Vegan

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emilybrooke358
emilybrooke358 Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Would becoming vegan for a while increase my weight loss? It was suggested by friends who are vegan but I'm not too sure

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  • merekins
    merekins Posts: 228 Member
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    Obviously, this is just my opinion but no. It sounds like a way to make you obsess over what you can and can't eat. It's more important to figure out how to eat within your calorie goal.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    amy3cc wrote: »
    Hi Emily,

    Becoming vegan does a lot of things--but it doesn't automatically increase your weight loss. I've seen some incredibly unhealthy vegans/vegetarians simply because the food choices aren't always the easiest grab-on-the-go items, and oftentimes eating out can be difficult. Restaurants have a tendency to add a ton of cheese or other unhealthy items to their veg options to make them taste better. I actually gained weight when I went vegan. :) Carbohydrates are a large portion of the vegan diet and it took me a while to figure out how to balance my macros. Ultimately, calories in, calories out. Balancing your macros can help if you're struggling with slow loss. I would suggest that eating a whole food diet without a bunch of extra chemicals, and making sure you're within your calorie range, is the best way to go. Maybe change up your exercise routine if you're stuck, or if you've been dieting for some time (not sure how long your process has been) it can be a good jumpstart to come out of a deficit for a week or so before going back to a lower calorie intake. Just my two cents--cheers! (And PS, I'm still vegan, I think it's a great choice, it's just not an automatic weight reducer)

    Cheese isn't vegan.
  • RedheadedPrincess14
    RedheadedPrincess14 Posts: 415 Member
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    It depends what kind of vegan diet you eat. Personally I've lost approximately 20 pounds on a whole food plant based diet and I'm now a super healthy weight and working on recomp. But my diet isn't fake meat and vegan pastrys - it's veggies, starches, salads, soups, chillis. Low salt, low fat. You can look at my diary if you want :) I've lost weight reaaaally easily eating like this
  • Hoshiko
    Hoshiko Posts: 179 Member
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    I've both lost and gained weight while being vegan (going on 17 years now). Many people lose weight the first week or so, until they find the oreos, and pasta, and vegan ice cream, and restaurants with the good guac.

    There are a ton of reasons for being vegan, but weight loss isn't necessarily one of them.
  • butro78
    butro78 Posts: 7 Member
    edited May 2017
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    Yes. If you do it correctly, you can eat a crap load of food and lose weight at the same time, and maintain your weight, which is most important! The CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey, is vegan (whole foods plant based), and he just wrote a book about how he got back to his high school weight when he started: http://people.com/bodies/whole-foods-ceo-vegan-diet-book/

    Also, as far as other people saying a calorie is a calorie.... if you're only looking at calories, that's true, but a calorie of blueberry also contains phytonutrients, fiber, tons of vitamins...whereas a calorie of pepsi has none of that... so there are major differences in caloric intake. Same goes w/ carbs... people get so wrapped up in that, and they throw Oreos in with chickpeas... completely different.

    Oh, and someone posted that cheese isn't vegan... there are actually 2 ways you can get cheese that are vegan. 1) from nuts, etc (kite hill, daiya, treeline, miyokos) 2) soon to be commercially available w/ the same bio makeup as dairy (perfect day foods https://qz.com/761572/a-lab-made-vegan-milk-promises-the-same-taste-look-and-texture-as-cows-milk-2/)

    Same thing is happening w/ meat. You can get it from plants (Beyond Meat, Impossible Burger, Range-Free burger), or in just a few years, you can get it made from the same dna as a cow... (memphis meats http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2017/05/01/lab-grown-meat-coming-to-supermarket-shelves-soon.html )

    Good luck! I've been vegan for going on 11 yrs now. I didn't do it for health, so I still have some junky processed food once in awhile; I'm a moderate as far as food goes, except for the one line I don't cross, which is NO animal products.
  • Lotusstarr
    Lotusstarr Posts: 112 Member
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    I actually am currently "leaning into" a Vegan Plant based lifestyle (about 2.5 weeks) and have gained weight. I am hoping that turns around soon but also have not committed to a exercise regime yet. I feel healthier, but have not lost weight.

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