Diets & Weight Maintenance Support Group

Are you still vegan?

I think you have to start with baby steps. I'm on week 4 of being focused and going to the gym, week 2 of my calorie log, and about week 6 or 8 on just being positive, telling myself that I love myself and refusing to call myself fat!

I think we have to set realistic and attainable goals because if we set the bar sooo high that even we don't believe it's attainable then it will never be attainable.

The past is the past, and the past will only bring up memories of what was and you'll just feel bad because you were there and now you're not, etc. Instead look to the future. Make daily or weekly goals. My ultimate goal is to workout at least 3 times for the rest of the year but if I see it that way I get overwhelmed. Instead I am setting weekly goals of working out 3-5 times a week and not even focusing on anything else. Do the same with your diet. Do you love sweets? Set a goal of not eating sweets for the day. Get what I'm saying?

Stay positive and focused and if you have questions I'll let you know what's been working for me :) Believe you can do it and you will :)))

Hey hlks,

I did a posting on another message thread about a diet that my wife is currently on and having a lot of success with. I would copy the posting here, but I don't want to create any additional clutter for the site.

If you go to
http://dailystrength.org/c/Diets_W...

and look for my user name, you'll be able to read the post. On the diet, she's able to eat 4 times a day, and there are no portion limits. She's just stopping before getting full, which is taking her a little time to judge.

When we were originally using the diet generator to generate her meals, it said there's also a vegetarian version.

There's also some info on the site explaining why low fat, carb and calorie diets don't work. They talk about dieting plateaus and all that fun stuff. LOL

I'm starting to get a little bit of a beer / liquor gut, so I might have to try it if it works for her. I've never been much for dieting, but I can probably take if for one 11 day cycle.

Some of the good examples they give are:

Low fat diets don't work, because the body can turn any type of calorie into fat. If you eat a bag of sugar every day for a week, you'll be on a low fat diet, but you'll still gain weight.

Low calorie diets don't work, because your metabolism adjusts to your new calorie intake and you reach a dieting plateau.

Low carb diets don't work, because you have no energy and this makes you feel miserable and less likely to be successful on the diet.

This diet has cheat days built into it, which I love, because while my wife is on a diet, she won't let me have any bad food in the house :), so I'll enjoy the cheat days as much as she will.

hope this helps.
James

Forgot to mention. No exercise is required. They do say it's a good idea to exercise, but only moderage exercise.

The info she downloaded said when you workout hard enough to be out of breath, you're burning carbs, not fat, so they recommend going for a brisk walk, or on a treadmill.

mystyk.. i get what you're saying.. but if it didn't work in the past, why would it work now?
and, yes, i'm still vegan.

hamby, the one diet i was on actually, because of the fact that your body adjusts to a lower calorie diet, had a step type style.. there were three phases with varying calorie amounts from 1200 to 2500.. the point was to increase your metabolism while also making you lose weight. needless to say.. it didn't work.

i'll check out the site, but often, vegetarian diets are not vegan diets.

I think you're focusing too much on instant results. Maybe, if you focused more on just living a healthy lifestyle and becoming more active...you might feel better. I know from past postings that you have a lot of personal stuff going on in your life. Sometimes when we have clutter in our lives...the eating and activity are put on the back burner. We tend to treat our bodies much like our minds feel.

I think the key here may be just a different approach. Quit worrying about losing weight, focus on a healthy body, and mind.

Personally I joined weight watchers. And i was a little skeptical at first but the basics of the program are really awesome. Its not a diet, its just a new way of eating. Its a great way to get how you eat into perspective. You get a points allotment according to your height weight age and activity level, and then you just go from there. Its surprisingly easy and i absolutely love it. Its been working for me and I think if you look into it, it could work for you too.
I had failed over and over again with the south beach , atkins, or any of that crap, but the only way it will ever stay off is if you just look at how you are eating, and create healthy eating habits and do physical activity.

good luck :-)

wrk... i would love instant results.. but don't expect them..b ut still you have to admit that if i'm doing all the "right things" for six months and not seeing any results then there's got to be some kind of problem there.

i'm a vegan.. can't eat much healthier than that.

and on one level i agree with you.. we should focus on health and not weight.. on the other hand.. this is a diet and weight maintenance group. and.. as much as i know i should care more about health than weight... society disagrees with me and is constantly putting me down for it everywhere I go. It's more of a big deal for women... personally and socially.

i personally think i have good eating habits.. i've been to a couple of nutritionists who also thought i had good eating habits.. better than most people.. one simply told me that perhaps i ate too much fruit and that was all the advice they could give me.I may perhaps look into WW, but i know you have to pay for it, have meetings in front of people, etc.

I am also sticking to a mostly vegan diet, but adding a little fish every few weeks. May I suggest that being Vegan and eating low-carb is a terrible combination? If you are vegan and your primary sources of protein come from beans and tofu and nuts, which are all high in carbs, yet you are cutting back on carbs too, that is a recipe for disaster.

If you are working out a lot and eating less carbs, that is yet ANOTHER strike against you, because your body needs easy access to carbs to fuel your body, especially when you push your exercise to a new level.

I just started eating like this a few months ago and I am eating a lot of beans, brown rice, quinoa, whole-wheat soba noodles, whole-grain cereal, nuts, etc and I have lost 15 pounds. Everyone's bodies are different but consider just focusing on eating vegan and exercising, but not cutting carbs out; in fact, possibly including more than usual. I think you might be pleasantly surprised.

I am in the same boat and I am fully frusterated. Thanks for posting so I know that I am not alone. :) I am a vegetarian and working out, but with no results... I actually gained a tad (I'm sure its not muscle). I am very worried about my protein and my amount of soy intake. I am also concerned about my workouts because I have back and hip issues and when I excerise my pain increases. UGH!

I like what Mystyk had to say because this is my philosophy, but it is hard to listen to because I want to see results and I don't see or feel any...

I made a call to a nutritionist today so if I decide to use her, I will let you know what I find out.

Good luck!

Elise, if that's you in your profile pic you look fantastic and don't look overweight at all. I also see you take meds for anxiety and that could be effecting your weight.

as for protein... try to get a balanced source of protein.. not just soy.. soy, if you eat too much, can throw your hormones and thyroid out of whack.