Happy one year vegetarian anniversary for me!! (And I'm so fat I will likely explode soon)

Hey gang!  I just celebrated my one year anniversary as a vegetarian.  I'm really, really proud of myself.  I love it!  And I have no desire to go back to eating meat.

However... wow, have I gotten fat.  I was 280 lbs (5'10" male), and I'm now up to 297.4 pounds.  I'm pretty sure it is because my meat was replaced with carbs, rather than other healty protein sources.

Anyone else experience this?  I'm just looking for words of encouragement and any suggestions that might help me.  I just joined Calorie Count today, and I'm going to try to work on portion control and better food choices (2000 cal/day diet).

Thanks!  And good to meet everyone.

(Edited for spelling)

welcome! and.. heyyyyy wait a minute! look at our names! man, i bet people are gonna get us so confused, lol.

congrats on your 1 year! it'll be 2 years for me this april. pretty exciting. and i gained weight too. mainly because i am an emotional eater, so for a long time i ate a lot of carbs and sugar in place of the meat. but i'm figuring it out, and you will too.  :)

good luck!

Haha...Love the name there.  :-D

Thanks for the good wishes!

Congrats! Good luck with your weight loss.

In my experience I've found that it's helpful for me to add extra vegetables & liquid to my meals to help fill me up. I think there's something out there that explains it further called "Volumetrics".  Here is a website that it explains it pretty well: http://www.webmd.com/diet/volumetrics-what-it -is

For example, you can eat a huge salad with lettuce, cucumbers, peppers, onions, beans, tomatoes, olives and all sorts of things until you are stuffed, and still eating much less calories than a veggie burger and fries or pizza. If I'm making pasta, I'll load it with diced tomatoes, zucchini, artichokes, white beans and spinach and add some veggie broth for volume, and find that I'm consuming a lot more veggies and broth than pasta in the end, but still feeling really satisfied afterwards for a long time. Or you could make a veggie chili with lots of black and pinto beans, veggie crumbles, tomatoes, corn, onions and peppers...you will be very full and still getting lots of protein and less empty carbs.

Best of luck with everything!

Hey there & Happy Veggie Anniversary 

But as you know being a vegetarian isn't a free pass to skinny land. I learnt that the first year I went veggie too (about 5 years ago).  I like to remind people that beer, pizza and french fries are all vegetarian! And yes, pasta carbs can get out of control, but just watch your portions and you may notice a difference. 

Try adding more fresh produce, and maybe some more beans to your diet. Some good advice to heed to is while at the supermarket, try to make the majority of your shopping in the perimeter of the store -- not the main aisles or frozen food aisles, which are usually the fattiest foods. And also, watch your dairy intake. I only use light soy milk with my coffee, but if I do have any cheese, I make sure it's made with 2% milk. It's amazing how those calories and saturated fats can add up with a little bit of that cheezie goodness :)

Good luck!!!! 

Hey there & Happy Veggie Anniversary 

But as you know being a vegetarian isn't a free pass to skinny land. I learnt that the first year I went veggie too (about 5 years ago).  I like to remind people that beer, pizza and french fries are all vegetarian! And yes, pasta carbs can get out of control, but just watch your portions and you may notice a difference. 

Try adding more fresh produce, and maybe some more beans to your diet. Some good advice to heed to is while at the supermarket, try to make the majority of your shopping in the perimeter of the store -- not the main aisles or frozen food aisles, which are usually the fattiest foods. And also, watch your dairy intake. I only use light soy milk with my coffee, but if I do have any cheese, I make sure it's made with 2% milk. It's amazing how those calories and saturated fats can add up with a little bit of that cheezie goodness :)

Good luck!!!! 

Congratz on your 1 year!

Sorry that you've had some weight gain. My only suggestion would be avoid the "traps" of eating out vegetarian "Oh, can't get anything, so I'll just get fries (chips, a double order of hash browns ect)."

Fill up on fruit and high fiber foods which will keep you from getting hungry for longer.

Original Post by brighteyes82:

Congrats! Good luck with your weight loss.

In my experience I've found that it's helpful for me to add extra vegetables & liquid to my meals to help fill me up. I think there's something out there that explains it further called "Volumetrics".  Here is a website that it explains it pretty well: http://www.webmd.com/diet/volumetrics-what-it -is

For example, you can eat a huge salad with lettuce, cucumbers, peppers, onions, beans, tomatoes, olives and all sorts of things until you are stuffed, and still eating much less calories than a veggie burger and fries or pizza. If I'm making pasta, I'll load it with diced tomatoes, zucchini, artichokes, white beans and spinach and add some veggie broth for volume, and find that I'm consuming a lot more veggies and broth than pasta in the end, but still feeling really satisfied afterwards for a long time. Or you could make a veggie chili with lots of black and pinto beans, veggie crumbles, tomatoes, corn, onions and peppers...you will be very full and still getting lots of protein and less empty carbs.

Best of luck with everything!

This is the truth. I've come to accept the fact that I am a grazer...I like to eat a lot. Well, the only wat to eat a lot and still lose weight is to eat low calorie foods. Thus, I became a HUGE fan of salads. I sprinkle on a little salad dressing (only 30 cals for two tablespoons) and I am good to go. Think about it, you could eat half of a bag of Dole/prepackaged lettuce and only comsume thirty calories. Good stuff.

Hi there!

There is not much I can add as all the very wise people on here have said most of it! I just really wanted to say congrats on your one year being veggie:)

Dont fall into the trap I did of eating cheese with everything! I too need to lose weight after being veggie for 25 years plus!! I love chesse and really have to keep an eye on it!

Soups are good as half of what you are eating is actually water:)

Good luck with it

Veggiedood, you gained weight because you ate too much..too many calories that is.  It has nothing to do with not eating meat.   Vegetables, fruits, grains etc. all have calories.  Grains, seeds and nuts are especially high in calories and if you eat lots of them, you'll likely gain weight.   Use the tools provided by CC to figure out  an ideal calorie consumption for you and then also to calculate what you are actually consuming.  You might be surprised.