Theresaann

This may sound un-politically correct here, but I found something extraordinary in my quest to shed bodyfat. You may want to consider that you could be overtraining. That will halt and even reverse fat loss due to elevated cortisol even if you are working harder and eating leaner. Read Brenden Brazier's book "the Thrive Diet". He explains the stress/cortisol/fat gain-loss cycle very clearly. I dropped from 6 days of hard working out (hard cardio and weights) to 4, plus making sure to get more sleep, and the fat is dropping off with no change in diet. In fact I feel like I'm working out a lot less but getting a lot leaner. It goes against logic, but consider trying it. You may be really surprised, as I was.

Yes, I pretty much do that, eating for 8 hours and fasting for 16, give or take. That REALLY works for fat loss in my experience! I usually eat breakfast at around 7:30 am, then dinner by 5 pm and nothing after that. People argue about this but I am telling you it works to lower my bodyfat like nothing else. At 44 thats really saying something. Plus I have more energy when I get up early to workout (I have to at 5:30 am cause have a very busy daily schedule wtih kids, work, etc). This to me is probably the #1 health/weightloss secret there is.

All I can say are two things: 1. a lot of research by highly reputable vegan sources (Dr. Fuhrman, Bredan Brazier, Dr. McDougall, and many, many others) as well as non-vegan sources (medical, nutritional) say that coffee is bad news, as is too much caffeine. Coffee in particular is very acid forming and leaches alkaline minerals from bones and teeth, not to mention other problems with acidity. my comment on that is that maybe some people have higher tolerances to this than others. 2. my OWN experience is that is is very very bad for me. at FIRST it wasn't. The first couple of months on it I can get away with it. After that it starts to really drain my adrenals, etc. maybe if people have less exogenous stress in their lives, ie NO KIDS, only themselves to provide for, etc, then the added stress on the adrenals from the coffee doesn't effect them as much. If it doesn't effect you, GO FOR IT! But watch your adrenals, cause I don't believe it truly doesn't effect everyone negatively, whether or not it causes more "belly fat". There are other side effects that might not be clinically measurable for a long time in a relatively healthy person. I'm just sayin!

beans, beans, beans!! They are the vegan "meat" to me. I LOVE them and feel so satieted on them. Like Robert said, in wraps, burritos, salads, soups, tostadas....I eat edamame steamed daily as a snack. Brenden's thrive diet suggests beans as a main component, after fibrous veggies. works for me!

The oils in coffee beans are rendered toxic, carcinogenic, oxidized and rancid as soon as they are exposed to the high heat of roasting. Sitting on the shelf isn't the issue-its the oxidization caused from high heat exposure.

sounds like ultimate vegan comfort food...good to know!

check out "the pH Miracle". Acidity creates inflammation, as does animal protein. If one is not eating any animal protein, the next step to reduce inflammation is detox and alkalinize. Works for me! When I am more alkaline, my allergies, asthma and eczema clear up and my ligaments are a lot more flexible-ie, no neck, back pain, etc.

anyone else have this issue? I know thats the best way to boost metabolism and I can even FEEL my metabolism slow down when I go several hours not eating, but for some reason, I resist eating every few hours. Its as if eating a whole food, plant based diet has so much nutrition I just don't FEEL like eating. *sigh*. Maybe its just cultivating the habit, like everything else in life. Any suggestions??? anybody else experience this strange issue?

I know some people will say no caffeine is the best, that any at all can cause health problems. All I can speak to is from my own experience. I have no problems at all with green tea. I've grown to really love it. If I drink it after about 5 pm then I notice that it SOMETIMES interferes with my being able to fall asleep, but that only happened once and so I never drink it after 3 pm or so. I know green tea has antioxidants and honestly, I can't feel the caffeine in it. I just like the taste. I do make teccino (naturally flavored chicory coffee substitute-avail at healthfood stores-with no caffeine) in the morning with a green tea bag in it. I freaking love that stuff! I make it with stevia or agave syrup and some silk soy cream. That is really good-has the "taste" of coffee, but is actually alkalinizing to the body. Kind of pricey though, so I add a green tea bag also. Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like a hard ass!

OMG, there is TONS of research on this. Coffee is very bad for people, some more than others. It totally tanks out the adrenals, causes an "acid wash" through the bones as it leeches calcium and other alkaline minerals to buffer the extremely high acid that it contains (NOT from caffiene, but from the rancid, roasted oils in the bean), it torpedo's insulin and then causes a massive drop, actually INCREASING appetite much like a sugar rush, distrupts the body's ability to get into the restorative deeper states of sleep, not to mention the stress effects of very high cortisol release that it causes. I am more sensitive to all of this than some. Even one cup in the morning for me interrupts my sleep. I am sleeping MUCH deeper and without waking now, which is balancing to the endocrine system, restorative to the adrenals, results in better recovery from exercise and therefore, greater fat loss and increase in lean muscle. Check out Brendens' book on this. Very informative. People will always defend their addictions, but the facts are the facts. I just couldn't deny it anymore for myself and I feel SOOO much better....for sure.

so, was it good??

I just want to share that after reading Brendan's book The Thrive Diet, I really understood that whatever raises cortisol will increase fat storage. But that knowledge wasn't enough to make me quit drinking coffee, which TOTALLY raises cortisol levels. Then I had to take a homeopathic remedy for an emotional issue, which I was VERY committed to healing, and the naturopath said "NO COFFEE FOR 8 WEEKS!!" cause it would interfere. So, feel insecure or give up coffee for 8 weeks-no contest. I have to share that I have had a boost in fat loss from quitting coffee, without changing my diet or workouts. That means that its totally true that coffee promotes fat gain, especially in the abdominal/thoracic region (you know, that lovely "back fat") Anyway, its true and it works if you quit! I figure that if I can quit for 8 weeks I can quit forever. Just want to share cause I know coffee is a huge addiction in this country. I DO have a large cup of green tea in the morning now but this doesn't effect me in anyway like coffee did.

here's another one my Saudi client told me about: heat a can of chickpeas finely chop tomato, cucumber and onion (I'd say add some green too, like parsley or mint) combine with hot chickpeas and dress with olive oil and lemon juice minced garlic might be good too. can't wait to try this!

Made this for my (adamantly) non-vegan boyfriend and he loved it. I'm SLOWLY getting him to open up to plant based eating by just cooking for him. What man can resist a woman who loves him cooking for him?? its our little secret, girls......

Thanks, Marcina. Thats exactly what I was looking for. I would love to see your pics-where are they? I will post some as soon as I take some new ones. I am really loving this way of living-the results are really blowing my mind. I wish someone (a woman, for women) would write a book on vegan bodybuilding, with the diets, etc. Just cause it would be so inspiring! Blessings!

Ok, induldge me here, cause I know I could probably find this info here if I dug around a bit, but I'm wondering what those woemn who are getting great results with lowering bodyfat eat typically; what, how often and how much. Can't afford to pay for this info at the moment (house in foreclosure, about to be evicted), as I know VP and others sell this info. But can someone just give me a simply daily breakdown? I have gotten good results over the past 5 months with working out and figuring the diet thing on my own, going from a size 10 to a 6, but really want to blast off those last fat pounds and get to a lean size 4, which is really my ideal. Thanks for your consideration!!

I just love this sandwich: Smoked tempeh strips (fried in tiny bit of oil) romaine lettuce veganaise tomato toasted sprouted grain bread make a sandwich. Yum..can eat this every day.

Hi folks... just another update. Had to quit coffee for 8 weeks because I'm taking a homeopathic remedy and naturopath says coffee interferes. not CAFFIENE, but coffee. So, finally, I got the motivator I need to quit. Its been about ten days and I feel good. not missing it and sleeping through the night. I realize my sleep has been deficient for at least the past 10 years that I've been drinking coffee. No wonder its been so hard to lose weight, with all that cortisol in my system all the time. Went shopping for clothes last week. Thought I was a size 4, but I'm not yet. I'm a six, but cripe! after struggling to get below a 10 for the last 13 years, I'll take it! Its ok...after dropping the coffee and getting better sleep, I can work out even harder now cause I have more energy. I've upped the workouts to 5 tough ones a week, and longer, at least 45-60 min. each. that last bit will come off in a couple of months. I'm realizing slow and sure really IS the best way to lose fat and get in great shape. I'm very grateful that I know about this stuff. Also, I realize I have to eat more. I was getting pretty weird about eating, getting into that "less is more" trap, and probably not doing my metabolism any good. I was really only eating maybe two small meals a day. I'm not doing that-definitely eating breakfast, lunch and dinner, all whole foods, all vegan, all made at home (to save money). Just sharing cause it keeps me motivated! have to take some photos soon.....this past weekend went to a casual high school reunion of sorts of my boyfriend's friends. They were all saying things to him like, "what Mark, robbing the cradle?" and "You can't be a day over 30," and he's only 2 months older than me! (we are both 44). How totally fun! Blessings!

I have also seen really good results with HIIT. Sort of stumbled on it accidently, not because I didn't hear of it before, just cause its incorporated in the dvds that I work out with at home. (can't imagine going to a gym, driving, spending extra money and time, when I can get a killer workout at home with free wts and good dvds). I use interval free wt training and intense cardio HIIT dvds. When I started using them, at least 5 days a week, my BF% really started going down. I can see now intensity is a HUGE factor in leaning out, really pushing to the max. I don't have to workout this way more than 20-30 min to get good results, at least at the level of fitness I'm at currently, but I DO have to push the intensity at intervals. Like really push, to almost out of breath at times. But it feels SO good, I can tell that pushing to my limit is building cardio vascular strength, increasing growth hormone, burning tons of fat.....plus the endorphine rush is awesome!

Hey all...just want to share that I'm finally starting to see some really amazing fat loss! I started working out at least 4-5 days/week in october, so it's been a solid 5.5 months of that. The diet came up to speed later, it took awhile to get that down. Last month I started being pretty conscious of not eating after about 6:30pm, at least 6 nights a week, and a couple of weeks ago the fat REALLY started melting off. Also, now that I am totally in that habit, my appetite is WAY down altogether. I just don't have cravings as much. I fit into size 4 jeans this past weekend and can I tell you, at 44 that is no small achievement for me. People have been shocked to hear my age. I'm just sharing this because its been many, many years since I felt good about how I look. This is my daily diet, most days: green protein smoothie after workout for breakfast: vega, flax seed, 1/2 frozen banana, frozen berries, greens such as kale, romaine, spinach or parsley; organic coffee with silk creamer Salad and veggie/bean soup for lunch, usually. I make a big pot of soup and it lasts all week, then just heat it up and put it on top of a ton of salad greens. simple, cheap, healthy and filling. Dinner is an emerald smoothie, as I call it: 1/2 avocado, spinach or romaine or mixed greens, a cucumber, 1 tsp stevia powder, one-2 whole limes with green stuff peeled off. This is SO good. I got this from the pH miracle folks. It doesn't sound like a lot, but I just do not crave anything else. Not eating after 6:30 I think is a fat loss miracle for several reasons: it promotes more effective detox, which increases metabolism and normalizes endocrine function; it allows the body to obviously not consume as many calories; it SERIOUSLY lowers appetite (at least thats what I've found). Its a miracle thing to me. I still occasionally go out to eat with my kids or my boyfriend, but really, only very occasionally. So the dinner of a green smoothie is really easy to stick to. Just had to share! There IS life after 40, lol!

I suggest finding an immunologist, if you don't start feeling better soon. If you have a teaching hospital/university medical center near you, check that out. There will be researchers available who are better versed in marginal illnesses/symptomology and will know the appropriate diagnostic path to look down. That and detox...thats always helpful-lots of raw fruit and veggies, green juices, green smoothies, mostly or all raw....How are you doing now?

I suggest finding an immunologist, if you don't start feeling better soon. If you have a teaching hospital/university medical center near you, check that out. There will be researchers available who are better versed in marginal illnesses/symptomology and will know the appropriate diagnostic path to look down. That and detox...thats always helpful-lots of raw fruit and veggies, green juices, green smoothies, mostly or all raw....How are you doing now?

gotta agree with you, chrisjs, on the maca..lol

yes, I think this has to do with circadian rythms, and hormones and natural cellular detox cycles. I know it pushes buttons for people -night time eating feels so comforting sometimes, and it does! But I'll tell you, give yourself a week and see for yourself. It can be pretty amazing....

Yes, I am liking this way of eating. Lots of energy, and by dinner, I feel like I want to keep it raw-don't want that heavy feeling, you know? but I am ok with eating some beans and greens in a soup with sea weed and miso...that doesn't feel too heavy and helps me stay "grounded", as sometimes I can get a little ungrounded on all raw after awhile. But in the warmer weather, all raw is such a high! I'm also looking forward to how my workouts go with this way of eating. Probably way better-ha!