Stopped counting calories, still losing weight!
smit7633
Posts: 182 Member
I stopped counting calories and I am still losing weight every week! How?! Whole foods plant based diet! Google it.
My true what I eat in a week and how I plan to change in 2019.
Breakfast: at least four+ times a week is from Taco Bell. I get the fiesta potato breakfast griller no cheese and no eggs add guac and beans. And a medium Pepsi.
The other days I will have my banana blueberry muffins and fruit, but I always end up starving by 10 am after eating at 8
Lunch: I have Vegan frozen meals from a brand called Amy's they only have two vegan options at my grocery and I eat one or both of those two everyday, they are over 400 calories each and I sometimes have two
Dinner: I eat pizza and cheesy bread at least on night a week. Another night I will go out, either for Chinese or I go to the steak house and get a Philly steak with no steak and mashed potatoes with buttery rolls. The rest of the days I eat whole foods that I meal prepped on Sunday. This week it was a vegan soup, last week it was a vegan meatloaf served with roasted brussel sprouts.
When I was counting calories I was averaging 1600+ calories per day. I stopped because it didn't seem to make a difference I still lost weight whether I had 1400 or 1800 a day.
In 2019 I'm kicking off January participating in a challenge called Veganuary. So that takes care of my cheesy bread and pizza, buttery rolls, and steak house mashed potatoes.
But I am taking it a step further to also avoid added oils, and cooking with oils, soda, and all processed/packaged foods unless the ingredients are super basic, like pasta -salt, water, wheat flour
Judge me!
My true what I eat in a week and how I plan to change in 2019.
Breakfast: at least four+ times a week is from Taco Bell. I get the fiesta potato breakfast griller no cheese and no eggs add guac and beans. And a medium Pepsi.
The other days I will have my banana blueberry muffins and fruit, but I always end up starving by 10 am after eating at 8
Lunch: I have Vegan frozen meals from a brand called Amy's they only have two vegan options at my grocery and I eat one or both of those two everyday, they are over 400 calories each and I sometimes have two
Dinner: I eat pizza and cheesy bread at least on night a week. Another night I will go out, either for Chinese or I go to the steak house and get a Philly steak with no steak and mashed potatoes with buttery rolls. The rest of the days I eat whole foods that I meal prepped on Sunday. This week it was a vegan soup, last week it was a vegan meatloaf served with roasted brussel sprouts.
When I was counting calories I was averaging 1600+ calories per day. I stopped because it didn't seem to make a difference I still lost weight whether I had 1400 or 1800 a day.
In 2019 I'm kicking off January participating in a challenge called Veganuary. So that takes care of my cheesy bread and pizza, buttery rolls, and steak house mashed potatoes.
But I am taking it a step further to also avoid added oils, and cooking with oils, soda, and all processed/packaged foods unless the ingredients are super basic, like pasta -salt, water, wheat flour
Judge me!
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Replies
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Because you are eating less than you think. How do you count your calories? Do you eyeball amounts? Do you weigh foods on a food scale? Do you pick the correct entries from the database?5
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I mean, no offense, but I don't know anyone who would consider WFPB to include Taco Bell, Pepsi, Chinese takeout, or a restaurant dinner roll. But you can call your diet whatever you want. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with the way you have been eating, just that it's not what I would expect from someone labeling themselves WFPB.
In 2019 I'm kicking off January participating in a challenge called Veganuary. So that takes care of my cheesy bread and pizza, buttery rolls, and steak house mashed potatoes.
But I am taking it a step further to also avoid added oils, and cooking with oils, soda, and all processed/packaged foods unless the ingredients are super basic, like pasta -salt, water, wheat flour
Judge me!
I think eating that way for a month would make me miserable, but that's me. What are your goals? What do you hope to accomplish by eating such a restrictive diet? Is it just a challenge to you, or are you expecting some kind of results?
You are still losing weight because you are still in a deficit. Some people don't actually have to count the calories, they choose a way of eating that naturally gets them into a deficit. If you've managed to do that, that's awesome. Just make sure you enjoy the way you are eating to lose the weight, otherwise you will eventually run out of patience for eating in that particular way and that often leads to gaining the weight back.13 -
If you eat more plants you don't have to count calories, is my point. And I'm just being honest about my transition to a WFPB diet. I am a work in progress but still losing weight. If I eat 21 times a week and only 6 meals are not WFPB then that means I am 71% WFPB. And I have a plan to transition to 100% in January. I believe we could all be satisfied and could stop counting calories and still meet our goals with this way of eating and I want to share my success. If even one person thinks about trying a plant based diet from this post I'd be happy.28
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If you eat more plants you don't have to count calories that's all I'm saying
I know several overweight vegetarians. That may very well work for you, but it is certainly possible to eat lots of plants and eat too many calories. Replacing high calorie sides with veggies can be a great strategy for cutting calories. But wheat and rice are plants, and some people can easily overeat bread and rice. Like I said, I'm glad if it's working for you though!6 -
Whatever works for you.... 😐0
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I can do the same by eating any food and staying under 4500 calories on average because that would be a deficit at my current weight activity level.
I think you might want to consider what is losing weight entails also. Of course it's not all fat.
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If you eat more plants you don't have to count calories, is my point. And I'm just being honest about my transition to a WFPB diet. I am a work in progress but still losing weight. If I eat 21 times a week and only 6 meals are not WFPB then that means I am 71% WFPB. And I have a plan to transition to 100% in January. I believe we could all be satisfied and could stop counting calories and still meet our goals with this way of eating and I want to share my success. If even one person thinks about trying a plant based diet from this post I'd be happy.
I've done WFPB and enjoy that way of eating. However, it's still easy to overeat on calories with this method-things like nuts, seeds, whole grains and beans can add up quickly in terms of calories. WFPB didn't do anything magical for me in terms of weight management.8 -
You think I don't know? Some people on here are obsessively counting calories and still struggling to lose weight and have a calorie deficit. It's hard to eat too many calories when you eat wfbp diet so I don't know how you couldn't create a deficit and meet your goal with this type of eating. And you don't have to obsess over counting calories.10 -
If you eat more plants you don't have to count calories, is my point. And I'm just being honest about my transition to a WFPB diet. I am a work in progress but still losing weight. If I eat 21 times a week and only 6 meals are not WFPB then that means I am 71% WFPB. And I have a plan to transition to 100% in January. I believe we could all be satisfied and could stop counting calories and still meet our goals with this way of eating and I want to share my success. If even one person thinks about trying a plant based diet from this post I'd be happy.
I've done WFPB and enjoy that way of eating. However, it's still easy to overeat on calories with this method-things like nuts, seeds, whole grains and beans can add up quickly in terms of calories. WFPB didn't do anything magical for me in terms of weight management.
Sorry to hear that.1 -
Oh yeah, I can seriously overeat whole plant-based foods. Good luck11
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You think I don't know? Some people on here are obsessively counting calories and still struggling to lose weight and have a calorie deficit. It's hard to eat too many calories when you eat wfbp diet so I don't know how you couldn't create a deficit and meet your goal with this type of eating. And you don't have to obsess over counting calories.
You keep saying the bolded, where have you gotten this impression from? Is it just what you're assuming based on the way you personally eat?6 -
You think I don't know? Some people on here are obsessively counting calories and still struggling to lose weight and have a calorie deficit. It's hard to eat too many calories when you eat wfbp diet so I don't know how you couldn't create a deficit and meet your goal with this type of eating. And you don't have to obsess over counting calories.
You would be wrong.7 -
If you eat more plants you don't have to count calories, is my point. And I'm just being honest about my transition to a WFPB diet. I am a work in progress but still losing weight. If I eat 21 times a week and only 6 meals are not WFPB then that means I am 71% WFPB. And I have a plan to transition to 100% in January. I believe we could all be satisfied and could stop counting calories and still meet our goals with this way of eating and I want to share my success. If even one person thinks about trying a plant based diet from this post I'd be happy.
Plants can be very calorie-dense. I eat only plants and I still count calories. Why? Because I gained all my excess weight on plants.
Today I'm eating plants like avocado, sweet potato, corn, olives, and black beans. All delicious, all relatively calorie dense. I count the calories because I know from past experience that it can be easy for me to eat more than I need.11 -
You think I don't know? Some people on here are obsessively counting calories and still struggling to lose weight and have a calorie deficit. It's hard to eat too many calories when you eat wfbp diet so I don't know how you couldn't create a deficit and meet your goal with this type of eating. And you don't have to obsess over counting calories.
How long have you eaten WFPB? I did it for over 2 years, and I was already in maintenance and I didn't lose any weight while following the woe. I actually had to be very careful with some of the WFPB items that I had added, because they were causing me to go over my calorie intake goals. One example- my daily green smoothies were clocking in at over 500 calories due to things like chia seeds and bananas.
eta: I have nothing against WFPB and naturally gravitate towards this style of eating (I try to eat at least 800g of veggies and fruit every day etc). However, you can still gain weight with this plan if your're not careful, same with any other type of woe.
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You think I don't know? Some people on here are obsessively counting calories and still struggling to lose weight and have a calorie deficit. It's hard to eat too many calories when you eat wfbp diet so I don't know how you couldn't create a deficit and meet your goal with this type of eating. And you don't have to obsess over counting calories.
How long have you eaten WFPB? I did it for over 2 years, and I was already in maintenance and I didn't lose any weight while following the woe. I actually had to be very careful with some of the WFPB items that I had added, because they were causing me to go over my calorie intake goals. My daily green smoothies were clocking in at over 500 calories due to things like chia seeds and bananas.
I just started in Sept and I've lost 20 lbs so far. Glad to see you found a healthy balance with a WFPB diet. I hope I can do the same.3 -
You think I don't know? Some people on here are obsessively counting calories and still struggling to lose weight and have a calorie deficit. It's hard to eat too many calories when you eat wfbp diet so I don't know how you couldn't create a deficit and meet your goal with this type of eating. And you don't have to obsess over counting calories.
How long have you eaten WFPB? I did it for over 2 years, and I was already in maintenance and I didn't lose any weight while following the woe. I actually had to be very careful with some of the WFPB items that I had added, because they were causing me to go over my calorie intake goals. My daily green smoothies were clocking in at over 500 calories due to things like chia seeds and bananas.
I just started in Sept and I've lost 20 lbs so far. Glad to see you found a healthy balance with a WFPB diet. I hope I can do the same.
I edited my post after you quoted it it, wanted to clarify that I'm actually very fond of the WFPB way of eating and have nothing negative to say about it, just be aware that some of the foods are actually pretty calorie dense and you'll need to be careful not to overeat on them (nuts and seeds I'm looking at you
). 5 -
Never mind, it's not worth it.9
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You think I don't know? Some people on here are obsessively counting calories and still struggling to lose weight and have a calorie deficit. It's hard to eat too many calories when you eat wfbp diet so I don't know how you couldn't create a deficit and meet your goal with this type of eating. And you don't have to obsess over counting calories.
How long have you eaten WFPB? I did it for over 2 years, and I was already in maintenance and I didn't lose any weight while following the woe. I actually had to be very careful with some of the WFPB items that I had added, because they were causing me to go over my calorie intake goals. My daily green smoothies were clocking in at over 500 calories due to things like chia seeds and bananas.
I just started in Sept and I've lost 20 lbs so far. Glad to see you found a healthy balance with a WFPB diet. I hope I can do the same.
I edited my post after you quoted it it, wanted to clarify that I'm actually very fond of the WFPB way of eating and have nothing negative to say about it, just be aware that some of the foods are actually pretty calorie dense and you'll need to be careful not to overeat on them (nuts and seeds I'm looking at you ).
*Joins you to give a significant look to avocado and coconut*5 -
I can do the same by eating any food and staying under 4500 calories on average because that would be a deficit at my current weight activity level.
I think you might want to consider what is losing weight entails also. Of course it's not all fat.
Same here. Well except I am maintaining, and minus about 1700 calories from that.
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I stopped counting calories and I am still losing weight every week! How?! Whole foods plant based diet! Google it.
....
Judge me!
Well since you asked us to do so...
It is very annoying when someone claims there is this great plan/system/answer to the universe and then leaves you with "Google It". Imagine if students turned in papers like that. If when you got marketing material or talked to a salesperson they refused to actually make the argument for their product and just said "google it" and didn't even give you their company website. At least provide some links. You're the one making the pitch.
Now that I'm done with that vent:
I was also highly confused by the things you were eating and the stated diet. Maybe if you had prefaced it with "I've started slowly with substitutions" since it definitely wasn't a full-fledged WFPB diet.14 -
L1zardQueen wrote: »Oh yeah, I can seriously overeat whole plant-based foods. Good luck
Peanut butter... mmmmmm..... lol1 -
You're losing weight because your body is in a calorie deficit. Whether you are counting them or not, your body is still counting calories for you. And if you are taking in less than your body is burning, it will lose weight. Not everyone needs to count calories to lose weight, if they can portion control and eat a reasonable amount without needing to know the exact calorie amounts. That's great if that's you. Most of us do need to do some degree of counting though to see the most success.
I am glad that foods you are choosing to eat are working for you. But that does not make it some sort of magic pill diet. There is no such thing. There is no such thing as "you don't need to count calories if you are on a plant based diet." A calorie is a calorie. It doesn't matter where it is from. I understand that a lot of plant based foods are low calorie so that you don't take in that many calories when you eat most plant based food, so you may feel like you can lose without counting. Some plant based food is calorie dense though, and you couldn't just eat as much of that as you want without seeing an effect from the calories.
People lose weight eating/not eating a large variety of foods. The important part is having a calorie deficit. How you choose to get there is up to you.6 -
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You think I don't know? Some people on here are obsessively counting calories and still struggling to lose weight and have a calorie deficit. It's hard to eat too many calories when you eat wfbp diet so I don't know how you couldn't create a deficit and meet your goal with this type of eating. And you don't have to obsess over counting calories.
If they are not losing weight they are not in a calorie deficit...4 -
Nothing at all wrong with a plant based approach to diet. Just don't assume for a second that you can't gain weight on one...4
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I actually think its quite easy to be overweight on a plant based diet. I was an overweight vegan5
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I can’t help think because you’ve changed up the diet things your body has kicked into a different gear. Kind of like when you pleatau, if you change the weight you continue to lose weight.
But whatever works for you! Glad things
Are going well for you. Just remember it’s not the solution for everyone else. I was losing weight, switched to vegetarian, and got fatter.
Tried to go back to meat but my body broke. Currently getting a few tests to see what I broke. Either my thyroid or insulin resistance.
Meanwhile I hit the pavement every day and do weights and all I have to show for it is nothing!
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