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Being vegan and weightloss


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Hi,

I am a female, 5'-9"

I am looking for knowledge on being vegan and losing weight. I am not overweight, but my body just holds on to a certain amount of body fat that I can never seem to get rid of. I am an active person, I love working out... But no matter how hard I workout, my body still never let's go of this ammount of body fat I try to lose.

When I first when vegan about 3-4 years ago, it was because of stomach problems I was having. I had severe IBS. I could not eat anything without my stomach killing me. When I read about the vegan diet, everyone seemed to be cured of any stomach problems they had. I started as a raw vegan. I was doing title boxing club at the time, and I lost a ton of weight. One thing that happened other than weightloss though, was acne. Acne on my face, chest, back, and arms. With the weightloss, That was my smallest I have ever been, probably around 140 lbs and I could fit in a size 2 or 4 dress and size 27 jeans. I ate a green smoothie every morning, or sprouted oatmeal. Then lunch a huge salad and then dinner a huge salad or raw tacos or spaghetti with zucchini noodles. After a while I stopped eating raw, cause I craved cooked foods. I could still eat as much food as I wanted and never gain weight, if anything I lost weight. Here I still had my green smoothie for breakfast, salad lunch, salad dinner, but yet I would have things like grilled zucchini or just any cooked veggies. Then suddenly after a while the weight started to creep back on. I'm not sure why this is and so I got very frustrated. I thought maybe my body just went back to it's happy weight.... I still do not know why The weight came back. I eat so clean.

With my frustrations I left the vegan band wagon and ate meat to see if protein would help... Because we all know how people say protein is best for weightloss. Well when I ate meat and vegan proteins, guess what came back... My stomach problems! Agh, it was awful... And eggs are the worst for me. So I said screw the protein and went back to eating vegan, not raw, just vegan.

So now, here I am... I have been vegan for almost another year and working out like I always do and the weight is still here. When I saw weight, I am now probably 160 lbs.

I want to know what people think about the "Raw till 4 diet" and/or just eating as a clean vegan. Also what do you think about fats vs carbs. What do you think about suppliments or vegan protein powders? I currently take a probiotic, multivitamin, D3, and calcium/magnesium. I get my B12 through putting nutritional yeast on my salads.

I'm just kind of lost and would love some guidance on what I might be doing wrong.

I also drink a lot of water as well, and sleep at least 8 hours a night. For workouts I enjoy everything from running, HIIT training, weights, yoga burn and fitness pilates(these are hard classes, not a class where you just stretch for an hour and only burn 100 calories).

I love love love fruit, so I eat a lot of fruit. I do not eat a whole lot of fat, other than 1/4-1/3 avocado a day. I also eat a lot of veggies. I like brown rice and potatoes as well.

 

Thank you,

Jkmc100

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Hi! Interesting post, I had to read it yesterday, think about it, and then try to post to you today.

 

Def sounds like a food question to me.

 

I am not overweight, but my body just holds on to a certain amount of body fat that I can never seem to get rid of. I am an active person, I love working out... But no matter how hard I workout, my body still never let's go of this ammount of body fat I try to lose.

 

This one reads to me as not just a 'what' you're eating, but when...

 

One thing that happened other than weightloss though, was acne. Acne on my face, chest, back, and arms. With the weightloss,

 

Hmm....

 

Paired up with the other observables:

- weight off, then status quo no matter what you ate, then weight gain,

- Lots of water, 8+ hrs sleep <--- this is very good!

- love love love fruit..eat a lot...hmm...

- do not eat a whole lot of fat...hmm...

 

Things to me sound like the right track for you, just a little out of balance maybe.

 

Good overall health is balance, first sleep/rest/water, 2nd nutrition, 3rd exercise.

 

Just from your general right up, I'd say your general diet is veg+fruit. Sometimes rice and potatoes. Would be good to work in some other things for balance in your micros and a broader source for protein's and fats. Need both. Generally, out of balance over-consumption of anything can reveal themselves as body fat, esp around the waist. Too much carbs (esp processed carbs), too much sugars, and yeah, too much protein too.

 

With your various workouts, I didn't read anything in your right up about any energy or performance issues. So that's good!

 

I don't know much about the "Raw till 4" and I only use protein powders when I know my meals for the day have been 'light' on particular nutrients and can quickly make a smoothie post workout (spinach/kale, fruits, chia, almond milk, pea or hemp protein, water/ice, etc.). With a balanced, variety of plants and fruits in your diet, I'd think that the probiotic is unnecessary, but with your past stomach issues probably ok...I don't know enough about them to know if you get too much are if they're unnecessary do they just 'pass through' or get stored?

 

Also, to really optimize yourself, should be eating like 5-6 times a day. Eating till you're satisfied (not full) and eating based on either what you just did, or what you're about to do. Foods can include fruits as you list, but some can have higher sugar content than others, so depending on when you're having them and what you're doing afterwards, they could be a contributor to weight. Thinking you need some more grains/fiber/beans in your meals. You need carbs for energy. Protein is a poor energy source...better for repair/recovery.

 

Need a bit more detail though on a few things,

 

1) what's in your green smoothie for breakfast?

 

Lately, my summertime breakfast has been a 'breakfast bowl', usually contains: oatmeal, some steelcut oats, sometimes some chia/bit of peanut butter/flax (for omega oils), almond milk, fruit -- strawberries/blueberries, etc.). Lots of energy, lots of fiber, pretty nutritionally dense. Alternatively, will make my other go-to breakfast (quinoa, lentils, peppers/onion/mushrooms/etc., spices, sometimes some light-life sausage to mix it up, sometimes tomato, whatever is on hand. Ate straight up or with some high quality whole grain breads. (note, safeway has started carrying an awesome bread for like $2.50 loaded with grains, quinoa, chia, etc. -- and no egg/dairy!).

 

Note, you can put oats or similar in your smoothie if you haven't tried it.

 

2) salads: nothing wrong with these, just curious what goes in them?

 

3) fat: Avocado is a great source! I don't purposely avoid fats or add them. They are what they are. Though I do have on average a tsp or 2 a day of coconut oil in my tea or coffee. Otherwise, I just get whatever fats are in my meals naturally. You do need fats for your body, joints, skin, hair, etc.. So, just don't purposely avoid them, esp if you're eating raw/clean.

 

Good rule of thumb is to only make small (10%) changes every couple of weeks to see how it goes, better or worse. If you've put on some weight, or have a stubborn amount that you can't get rid of, sounds like too much in (cals/carbs) than out. Based on description, I'd target fruit as I think it's pretty hard to eat more calories than you need just from veg....that would be an impressive amount! So maybe replace a serving or 2 of fruit with some other veg or similar -- thinking about lower sugar content things. Then after 7-14 days, track your weight, appearance or measurements, energy levels....

 

Powders and supplements have their place, but too often can become lazy way of not getting familiar with your body, your nutritional needs and the signals you're body will send you. Without a whole lot of effort, you can get in-tune with your body, and start to just sense when your body is telling you it needs something, some potassium, or some magnesium, or more protein or whatever.

 

Look forward to your answers about the the smoothie and salad ingredients....you can do this! we can help!!

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Hello again

 

Yes, I have great energy, I am never tired.

Raw till 4 is like the 80 10 10 diet, but you eat one cooked meal at night. So you eat 80% carbs,, 10% protein, 10% fat. I do eat beans as well sometimes in my cooked meal. I also eat avocados, but I only eat 1/4 per day. You also eat 3 big meals a day and do not really snack. I like three meals because I do not have time for 5 meals.

Example Day...

1 meal: green smoothie

2 meal: banana ice cream (7 bananas, 2 dates, cacao powder) OR watermelon

3 meal: BIG salad, rice and peas with coocnut aminos

 

Now to answer your questions.

1) green smoothie: 2-3 bananas, frozen pineapple or blueberries, lots of kale or spinach, and water

 

2) Huge salad ... field greens, green onions, celery, purple cabbage, tomatoes, cucumber, red peppers, avocados, nutritional yeast, and balsamic vinegar for dressing.

 

3) Like I said before I do eat them, just in small amounts.

 

I notice a big difference in my digestion when I take my probiotic.

 

I was eating more fat and beans and rice before and it did nothing for my weight. This is why I am lost. I know so much about nutrition yet I still have a little fluff. I just want to get my body fat percentage down and lean out.

 

Thanks for replying!!

jkmc100

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Sounds like a lot of bananas. Different juries/opinions on them, though I know Dolce limits them due to sugar.

 

For your meals, eating 5-6x a day doesn't necessarily mean full meals. Keep your green smoothie, add in some nuts or an apple or similar mid-morning...lunch is lunch...then depending on when you're working out (I usually do it after work, before dinner) fuel up with some energy and of course water. On a krav day, depending on what I had for lunch, might just top up with a med apple on the there in the car, or if lunch was maybe a bit light, a small sandwich with good bread, tons of veg, maybe protein source (veg slices, hummus, etc.). Then dinner afterwards.

 

The in between snacks help keep your metabolism humming, and your blood sugar levels level...body has fuel avaiable, so it doesn't have to worry about save any extra nutrients from breakfast or lunch to fuel workout. Body can get confused between feast/famine mode...(burn vs store).

 

If doing the 80/10/10 was when you started noticing the fat sticking around and/or the weight going up, I'd go lower on the carbs. 80% from carbs would need a lot of work for me to maintain, never mind lose any body fat.

 

That said, I don't really count much of my stuff, but do keep eye on my proteins. If the high % of the carbs are from plants vs rice/grains/etc. that kind of makes sense to me.

 

Greens and salads sound good! Maybe add in some seeds for protein(?) or toss on some chickpeas/or black beans for texture and protein. Sprinkling with nutritional yeast is good, maybe sprinkle on some ground flax or hemp as a suggestion too.

 

Just by monitoring myself in the mirror and using the scale, if my workout stuff is mostly staying the same and my diet tweaks a bit, I can see if I'm starting to carry a bit more body fat than before -- SO, either have to workout more or reduce something in my diet, usual suspects are carbs, peanuts, etc. Replace them with more veggies and see how it goes. I did notice I was able to start bulking while maintaining lean mass by adding in more veg/fruits with emphasis on protein sources POST workout.

 

I don't really ascribe to 80/10/10, only know a tiny bit about it, but it sounds unsustainable to me unless done with close attention.

 

.....pause...

 

This was bugging me. Had to do some digging around, seems that 1 banana has 18g sugar...27g in a Snickers bar...16 gm sugar in 1 date...recommended (for what it's worth) daily consumption of sugars is listed as 30gms per day...

 

200 calories in a banana. SO, if you're eating 9-10 per day, that alone is like your whole days worth of cals (generically speaking -- with it drummed into our heads that 2000 cal/day is generally needed for just sustainment/health. Assuming that is so, then if you're maintaining 160lbs, without cutting down on the sugars/cals I think you'll have to like double your exercising.

 

I can push high on the calories when I'm doing my hard days/weeks....work, weights, 3+ mile run, work, 1-2 hours of krav (fighting class), weights,...and that is with emphasis on building up some more strength and bulk without packing more softness around my middle. (Save my excess carbs/cals for some beer -- which can still show up right away on stomach).

 

I'd say you're clean eating. Don't see much of any processed carbs. But also don't see much by way of grains which are needed too. BUT, you do have a cooked meal, some times with brown rice, which a good one to have.

 

First easy attempt at a fix would be to cut out 10% of bananas...so if eating 9-10 on average per day, I'd limit it to 7-8 for a week, keep doing everything else the same and see what happens.

 

Still mulling this one over....maybe someone else who has more experience with 80/10/10 can join in...

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Yeah, I would like someone who has experience with 80 10 10 to join in too. Because before I was eating how you are telling me to and it was going no where. :/

So I just started "raw till 4" about 3 weeks ago to see what would happen. I know when I lost all the weight before I never restricted sugar or calories. I was more "raw" though. But I just enjoy having a warm meal at night and I don't have a dehydrator, so I have one cooked meal.

I do miss my avocados a lot, lol I love them.

Thanks for your in put!!

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