If you are interested in a vegan diet for weight loss, I recommend the book Eat to Live. I am currently vegetarian but followed the Eat to Live program for a time and felt great and lost weight. The author is a doctor and his advice is researched and quite sound. The main issue is that it is hard to follow. Especially if you dine out often. Of course I don't know you, but I can't imagine an omnivore transitioning overnight to this program. I've known others to gradually transition with success. Good luck to you.1
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