Gaining weight

[donsabi]

I have now made a few attempts at going vegan. I love the thought of being vegan and firmly believe in the health benefits. I have run into many problems that may work out in the end. However, each time I tried going vegan I gained weight. On one of my earlier tries I did go overboard on vegan treats. This time I tracked my caloric intake and avoided the goodies. I am still gaining weight. I finally came across a youtube video where a young lady said she went vegan and gained fifty pounds. Everything I have read or watched about going vegan stated weight loss not weight gain. My insurance will not pay for dietary support. I think that there are more factors involved than simply avoiding meat. Age, genetic makeup, microbiome, etc., all play a part in our individual story. I have witnessed two people who became vegan with little effort and great results.
I also know of several people who could not transition. I may be one of those.

 

[Lou]

When I first went vegan I gained weight too. The mistake that I made was I really overestimated my nutritional needs (especially protein) and was eating a lot of "extra" food.

Part of the answer to not gaining weight or even better-losing weight is knowing what you eat. Most people underestimate what they are actually eating. Try using CronOmeter. The website is free. The app costs money but it also unlocks some of the website's features. but just try the website before you spend any money. It takes a while to set up your profile and there is a small learning curve. but after a few days, it becomes pretty fast and effortless. and you find out exactly what you are eating.

CronOmeter does most of the figuring and number crunching for you. Another nice thing is you can put in a future day's meals and then adjust it. So it becomes a "meal planner".

Here are some of the best diet tips

Drink water, get exercise (at least 30 minutes a day) and get enough sleep

Stop smoking and drinking.

reduce or eliminate oils.
that means no fried foods. no chips. if you have to fry something use an oil-free recipe, or an air fryer. or last resort just a tbsp of oil.

reduce sugar
that means no cookies, candies, cake, or ice cream.
Fruit is ok. but no fruit juice. Or soda. Look out for added sugars. If a product lists 10 or more grams of sugar - don't buy it.

Reduce grains.
Most of us eat over 4 servings of grains a day. (a slice of bread is a serving). Keep your grains to no more than 3 servings a day. Of course, if you can go to one or two a few days a week - that's even better.

Fill up on veggies.
A pound of salad is only about 400 calories. Use an oil-free dressing. If you can finish your salad for lunch then you won't be hungry until dinner. And it's also an excellent dinner. You can also steam a pound of veggies for dinner. Or make a stir-fry.

Oatmeal for breakfast
You don't have to have it Every Day. but try to have oatmeal for breakfast at least every other day.

no more that a handful of nuts a day

If you need a snack - eat fruit.

 

[donsabi]

Thanks for your post.
I have been using LoseIt for years. I know I consume about 1400 - 1700 calories per day. I have always been a small eater and get by very well on these numbers.
I have watched and listened to a bunch of doctors on the vegan diet. All push the diet and argue it is the healthiest diet so easy anyone can do it. Wrong! I stumbled onto a website with hundreds of people all complaining they gained weight, in some cases a lot of weight, once on a vegan diet. Dr. Greger states, "you can eat potatoes all day and not gain an ounce." Maybe if you are doing physical work or working out. My point is everyone is different and there is no "one size fits all" on the subject of nutrition. One thing I noticed for myself is the change in colon transit. Normally I have a fast transit time and that is a good thing according to a gastroenterologist. Since going vegan my transit time has slowed to a crawl. I assume the reason I am gaining weight is not because of the excess fecal matter but the water that matter absorbs. I also have atrial fibrillation and I had several more afib episodes since trying to vegan.
I will be returning to my old diet which is very healthy but does include some bison and fish.
Best wishes to all and thanks for your help.

 

[Lou]

An average sized potato has about 160 calories. A person eating a 1600 calorie a day diet could eat 10 potatoes a day. I think it would take all day to eat 10 potatoes. And most of us would probably stop eating after 7 or 8. So that is what is meant when Dr. Gregar or whoever says "you can eat potatoes all day and not gain an ounce."

Certainly, everyone is different. But there is not that much difference among us. Our nutrition requirements are pretty much about the same.

Its not typical for vegans to have a high transit time. In fact, ask any doctor how to slow down your transit time they will all give the same answer: fiber. Also it might be interesting to know your transit time but the real indicator of health is the condition of your stools. Poo like pellets means your transit time is too slow. You need more fiber. Watery stools mean your transit time it too fast - but usually does not mean you are eating too much fiber.

This is just one of the reasons I recommend CronOmeter. it tracks fiber.

 

[veganDreama]

Hello and welcome! I hope you reconsider giving up on a vegan diet. Fish contains a lot of mercury which is not good for you. Someone once advised me to eat more fish because I lacked energy on my pescatarian diet and I ended up in hospital with food poisoning.

While I agree that everybody is differant but we are all Omnivores so we have to take B12 supplements but apart from that we all CAN do it. Just a matter of being careful what you eat. I weighed over 200 pounds but then slimmed down to 130 pounds while I was STILL on a vegan diet. I just take up more exercise, watch what I eat, and sorted out a sluggish metabolism by taking extra thyroid supplements. It all worked out ok.

Giving up is not a good idea. I once gave up being a vegan for health reasons as my neighbour advised me to stop and my health took a nose dive.

 

[ski]

watch alpha destiny on youtube on gaining weight he ans hes mate lay down more than enough info to get you to gain weight

 

[RChrisM437]

My experience so far has been fairly steady weight loss even though I wasn't exercising regularly.
Did a fair amount of walking / hiking, time and weather permitting. Only recently did I finally join
a gym as I had lost plenty of muscle along the way also.
I think if weight management / loss is your goal, anything in a package should be avoided.
Keep it simple and use real food ingredients. I have hit plateaus, and some have lasted awhile, but
the weight loss does continue.

When tempted by the packaged treats, veggie burgers, an other processed products, try eating more regular whole food based stuff instead. What I've really liked about this
way of eating as that there is never a need to go hungry. Matter of fact, some of my plateaus have been
busted through when I started eating more. Extra whole grains, fruit, etc. whenever I felt a little hungry
seemed to help! Only thing that may have slowed my losses at times were things like nuts, seeds, dates, figs,
etc. when eaten too often. I did use CronoMeter for about a week just to see what my average intake looked like.
Learned a few things, made an adjustment or two, and deleted it. The best about about focusing on the wfpb side
of things is not having to count calories etc.,. You are probably correct about the microbiome being different for
different people. That seems to take a little time, but I think your body will adjust.

Try to experiment with different amounts of different foods. More / Less of starches, nuts, fruit etc.,.
Might find you will trigger the weight loss you are looking for. Fingers crossed for you !

Don't give up !

 

[ski]

weight loss boils down to calories in vs calories out that simple you can lose weight without exercise you may not lose weight some weeks if you workout because some good **** in happening in your body i assume you know this

 

[Nekodaiden]

If you're gaining (fat) weight (as opposed to muscle weight from strength training), then you are eating fat and not burning it off. Lipiogenesis (creating fat from non fat) is a very inefficient process where some 25% of the calories are used in the process. The type of calories you eat do matter, and dietary fat is much more easily stored (that is it's main purpose) as body fat, than carbs (even simple ones) and protein.

I probably have something of a unique experience in that I have been a pretty heavy beer drinker for a long time, and I used to point at my gut and say "that's beer", when it was not. Since going vegan (and still drinking beer) I have lost weight (about 17 kilos in a year) - about half of this in the first few months, then more when I:

- Cut out the majority of isolated oils in my diet
- Cut down some on fatty nuts and nut butters like Tahini, peanut butter and others. These are healthy of course, but they will hinder weight loss if that's a goal.

The simple carbs I get from beer drinking have never added to my weight. I either have lost weight or stayed the same when I keep the fat low. Without beer or other alcohol I'm sure I'd have lost more, not because they "make me fat", but because they hinder fat loss. Body simply won't burn the fat until it needs to.

Also, don't fall for the myth of limiting grains. When they are intact whole grains, most of them are a great fuel source with a generous amount of fiber to keep you satisfied and slow release fuel. They are also consistently associated with slimmer people in the science literature.

 

[Frederic Lavender]

Wow I am loving these stories, I have never heard of weight gain after going vegan only weight loss. I experience some weight loss too, but only a little as I have been a veggie my entire life.