Weight loss advice?

[Dan Ward]

Since last week i have always been a meat eater as that was how i was raised, i lacked knowledge and understanding and never gave it a second thought until it really started to dawn on me how cruel it truly is. So after a couple months thought on the matter i decided to fully pledge and become a vegan. I have now been animal product free for a week and couldn't be happier. I'm trying to learn all i can about vegan foods as its all so new to me, i know vegan foods can help with weight loss and being about 5 stone overweight, i want to use this change positively and get in the best shape i can be. So my questions are: What vegan foods can truly get me in shape? What ones are deceiving and should be avoided? What products should i incorporate to keep my vitamin levels healthy? And i have been told to avoid soy products due to cancer causing ingredients, is there any other products which can cause cancer or other problems? Last question, is juicing bad? If so why?​

 

[amberfunk]

Soy does not cause cancer. This is a big misconception. Soy contains phytoestrogens and has nothing to do with estrogen. It's not going to cause cancer. Eat lots of different vegetables, fruits, beans and grains. As long as your diet has variety you should have no problem getting the nutrition your body needs. Take a b12 supplement every once in awhile though since it's not readily in plants unless you get fortified non dairy products or cereal. You can use cronometer to help track your nutrients if you're not sure you're getting enough nutrition.

 

[Veganite]

To lose weight, I personally recommend doing strictly a whole foods, plant-based diet, with no salt, oil, or sugar. They refer to this as the whole foods, plant-based, SOS free diet. If you've watched Forks Over Knives or What The Health on Netflix, this is the diet they use to treat the patients with chronic diseases. This is the vegan diet that can potentially reverse diseases, including obesity.

The fact of it is that vegans can easily be overweight and/or unhealthy. It all depends on what you eat. Oreo cookies are vegan. Eat enough of those and you'll see what I mean. The best thing you can do is continue educating yourself on this lifestyle. NutritionFacts.org is a great place to start. I find YouTube incredibly resourceful for tips, recipes, and inspiration.

Best of luck on your journey! Oh, and welcome to the forum.

 

[Emma JC]

Welcome Dan and congrats on your decision. It will impact the animals, the environment and your health!

There are a ton of websites and youtube videos that have all the answers you need.

https://www.drmcdougall.com/
https://nutritionfacts.org/

Any of the works of Dr Esselstyn, (his wife and daughter have great short videos) or T. Colin Campbell or Dr Neal Barnard. Their books and cookbooks are in most libraries. Dr McDougall and Dr Greger (from the links above) also have great books out and I have picked them up from my library many times.

I agree with both Amber and Veganite - soy does not cause cancer and you don't have to eat tons of it either - whole foods like fruits and vegetables and whole wheat breads and pastas, rice, potatoes and sweet potatoes, bean, lentils, chick peas, mushrooms, nuts, seeds etc and the foods made from combining any/all of the above are great for you and will help you to lose weight.

As you know the bottom line of weight loss is eating less calories than your activity level. The joy of eating a whole food plant based diet (SOS is great too) is that you can eat a lot more of it (bulk) for a lot less calories so you feel satisfied and not deprived. Spices are also a good way to bring life to your meals, like most people put spices and marninades on meats you can do the same to your veggies.

If you google "vegan what I eat in a day" videos on youtube you will find a lot of very good options. Like Veganite says, avoid oils when you can.... I have my favourite vegan youtubers and when I watch a new one, if they start using oil to cook I leave pretty much immediately. We use only the tiniest amount of olive oil on the rarest of occasions.

Juicing... is not bad, it is just not ideal. When you juice fruits and veggies the important fibre is removed and some of the vitamins and minerals. It is one step that we made along the way to this way of eating but you could skip that step altogether if you wish and make smoothies instead. Smoothies keep all the goodness in the drink. My morning fav is frozen strawberries/blueberries/pineapple with some spinach, flax meal, cocao powder, peanut butter powder, cayenne, cinnamon. You can do the same with veggies, in fact Dr Greger has a "favorite drink" that is veggies.

All the best with your new lifestyle!

Emma JC

 

[Emma JC]

Also - I saw someone, a few months ago, lamenting that they didn't have a vegan grocery story in their town. So I wrote the following:

Supermarkets are mostly vegan by default:

• all produce aisles - fresh fruits and vegetables and herbs
• frozen aisles - frozen fruits, vegetables
• bean aisles - canned beans, dried beans, breakfast beans
• canned fruits and vegetables
• pasta aisle - most pastas and sauces, noodles
• condiments aisle - vinegars, olives, pickles, ketchup, soy sauce, hot sauces, mustard, tahini
• snack and bulk aisle - nuts, dried fruits, nutritional yeast, various grains, some potato chips
• cereal aisle - oatmeal, Spoon Size Shredded Wheat, Shredded Wheat etc
• beverage aisle - sparkling water, herbal teas, coffee
• bakery aisle - sprouted breads, pitas, tortillas
• dairy aisle - tofu, plant-based milks

I am sure I have missed some but that gives you some idea of how easy it is to eat well without animal products or a nearby vegan store.

Emma JC

 

[Veganite]

We use only the tiniest amount of olive oil on the rarest of occasions.

Same! I avoid oil at all costs, but for special occasions I will make an exception. Because of the CAD history in my family, I do make sure those are rare occasions. However, a tiny bit to help a pastry crust brown properly is acceptable, in my humble opinion. Everyone should watch Dr. Esselstyn video excerpt "NO OIL" on YouTube. It pretty much explains it in simple and easy to understand words.

There's a dish that's been in my family for many generations. It's an ethnic dish that has meat, and is cooked in fat...lots of animal fat. So...long story short, having grown up enjoying this traditional dish in my family, I wanted to come up with a vegan version. So I did. It does, however, require a little bit of oil brushed on the surface, in order to create a golden crust. It would not be the same without it. It needs that crust, not only for flavour, but for texture.

It's like sugar for me as well - I do make exceptions with maple syrup and occasionally agave, if I need it for a recipe. Luckily for me, sugar has never been an issue. I like it, but I can live without it, easily. In fact, I often find certain fruits too sickly sweet for my tastes. If I let my bananas get too spotted, I usually use that in my oatmeal as a sweetener or in a smoothie. I just freeze them when they turn, usually.

Sorry for the off topic rant, but it's sort of relevant to the thread. My point here is that just about any food you enjoyed before becoming vegan can pretty well be veganized. Not only that, but pretty well all the foods you cook in oil can be cooked without oil and still taste pretty darn good. It really comes down to retraining your taste buds, and learning to cook a bit differently.

At the end of the day, you can change. Being vegan for me feels amazing. You will feel amazing too, and it doesn't take that long to start noticing. Just try it, and you'll see. There is a ton of help online, YT, etc. Stick around here and you can tell all of us your story as you go. You will get help and support here too, so definitely don't be a stranger.



*

 

[Nekodaiden]

Everyone so far has given some good advice and insight.

One thing is missing though, and it's vegan(if it's produced that way without the animal filters):

Alcohol. Of course it depends on how much is consumed and how often, but it will not help with weight loss or general health at all.

 

[winston10]

What has worked for me even before I went vegan was a green smoothie for lunch and a few potato chips. This was with just a breakfast bar and coffee for breakfast, then I don't eat anything until dinner. If you are more of a breakfast eater than lunch, just drink it in the morning. I started doing this 6 years ago and it really keeps the weight off and is so much easier and quicker vs eating a real lunch. I tried a couple blenders including a Ninja but they all resulted in drinking salsa - nasty. You have to spring for a Vitamix or Blendex, no other blender will do - my vitamix paid for itself so many years ago, green smoothies are much cheaper lunches than regular food. I tried all the protein powders and they were all really nasty, I was about to give up when I finally tried 1/4 cup hemp powder and that was the ticket - it doesn't add any weird flavors, can't even tell it's in there but after drinking it you really feel the rest of the day like you had lunch. I keep it simple with some frozen kale, tomato, celery, onion, carrot, worcester sauce, ice, water and the hemp pro 50 powder. Blend on high for 1 minute and it's as smooth as a V8.

 

[jitendr09]

Since last week i have always been a meat eater as that was how i was raised, i lacked knowledge and understanding and never gave it a second thought until it really started to dawn on me how cruel it truly is. So after a couple months thought on the matter i decided to fully pledge and become a vegan. I have now been animal product free for a week and couldn't be happier. I'm trying to learn all i can about vegan foods as its all so new to me, i know vegan foods can help with weight loss and being about 5 stone overweight, i want to use this change positively and get in the best shape i can be. So my questions are: What vegan foods can truly get me in shape? What ones are deceiving and should be avoided? What products should i incorporate to keep my vitamin levels healthy? And i have been told to avoid soy products due to cancer causing ingredients, is there any other products which can cause cancer or other problems? Last question, is juicing bad? If so why?​

I do not think soy products can cause cancer, you should stop thinking about it. Anyways, i would suggest you to have a real vegan recipes which help you in maintaining your weight and keeps you healthy.

 

[Jinendra Singh]

Since last week i have always been a meat eater as that was how i was raised, i lacked knowledge and understanding and never gave it a second thought until it really started to dawn on me how cruel it truly is. So after a couple months thought on the matter i decided to fully pledge and become a vegan. I have now been animal product free for a week and couldn't be happier. I'm trying to learn all i can about vegan foods as its all so new to me, i know vegan foods can help with weight loss and being about 5 stone overweight, i want to use this change positively and get in the best shape i can be. So my questions are: What vegan foods can truly get me in shape? What ones are deceiving and should be avoided? What products should i incorporate to keep my vitamin levels healthy? And i have been told to avoid soy products due to cancer causing ingredients, is there any other products which can cause cancer or other problems? Last question, is juicing bad? If so why?​

Dear Dan if you are looking for weight loss I think first you need to know your height and weight and age.
Your daily intake of calorie.
how much weight you want to lose.
consume more fiber and avoid fat, cut all artificial sugar from your diet. as you are on weight loss you will require to full minimum intake of calorie so that your body won't suffer sickness or weakness. apart from that as you are vegan it will be little difficult for you.
But I wish all your wishes came through and I want you to be vegan forever and best wishes

 

[Sho]

Worcestershire sauce is not vegan.

 

[Veganite]

Worcestershire sauce is not vegan.

There are vegan versions of Worcestershire sauce. I know for a fact Annie's brand is vegan. There's also recipes online for homemade Worcestershire.

 

[Lou]

Dan, it's a process. You can do it all at once. Take your time. And don't forget to enjoy the ride.

There is one thing that I think is a great tool for vegan nutrition and its Dr. Gregar's Daily Dozen Checklist.
There is an app for it. Go to this website and print out the PDF. Laminate it put a dry erase pen nearby. try to make all the checks every day. Think of it as more of a guide than a goal. It's an easy to understand and follow program that you can easily incorporate. It even has some easy to miss details.

https://veganuary.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Daily-Dozen-Checklist.pdf

 

[Nekodaiden]

Hi Dan,

I agree as stated earlier with most of the advice on this thread.

Where I differ though is that I believe it is prudent to avoid soy *extracts, like soy protein isolate, concentrated soy protein etc, which are found in many processed Vegan foods. When extracted from the soy bean and concentrated, it ceases to become a whole food, and it has in fact been shown to raise IGF-1 which fuels cancer growth. Regular soybeans, and traditional soy products such as tofu, tempeh and others are not something to worry about, but large amounts of the isolate/extract is.

As for weight...

I lost quite a bit of weight going vegan, more when I largely stopped using oil, and now when I want to lose more it is simply a matter of keeping the fat low in my diet and reducing simple calories at night. Dietary fat (even healthy fats from nut and seed butters, avocado etc) is the easiest type of energy your body can store as fat - it has very little work to do to store it if it's not being used. When they are isolated from the plant (as is the case of oils), it becomes even easier. In contrast, I've found that large amounts of empty carbs or otherwise empty calories from things like alcohol can hinder fat loss, but in my experience they haven't contributed to fat gain.