I went vegan and GAINED weight?!?!
chrisinfla
Posts: 3 Member
I’m trying to figure out what has caused this. Let me be honest. Although I went vegan Jan 1st, I still consumed more calories than I should have. Yes I was eating nuts, rice, some pasta, legumes but also loads of veggies. I even tried IF while vegan and it seems to not want to budge. I’ve been steady all month! I do drink red wine at least a glass two to three times a week. I might just stop that. I do feel like I have more energy but was expecting a little more from cutting meat (red) and dairy. I ate eggs this am because I was so hungry. I would like to stay vegan but not if I keep going up on the scale! Inputs and thoughts appreciated. I just turned 50 so maybe my metabolism is slowing down.
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Replies
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Weight gain is due to a surplus of calories. It doesn't matter if those calories are vegan, keto, carnivore, or whatever.
Are you tracking your calories?
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It is a total myth that there aren't any overweight vegans! There definitely are! Its all down to how many calories you eat - and its still possible to overeat vegan food! Personally i could eat half a loaf of bread a day, several hundred grams of nuts, a couple of avocados, a big old bowl of pasta and that's without any of the crappy junk food that is cropping up everywhere.31
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How many calories a day are you consuming? Are you using a food scale, weighing all solids and semi-solids and measuring liquids? In the end, calories drive weight loss, whatever you choose to eat.9
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chrisinfla wrote: »I’m trying to figure out what has caused this. Let me be honest. Although I went vegan Jan 1st, I still consumed more calories than I should have. Yes I was eating nuts, rice, some pasta, legumes but also loads of veggies. I even tried IF while vegan and it seems to not want to budge. I’ve been steady all month! I do drink red wine at least a glass two to three times a week. I might just stop that. I do feel like I have more energy but was expecting a little more from cutting meat (red) and dairy. I ate eggs this am because I was so hungry. I would like to stay vegan but not if I keep going up on the scale! Inputs and thoughts appreciated. I just turned 50 so maybe my metabolism is slowing down.
This is all that matters for weight management. None of the other things you mentioned cause weight gain or loss.
If you want to lose weight, you need to be in a consistent caloric deficit.20 -
Vegan food has calories just like-well-all food.
To lose weight, you need eat fewer calories than you use. You can choose to eat those calories in vegan forms if you wish. But there’s nothing magical about veganisnn for weight loss.16 -
chrisinfla wrote: »I’m trying to figure out what has caused this. Let me be honest. Although I went vegan Jan 1st, I still consumed more calories than I should have. Yes I was eating nuts, rice, some pasta, legumes but also loads of veggies. I even tried IF while vegan and it seems to not want to budge. I’ve been steady all month! I do drink red wine at least a glass two to three times a week. I might just stop that. I do feel like I have more energy but was expecting a little more from cutting meat (red) and dairy. I ate eggs this am because I was so hungry. I would like to stay vegan but not if I keep going up on the scale! Inputs and thoughts appreciated. I just turned 50 so maybe my metabolism is slowing down.
Like others have said, calories are what matter. If you cut lower cal and filling animal sourced foods and added in more caloric or less filling vegan foods, that isn't going to lead to weight loss.
Given the focus on going vegan and then IF, I wonder if you are trying to find a method that does not involve calorie counting? I know many assume it will be burdensome or mean restriction or the like, but often even counting for a while helps you identify sources of extra cals and really easy ways to cut back, if it is not immediately apparent to you.
I am eating mostly plant-based these days, but I could easily eat over my cals if I wanted to, and I my weight eating plenty of meat, eggs, and dairy, since those weren't really the foods I tended to overeat (I cut back on added oils, portions of starches, and then to some extent dessert or snack type foods and dinners out, although neither of those were a huge thing for me).
In that starch portions are vegan, added oil is vegan, and I can easily find vegan dinners to order in (Ethiopian and Indian can be easy options for that, at least where I live), and that B&J makes great vegan ice cream and there are tons of vegan snack foods (salted nuts and chips, for example), I could so very easily have cut no cals had my initial approach been to cut out animal foods.
You may find that it's easier to stick to lower cals eating 100% plant based or not (I eat tons of veg and fiber eating mostly plant based, but I ate plenty (not as much, as I eat more beans now) of fiber and a similar amount of veg before), but probably a good start would be to log at least for educational purposes.8 -
chrisinfla wrote: »I’m trying to figure out what has caused this. Let me be honest. Although I went vegan Jan 1st, I still consumed more calories than I should have. Yes I was eating nuts, rice, some pasta, legumes but also loads of veggies. I even tried IF while vegan and it seems to not want to budge. I’ve been steady all month! I do drink red wine at least a glass two to three times a week. I might just stop that. I do feel like I have more energy but was expecting a little more from cutting meat (red) and dairy. I ate eggs this am because I was so hungry. I would like to stay vegan but not if I keep going up on the scale! Inputs and thoughts appreciated. I just turned 50 so maybe my metabolism is slowing down.
I could totally overeat vegan meals like pasta with nuts and olive oil, and would feel hungry not long afterwards.
What's your protein goal and are you eating enough (plant based) protein to meet it? If you're eating enough beans, you are undoubtedly getting at least 25 g of fiber per day, but do check that as well.6 -
chrisinfla wrote: »I’m trying to figure out what has caused this. Let me be honest. Although I went vegan Jan 1st, I still consumed more calories than I should have. Yes I was eating nuts, rice, some pasta, legumes but also loads of veggies. I even tried IF while vegan and it seems to not want to budge. I’ve been steady all month! I do drink red wine at least a glass two to three times a week. I might just stop that. I do feel like I have more energy but was expecting a little more from cutting meat (red) and dairy. I ate eggs this am because I was so hungry. I would like to stay vegan but not if I keep going up on the scale! Inputs and thoughts appreciated. I just turned 50 so maybe my metabolism is slowing down.
Being vegan has absolutely nothing to do with weight management. Veganism is an ethical stance. Weight management isn't about meat or no meat...it's about calories. There are plenty of high calorie vegan foods. You're gaining weight because you are consuming more calories than your body needs to maintain the status quo or to lose.16 -
You’re eating more calories than your body burns. Doesn’t matter where the calories come from. Bottom line for losing weight (with no underlying health issues) eat less calories than your body burns.6
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Everyone has provided you with solid advice! It's all about CICO, no matter what types of foods you're eating (or not eating). When I switched to a vegan diet, it took me some time to figure out. A lot of people who go vegan have issues in the beginning with not getting enough protein, or eating excessive amounts of processed carbs (like pasta, bread, etc). Make sure you're still counting calories, and make sure you're getting enough protein. I ultimately found it was easiest for me to add a vegan protein bar or shake every day (pea protein based). Good luck!7
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Calories in calories out - there is plenty of high calorie junk food.
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Thanks to everyone who responded.... I will watch the calories closer. I do choose to eat this way for both the health (anti inflammatory,etc) and on my journey have also become more “aware” that my protein choices before were an animal.... not to get too deep but, yes, more mindful of where my protein choices come from. I guess I just assumed veggies were “free” (old WW point counting here) so everything else would in no way exceed my daily need of calories..... wrong!!15
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Pipsqueak1965 wrote: »It is a total myth that there aren't any overweight vegans! There definitely are! Its all down to how many calories you eat - and its still possible to overeat vegan food! Personally i could eat half a loaf of bread a day, several hundred grams of nuts, a couple of avocados, a big old bowl of pasta and that's without any of the crappy junk food that is cropping up everywhere.
My vegan friend would go to the grocery store next to our shop when the French bread was first put out and still warm and eat almost the whole thing in one sitting and we're talking a huge family size loaf😳8 -
chrisinfla wrote: »Thanks to everyone who responded.... I will watch the calories closer. I do choose to eat this way for both the health (anti inflammatory,etc) and on my journey have also become more “aware” that my protein choices before were an animal.... not to get too deep but, yes, more mindful of where my protein choices come from. I guess I just assumed veggies were “free” (old WW point counting here) so everything else would in no way exceed my daily need of calories..... wrong!!
Unfortunately a lot of people have been misled by the WW "free foods", you'll see threads here from time to time from folks who don't understand why their points are so low but they're still gaining weight!
If you don't want to log long term, committing to a month or two of really accurate logging might be all it takes to get a better idea of how to set up your preferred diet and still stay within your calories. Good luck!16 -
It is no myth overweight vegans are not unicorns we do exsist .. It can be a challenge to get in enough protien to help regulate the carbs even when one as being careful.. as others have said it is calories in calories out.. I am trying to get back to plant based and stop being a lazy vegan.. sending freind request4
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Im plant based (98% vegan) and I'm 41, its defo not easy to lose weight, Im 5'4 and 138lbs, cutting 500 Kcals so intake is 1500, if I workout, I will eat a bit more but weight isnt shifting yet (I've been mainly just doing physio due to injury, and work is busy, retail, but its not a workout) I have been injured which I feel is slowing down the results. Managed to lose a couple kilos a year ago, but I was training more then as my back wasnt as bad and Im now trying to shed another 10lbs or so if possible. 1500 Kcals isnt a ton of food, and like others have said its very easy to bump up your Kcals if adding oils or eating pasta. I feel your struggle.. add me if ya like
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I would like to be vegan for ethical reasons but I find it a lot harder to stick below my calorie goals and feel satisfied when I am eating 100% vegan. Often I get SO hungry even when getting ~70g protein per day, and eating carbs all day every day can get old. I feel much more satisfied when adding small amounts of animal products throughout the week. At the end of the day, for me, I have to listen to my body and accept the fact that this way is much more sustainable. Eating 90% plant based allows me to reach my goals while still greatly reducing the quantity of animal products I consume.5
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a protein calorie is a protein calorie whether it comes from tofu or a delicious juicy steak.6
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Just to throw a little real-world math out there: I don’t eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. I need a low fiber diet due to some digestive problems, so vast quantities of produce just aren’t part of my world. When I was transitioning off WW, I double-tracked and found that I was still eating 200-250 calories of vegetables most days. If that went untracked on top of whatever calories MFP gave me, it would potentially wipe out a deficit or lead to as much as a 0.5 pound gain a week. From fruits and vegetables!
I had the same troubling changing my mindset about “free” fruits and veggies, but once I saw the math....believe you me that I started weighing and counting those calories! I can only imagine what the difference would have been if I were plant-based in any way!10 -
In addition to the number of calories, how is your balance of macros? It’s fairly easy on a vegan diet to eat too many carbs. For instance, you could eat too much fruit or your ratio of grains to legumes could be off (you need grains + legumes to make complete proteins, but grains are overall fairly low in protein). Or you might be eating too much fat if you’re dousing everything in olive oil. Either way, a proper balance is important in order to feel full by the time you run out of calories.2
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