How much weight can you lose being a vegetarian or vegan?
I am about 5’7″ and 170 pounds. I can’t seem to lose weight on diet plans. I even tried the low carb diets and eating that much meat was just too gross for me. Has anyone tried going vegetarian or vegan to lose weight? Would you have any additional recommendations for this dieting method?
June 28th, 2010 at 10:32 am
it depends what kinds of food you eat as a vegetarian ive known people who lost weight as vegetarians and others who gained weight.
June 28th, 2010 at 10:48 am
I know when I eat more veggies and less protein, I really drop lbs. So it must really work.
June 28th, 2010 at 11:29 am
Well being a vegetarian is not about weight loss….
If you maybe were to lose weight it would simply have to do with
cutting calories. The only way one can really lose weight (without drugs) is simply cut calories, eat balanced and the most important thing….Exercise!!!!!!!! Diet alone is not enough for most
June 28th, 2010 at 12:15 pm
Being a vegetarian is not really a “diet”. I was a vegatarian for a couple months and am thinking about doing it again. I chose to be a vegetarian because meat has always grossed me out to some degree. I only started eating meat again because the one meat that I do like is chicken.
It is NOT that easy to lose weight as a vegetarian despite what you may think. Think about it… even though you aren’t eating meat look at all the other options you have…. candy, soda, chips, etc.
As a vegan , not eating meat or dairy, you may lose weight because your choices are narrowed down a lot.
I suggest you do not seek out to be vegan/vegetarian as a diet unless you really want to. Instead, cut out fried foods, candy, soda, chips, junk food and exercise 30 mins a day and you will start to lose weight.
June 28th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
I actually gained 10 lbs over 9 mths, of the 12 mths, I was a vegetarian. I lost quite a lot of muscle mass, regardless of how much soy protein I was eating, and I guess a lot of it converted to fat and somehow, my appetite increased like hell…
Maybe it’ll work for you, maybe not. Dieting won’t solve anything. You just need to learn to eat healthy, 5 small meals a day. More likely natural foods, and could be whatever you want. Depriving yourself of certain foods, will more likely make you want to binge eat them at the wrong times.
June 28th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
its really a bad reason to do it, and it doesn’t necessarily mean you will lose weight it’s just healthier. The best way to go vegan is slowly alot of fruits and veggies and soy. All in all, u prob will lose some weight through healthier eating habits but you cant just replace meat with junk food it needs to be nutritious
June 28th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
It’s not exactly a weight loss diet or a dieting method. The whole really skinny vegetarian thing is kind of a myth.
June 28th, 2010 at 3:13 pm
i will never know because i will never become one
June 28th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
if you become a vegan youll lose the most wiehgt, with loads of excersize. if you are in vegan mode then you just eat friut, vegies and water. thats all, for the rest of your life. if you take it to seriuosly you can actually be anorexia. a vegetarian cannot lose as much because they eat bread, butter egss, which r all so fattening.
June 28th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
my cousin gained almost 60 pounds trying to be a vegitarian, i thought it was funny. do what feels best for you, not what others think. cows dont get skinny from eating grass now do they?
you’ll have to eat some kind of protien anyways so you dont get sick, and that means beans, whick turn to sugar, and make us fat too. id say just eat balanced means, cut out fried and processed foods, and stick to things with 3 ingrediants or less.
just be healthy, just because you weigh 170, doesnt mean its all fat.
June 28th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
It depends on how longn you can manage to stay a vegetarian/vegan…as soon as you slide you’re gonna gain it back.
June 28th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
well I’m a vegetarian and lost 10lbs. I ate a lot of fruits and veggie. I did eat cheese but instead of milk i drink soymilk. I skateboard very intense so i moved a lot, twisting and turning. So being vegetarian will only help you 45% of the time, you have to go active but you don’t have to exercise that hard. Maybe 30 minutes each day can help.
June 28th, 2010 at 5:47 pm
I have many friends who have lost 20 or more pounds just by becoming vegetarian. If they worked out, they’d lose even more.
I went vegetarian just over a year ago and lost 8 pounds “accidentally.” I’ve kept it off the whole time (5’6″ and 130 lbs now). I think the reason it happened is because by cutting out meat, I was also cutting out the stuff that came with it – french fries, soda, etc.
More importantly, I have more energy, need less sleep and overall feel much better. The best part is my monthly cramps have disappeared (no extra hormones in my system from processed meat!)
The important things to remember are:
Being vegetarian doesn’t mean you can eat bread and cheese all day. You need to limit the high-carb items and eat stuff like natural peanut butter, hummus, black beans, vegetarian chili, etc. Amy’s Organic is an awesome line of soups, burritos, frozen meals, etc. that are reasonably priced and found at almost every grocery store.
Consider keeping seafood in your diet. Salmon and tuna are great sources of protein and amino acids and are really easy to prepare.
Quit drinking soda – even the diet stuff. It’s full of chemicals and crap that makes you crave it more, and many brands of the diet stuff have tons of sodium, which makes you hungry. If you need caffeine (like I do) have coffee or tea.
You should give it a try, like I did. Just tell yourself “for one week” cut out all meat, and see how it goes. You may be surprised by how easy the transition is. Good luck!
P.S. – Exercise too! Even walking 30 minutes a day will make a world of difference.