Plant Based/Vegan Diet Help
Options
leticia9024
Posts: 17 Member
Hello! So I'm on a weight loss journey to lose 100lbs. And so far I'm down about 12 lbs. I have been trying to stick to a plant based or vegan diet. It's very satisfying, however, I am very confused on how many calories I should be eating? I am 5'4 and 286 lbs, if that helps. I don't know how much is too much or if I'm eating too little. At this time, I've been eating around 1200 but realize that I will still manage to be hungry a short period after my meals. Am I doing anything wrong? Am I not getting the right macros? Any advice is appreciated!
0
Replies
-
Are you using MFP and being realistic about activity level/adding back exercise? 1200 sounds too low for your stats. Nothing about being vegan that would change the numbers/macros it gives, necessarily (although if you find different macros easier and satisfying that's fine too.)1
-
At 286lbs, your TDEE will be fairly high and I would think you should be eating more calories.2
-
Just learn to eat until you're full and then stop. Only eat when you're hungry. Opt for foods that are filling but not calorie dense, like fruits, a salad, veggies, beans, potatoes etc. Avoid adding oils when cooking and I'd stay away from nuts for now, due to their calorie density. Walk or do some low impact cardio on most days.1
-
This probably sounds a bit rude, but ignore pretty much everything Traveler said. Eating until "full" is purely based off volume. And eating when hungry leads to constant overeating for most people, it pretty much is why we all got fat in the first place. If you eat peanut butter until you're full, you're going to sky rocket in the calories. If you eat salad until full, you're only going to have eaten like 200-300 calories depending on what was in the salad. Get a food scale, measure all your solids by grams and liquids by volume. Log it and aim for your goal.
Based on you being 5'4 and 286, your maintain calorie count would be 2400. So 1200 is definitely a bit aggressive. You need 500 calories a day to lose 1lb a week. I would say bare minimum of 1400, but 1.5lbs a week and 1650 calories would be more sustainable.
If you're doing a plant based diet, you need those foods like nuts and oils to get your fats and proteins. Your body needs fat, and it needs protein. I think most people starting out on a vegan diet have problems getting the protein, which generally seems to help stave off hunger. If you're always hungry, you need to probably eat more protein. For a vegan, that means things like Beans, Peas, Tofu, Edamame, Lentils, Quinoa.13 -
This calculator will calculate all of that for you...that's what these calculators do1
-
Traveler120 wrote: »Just learn to eat until you're full and then stop. Only eat when you're hungry. Opt for foods that are filling but not calorie dense, like fruits, a salad, veggies, beans, potatoes etc. Avoid adding oils when cooking and I'd stay away from nuts for now, due to their calorie density. Walk or do some low impact cardio on most days.
No. This is exactly how I gained weight.6 -
Traveler120 wrote: »Just learn to eat until you're full and then stop. Only eat when you're hungry. Opt for foods that are filling but not calorie dense, like fruits, a salad, veggies, beans, potatoes etc. Avoid adding oils when cooking and I'd stay away from nuts for now, due to their calorie density. Walk or do some low impact cardio on most days.
Cutting out too much fat is a detriment to health...dietary fat is essential to many functions. You have minimal dietary fat requirements for health.6 -
This probably sounds a bit rude, but ignore pretty much everything Traveler said. Eating until "full" is purely based off volume. And eating when hungry leads to constant overeating for most people, it pretty much is why we all got fat in the first place. If you eat peanut butter until you're full, you're going to sky rocket in the calories. If you eat salad until full, you're only going to have eaten like 200-300 calories depending on what was in the salad. Get a food scale, measure all your solids by grams and liquids by volume. Log it and aim for your goal.
Based on you being 5'4 and 286, your maintain calorie count would be 2400. So 1200 is definitely a bit aggressive. You need 500 calories a day to lose 1lb a week. I would say bare minimum of 1400, but 1.5lbs a week and 1650 calories would be more sustainable.
If you're doing a plant based diet, you need those foods like nuts and oils to get your fats and proteins. Your body needs fat, and it needs protein. I think most people starting out on a vegan diet have problems getting the protein, which generally seems to help stave off hunger. If you're always hungry, you need to probably eat more protein. For a vegan, that means things like Beans, Peas, Tofu, Edamame, Lentils, Quinoa.
Just want to clarify the bolded which might be a bit ambiguous to newer users... you need a deficit of 500 calories per day from your daily maintenance calories to lose 1 lb per week.3 -
CorneliusPhoton wrote: »This probably sounds a bit rude, but ignore pretty much everything Traveler said. Eating until "full" is purely based off volume. And eating when hungry leads to constant overeating for most people, it pretty much is why we all got fat in the first place. If you eat peanut butter until you're full, you're going to sky rocket in the calories. If you eat salad until full, you're only going to have eaten like 200-300 calories depending on what was in the salad. Get a food scale, measure all your solids by grams and liquids by volume. Log it and aim for your goal.
Based on you being 5'4 and 286, your maintain calorie count would be 2400. So 1200 is definitely a bit aggressive. You need 500 calories a day to lose 1lb a week. I would say bare minimum of 1400, but 1.5lbs a week and 1650 calories would be more sustainable.
If you're doing a plant based diet, you need those foods like nuts and oils to get your fats and proteins. Your body needs fat, and it needs protein. I think most people starting out on a vegan diet have problems getting the protein, which generally seems to help stave off hunger. If you're always hungry, you need to probably eat more protein. For a vegan, that means things like Beans, Peas, Tofu, Edamame, Lentils, Quinoa.
Just want to clarify the bolded which might be a bit ambiguous to newer users... you need a deficit of 500 calories per day from your daily maintenance calories to lose 1 lb per week.
Whoops, deficit was supposed to be in there lol, brain thought I wrote it but fingers did not.2 -
I'm pescatarian by label (I eat tuna maybe 2x a month) but almost all of my meals are vegetarian and some vegan. I eat a carb, protein and fat at every meal and I'm staying satisfied on 1250 calories daily average.
I use Earth Balance Vegan Butter, Avocado, Gardin products, nuts, beans for some of my fats and protein.
Hopefully this helps you some.2 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »Traveler120 wrote: »Just learn to eat until you're full and then stop. Only eat when you're hungry. Opt for foods that are filling but not calorie dense, like fruits, a salad, veggies, beans, potatoes etc. Avoid adding oils when cooking and I'd stay away from nuts for now, due to their calorie density. Walk or do some low impact cardio on most days.
Cutting out too much fat is a detriment to health...dietary fat is essential to many functions. You have minimal dietary fat requirements for health.
She's 286 lbs! She has plenty of fat on board. Her body can feed on her body fat for now, and it will be even easier to do so if she doesn't pile on some more dietary fat.1 -
This probably sounds a bit rude, but ignore pretty much everything Traveler said. Eating until "full" is purely based off volume. And eating when hungry leads to constant overeating for most people, it pretty much is why we all got fat in the first place. If you eat peanut butter until you're full, you're going to sky rocket in the calories. If you eat salad until full, you're only going to have eaten like 200-300 calories depending on what was in the salad. ....
So, let me get this, if she eats a salad and is full, but realizes it's only 200-300 calories, what do you suggest she does? Eat some more food even though she's already full? That don't make no sense! The logical (and normal) thing to do is to wait until she's hungry again and then eat again. And if she chooses high volume, low calorie density foods, she'll find it a more enjoyable and sustainable way of eating as she loses weight.
And how does eating when hungry "lead to constant overeating"? That's illogical. Constant overeating happens when you don't know what hunger is and you confuse it with boredom so you're always eating even when you don't need food. Eating when hungry is normal animal/human behavior.
And yes, if you eat PB until you're full, you'll quickly exceed calories. That's why I told her to avoid low volume calorie dense foods like oils and nuts!! Because they won't satisfy her as much as other plant foods I suggested.1 -
Traveler120 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »Traveler120 wrote: »Just learn to eat until you're full and then stop. Only eat when you're hungry. Opt for foods that are filling but not calorie dense, like fruits, a salad, veggies, beans, potatoes etc. Avoid adding oils when cooking and I'd stay away from nuts for now, due to their calorie density. Walk or do some low impact cardio on most days.
Cutting out too much fat is a detriment to health...dietary fat is essential to many functions. You have minimal dietary fat requirements for health.
She's 286 lbs! She has plenty of fat on board. Her body can feed on her body fat for now, and it will be even easier to do so if she doesn't pile on some more dietary fat.
You do realise that what you're saying makes absolutely no sense, right? Some vitamins are entirely fat-soluble. You need to eat fat in order to absorb those vitamins, and your body fat isn't going to help with that.
Dietary fat does not make a person fat. Excess calories does. Eating dietary fat doesn't prevent your body from losing excess weight.6 -
Traveler120 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »Traveler120 wrote: »Just learn to eat until you're full and then stop. Only eat when you're hungry. Opt for foods that are filling but not calorie dense, like fruits, a salad, veggies, beans, potatoes etc. Avoid adding oils when cooking and I'd stay away from nuts for now, due to their calorie density. Walk or do some low impact cardio on most days.
Cutting out too much fat is a detriment to health...dietary fat is essential to many functions. You have minimal dietary fat requirements for health.
She's 286 lbs! She has plenty of fat on board. Her body can feed on her body fat for now, and it will be even easier to do so if she doesn't pile on some more dietary fat.
You do realise that what you're saying makes absolutely no sense, right? Some vitamins are entirely fat-soluble. You need to eat fat in order to absorb those vitamins, and your body fat isn't going to help with that.
Dietary fat does not make a person fat. Excess calories does. Eating dietary fat doesn't prevent your body from losing excess weight.
Didn't say it prevents it did I? And you also don't need much dietary fat for vitamin absorption. As little as 12% was sufficient to reverse deficiency in this study - http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/85/4/1041.full
That's an amount easily derived from a variety of plant foods without having to add oils and nuts.
In fact, the study found that the issue of vitamin absorption has less to do with the amount of fat you're eating and more to do with the amount of vitamin rich foods you're actually consuming.
Everyone knows oils and nuts are calorie dense. If I wanted to maximize my calorie deficit, I'd avoid wasting it on foods that won't make me full, and use it on high volume foods that will keep me full for long, and use my calories on foods that provide energy (to exercise) and essential vitamins and minerals (oils and fats have next to 0).1 -
I think given your current weight, 1200 is low. Its important to consider your TDEE so you aren't eating to few calories, even when you're trying to lose weight. I know its easy to aim for a low caloric goal when trying to lose a lot of weight, but it can be harder to maintain long term. I think upping to 1500-1600 would be a fair goal.
Now, regarding vegan food and being hungry - you need more fibre! Try to make sure you're including loads of beans, legumes, dark green veg.... these have lower caloric density than some other veg (like starches) so you can eat more of them for less calories, making your tummy fuller. The fibre content will also satiate you for a longer period.
I disagree with avoiding dietary fat, as certain fats are vital for your nutrition. Relying on metabolising your body fat is not the same thing. That said, if you can cut out things like margarine on your toast, or vegetable oil when you cook, you will save 50-100 calories at a time, and you can consume those calories in other ways. For example a tablespoon of canola oil is 100+ calories, which is equivalent to 300 grams (0.66lbs) of raw broccoli.
Good dietary fatty foods are things like virgin olive oil, avocados, nuts, vegan omegas (you can get them from health food stores)... you know the drill.2 -
Traveler120 wrote: »Traveler120 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »Traveler120 wrote: »Just learn to eat until you're full and then stop. Only eat when you're hungry. Opt for foods that are filling but not calorie dense, like fruits, a salad, veggies, beans, potatoes etc. Avoid adding oils when cooking and I'd stay away from nuts for now, due to their calorie density. Walk or do some low impact cardio on most days.
Cutting out too much fat is a detriment to health...dietary fat is essential to many functions. You have minimal dietary fat requirements for health.
She's 286 lbs! She has plenty of fat on board. Her body can feed on her body fat for now, and it will be even easier to do so if she doesn't pile on some more dietary fat.
You do realise that what you're saying makes absolutely no sense, right? Some vitamins are entirely fat-soluble. You need to eat fat in order to absorb those vitamins, and your body fat isn't going to help with that.
Dietary fat does not make a person fat. Excess calories does. Eating dietary fat doesn't prevent your body from losing excess weight.
Didn't say it prevents it did I? And you also don't need much dietary fat for vitamin absorption. As little as 12% was sufficient to reverse deficiency in this study - http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/85/4/1041.full
That's an amount easily derived from a variety of plant foods without having to add oils and nuts.
In fact, the study found that the issue of vitamin absorption has less to do with the amount of fat you're eating and more to do with the amount of vitamin rich foods you're actually consuming.
Everyone knows oils and nuts are calorie dense. If I wanted to maximize my calorie deficit, I'd avoid wasting it on foods that won't make me full, and use it on high volume foods that will keep me full for long, and use my calories on foods that provide energy (to exercise) and essential vitamins and minerals (oils and fats have next to 0).
But guess what - high volume, low calorie (low nutritional value) foods are not filling for ME. Telling OP what makes YOU full may or may not be relevant for her.
OP - eat foods that are satiating to YOU - whether they be protein, fat or fiber....or some combination.
It's all about the calories.4 -
Traveler120 wrote: »Traveler120 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »Traveler120 wrote: »Just learn to eat until you're full and then stop. Only eat when you're hungry. Opt for foods that are filling but not calorie dense, like fruits, a salad, veggies, beans, potatoes etc. Avoid adding oils when cooking and I'd stay away from nuts for now, due to their calorie density. Walk or do some low impact cardio on most days.
Cutting out too much fat is a detriment to health...dietary fat is essential to many functions. You have minimal dietary fat requirements for health.
She's 286 lbs! She has plenty of fat on board. Her body can feed on her body fat for now, and it will be even easier to do so if she doesn't pile on some more dietary fat.
You do realise that what you're saying makes absolutely no sense, right? Some vitamins are entirely fat-soluble. You need to eat fat in order to absorb those vitamins, and your body fat isn't going to help with that.
Dietary fat does not make a person fat. Excess calories does. Eating dietary fat doesn't prevent your body from losing excess weight.
Didn't say it prevents it did I? And you also don't need much dietary fat for vitamin absorption. As little as 12% was sufficient to reverse deficiency in this study - http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/85/4/1041.full
That's an amount easily derived from a variety of plant foods without having to add oils and nuts.
In fact, the study found that the issue of vitamin absorption has less to do with the amount of fat you're eating and more to do with the amount of vitamin rich foods you're actually consuming.
Everyone knows oils and nuts are calorie dense. If I wanted to maximize my calorie deficit, I'd avoid wasting it on foods that won't make me full, and use it on high volume foods that will keep me full for long, and use my calories on foods that provide energy (to exercise) and essential vitamins and minerals (oils and fats have next to 0).
But guess what - high volume, low calorie (low nutritional value) foods are not filling for ME. Telling OP what makes YOU full may or may not be relevant for her.......
Huh? I don't know where you get your nutritional information from but high volume low calorie density foods are NOT low in nutrition (ie. vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, antioxidants). They're the most nutrient dense - like veggies, fruits, beans, lentils etc. And yes, for a given amount of calories, they tend to be more filling because they occupy more space in your stomach(compared to oils, fats, nuts). Maybe not for you though.
0 -
Traveler120 wrote: »Traveler120 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »Traveler120 wrote: »Just learn to eat until you're full and then stop. Only eat when you're hungry. Opt for foods that are filling but not calorie dense, like fruits, a salad, veggies, beans, potatoes etc. Avoid adding oils when cooking and I'd stay away from nuts for now, due to their calorie density. Walk or do some low impact cardio on most days.
Cutting out too much fat is a detriment to health...dietary fat is essential to many functions. You have minimal dietary fat requirements for health.
She's 286 lbs! She has plenty of fat on board. Her body can feed on her body fat for now, and it will be even easier to do so if she doesn't pile on some more dietary fat.
You do realise that what you're saying makes absolutely no sense, right? Some vitamins are entirely fat-soluble. You need to eat fat in order to absorb those vitamins, and your body fat isn't going to help with that.
Dietary fat does not make a person fat. Excess calories does. Eating dietary fat doesn't prevent your body from losing excess weight.
Didn't say it prevents it did I? And you also don't need much dietary fat for vitamin absorption. As little as 12% was sufficient to reverse deficiency in this study - http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/85/4/1041.full
That's an amount easily derived from a variety of plant foods without having to add oils and nuts.
In fact, the study found that the issue of vitamin absorption has less to do with the amount of fat you're eating and more to do with the amount of vitamin rich foods you're actually consuming.
Everyone knows oils and nuts are calorie dense. If I wanted to maximize my calorie deficit, I'd avoid wasting it on foods that won't make me full, and use it on high volume foods that will keep me full for long, and use my calories on foods that provide energy (to exercise) and essential vitamins and minerals (oils and fats have next to 0).
I am vegan and I find that including fat in my meals actually helps me feel fuller for longer. Whenever I have attempted a low fat diet, I don't do well. And if I accidentally have a low fat day, I notice that I don't feel as full. Not everyone finds that a low fat, high volume diet sets them up for success. For me, including some oil on my roasted vegetables, some avocado with my rice, some coconut butter on my toast, or a small handful of nuts with my dried fruit is a *good* idea. These foods are not a waste for me, they're not a waste for many people.
As long as someone is accurately measuring the calorie-dense foods they are eating, it's completely possible to lose weight while including them in their diet.2 -
Traveler120 wrote: »Just learn to eat until you're full and then stop. Only eat when you're hungry. Opt for foods that are filling but not calorie dense, like fruits, a salad, veggies, beans, potatoes etc. Avoid adding oils when cooking and I'd stay away from nuts for now, due to their calorie density. Walk or do some low impact cardio on most days.
I lost 25 lbs in about a month and a week doing this. HCLF plant based vegan diet is what I followed. My energy levels rocketed in the first day. Weight shed so easily. I fell off the plant based diet for about three months but never gained back the 25 that I lost. Back at it again now. I would definitely recommend it. I only fell off because I went home for the holiday and food at my parents was mostly processed.
0 -
Traveler120 wrote: »Just learn to eat until you're full and then stop. Only eat when you're hungry. Opt for foods that are filling but not calorie dense, like fruits, a salad, veggies, beans, potatoes etc. Avoid adding oils when cooking and I'd stay away from nuts for now, due to their calorie density. Walk or do some low impact cardio on most days.
I lost 25 lbs in about a month and a week doing this. HCLF plant based vegan diet is what I followed. My energy levels rocketed in the first day. Weight shed so easily. I fell off the plant based diet for about three months but never gained back the 25 that I lost. Back at it again now. I would definitely recommend it. I only fell off because I went home for the holiday and food at my parents was mostly processed.
Which shows that the HCLF diet wasn't the "miracle" - it was caloric deficit.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 392.1K Introduce Yourself
- 43.6K Getting Started
- 259.9K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.7K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 403 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.8K Motivation and Support
- 7.9K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.4K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 999 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.4K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions