I need help. 4 weeks of dieting (vegan), clean eating, drinking slightly less than 1/2 my weight in water each day, exercising (treadmill and outside walking) 3 miles 5 x week have not lost 1 lb.
No alcohol. I need to lose 15lbs and feel completely frustrated. Any thoughts? 🤔. I have been a vegetarian (some fish ) for many years...just recently trying Vegan because I thought eliminating dairy may help. Appreciate feedback.
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Debjm1
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Possibly this is not the right forum but I do hope you are exaggerating with the water comment. Over-hydration is really dangerous, don't overdo it with the water.
Aside from that, 4 weeks is a very short period of time in the overall scheme of things.
Is there a medical reason that you "need" to lose 15lbs?
No real medical reason, I have gained 15 lbs and find physical activity easier when I weigh less and have less physical issues. Re the water- read that a good gauge is to take your weight, divide in half and this represents water intake goal-,approx 70 to 80 oz per day.
It's partly what you eat; it's mainly calories in vs calories used. So even if you're eating 'clean', giving your body more energy than it needs will still mean no weight loss.
Although many people on this forum have found that by taking up running, they've lost some weight, that's not its primary purpose; you may find more support and advice on the Health Unlocked Weight Loss forum.
Thank you! I'm a stickler for counting calories in and expended. Use Fitbit and my fitness pal. I'm going to the other forum, too. Appreciate your feedback
You don't lose more weight by eating vegan. There is no such thing as dirty/clean eating.
Losing a pound of fat requires that you expend 3500 calories more than you consume. While very healthy, walking is not a great way to burn calories. Your 3 x 5 miles will probably burn around 1,000 calories (depending on all sorts of things including your weight).
So if you're not losing weight, it might be because you consume as many calories as you spend.
P.S. Try asking anyone who has survived a famine what they think about the theory that eating too few calories stops weight loss...
Hey. Just a question but have you measured yourself? I graduated a week ago and healthy eating but have not lost any weight. But....I have dropped a jeans size and am so much more toned with slim legs and buns of steel due to all the exercise. So, it may be that although you haven't lost weight, you have reduced in size...
I am not an expert, but I'd consider myself quite well educated in this subject. Although I struggle with loosing weight by myself. I can share knowledge that I have. It may not help you, but it will not harm you either
Regarding water. Water you need to drink depends on many factors: activity, temperature, overall weight, and age. Think of it as minimum of 1.5L of water each day spread equally over the time. I'd say the optimum would be between 2 - 2.5L for you, so 70-80 oz is ok.
Regarding eating. I am not good with vegan diet (I don't know much about it), but remember to give your body enough proteins to help your muscles regenerate. Check if you are eating balanced diet, so you don't miss any vitamins or minerals, like calcium or iron. You need also eat at least 1500 kcal per day, I'd suggest 2000-2500 kcal per day for you. Otherwise your metabolism is slowing down, as it thinks it is fasting time, so it needs to keep all possible energy until good times. It will absorb every possible calorie from food, which sometimes may also cause some bowel or toilet problems (no idea if you have those or not).
Regarding exercises. It's great that you are walking each day. But in order to loose weight you need to burn more calories. Unfortunately, cardio is usually not enough if you want to loose weight. Apart from running (preferably as a HIIT - high intensity interval training), you should also do strength exercises. As building up lean muscles increase you basic metabolic rate enhancing amount of calories burnt even while resting. I'd recommend at least twice a weak a proper at least 30 min HIIT (running or any other, you can find quite a lot of HIIT on youtube, including low impact if you have any joint problems). Above that twice a week strength training, you can use your body weight if you don't want to spend money or don't like gym. Two days of more easy exercises, can be light cardio, light core strength exercises, yoga, pilates, long session of stretching. You should be walking each day at least 10,000 steps, so approx. 3-4 miles, that can be divided over all day, so e.g. 1.5 mile in the morning and the other 1.5-2.5 mile in the afternoon. Give yourself 1 day of proper rest.
Remember to sleep at least 7 hours per night, preferably 8, to give your body time to regenerate.
The last more general tips are:
- Give yourself time! As you didn't gain this weight in a month, you won't loose it in a month
- Do not concentrate on the number on the scale, muscles are heavier than fat Try measuring yourself and check if cm / in are going down. Or even better: analyse how you feel, do you feel better / fitter / happier?
Not sure how much it is true, but I've noticed that, depending on your starting point, sometimes loosing pounds when you are close to your normal weight is much slower than loosing when you have quite a bit additional stones on you.
Wish you all the best and good luck with your journey!
PS. Try Loose Weight Forum. Maybe they will be able to help you more.
How many calories a day on average were you eating?
I did a well publicised blood sugar diet recently which had a 800 cal per day max and lost 1.5 stone in 6 weeks (plus I am a vegetarian so similar to vegan) - alas Christmas brought me a bit of weight back as a gift - so am thinking about embarking upon the diet again
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