20lbs LOST and it was so EASY!!!

I struggled for 2 years to loose the weight I had gained from crappy eating, drinking, and not exercising enough.  I did some courses after highschool to become a personal trainer so I knew what to eat and how to exercise to loose the weight but I couldn't stick to any plan.  When I was younger I was even stupid enough to try different types of diet pills all of which made me feel dizzy, gave my stomach aches and gave me the worst poops.  Still no weight lost. 

Then about 6 months ago I became vegan and the weight melted off.  I feel like I don't even have to try anymore, I've lost a total of 20 lbs and I'm keeping it off with no problems.  I wish I had done this years ago.  In fact, I finally have definition and can lift more weights than I could before.  Having lost the weight is definitly great motivator.  I now get excited to go to the gym (I know, sounds crazy hey).

Anyway, I feel fantastic now and just wanted to share my success with someone.

I know exactly what you mean. I just went vegan and I've lost 10 pounds in the last 12 days. Congratulations on your weight loss! :)

Congratulations on the significant weight loss. Though I was hoping to hear a story that didn't involve becoming vegan. Oh well. I am still making progress losing weight while still eating anything I want. I was 215 when I started in 2006 and while I have stopped counting and stopped losing weight in 2007 at 195, I have started again and I am now down to 184 Lbs in just a few months.

People might be different, but the formula seems to be as simple as just burning more cals than you eat. I have only slightly increased my calorie burning by doing 30 mins exercises or walks a few times a week, and decreasing my calorie intake to 1500-1800 while still eating any food I want.

Portions have been the hardest part for me. I love to eat and so just eating less has always been hard, but seeing results has kept me motivated to keep going. I have been working hard at this for 8 weeks straight so far this year. Best run yet for me. And I hope to keep it up and reach my goal. Then I will have to learn to maintain the weight while working on building muscle. One thing at a time though.

I love reading success stories on this forum and how they did it. I wish you luck with your goals and maintaining it when you get there.

 

I thought about cutting out meat, but i just can't. However, if I did, it would be temporary. so I'm curious...

Did you love meat before you started being a vegan or was this easier because you didn't eat meat that much? What do you do when you crave protein or meat? for you have supplements for the missing nutrients?

Hmm I'm glad I found this post...how exactly do you go vegan?? I've always been a BIG meat eater but have recently started thinking about either becoming vegetarian or even semi-vegetarian,(read my journal) but not quite sure how or what to eat? Any tips or suggestions? How do you know what not to eat ?

must_lose20 --

i used to be a big meat eater, too, but i made the switch to vegan a while ago. basically, it's more annoying than difficult. no meat, no dairy, no gelatin etc. there are long lists of things you can't eat, but in order to avoid confusion, i find it easier to just eat fresh. with most pre-packaged products in the supermarket, i find they have an allergen list on the back, which lists things like milk or cheese etc. but this is usually quite time consuming and all the words tend to blur together after a while and it's annoying, so i find that sticking to natural foods is much easier. also, don't fall into the trap of thinking that it's okay because it's vegan. i was into that mindset when i first started (i'll be honest, i did it for weight loss!), and was eating all sorts of heavy breads and vegan pastas and rice etc all the time, and it didn't change my weight at all. so, just because that soy drink doesn't have any animal products in it, doesn't mean there's no sugar!! i've lost about 20 lbs in the last few weeks, combined with very little exercise, so it's definitely working. after a while, too, you stop noticing what you can't have, and stop daydreaming about hamburgers. but now that i've written that i'm thinking about it, hahah

good for you! i've been a veggie for almost 5 years now (woot!) but going all the way still seems like such a daunting step. any helpful pointers?

as a side note - having made the transition from carnivore to avid veggie myself, going straight to vegan is definitely not something i would recommend for most people. unless you're uber dedicated to doing it the right way, you can end up making yourself ill. however, if you're a cold-turkey sort of person and it works for you, that's pretty frickin' amazing.

Before I became vegan I ate meat everyday.  My mother actually became vegan first which sparked my curiosity.  I decided to do some research, mostly to try to understand her decision.  After seeing and reading about the treatment of the animals used in the food industry  I decided right on the spot that I couldn't support it.  Because it was a moral decision for me, I've found it to be the easiest thing I've ever done.  It's funny though, I remember finding out a girl I knew was vegan and thinking "I could never give up meat and dairy".
As far as craving protein, I don't crave protein because I get plenty of it.  I have more vitamins and nutrients in my diet now then I did before. 
One thing I was worried about with my weight loss was losing muscle.  Well I'm glad to say I was worrying for nothing as I'm actually lifting heavier now then I did before I was vegan. 
My husband doesn't complain about my decision because I'm actually a better cook now that I've had to change what and how I cook.  He actually went out and bought me my first vegan cook book ("How it all Vegan") and he's not vegan himself.

Oh and xenon2000, congrats on your weight loss as well.  What are you at now, 30lbs gone?  Well done!!!

loudashope, I recommend reading "Skinny Bitch" or "Vegan Freak".  I don't usually enjoy reading but I found these two books to be awesome reads.  They're both a little more laid back and casually written.  I'm starting to read Skinny Bitch for the second time now I enjoyed it so much.  Oh, and of course, I bought them at a great price (I'm a real cheapskate when it comes to books :P

thanks! i'll definitely check those out. i know what you mean about the initial motivation that comes from learning about the meat industry, i did the same thing when i went veg - i was quite literally eating Hawaiian pizza one minute, and cleaning out my fridge the next. as Paul McCartney said, "If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian".

Just cut meat and all animal products out of your meal plan and all dreams can come true. Easy as pie! Pie is still on the menu as long as there's no butter or eggs, right?

I mean one still needs to get all the proper micro-nutrients, but those you can get from pills - whoo hoo!

I got me incisors, and I'm a gunna use 'em, hyup. Omnivore, guilty as charged.

There's more than one way to skin a cat, and this one worked for you. Though you probably are not skinning any cats . ..

Congrats!

Thanks durgy.  It's nice to have support from others when it comes to weight loss and living a healthy lifestyle, even if you don't really know them :)   As far as micro-nutrients go, there isn't any nutrient or vitamin or protein or carb or fat that you can't get from a vegan diet, even b12 believe it or not.  Oh and I'm not sure about vegan pie as I haven't attempted that one yet, but I do know my vegan brownies and chocolate cookies are pretty good.  I usually end up eating half the cookie dough before baking them :P  

hstdenis -- I decided to do some research, mostly to try to understand her decision.  After seeing and reading about the treatment of the animals used in the food industry  I decided right on the spot that I couldn't support it.  Because it was a moral decision for me, I've found it to be the easiest thing I've ever done.  It's funny though, I remember finding out a girl I knew was vegan and thinking "I could never give up meat and dairy".

I feel the same way about it. Yesterday after reading these posts I started googling different things to see what its all about. The way that they treat animals is DISGUSTING. I almost felt like puking. It's sad that we as humans go through our lives without knowing about those things, or just being ignorant to it because we choose NOT to see it. I guess I was pretty ignorant about it all too. But I'm going to try my best to do it!
I was actually thinking about still eating seafood because here in the Bahamas it's not raised on farms or given chemicals. If you want fish or lobster for dinner, you go out in the open ocean and catch it yourself! But then i read something on www.goveg.com about fish still having feelings and I felt even worse!
I guess it's easy to become a vegetarian when you choose to do it for moral reasons...that's my motivation anyway! I told my sister this as well: I can't believe 1 person not eating meat saves 100 animals a year!!! I don't want to be a carnivore anymore.

good for you, must_lose20! if you wanted some added motivation, going veg is also close to the single best thing you can do for the environment. raising animals for food is a primary cause of global warming, land degradation, air and water pollution, water shortage, loss of biodiversity, and takes up an astonishing 70% of all the agricultural land on the planet. furthermore, feeding animals so we can eat them down the road requires growing 10 times more crops than if we just ate the grain ourselves.

here is some more info, if you're interested :)

Original Post by hstdenis:

Thanks durgy.  It's nice to have support from others when it comes to weight loss and living a healthy lifestyle, even if you don't really know them :)   As far as micro-nutrients go, there isn't any nutrient or vitamin or protein or carb or fat that you can't get from a vegan diet, even b12 believe it or not.  Oh and I'm not sure about vegan pie as I haven't attempted that one yet, but I do know my vegan brownies and chocolate cookies are pretty good.  I usually end up eating half the cookie dough before baking them :P  

Fakin' bacon and butterless pie, sigh. I personally do not want to be on a diet that cuts any particular food out. But that's personal choice.

A vegan diet does work for some to reach their goals. And those that reach their goals should be congratuated and encouraged. I tried to mix that in there with my snide pro meat eating comments. Mission not accomplished.

did you start out eating vegan only that dropped that weight or did you include working out?

I was working out, but I didn't do anything different.  The only difference was what I was eating.

For those with portion control problems, the 100-calorie snack packs are great.  Allow yourself 2 of those per day. 

And, at meals, using a smaller plate truly does help, too.  Don't tell yourself "I can only have 1 plate."  Eat with the idea that you can have seconds IF you are still truly hungry when you get finished with the first plate.  However, wait 30-minutes to an hour after you finish the first plate.  Go outside if you have to.  Walk the dog.  Go take a shower or bathe the kids.  Go play pogo.  Go walk on the treadmill.  Anything to get that 2nd plate of food off of your mind.  Chances are you won't go back for seconds (especially if you've already cleaned the kitchen and put the leftovers away).  I will sometimes go back for seconds, but I only allow myself to have veggies the 2nd go around.  No extras on the potatos or pasta.  That alone can cut several hundred calories per day.