2 months into living vegan and still havent dropped lbs!!!=(

[jenny1126]

i am a 5'10 160lb female and have worked out 4-5x a week for 10 years. always stay at 145-148 and happy with that. when i had my son almost 2 yrs ago i lost all but 15lbs. i am 19% bf and have alot of muscle. after giving up meat, dairy and eggs i thought i would drop the weight but the scale hasnt moved, not 1 lb! what should i be eating to drop fat?

i basically live off beans, soy, fruit veggies,nut/seeds, and olive oil based dressings. what gives? too many calories u think?

[julia]

When I went vegan I actually gained weight, simply because I stuffed myself with everything that was vegan

You don't seem to do this though.. Hmm.. How many nuts/seeds do you eat?

[xjohanx]

It's all about calories in vs calories out, you won't drop weight by simply going vegan. Try reducing the amount of oil and nuts/seeds because they are very energy dense foods that is easy to overeat. Stick to veggies, fruits, intact whole grains (not flour products like bread) and tubers.

[jenny1126]

i guess i prob do eat alot of nut/seeds or their butters. its easy to eat more than the 2 tbsp serving. should i worry about my protein content at this point? i just want to drop body fat im 19ish% i am comfy at 15% any one have a sample day of eating i can look at? i come from a background of eating meat meat meat (the typical body builder mentality) its hard for me to get it outta my head that carbs arent "bad" and they wont make you fat!

[beforewisdom]

i am a 5'10 160lb female and have worked out 4-5x a week for 10 years. always stay at 145-148 and happy with that. when i had my son almost 2 yrs ago i lost all but 15lbs. i am 19% bf and have alot of muscle. after giving up meat, dairy and eggs i thought i would drop the weight but the scale hasnt moved, not 1 lb! what should i be eating to drop fat?

i basically live off beans, soy, fruit veggies,nut/seeds, and olive oil based dressings. what gives? too many calories u think?

 

Hi Jenny;

 

Several years ago I lost 48 lbs and I have kept most of it since. I thought that would never happen. Like you I was exercising and eating healthy food, but my weight wasn't going down. I attributed it to a slow metabolism and being a few years older.

 

People tend to say it in a smug, self important way, but it is true.

 

Losing fat is a matter of taking in less energy ( calories ) than you use. Thats it.

 

People who tell you differently are trying to sell you a fad diet or they are looking for someone to bolster their beliefs in a fad diet they have chosen. Some of the second group have good intentions but are confused. They may have lost a few pounds due to water loss or calorie restriction, but they really believe it was the fad diets magic formula. When fad diets take weight off, it is always the situation that fewer calories were taken in than used.

 

A diet of vegan foods that are at the same time high fiber and low fat can help you lose weight because on such diets it is more comfortable to eat fewer calories. The bulk ( fiber and water together naturally in a food ) of the low processed foods takes up room in your stomach and makes you feel fuller though you ate less calories than if you ate a very refined, calorie dense food like pasta, juice or bagels.

 

However, in the end you still need to make sure you are taking in slightly less energy than you use.

 

Here is a blog entry I wrote about using such a vegan diet in combination with a food diary to monitor my calories to lose that weight ( and keep it off ). I didn't give up any food I liked and I wasn't uncomfortable all of the time:

 

http://beforewisdom.com/blog/?p=255

 

HTH

[Fallen_Horse]

Do you use oil based salad dressings? If that is where you oil intake comes from, try reducing the amount of oil in your dressing (by a third or half, say) and go from there. Nuts/butters are generally a better source of fats so I would cut the oil first...

[chrisjs]

Eating vegan isn't a weight loss diet! In addition to the above suggestions, you should definitely have at least few days where you are obsessively tracking what you're eating. Weigh everything, write down all the calories and macros that come along with it. You don't need to do this forever, but you need to be aware of what xxx calories feels like and then make sure you don't stray too far from your target.

 

Search around here for sample meals that people eat, we all have different tastes and goals. Daily I'm eating tofu, protein smoothies, beans, and high-protein cereal.

[Ducati]

Hi Jenny,

 

I lost close to 80 pounds when I went vegan. But, like you, I didn't start losing it right at first because I ate all the faux meats and replacements which are still loaded with fat. When I switched to a high carb/low fat diet, (80%-90% carbs) the weight melted right off. I also had a ton of energy.

 

Vegetables are the key. Vegetables have so many nutrients in them to help your body function properly. They are low in calories, but can make you feel full due to the fiber. Plan your meals around your vegetables.

 

Fruits are higher in calories, but they also have a lot of nutrients. The fiber in fruit helps the fructose to be released more slowly into your blood, so you don't get a fast boost of energy, then a drop making you feel like you need to eat more. Don't make fruit smoothies if you are trying to lose weight, because it tears up the fiber and will give you that short term boost and make you feel like you need more food quickly after that boost is gone.

 

Legumes and nuts are great for protein and fat, but unless you are trying to build muscle, you don't need any more protein than you can get in fruits and veggies. Reduce your intake of these to lose fat quickly. If you are getting enough calories, you are getting enough protein. The whole vegan protein thing is a myth.

 

Oils are 100% fat. Eliminate them from your diet as much as possible. Instead of oil dressing, try mustard, picante sauce, salsa, tomato sauce (diced tomatoes in a can are good), or lemon juice as a dressing. Very low in calories, but watch your sodium intake.

 

Water is something a lot of people don't consider. Don't assume you are getting enough water in the food you are eating. If you drink coffee, soft drinks, or alcohol, you body needs even more water. Ideally, cut these items out or minimize their intake. Stick to straight water and tea as much as possible.

 

Air is another thing most people don't consider. Fat needs oxygen to burn. If you are working out at an anaerobic level, you won't burn nearly as much fat as if you do extended, slow exercises. Some people call them LSD for Long, Slow, Distance. Not sure why, because long and distance mean the same thing to me. LOL Remember that you burn about the same number of calories walking a mile versus running a mile. I can run maybe 10 miles because things start hurting, but I can easily walk 30 miles. Get a nice audio book and go for a walk. I also recommend breathing exercises to remind your body how much air you can breath in and breath out. Most people, even when very out of breath, do not breath as deeply as they could.

 

If you have a TV, I recommend selling it or giving it away. It can quickly relax you and make you not want to do any exercises. I never realize how much time I wasted watching TV. Of course I waste a lot of time at the computer, and it might go away someday as well.

[Zack]

Don't make fruit smoothies if you are trying to lose weight, because it tears up the fiber

 

Is that not what a mouth does? Tear food up?

[beforewisdom]

Don't make fruit smoothies if you are trying to lose weight, because it tears up the fiber

 

Is that not what a mouth does? Tear food up?

 

Not as much.

 

If you are trying to lose weight you are trying to feel full on fewer calories. Eating fruit helps because the bulk ( fiber + water ) takes up more room in your stomach. Grinding that bulk down in a blender makes it take up less room......like packing down newspaper in a trash bag.

[Zerh]

Fruits are not even that good for losing weight. One or two before training, that's all I can think.

[Ducati]

Zack,

 

When you chew your food, you don't do it to the efficiency of a blender. Not nearly so. You would probably have to chew each bite for hours to do what a blender can do in seconds. This would probably be a great way to lose weight though.

 

I love fruit smoothies. My freezer is full of bananas that I mix with strawberries, raspberries, mangos, blueberries, etc. to make a frozen yogurt like ice cream. It taste great, but when I eat it, I get a short burst of energy, thenI want more food very soon afterward. I would be much better off eating the fruit whole to lose weight.

 

If you are trying to lose weight and want to smoothie, do a vegetable smoothie with maybe one piece of fruit to flavor it up.

[BlueRose]

Um...I have fruit smoothies fairly regularly and have succeeded in losing weight--and my metabolism is crap. I don't get the fruit-phobia, guys.

[Zack]

Eating fruit helps because the bulk ( fiber + water ) takes up more room in your stomach. Grinding that bulk down in a blender makes it take up less room......like packing down newspaper in a trash bag.

 

 

What if you add water?

 

 

water + fruit > fruit

[lobsteriffic]

I don't get the fruit-phobia, guys.

 

Me neither, I eat a lot of fruit, too. And I usually have a green smoothie every morning with a lot of fruit in it.

 

Oh well, each to their own. *shrug*

[beforewisdom]

Eating fruit helps because the bulk ( fiber + water ) takes up more room in your stomach. Grinding that bulk down in a blender makes it take up less room......like packing down newspaper in a trash bag.

 

 

What if you add water?

 

 

water + fruit > fruit

 

Did you ever fill up on water when you were hungry? It helps for a little while, but not as long as if you ate something. You don't need to digest water, so it doesn't stay in your stomach for long.

 

Fiber works at killing a appetite earlier by filling up the stomach. It doesn't do that as well processed down, the way a newspaper will not fill up as much of a garbage can if you pack it down.

[beforewisdom]

Um...I have fruit smoothies fairly regularly and have succeeded in losing weight--and my metabolism is crap. I don't get the fruit-phobia, guys.

 

That only means that the calories from your fruit smootie, in addition to other things you have eaten have not added up to more than the calories you use.

 

If someone is eating as much ( or more ) calories as they are using and they add more calories they will not lose weight.

 

Someone who was a full days worth of calories and then adds a fruit smoothie will take in several hundred __extra_ calories.

 

It only takes 200 extra calories a day to put on 20 lbs over the course of a year.

[chrisjs]

Fruit is awesome.

[BlueRose]

Um...I have fruit smoothies fairly regularly and have succeeded in losing weight--and my metabolism is crap. I don't get the fruit-phobia, guys.

 

That only means that the calories from your fruit smootie, in addition to other things you have eaten have not added up to more than the calories you use.

 

If someone is eating as much ( or more ) calories as they are using and they add more calories they will not lose weight.

 

Someone who was a full days worth of calories and then adds a fruit smoothie will take in several hundred __extra_ calories.

 

It only takes 200 extra calories a day to put on 20 lbs over the course of a year.

 

Right, the mistake there is thinking they're calorie-free. I count them with my day's worth and track everything over at sparkpeople.com.

[Ducati]

I don't think anyone is telling anyone to stay away from fruit. On the contrary. Fruit is wonderful. But it is better eaten whole than blended up. I lost a lot of my weight eating fruit smoothies, but I found I lost it quicker and didn't eat as much when I at whole fruit over smoothies.

[lobsteriffic]

I don't know about BlueRose, but I interpreted Zerh's post as being fruit-phobic, not you Ducati.

 

But maybe that's me over-reacting from the days I used to spend on the forum at bodybuilding.com and all of the bros were convinced fruit was the work of satan.

[Ducati]

I don't know about BlueRose, but I interpreted Zerh's post as being fruit-phobic, not you Ducati.

 

But maybe that's me over-reacting from the days I used to spend on the forum at bodybuilding.com and all of the bros were convinced fruit was the work of satan.

 

Zerh's pretty new here. He is probably just repeating what he heard on bodybuilding.com. LOL

[Zack]

You don't need to digest water, so it doesn't stay in your stomach for long.

 

really?

 

Fiber works at killing a appetite earlier by filling up the stomach. It doesn't do that as well processed down, the way a newspaper will not fill up as much of a garbage can if you pack it down.

 

But even if you blend it, the volume is still the same as if you ate it. Even more if you add water!

[Ducati]

You don't need to digest water, so it doesn't stay in your stomach for long.

 

really?

 

Fiber works at killing a appetite earlier by filling up the stomach. It doesn't do that as well processed down, the way a newspaper will not fill up as much of a garbage can if you pack it down.

 

But even if you blend it, the volume is still the same as if you ate it. Even more if you add water!

 

 

Yup, really. Water does not require mechanical or chemical breakdown, so no digestion. It can be absorbed into the bloodstream within seconds of consumption.

 

Volume is how much space it takes up. When you blend a piece of fruit, you release the water from that fruit. The water is absorbed quickly when you consume it. If it is still in the fiber, it requires more digestion to release it and will maintain the volume of the fiber until it is released.

[beforewisdom]

You don't need to digest water, so it doesn't stay in your stomach for long.

 

really?

 

 

Yes, really.

 

Fiber works at killing a appetite earlier by filling up the stomach. It doesn't do that as well processed down, the way a newspaper will not fill up as much of a garbage can if you pack it down.

 

But even if you blend it, the volume is still the same as if you ate it. Even more if you add water!

 

It may be the same weight, but not the same volume. Think about taking that volumious newspaper and packing it down.

 

Making a smoothie is basically processing (lightly) fruit the way taking wheat and making it into whole grain past is processing it. It may have the same amount of fiber, but eating the wheat will make you feel more full than the pasta.