Vegan bodyrocker

Excess weight would come from eating too many calories, not from a "junky vegan beginning."

I lost over 40 pounds as a vegan while still sometimes eating things like chips, french fries, non-dairy ice cream, candy, and vegan meats and cheeses.

If someone wants to eliminate those foods, I don't have a problem with that. But I do think it's important for people to understand that they can lose weight eating anything as long as they are in a calorie deficit. And you won't lose weight eating beans, lentils, hummus, tofu, nuts, and vegetables unless you also happen to be in a calorie deficit.

ember168 wrote: »

Watching your calorie intake is, of course, important but not the only way. Atheletes tend to use macros, high protein, high carb (carb cycling or carb loading) or even high fat to reduce fat and keep fit. Im not really concerned with my calories...the harder and longer you exercise, the more calories you will need to take in so your body gets enough nutrients and energy in order to function properly. Im focused on healthy eating, feeding my body right to help build muscle and reduce fat. Too much restriction of calories will make this hard to achieve. Mfp helps me to track my macros better.
It is true that you can lose weight by keeping calorie intake low while still eating anything you want, but for me, thats not how i want to do it. I know that i need to keep my nutrients, minerals, fats, carbs, and proteins in mind. Esp as a vegan. Weight gain is not only caused by excess calories, but with too much fat (the wrong kind of fat), too many carbs ( the wrong kind of carbs), and even too much protein. Not to mention gluten intolerances, wheat intolerances, medical issues, any type of disease, diabetes, or medication which may cause issues with weight gain, or make it harder to drop weight. For the average person who doesnt exercise, calories in and calories out can work well. For others it might not be quite that simple.

Watching your calories is a handy tool many people use to control their weight. But it's possible to achieve a deficit (or an excess or to maintain) without doing that.

Just because you aren't counting calories doesn't mean that you can't get into a deficit, it's just an easy way some people ensure they're doing it. If I decided to restrict my diet by eliminating, say, any food with a name that had more than one vowel in it and I wound up losing weight, it doesn't mean that vowels make you fat. It just means that there are many tricks people can use to possibly create a deficit other than counting calories. I created a deficit by removing some sources of calories and not replacing them with others.

Too many fats, carbohydrates, or protein aren't going to cause weight gain if one is overall consuming less than one is burning.

This doesn't mean that we don't have to meet our nutritional needs (we do, vegan or not). And yes, active people do have higher calorie needs (this is a pleasant side effect of activity for many people). But that doesn't mean that we too won't gain weight if, consistently, we consume more calories than we burn. Calories in and calories out will work for everyone. Don't confuse this with people advocating "too much restriction" of calories. Smaller deficits, consistently hit, will also produce weight loss.

Welcome Raven! ⭐️. Looking forward to following your success!