Did I do it wrong?

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royalty819
royalty819 Posts: 145 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
First of all Hello! 2 years ago I was 215 pounds, I am now only 140. It only took me 11 months to loose the weight and I've been at 140 for about a year and 3 months. (my goal is 130) but I haven't really been stressing myself about 10 pounds. What started my weight loss was when I went to what was my first physical in about 3 years, and the doctor told me I had high blood pressure, and handed me a prescription for some high blood pressure pills he wanted me to take twice a day. I WAS ONLY 21...reality hit me, I did not want to take blood pressure pills every, twice a day, for the rest of my life. So I went back and asked my doctor is there another way and he responded "Well going vegan is your best option, but just going vegan is really hard for people to do so i recommend going vegetarian and transitioning into vegan. and exercise." Well let's just say that same day I went home and became vegan. Not even overnight, within that same hour. So with the lifestyle change and the exercise the weight loss just came, no effort in counting and adding, dividing, the square root of 56779 divided by Y multiplied by 2x (9+3). Lol okay maybe that was dramatic but honestly that's how lost I get when I've scanned over blogs and articles about calorie counting. So the same thing has went for maintaining 140 pounds. I just check in on the scale like once a week and continue my vegan thing, and wah lah, no weight gain has haunted me. But did I do it wrong? am i doing it wrong? should I be counting something?

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  • Keladelphia
    Keladelphia Posts: 820 Member
    edited September 2016
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    royalty819 wrote: »
    First of all Hello! 2 years ago I was 215 pounds, I am now only 140. It only took me 11 months to loose the weight and I've been at 140 for about a year and 3 months. (my goal is 130) but I haven't really been stressing myself about 10 pounds. What started my weight loss was when I went to what was my first physical in about 3 years, and the doctor told me I had high blood pressure, and handed me a prescription for some high blood pressure pills he wanted me to take twice a day. I WAS ONLY 21...reality hit me, I did not want to take blood pressure pills every, twice a day, for the rest of my life. So I went back and asked my doctor is there another way and he responded "Well going vegan is your best option, but just going vegan is really hard for people to do so i recommend going vegetarian and transitioning into vegan. and exercise." Well let's just say that same day I went home and became vegan. Not even overnight, within that same hour. So with the lifestyle change and the exercise the weight loss just came, no effort in counting and adding, dividing, the square root of 56779 divided by Y multiplied by 2x (9+3). Lol okay maybe that was dramatic but honestly that's how lost I get when I've scanned over blogs and articles about calorie counting. So the same thing has went for maintaining 140 pounds. I just check in on the scale like once a week and continue my vegan thing, and wah lah, no weight gain has haunted me. But did I do it wrong? am i doing it wrong? should I be counting something?

    There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. For some people counting calories and macros works, for some people elimination type diets work, for some people becoming a Vegan works. There is no "right" way and to me it seems like you've found something that works really well and is sustainable for you.

    *Edit to add Congrats on the loss and your ability to maintain it!
  • royalty819
    royalty819 Posts: 145 Member
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    ok cool, thank you!
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    If you maintained your weight within a range that you are happy with, then you've done it perfectly.
  • icemom011
    icemom011 Posts: 999 Member
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    Congrats on everything you've done, great job! My daughter is vegan too, and while she was living at home, we cooked and enjoyed vegan meals. Sill do, not as strict though. It's great commitment, and you are doing a wonderful thing for your health. It worked for you, why question it now? Just keep it up.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,008 Member
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    foen_i wrote: »
    Going vegan against high blood pressure Is idiot advice though... Totally unnecessary. You were simply overweight no need to go vegan to fix that.

    So even though it worked out for you which is great you should think about changing physicians

    I agree with this. I'm glad it worked out for you and if you are happy going vegan there is nothing wrong with that. But I think it is odd for the doctor to recommend that as it isn't necessary to go vegan for your blood pressure. It was losing the weight that helped that and you can do that without going to an extreme. I also think it was odd that at 21 your doctor automatically gave you a prescription without addressing your weight first . Of course, I don't know how high your blood pressure was, but typically they will try to bring it down with lifestyle and diet changes first before just starting you on meds.
  • johnnylloyd0618
    johnnylloyd0618 Posts: 303 Member
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    first of congrats on a huge accomplishment! Did you do it wrong? That depends...do you feel like you did it wrong? Don't think so, it worked for you. For me, nope that wouldn't work. Everyone has a different way to achieve their goals. You did it your way, YOU OWNED IT! Don't second guess yourself, if you are healthy and feeling good, don't change a thing!
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    You lost a lot of weight in a year, and kept yourself off blood pressure meds. What's wrong with that?
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    Does your doctor happen to be a vegan? :huh: I have mucho respect for vegans, but personally i couldn't do it.

    My husband doesn't need to take his blood pressure pills anymore, all he did was lose weight (20lbs) aka his beer gut, zero dietary restrictions.
  • icemom011
    icemom011 Posts: 999 Member
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    foen_i wrote: »
    Going vegan against high blood pressure Is idiot advice though... Totally unnecessary. You were simply overweight no need to go vegan to fix that.

    So even though it worked out for you which is great you should think about changing physicians

    Nothing stupid about going vegan, op. I have a friend who has health issues, heart and blood pressure, had heart surgery already and wasn't overweight until last 10 months or so. His doctor told him vegan diet is his only option to improve his health, he's not strong enough though and cheats all the time, so his improvement is limited. My daughter is vegan, has been this way for years. She doesn't do it for health though, but because of mistreatment of animals. I myself eat some meat and fish, but very small amounts, mostly vegetables and fruits, some grain. It's a wonderful way to live, being vegan. Good for you. People who tell you that it's stupid, don't understand how much animal fat could be damaging to your cardio system. You are doing great, stay with it.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,008 Member
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    I don't think that going vegan is stupid at all. But it is not necessary to go vegan in order to lose weight. I actually know a couple of overweight vegans. I don't think that it was necessary for the OP to go vegan. But if she is happy with that then there is certainly nothing wrong with it. I do think that the fact that her doctor offered her a prescription for blood pressure meds before talking about diet was concerning. But I try not to take unnecessary medications.
  • B4Rachael
    B4Rachael Posts: 155 Member
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    I read this recently and I feel like it fits well with your question;

    ""No diet works for everyone and every diet works for someone.""
  • toe1226
    toe1226 Posts: 249 Member
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    Now that you are at a goal weight, or a healthy weight, you should get your blood work and blood pressure tests redone, and evaluate if veganism is the right choice for you.

    There are many successful vegans out there who live happy and healthy lives, but some people, especially women, do experience a burnout after several years of veganism. It could be that veganism is right for you, but it also may be worth it for you to explore some other dietary patterns that might better suit your needs, and think about it deliberately and intentionally, that way in the event you ever decide to stop being vegan, you don't wake up 110 pounds up.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    If it's working, that's great. I haven't done vegan, but spent years as a vegetarian (we couldn't afford meat) and for a while ate mostly raw, just because I wanted to. I was surprised, frankly, about how few calories are in meat and how many in things like rice. But they way I cook when I eat meat makes it a higher calorie and higher fat diet.

    Plus since my husband has to eat gluten free and my son is on a low tyramine diet (both for health reasons) that means no cheese, yogurt, soy, couscous, noodles . . . . You have to eat something. We choose small amounts of meat and tons of veg.
  • 123tylerrosik
    123tylerrosik Posts: 11 Member
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    you all did it wrong

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