HELP. How can a person feel great & LOSE weight being vegan

[KishaG]

I don't like be confused and well, I am right now. Can you all offer some advice?

If I consume oatmeal, fruit juice smoothies, eat beans & rice 2 x a day, snack on carrots & grapes plus have a vegan dessert, will I lose weight? I don’t think so; even if I cut out the vegan dessert.

I’ve been reading tons of books that tell me to have soy, tempeh bacon or tofu. I don’t want to eat those things to “act” like I’m eating meat.

I’ve gone back to dead animal which I darn near can’t eat most nights. I have cut out the fruits, pasta, beans & rice. I’ve lost 7 lbs. in 10 days. The problem is I don’t enjoy eating dead animal (chicken & turkey) though.
I’ve searched through all the female profiles on this site and no one really shares how their eating or what they are truly eating. They give generals. I wish they shared more like on bodybuilding.com transformation stories.

Does my vegan lifestyle have to be a bunch of powdered proteins & tofu burgers to work? I’m open to suggestions. I truly desire to make this work but I keep failing & maintaining my overweight status trying to live vegan.

[nelliscarlet]

Hi Kisha - I know exactly how you feel!!! I was in pretty much the same position as you - for a while I even reverted to being pescatarian, it was the most disgusting week of my life!!!

I am at the very last 4kg (8lbs) of a long weight loss jouney. Once I hit my UGW it will be 25kilos (50lbs) lost all up. When you get down to the last 5kg it gets really tough to lose, and I plateaued for about 6 months and so now I have switched to gluten-free hi-raw vegan. I find it works well for me because I LOVE EATING and the low carbs/low trans fats/lots of vegies thing seems to agree with my body. By no means is my trainer happy with what I'm eating, he says I need more carbs, but he doesn't know what it's like to be an overweight young woman so he can go to hell lol. This is what I eat at the moment. I'm eating lots of small meals and I'm losing weight pretty quickly doing this:

Breakfast:
A handful of Pulse and glass of soy milk (Pulse is an "anicent raw meal" that Don Tolman champions, you can buy it online but it's pretty expensive)
OR
1/2 cup Kapai Puku, 1 cup good quality non-toasted gluten free museli and soy milk as cereal

Morning snack:
Apple slices with good-quality all natural organic peanut butter, soy coffee

Lunch 1: (about 12pm)
Raw green beans, red and green capsicum slices, celery and carrot sticks dipped in dairy-free hommus, handful of cashew nuts, glass of soy milk

Lunch 2: (about 1:30-2pm)
Brazil nuts, strawberries, soy protein shake

Afternoon snack:
Celery sticks with good-quality all natural organic peanut butter, apple slices, soy coffee

Dinner I basically make a big f*ckoff salad, I just throw everything in there, all sorts of raw vegies, some chickpeas, lentils, sometimes some orange slices or beetroot, almonds, pine nuts and just eat as much of that if I want. If I get hungry again after dinner I have a little bowl of kapai puku and soy milk.

I basically eat heaps. The way i see it, how I eat is so stupidly clean as long as its raw I eat it when I want it. Nuts etc in moderation. If I get peckish I grab a handful of nuts or raw nibble mix (usually sunflower kernels, almonds, pepitas, raisings, sultanas) Remember to drink lots of water. Take multivitamins, B-complex, iron and Flaxseed oil. If I am strength training I have a banana and soy protein shake after.

This is my before/after so you can see it works!


I hope this is useful for you honey x

[FormicaLinoleum]

I’ve been reading tons of books that tell me to have soy, tempeh bacon or tofu. I don’t want to eat those things to “act” like I’m eating meat.

Why? Tofu and tempeh aren't even 'mock meats'. They are traditional soy foods. (I personally also have no problem with 'mock meats' like veggie burgers and all that. As an occasional treat/convenience, though, not as a base of my diet.)

In general, I would suggest eating loads and loads of vegetables. I don't have loads of weight to lose, but when I did want to lose a small amount I found Eat to Live very effective. Don't cut out beans--they are good for you.

If you don't want to buy the book (though I recommend reading it), the main idea of Eat to Live is to eat foods with high nutrient density and low calorie density.
- Eat loads of veg, both raw and cooked. This should be the bulk of what you eat.
- Eat beans every day.
- Avoid oils and processed carbs (and basically any other processed foods)
- Whole grains don't have to be completely avoided but should be limited
- Nuts OK in moderation but probably best avoided if you have a lot to lose (though recent videos by Dr Greger suggest nuts may not be incompatable with weight loss despite calorie density)
- Can't remember about fruit but I think it's OK in moderation

I'm doing this from memory, so I hope I haven't got it completely wrong. But bottom line is veg, veg, veg. And beans.

Derek (who's a member of this board) eats a somewhat similar diet, though I think he said it's not really based on Eat to Live. He and his wife have recipes on their site: http://www.veganmuscleandfitness.com/

Bottom line is that you can certainly lose weight on a vegan diet. You just have to adjust it so it works for you. There's actually a lot out there at the moment about plant-based diets for weight loss/disease prevention and reversal. Like Forks Over Knives. Check out their website. Again, the basic idea is to focus on whole plant foods and avoid processed stuff. I'm often amazed, when I see people's eating plans, how little veg it is possible to eat as a vegan (I know I manage to eat very low-veg when I'm being lazy). So being vegan won't necessarily be healthy or lead to weight loss. You have to plan right for that.

[KishaG]

Thanks Ladies...I appreciate your insight and will be implementing it! I will report back too.