Meal Sizes

Jai

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I've been enjoying watching "that vegan couple" on YouTube, but notice when they have meals, the portions are huge. And, not to sound critical, but they both look rather underweight.

Is this par for the course when being on a 100% plant diet? As a considerably bigger person than those two (190 cm, 90kg) I dread the idea that I would be eating even more than they do ! While I could stand to shed some weight around the waistline, I'm not that obsessed over my appearance, and am beyond being self-conscious, plus I'm in the suggested weight range for my height and age. I'm sure that I'll shed some kilos when I've had some time off dairy (as a huge cheese and milk consumer) and fatty, processed deli meats.

So what do people eat to NOT lose weight, without spending so much time eating huge portions?
 
Come to think of it, when I eat at the vegan restaurant I sometimes drop in to, their portions are huge too, at times. Several occasions I've seriously struggled to finish a bowl of Dahl, so much so that in future I've decided to ask for a half-portion.
 
just a couple of opinions

I don't think they are underweight. I would call them fit or very fit. I can't remember which one of the Vegan Diet Doctors wrote this but he stated that our perspective and even our Ideal weight charts are skewed. Because so many people are so darn fat. A really healthy weight is at least a few pounds below what the charts indicate.

I looked thru some of That Vegan Couple's videos and I couldn't find one of those "What I Eat In A Day" videos that are so popular with YouTube vegans. I did find the one where they ate a meal while talking about Bonny Rebecca. It was an hour-long video and I didn't watch more than 5 minutes. It WAS a big bowl of food in front of them but I didn't stick around to hear what was in it.

Last summer I went on the "Eat To Live" diet. And i was pretty shocked at the size of some of my meals. If you haven't done much calorie counting before it can be shocking to find out how few calories can fill up a giant salad bowl. A 300 calorie salad can weigh as much as 2 pounds. Three cups of stir fry veggies with tofu and rice comes in under 500 calories.

Although big bowls of food take longer to eat - its not that much longer. And IMHO the best thing about it is that you are so full you aren't tempted to snack later.
 
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I don't think they are underweight. I would call them fit or very fit. I can't remember which one of the Vegan Diet Doctors wrote this but he stated that our perspective and even our Ideal weight charts are skewed. Because so many people are so darn fat. A really healthy weight is at least a few pounds below what the charts indicate.
Agreed. They look right where they should be, to me, weight-wise.
 
You could always bulk out with carbs such as pasta, bread and rice. It's not the healthiest but it does add quite a bit of calories.
 
There are a variety of ways to eat as a vegan, there are even chubby vegans and extremely large body builders with muscle bulk.

I like That Vegan Couple but yeah they eat a lot of salads. Their salads look delicious, I'm not criticizing them, but there are many many other foods which are vegan. It's important to some people to lose weight, or to be oil free, and some people just want to eat food that they enjoy as long as they reasonably healthy and vegan, and some people want to bulk up or be athletic.

A high protein, high fat vegan with two children and a vegan husband is Unnatural Vegan, you could watch some of her videos. Vegan Gains is a male body builder, but his political commentary is too offensive for some people.

Some things you can make sure you eat are natural fats like nut butters, proteins besides beans like tofu and tempeh and seitan, and you can put protein powder in hot cereals or cold smoothies.

I would recommend that you eat whatever you want. It's more restrictive vegans that tend to drop weight super fast.
 
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....our perspective and even our Ideal weight charts are skewed. Because so many people are so darn fat.

That's a very good point - if the measuring unit is against a society that has a high rate of obesity, then a weight significantly less is going to seem under ! Although I'm not in the USA, which is the only Western nation of the top 25 most obese countries, so my frame of reference is different.

And regardless of whether we differ in how we feel about the 'lean-ness' of that couple, they seem to look otherwise very healthy, and more importantly are very positive in their attitudes, which is a welcome change from the usual p!ssing & moaning that most vegan channels seem to base their success on. It's actually that woman's respectful & measured discussions with the general public that they record during those AV demonstrations that has been the final tipping point for me to start enacting some life changes. I should drop them a note to express my thanks for the work they are doing, as it's the approach of gentle dialogue rather than agressive proselytism that provides a better chance of people listening to the message.


I looked thru some of That Vegan Couple's videos and I couldn't find one of those "What I Eat In A Day" videos that are so popular with YouTube vegans.

I've not seen their daily intake either - for all we know the meals I see may be their ONLY meal of the day. It's not uncommon for people, regardless of diet, to eat on a schedule of an 18 hour fast. Joe Rogan speaks of this often in his podcast, and I've read about this as far back as in the 1980's.

You could always bulk out with carbs such as pasta, bread and rice. It's not the healthiest but it does add quite a bit of calories.

Indeed ! I'm a big fan of basmati rice with dried tofu & vegetables already, with a side of Indian lime or mango pickle to give the whole dish some kick.


Some things you can make sure you eat are natural fats like nut butters, proteins besides beans like tofu and tempeh and seitan, and you can put protein powder in hot cereals or cold smoothies

As I look into doing some sausages, I'm pretty shocked at the reliance many have on setian. Seems like a huge increase in gluten, so my culinary experiments will be using this ingredient sparingly, and finding other things to use alongside them. I don't need to try and make a poor repliate of every known meat product as a priority.

I would recommend that you eat whatever you want. It's more restrictive vegans that tend to drop weight super fast.

That's the plan ! I'm not particularly going into this for any specific health goal. Although it's inevitable that as my diet will be void of the CRAP I eat too much of (cheese, deli meats, pizzas etc) that my food intake WILL be somewhat better for me. I can worry about 'eating well' later on (or not)
 
I've been enjoying watching "that vegan couple" on YouTube, but notice when they have meals, the portions are huge. And, not to sound critical, but they both look rather underweight.

Is this par for the course when being on a 100% plant diet? As a considerably bigger person than those two (190 cm, 90kg) I dread the idea that I would be eating even more than they do ! While I could stand to shed some weight around the waistline, I'm not that obsessed over my appearance, and am beyond being self-conscious, plus I'm in the suggested weight range for my height and age. I'm sure that I'll shed some kilos when I've had some time off dairy (as a huge cheese and milk consumer) and fatty, processed deli meats.

So what do people eat to NOT lose weight, without spending so much time eating huge portions?

I lost around 17 kg ( 37.5 pounds) in the first several months going vegan, and I wasn't watching vegan fat intake really at all. Like I'd have fruit and nut butter (fairly large amounts of) in shakes, used oil regularly (added) and it was in some of the prepared food I bought. AND I drank beer, in roughly the same quantities before going vegan - and I still lost weight.

However, the weight loss tapered off. And I have some to lose. It's like my body took the opportunity to dump all the garbage it could, then stopped and said to me "Look, Neko, when you lay off the beer I'll burn more of that fat you want to lose..."

So far I haven't agreed, lol, and neither has the remaining little bit of fat gone either.


Just a note on your transition: As it looks like you were consuming lots of fat, you'll probably crave it. This is fine, eat avocados and nuts if you like, just know it isn't necessary to eat them all the time. Your body actually down-regulates fat when you consume less of it - which means when one consumes less, one will crave less. I learned this recently watching one of Dr Esselstyn's talks - as his program is for heart disease patients and it's
low (not no) fat, even from nuts.

Also, more generally, give it time. The more fiber rich and resistant starch you eat, the faster you'll feed the bacteria in your gut that depend on them.

Re: Meal sizes. I would ignore them from others, and especially anyone on youtube. Eat until you are satisfied - your height, build and physical activity are the relative factors insofar as calories are concerned, not people you don't know. :)