I have recently been diagnosed with COPD, just waiting to find out what stage. I am about three and half stone overweight which absolutely must go. I have been vegan for 10 years and in the first few years ate very healthily. However, the last few years of available vegan junk food has meant that I have eaten a load of rubbish and put on the weight. Now it’s back to basics for me; home cooked, low fat, plant based meals with lots of whole grains and fibre. I have actually managed to lose 6lbs in the last week but expect that to slow up to 2 or 3 pounds a week soon. Is anyone else vegan on here?
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PurpleAlf
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6 Replies
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Hi PurpleAlf and welcome to our friendly forum. We have a vegan topic section on here:
Lastly we have lots of vegan members so you're in great company on here and for all things healthy eating, any questions queries then you just ask away.
I would just like to say Welcome. Congratulations on your weight loss - and wishing you success with your goals. I hope you'll enjoy participating in the Healthy eating forum, and I can see that Hidden has given you some helpful links.
PurpleAlf, I'm puzzled as to why you would choose to eat lots of (or any) grains as they're not healthy in the slightest. And, honestly, humans need very little fibre.
I would guess that the reason you started your vegan journey eating "healthily" and then turned to junk food is because the vegan way of eating is nutritionally poor and taxing on the body.
Give your body what it needs to repair itself and keep it running well.
Eat protein. That means meat. Don't rely on inferior incomplete plant protein.
Eat fat. Animal fat, butter (Kerrygold), coconut oil. Avocado if you like. Not margarine, not vegetable oil or any weird vegan/vegetarian pretend fat that smells like burnt plastic when dropped into a hot frying pan.
If you're looking to lose weight then eat small amounts of fat until you reach your weight loss goal then increase it. Your body is perfectly capable of creating (from animal protein/fat) the small amount of carbohydrate it needs. It can make 150g a day which is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than it needs.
The brain is 60% fat, so does it make sense to eat very little fat? (no).
I'm all for encouraging people on their journey to becoming healthy and well but if following a vegan way of eating had you turning to junk food the first time then please do consider the possibility that you're depriving your body of what it needs.
Studies I have read say that actually lots of fibre is very necessary for the body and is certainly encouraged by most nutritionists. When I first became vegan there was not all the vegan choices in the supermarket and as new things hit the shelf I was trying them because they were vegan, not because my body was ‘deprived’. Yes, the body needs protein but the body certainly does not need meat, unhealthy fats and cholesterol. And no, it does not make sense in any way to eat unhealthy fats because the brain is apparently 60% fat. Oh and by the way, in case that was your next question, my B12 levels are just fine. Can I suggest that you read ‘How Not To Die’ or ‘Forks Over Knives’ or anything by Dr Neal Barnard, you might be surprised.
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Congratulations on your weight loss - and wishing you success with your goals. I hope you'll enjoy participating in the Healthy eating forum, and I can see that Hidden has given you some helpful links.
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