Weight Loss on a Vegan - Plant based - Vegetarian diet. I need help!

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Replies

  • Dgil1975
    Dgil1975 Posts: 110 Member
    amobailar wrote: »
    I've been on a plant based diet for nearly two years. I've been tested and I'm doing good as far as nutrition and such; I'm healthy. However, I've gained a LOT of weight before and during the last two years. I admit, I am a junk food vegan - I eat way too much pasta and bread and my portions are too big. I read books like The Starch Solution and I ate a bunch of potatoes and it just went downhill from there. All the plant based doctors and other vegan people say "You don't have to count calories on a vegan diet, it's so easy". Not counting calories or macros has not worked for me; I need structure. I can't find any kind of vegan exchange/macro program like I can in the Keto-South Beach-Paleo- worlds. The closest I come to finding something similar is Dr. Gregor's Daily Dozen. I want to get this weight off because it's making my life miserable and frustrating but I need help. I would like to hear from someone who lost at least 50 or more pounds while being plant based and how they did it in great detail! Is there anyone like that out there?
    Thanks,
    Brandi

    So, I'm new to plant based, and one of the things that stood out is the not counting calories thing. I've lost 20lbs since I started in January on plant based, and at first the weight was flying off, and this was after I was already regular dieting for two months, needless to say I thought this was going to be a cake walk. However here is what I think about the not counting calories advice. If you are truly eating whole foods, plant based with a good dose of greens it is going to be really hard to overeat, as there is only so much food that fits in your belly before it's uncomfortable. However if you love starches(count me in), then I think you have to count calories just to ensure your staying within the range you are allotted. If you love items processed foods like pasta and bread you would very easily overeat if not careful. Also what is your oil intake like, one tablespoon of olive oil is 120 calories, it has the highest calorie density there is at 4000 calories per pound, where as greens like spinach and lettuce come in at about 100 calories per pound.

    Basically as much as counting calories can be a nuisance, I think it is probably essential for anyone that has had weight issues as we have a clear history of overeating.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,600 Member
    edited March 2019
    I've been vegetarian (ovo-lacto) for 45 years, thin to fat to obese and back to thin again. Now in year 3 of maintaining about a 50 pound loss after about a year losing, before that.

    Nutrition for vegetarians/vegans isn't any different than it is for anyone else, nor is weight loss.

    Some strategies that helped me on lower calories were thinking in terms of getting at least a bit of protein in most of the more calorie-dense foods I eat throughout the day, because (for me) that's filling for me, and is also one of the macros I have to focus on to get enough of (I target 100g daily in maintenance, though it was a bit less during loss: I'm a believer in the range of 0.6-0.8g of protein daily per pound of healthy goal weight). Though I'm ovo-lacto, I eat eggs only rarely, and often hit 10+ servings of plant foods daily (not counting "plant derived" ones like tofu, tempeh, oy/legume pasta, etc.).

    A lot of what works for an individual is going to depend on what s/he enjoys most. For example, I was in the habit of eating quite a bit of whole wheat pasta, wrap sandwiches and that sort of thing, but realized I personally didn't find those foods particularly satiating or especially tasty (it was habit, mostly), so one strategy that worked well for me was to reduce consumption of wheat pasta and bread, and increase the portions of the stuff I would've put on the pasta or inside the bread. (Please note: I'm not even remotely low carb; I probably ate 150g+ of carbs most days while losing weight. I just preferred getting those carbs from legumes and such, that were more filling and tasty to me.) If I were a bread lover, this would've been a dumb strategy for me.

    I wrote up the general approach I followed to remodel my eating and lose weight in this thread, which applies to vegetarians, vegans, or anyone else:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Dgil1975 wrote: »
    amobailar wrote: »
    I've been on a plant based diet for nearly two years. I've been tested and I'm doing good as far as nutrition and such; I'm healthy. However, I've gained a LOT of weight before and during the last two years. I admit, I am a junk food vegan - I eat way too much pasta and bread and my portions are too big. I read books like The Starch Solution and I ate a bunch of potatoes and it just went downhill from there. All the plant based doctors and other vegan people say "You don't have to count calories on a vegan diet, it's so easy". Not counting calories or macros has not worked for me; I need structure. I can't find any kind of vegan exchange/macro program like I can in the Keto-South Beach-Paleo- worlds. The closest I come to finding something similar is Dr. Gregor's Daily Dozen. I want to get this weight off because it's making my life miserable and frustrating but I need help. I would like to hear from someone who lost at least 50 or more pounds while being plant based and how they did it in great detail! Is there anyone like that out there?
    Thanks,
    Brandi

    So, I'm new to plant based, and one of the things that stood out is the not counting calories thing. I've lost 20lbs since I started in January on plant based, and at first the weight was flying off, and this was after I was already regular dieting for two months, needless to say I thought this was going to be a cake walk. However here is what I think about the not counting calories advice. If you are truly eating whole foods, plant based with a good dose of greens it is going to be really hard to overeat, as there is only so much food that fits in your belly before it's uncomfortable. However if you love starches(count me in), then I think you have to count calories just to ensure your staying within the range you are allotted. If you love items processed foods like pasta and bread you would very easily overeat if not careful. Also what is your oil intake like, one tablespoon of olive oil is 120 calories, it has the highest calorie density there is at 4000 calories per pound, where as greens like spinach and lettuce come in at about 100 calories per pound.

    Basically as much as counting calories can be a nuisance, I think it is probably essential for anyone that has had weight issues as we have a clear history of overeating.

    This post sets up eating a WFPB diet and eating starches as somehow in opposition and that's a false dichotomy. WFPB starches exist. Many appropriately planned WFPB diets includes starches like potatoes, whole grains, and legumes.
  • VeganGirlAbroad
    VeganGirlAbroad Posts: 6 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    VeganGirlAbroad wrote: »
    estherdragonbat wrote: »
    VeganGirlAbroad wrote: »
    estherdragonbat wrote: »
    But it's not that I feel I "can't" have it; it's that with 1340 calories to lose 1/2 per week before exercise, I'm not willing to expend such a large chunk of my budget on them. (300 calories for half a turnover is still a bit steep. A quarter of a turnover won't be enough.)


    Can is ask you how you came to your deficit number?
    I am a 5'6, 86 kilo, 48 year old woman. When I did TDEE, it said 2,300 calories. I read to only subtract 500 to lose but I made it -800 so my deficit number is 1,500. I tried to do 1,200 yesterday but it felt too low. I'm not sure if 1,500 is still too low or too high. I want to lose as fast as I can without compromising my metabolism.

    I'm 5'3, sedentary, with less than 10lbs to reach a healthy weight. When I started, I was on 1710 to lose 1lb per week. Now, it's 1340 for 1/2lb. But then I exercise and eat back at least half of those calories. So most days, I close out my diary at more like 1700. (Going by TDEE, I'm active. But since all my activity is deliberate exercise, going by MFP, I'm sedentary.)

    ETA: 500 calorie-deficit puts you on track to lose 1lb per week. That's safe if you have at least 15-25 pounds to lose. If you have over 50, you can (not necessarily saying should) lose 1.5lbs per week. At my heaviest, I could have gone with 2lbs, but I didn't want to feel hungry and deprived, so I set it for 1 and it's worked well for me. At this point, I can safely manage a 250-calorie deficit.

    Thanks! That's helpful!
    Yes, I am trying to lose 20 kilo, so I guess around 40lbs, give or take?
    I definitely want to go with 2lbs a week if I can. I hope 1,500 does that since my TDEE said 2,300 to maintain.

    Two pounds a week is an overly aggressive rate of loss with only 44 pounds to lose.

    9kjwnia17qv9.jpg


    Thanks for the chart! Very helpful. Since starting at 41 lbs 1.5 a week is a suggestion, I'm going to go with 2lb a week working for me. I am very active so it'll probably happen anyway.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    Honestly, with 41lbs to lose, 2lbs per week is going to be too aggressive. You simply don't have the fat reserves to sustain it. And if you're exercising on top of that, you're going to find that you aren't burning as much because your body won't be moving as vigorously. Your energy will probably decrease and your hunger signals will probably increase. That's going to mess with adherence to plan.
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    Confession:
    I just record what I eat. My macros vary a lot from day to day, but Its interesting to see how they average out after you've got a month or so of data.

    Start there: Don't worry about a program that gives you strictt macros or exchanges. Write down what you eat, as accurately as you can (food scale matters a lot when you're learning). See where you're overdoing it. DO it AS YOU GO, not at the end of the day, so you can adjust as you go.
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
    There's a vegan/vegetarian group in the community that has been around for awhile. It's still active, but it also has lots of old discussions to read through as well that may have some helpful information.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/45-happy-herbivores
  • JRSINAZ
    JRSINAZ Posts: 158 Member
    I eat whole food plant-based and my diary is open if anybody wants to send a friend request.130# lost
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