Maintaining weight as a Vegan

[HEGehrke]

Hello all, simple query for you!

I'd previously been Vegan during 2013, and I'm making the transition once again, hopefully for a final time. I had one problem though - weight loss!
Health has always been a very big concern to me (I want to go into Health Psychology after all!), and I found that once completely transitioning to a Vegan diet, I lost a tremendous amount of weight. When I started, it was gradual, which was alright! But then I went from just over 9st to roughly 7st 12 in a few weeks, maybe not even that, which worried me slightly and I ended up with a whole host of health problems.
I kept adding extra fats into my diet and such, but nothing really raised my weight back up! I was eating enough (or I believed I was), but my Vegan diet was generally low carb/sugar/far or raw to begin with.
I'm just wondering if anyone has any tips on how to maintain weight! Many thanks for any input.

 

[spottygiraffe]

but my Vegan diet was generally low carb/sugar/far or raw to begin with.

I think here lies your problem -I don't see how you can have a good vegan diet that is low carb..... I would say that my diet is probably about 15% fat, 10% protein and 75% carbs. I don't eat 'white' carbs but I eat loads of fruit, veg and wholegrains. If your diet was low in carbs and fat then you must have been eating mainly protein, and there is evidence that we don't actually need a lot of protein. You must have struggled to get enough plant protein, so it is no wonder that you lost so much weight. Eating a diet that is low in sugar is a good idea, but I think you were trying to cut out too many things.

 

[SummerRain]

Hi and welcome!

I think you just need enough calories. Vegan food, especially if it isn't junk food, and especially if it's vegetable-based, is often high in fibre (which doesn't have calories, well some studies show it might have some I think... but either way it doesn't have many!). So you feel full up, but the amount of calories per physical amount of food is quite low. For example, a 100gs of chicken is 219kcal, 100gs of fish is 206kcal, 100g of egg is 155kcal, 100gs of most vegetables will be about 34kcal. Initially, 100g of food is probably going to make you feel just as full up, whatever it is - but if you made a chicken curry and a vegetable curry, substituting chicken for vegetables, you've cut out a lot calories right away.

Try to incorporate something protein-rich in each meal (beans, lentils, seeds, nuts). The vegan society practical information is quite good, it suggests as a general rule to make sure each meal has a vegetable, carbohydrate and protein component - so meals like pasta and tomato sauce, vegetable curry with rice, salads aren't "complete" meals. If you wind up eating lots of vegetable-based meals, without significant amount of carbs, fat and protein, you could easily loose lots of weight without meaning to.

If you're still finding you're loosing weight, try to incorporate more snacks, and higher calorie snacks too (like nuts, dried fruit, seeds, cereal bars, flapjacks, higher calorie fruits like avacado, grapes and banana). You can also try adding nuts/seeds/dried fruit to other foods - your breakfast cereal/porridge, cakes/flapjacks, etc. It's an easy way of boosting the calories in food without feeling like you're eating loads and loads!

Most people think I eat tonnes of food. It's just because a lot of the food is home cooked vegetable/fruit based, so I need tonnes to get enough! But compared to eating take-aways or ready meals, which have loads of calories for tiny portions, it looks like a lot to other people (as aside, I'm always surprised by how many calories/fat they manage to squeeze into those tiny ready meal portions!).

After a while, if you start off right, I think it should become natural - you'll also get used to eating bigger portions of food, and to not thinking of low-fat and low-calorie as good things! A vegan diet that isn't based on ready prepared food is likely to be naturally low on fat and low on calories, and you need a certain amount of calories and fat to live, so if anything you'll wind up thinking of high-fat and high-calorie as good things, (but to be healthy, you'll want to eat unprocessed fats and complex carbohydrates of course).

 

[HEGehrke]

Thank-you very much, both!
As you both said, I should probably eat more carbohydrates (admittedly, I'm a little bit of a carb-o-phobe, especially when it comes in the form of a loaf), but I'm learning to incorporate them more.
I also think cooking more substantial meals would be beneficial; most of the food I do eat is entirely raw, not out of laziness, I just really like a salad. Really, really like a good salad. But I also really enjoy a cauliflower curry. So as much as I love baking, so now it's probably time to turn to cooking! I don't eat processed foods whatsoever - if it isn't directly (or more or less) from the ground, I'll do my best to avoid it. I just don't agree with processed foods (heavily processed anyway; they aren't good for your health and won't benefit you in the long run, plus there are loads of natural alternative items you can buy or grow yourself).
SummerRain, I know exactly what you mean about people thinking I eat loads, which I really do, because I basically have to! Because I'm living in university as well AND I'm trying to remain vegan, I'm eating all the time - more or less grazing like a cow - to try and keep my energy up. My flatmates walk into my room or into the kitchen and I'll be there with another apple in my hand or a load of baby sweetcorn and they'll just look at me like, "you're eating... Again?!" whilst holding their microwaveable chicken tikka masala and naan which they've eaten for lunch every day for the past week.

 

[SummerRain]

Thank-you very much, both!
As you both said, I should probably eat more carbohydrates (admittedly, I'm a little bit of a carb-o-phobe, especially when it comes in the form of a loaf), but I'm learning to incorporate them more.
I also think cooking more substantial meals would be beneficial; most of the food I do eat is entirely raw, not out of laziness, I just really like a salad. Really, really like a good salad. But I also really enjoy a cauliflower curry. So as much as I love baking, so now it's probably time to turn to cooking!

I think those sound like a good plan! Although, add some lentils or almonds to the cauliflower curry too for some protein element (Lentils are really cheap and easy to cook, dahl is a great student staple (obvs replace butter with oil in that recipe)).

Another thing you might find helpful, is if you keep track of what you're eating for a few days. Spark People is a free online calorie counter, and weightloss resouces do a free 24 hr trial (and if you make up new email addresses, you can use as many free trials as you want... but it wont keep your info), both of which I think will also tell you fat, carbs, protein, etc too. It's often really interesting to see what your diet looks like, and it can help you see exactly how many calories, how much fat, how many carbs, etc you're eating, and where you can improve, you might be surprised.

 

[spottygiraffe]

I don't eat processed foods whatsoever - if it isn't directly (or more or less) from the ground, I'll do my best to avoid it. I just don't agree with processed foods (heavily processed anyway; they aren't good for your health and won't benefit you in the long run, plus there are loads of natural alternative items you can buy or grow yourself).

Totally agree. I think it sounds like you're really aware of what's healthy and what's not, so as the others said try adding extra calories by using pulses, nuts, seeds etc. I understand why you might not want to eat too much (any) bread, but maybe experiment with some other interesting carbs like spelt couscous with your cauli curry or quinoa -which is also a good source of protein. It must be really difficult getting a good vegan diet as a student when you've probably got money and time pressures and are sharing a kitchen. Good luck!

 

[Trinity]

I went all raw for 5 months about 10 years ago and ended up really skinny. I agree with the comments above - it's most likely a calorie thing (even though I can eat like a horse!).

My weight went back to something 'sensible' when I started eating potatoes, spelt flour and oats again.... so I completely agree with SummerRain's eating carbs suggestion. If you don't have much time you can quickly boil up or bake a potato or grab a loaf of spelt bread.

My diet is nearly all raw and has been for many years now although I have a good stable weight that I am happy with. I eat plenty of healthy fatty foods though, like avocado, coconut, healthy oils, nuts & seeds. Having said that though - when I go all raw (which sometimes happens), I lose weight quickly again. As soon as I start eating cooked food (even if it's just a bit of quinoa or sweet potatoes) my weight stabilises again... interesting. It's taken quite a bit of exploration before finding what works for me.

If you love salad, you could make a delicious salad and enjoy it with a side of potatoes, rice, quinoa, aramanth, millet or sweet potatoes. It's really quick to put them on the heat whilst you are chopping your veggies and really easy to digest. I do this most nights. I often also make a thick creamy dressing with something like tahini, to make the salad more substantial too.

You might also find that soups work well within your uni lifestyle - you can make them in advance and the flavour often matures with time. I 0ften like to add creamed coconut to mine. Some people get on well with beans, lentils etc too. For something really filling I enjoy split pea soup or barley stew.

Trinity
x

 

[Second Summer]

Something that works out really well for me for a filling and super-easy low-effort breakfast that I eat at my desk at work:

Requirements:
1 coffee mug
1 spoon
boiling hot water, or nearly so
oats (preferably the small ears or instant variety)
plant milk
1 banana

Find a coffee mug, fill it up approx. 75% full with oats, then pour boiling hot water over it so it covers the oats - I usually get hot water from the boiler used for coffee. Then let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Consume with banana and your favourite plant milk on top. (Soya milk has the most and best protein.)

Edited to add: Oh, once you've poured in the water, stir well.

 

[Trinity]

Another filling brekkie alternative for me (unfortunately oats make me fall asleep)...

A banana or two
Some other fruit
Big dollop of tahini
Bit of dessicated coconut
Plant milk

Blended up - delicious. Keeps me going for hours (adding the tahini seems to release the fruit sugar slowly over an extended period of time)

 

[PTree15]

Totally agree the smoothie suggestion and the oats. I often have steel-cut oats with some maple syrup and walnuts. Bananas are yummy with oats, too. I don't know if you eat peanut butter, but I also throw in a tablespoon or two with my fruit smoothies, especially the banana-almond milk ones.

Roasted root veggies are awesome and pack a lot of punch calorie-wise, especially potatoes. Toss them in a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and roast. They are a nice complement to a salad. I eat roasted potatoes and salad all the time.

 

[CrazyCatLady]

I also lost a lot of weight when I first went vegan. But that was because I used to eat cheese for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks! Every day!
I was about 9 stone 4 and went down to 8 stone 10 in just a few weeks.
As I run about 20 miles a week on average every day is a struggle to maintain my weight. I try to keep as close to 9 stone as I can but am usually a few pounds under that :-(
To stop me losing any more I eat loads of carbs!! Like at least 80% carbs! Lol

 

[SummerRain]

Hello all, simple query for you!

How are you doing now?