Vegan/plant based diet

[Djdolly73]

Just wondering if anyone has any WeightLoss experience with plant based/vegan diet? Decided a couple of days ago that I was going to do the 30 day vegan challenge with my daughter. My daughter (21) has been sourcing out all the unhealthy food you can eat that are vegan such as Oreos 😂🙄 but obviously that defeats the object for me as I'm also trying to loose weight. I was vegetarian when I was a teenager for six years so giving up meat is not too difficult for me, it's the cheese I'll miss 😩. Tried some vegan Parmesan today and it was rank!!! 🤢. Having said that, been doing this since Thursday and I've lost 3lbs 😱. 🥒 🍅 🍎🍉🍇🍌🍒🍑🥑🥝🌽🍠

[moreless Administrator 7 stone]

Good for you Dolly, I can't give you any personal advice, because I like my meat too much, but there are several members who follow a vegan lifestyle and one of our biggest losers is vegan. You might like to have a look at this and other posts of hers

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

[kalahuchi]

Hi DJDolly73,

I spent several years as a vegetarian in my teens and was a vegan for a short time and throughout that time I was very overweight. I often eat vegetarian food now out of choice, but personally I think that vegan diets are very restrictive indeed and the cheese substitutes are pretty awful. Not all vegans or vegetarians are slim and whether you are a carnivore, vegetarian or vegan, you can still lose weight.

If you and your daughter are starting a vegan diet out of principle then it is obviously well worth doing, but if you are trying to find an effective eating plan for weight loss, then it isn't necessary. The other thing to consider is that, if you don't intend to stay vegan for life, what will happen to your weight when you go back to normal eating.

I've found the NHS 12 week plan to be a no-nonsense, no-fads way to make permanent, positive changes to my lifestyle and it's been very effective; this is the first time the weight has stayed off after a lifetime of yo yo dieting. Also I'd recommend the NHS BMI calculator to find your daily calorie allowance; it's often more than you expect and it genuinely does help to maintain steady weight loss if you ensure you stay within the suggested range.

Whatever you choose to do, well done on the 3lb loss and good luck to you and your daughter and if you ever find a decent cheese substitute, I hope you'll post and let us know x

[benwl]

Hi Dolly,

I've been following a low fat vegan/plant based diet for about 2 and half years now. Before that I was vegetarian for most of my adult life and always resisted veganism because I loved cheese so much (which was probably responsible for my weight gain), but when it came to it, I've been able to give up the cheese easily without any cravings for it or any backsliding, so wish I'd done it years ago

My advice is not to bother trying to find vegan replacements for cheese, as you'll soon forget what cheese tastes like once you've not been eating it for a few weeks. Similarly I don't use nut butters or oils as I've cut down on fats, and I've just got used to the taste of plain bread.

[Djdolly73]

Thanks all, nearly done a week now and I can honestly say I've never felt better. Not missing the meat at all or the cheese to be honest. Really hoping that this is going to be a long term thing because it really is helping. One thing is I'm eating loads and not feeling hungry at all but I've lost nearly 5lbs so far 😱 and that was after a weekend of drinking due to a party and a wedding 👰🏼. Was so good at the wedding buffet but I think I should've taken a pot of humous with me 😂 it's become my new best friend 👍🏻. I've stuck to eating healthily even though Oreos are allowed and I'm really enjoying trying new stuff with vegetables 🥒. Will keep you posted x

[benwl]

That's fantastic, well done!

One great thing about healthy eating is its like a habit, and once you've got it, its quite easy to keep going, but if you do slip up, the folks here are brilliant at encouraging you back on track.

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Hi are you still vegan? How is it going. I am planning to switch from vegetarian to vegan too.