Whole food vegan for a year, can't lose, keep gaining

mlbh613 wrote: »

Yes, alex..... - McDougall is a high starch diet. Keep in mind, as others have said, everyone has their own unique plan...investigate, adjust where necessary and keep doing those 2 things until you find the one that works for your health and goals. Keep striving to thrive!!!!

Brilliant! Yes this is what i'm trying to achieve - listen to my body and follow it!

Slowfaster wrote: »

Hi Alex! I have a question for you this time.

My son is "almost" vegan and very impressed with your daily diet. He asked me to ask you how you manage to get enough B-12?

This was an example of a really good day, it's not always like this and can vary It also wasn't like this from the beginning, I did veganuary a year ago as an addicted to cheese vegetarian so you can imagine I was eating a lot of processed food at first! I take vitamin supplements for vegans, I buy them from Holland & Barret, and I sometimes eat ready oatmeal with added vitamins, or drink plant based milk with added vitamins

CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »

alexczajka3 wrote: »

mom22dogs wrote: »

Did you actually weigh each of those items? Logging can be off by hundreds of points if you don't weigh your solid foods. Like your bananas - they are really calorie dense and can be a lot more than you think - medium is subjective. Weight of food isn't.

This might sound stupid, but I never know, should I weight the banana with skin or peeled?

weight everything,banana weight without the peel unless you eat the peel. apples weigh with the skin unless you dont eat the peel. with the apple you can weight it,eat it and then weigh the core and minus that from the first weight you got for the apple. so if the apple whole is 160grams and you eat what you want and the core is 20grams then what you ate was 140 grams so you log 140 grams. if you use any oils weigh them as well. everything adds up.its very easy to eat more than you think. no two pieces of fruit or anything else weighs the same even if similar in size. if you eat packaged food weigh it too. packaging can be off by up to 20%

This is really useful thank you! I always weight the whole banana and the whole apple so this must change!

janejellyroll wrote: »

alexczajka3 wrote: »

estherdragonbat wrote: »

Why is it 'safer' to eat less protein if vegan? It may be harder to eat high-protein; I'm ovo-lacto and it can be a challenge to meet my adjusted target some days (When I log my exercise and MFP gives me those calories breaking them down across the macros, I don't always get the post-exercise target, but I almost always get the pre-) but how is it safer?

I am not sure exactly, I've just read some opinions that high protein diets can be harmful in long term, so I've decided that I will just leave it completely since I struggle to even reach the targets!

It isn't as if there are two choices -- high protein and low protein. Vegans, like non-vegans, can choose to eat a diet that is moderate protein. Whatever you decide, being vegan doesn't change your nutritional needs. We, like non-vegans, need a certain amount of protein to survive and we need more than the minimal survival level to *thrive* (have good energy, feel full, maintain muscle mass). The level that promotes satiety is going to vary so you'll have to experiment to find what works for you.

If you aren't already including things like tofu, tempeh, and seitan in your diet, this may be a good time to begin experimenting with them. They're all good sources of protein for vegans and I found the three to be particularly helpful when I was in a deficit (because they're usually low/moderate on calories and provide a good amount of protein).

I do eat tofu every now and again I am trying to eat protein from whole and not processed foods, and aim at at least 1g per 1kg of body weight (I've read this is the minimum of what people should eat)

Gamliela wrote: »

Without addressing everything in your original post and all comments since, if you are hungry and can't keep eating the way you are eating now, as it causes you to overeat the amount of calories, so you gain weight, then change the things you eat so you feel satisfied and so you can stick with at ( for starters ) the amount of calories it takes to MAINTAIN your weight. Then look at subtracting enough of your foods so you ar in a 200 calorie deficit. See how that goes until you feel comfortable with your foods and your satifaction ( not feeling hungry).
It does take some work and adjusting to find out what works for you individually.

This is some good avice! I've already found foods that keep me full, took a while! I now need to get rid of the sweets cravings I'm having despite feeling stuffed, and see if i can maintain! Thank you so much

andfivesixseveneight wrote: »

I used to have a raging sweet tooth, and found that artificial sweeteners just kept me hungry for sugar. I started eliminating all the obvious and hidden sweetners and sugars from my diet.
For quite a while I didn’t consume any added natural or artificial sweetners. It helped me to appreciate the natural flavor of food, and reduced cravings for sugary snacks.
You might try that.

Thanks! I dont really use much apart from the occasional xylitol. I used to have to put some sweetener in my oatmeal but found that it does not need any sweeteners when I add a banana and blueberries! I try to eat a fruit whenever I crave sweets but it doesnt always work maybe need more time eliminating it.

janejellyroll wrote: »

alexczajka3 wrote: »

mlbh613 wrote: »

Yes, alex..... - McDougall is a high starch diet. Keep in mind, as others have said, everyone has their own unique plan...investigate, adjust where necessary and keep doing those 2 things until you find the one that works for your health and goals. Keep striving to thrive!!!!

Brilliant! Yes this is what i'm trying to achieve - listen to my body and follow it!

Slowfaster wrote: »

Hi Alex! I have a question for you this time.

My son is "almost" vegan and very impressed with your daily diet. He asked me to ask you how you manage to get enough B-12?

This was an example of a really good day, it's not always like this and can vary It also wasn't like this from the beginning, I did veganuary a year ago as an addicted to cheese vegetarian so you can imagine I was eating a lot of processed food at first! I take vitamin supplements for vegans, I buy them from Holland & Barret, and I sometimes eat ready oatmeal with added vitamins, or drink plant based milk with added vitamins

CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »

alexczajka3 wrote: »

mom22dogs wrote: »

Did you actually weigh each of those items? Logging can be off by hundreds of points if you don't weigh your solid foods. Like your bananas - they are really calorie dense and can be a lot more than you think - medium is subjective. Weight of food isn't.

This might sound stupid, but I never know, should I weight the banana with skin or peeled?

weight everything,banana weight without the peel unless you eat the peel. apples weigh with the skin unless you dont eat the peel. with the apple you can weight it,eat it and then weigh the core and minus that from the first weight you got for the apple. so if the apple whole is 160grams and you eat what you want and the core is 20grams then what you ate was 140 grams so you log 140 grams. if you use any oils weigh them as well. everything adds up.its very easy to eat more than you think. no two pieces of fruit or anything else weighs the same even if similar in size. if you eat packaged food weigh it too. packaging can be off by up to 20%

This is really useful thank you! I always weight the whole banana and the whole apple so this must change!

janejellyroll wrote: »

alexczajka3 wrote: »

estherdragonbat wrote: »

Why is it 'safer' to eat less protein if vegan? It may be harder to eat high-protein; I'm ovo-lacto and it can be a challenge to meet my adjusted target some days (When I log my exercise and MFP gives me those calories breaking them down across the macros, I don't always get the post-exercise target, but I almost always get the pre-) but how is it safer?

I am not sure exactly, I've just read some opinions that high protein diets can be harmful in long term, so I've decided that I will just leave it completely since I struggle to even reach the targets!

It isn't as if there are two choices -- high protein and low protein. Vegans, like non-vegans, can choose to eat a diet that is moderate protein. Whatever you decide, being vegan doesn't change your nutritional needs. We, like non-vegans, need a certain amount of protein to survive and we need more than the minimal survival level to *thrive* (have good energy, feel full, maintain muscle mass). The level that promotes satiety is going to vary so you'll have to experiment to find what works for you.

If you aren't already including things like tofu, tempeh, and seitan in your diet, this may be a good time to begin experimenting with them. They're all good sources of protein for vegans and I found the three to be particularly helpful when I was in a deficit (because they're usually low/moderate on calories and provide a good amount of protein).

I do eat tofu every now and again I am trying to eat protein from whole and not processed foods, and aim at at least 1g per 1kg of body weight (I've read this is the minimum of what people should eat)

Gamliela wrote: »

Without addressing everything in your original post and all comments since, if you are hungry and can't keep eating the way you are eating now, as it causes you to overeat the amount of calories, so you gain weight, then change the things you eat so you feel satisfied and so you can stick with at ( for starters ) the amount of calories it takes to MAINTAIN your weight. Then look at subtracting enough of your foods so you ar in a 200 calorie deficit. See how that goes until you feel comfortable with your foods and your satifaction ( not feeling hungry).
It does take some work and adjusting to find out what works for you individually.

This is some good avice! I've already found foods that keep me full, took a while! I now need to get rid of the sweets cravings I'm having despite feeling stuffed, and see if i can maintain! Thank you so much

Is there a specific reason why you're trying to avoid processed foods? Avoiding foods simply because they're processed doesn't make much sense if it's making it harder for you to meet your nutritional needs and calorie goals.

Getting what you need is more important than the abstract goal of "nothing processed," at least in my opinion. My health and fitness wouldn't be better without things like tofu, cashew milk, olive oil, pea protein powder, nut butters, canned tomatoes, dried/canned beans, maple syrup, coconut butter, corn tortillas, and apple cider vinegar. Nobody *has* to eat processed foods, but I'm not sure there is a reason to avoid something simply because it has undergone some processing.

I think it's because I feel better when I eat whole foods. I stopped counting calories in autumn because I did Hayley Pomroy's fast metabolism diet. This diet is based on eliminating processed foods and stuff like coffee, alcohol etc. But it let's you eat a lot of whole foods. I never felt hungry and felt full of energy, much better than before. I couldn't follow this diet in long term as there was days when you had to stick to protein and veggies all day, and my stomach couldn't take it. But overall I realised that this way of eating made me feel good and my body needs the 'real' food now! I do eat slightly processed foods like canned veg, I eat nut butter (i make it myself or buy stuff like meridian). I jist try and avoid highly processed food like vegan mock meat etc.