Vegan weight loss

[elci_ezgi]

Hello everbody,
I've been a vegan for a few months.And my BMI is 34,5 so I'm an obese.Before I've been a vegan,I have tried like 30 diets which caused me gain more weight after I dropped a few lbs.My veganism journey started just for ethical reasons but I wanna be healthy example so I've seen a dietitian today and he denied to prepare a vegan weight loss diet for me since he thinks that's not healthy and and it would never help me to lose weight without animal protein.So is there anybody -preferably ,dietitans- could help me about losing weight on a plant-based diet? Thank you.

[brimstoneSalad]

I'm glad to help with general suggestions, although I'm not a dietitian, I'm at least more qualified than whatever quack you unfortunately ran into.
I hope you didn't pay this person. And if you did, maybe you can make a charge back if it was by credit card?

so I've seen a dietitian today and he denied to prepare a vegan weight loss diet for me since he thinks that's not healthy and and it would never help me to lose weight without animal protein.

Are you sure you saw an accredited dietitian, and not a "nutritionist"?
That's like a doctor telling you not to get vaccinated.

If this person is accredited, I would report him or her to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and be sure to leave negative reviews on the internet.

Some general advice:

You have to reduce calorie consumption, but keep nutrition up. That means eating mostly beans, vegetables, and nuts. Absolutely avoid those sources of high calories which are low in nutrition, such as rice, corn, and most oils.

Have you used cronometer? https://cronometer.com/

[brimstoneSalad]

I found this:
http://www.internationaldietetics.org/Newsletter/Vol19Issue1/Education-in-Turkey.aspx

Weaknesses
It is not obligatory to become a member of TDA. Unfortunately after graduation not all dietitians join TDA. Thus, participation to in-service education is voluntary. TDA can’t impose any sanctions on ethical issues besides excluding his/her membership.

Apparently dietitians in Turkey are held to basically no ethical standards. The educational standards are probably poor too.

You may have no luck finding an honest or credible "dietitian" in Turkey.
We'll help you here, though.

[elci_ezgi]

You may have no luck finding an honest or credible "dietitian" in Turkey.
We'll help you here, though.

In Turkey,our health services are free so fortunately I didn't pay.He is a dietitian.He was like ''I have no vegan diet system ready and you cannot lose weight on a vegan diet since you won't consume any dairy and ''beneficial meat'' such as fish.You might die if you ristrict your calories on a vegan diet'' He was so annoying and make me mad.
By the way thank you for your advices and yes I have started to use cronometer.It's fantastic.

[brimstoneSalad]

By the way thank you for your advices and yes I have started to use cronometer.It's fantastic.

Go to the profile tab, click on the vitamins tab down on the page under the nutritional targets. Under vitamin A, you'll see Retinol Activity Equivalent -- click that check box to the right of that, for visible. That's more meaningful than total vitamin A.

That's the only serious problem I have with cronometer's default settings, but it's easy to fix.

Let me know if you have any problems with any particular nutrients.

With a diet mainly of beans and vegetables (and some walnuts or chia seeds or something to get your fatty acids), you should be able to cut your calories down enough to lose a couple pounds a week for a while.
But remember, it took years to gain the weight, so it may take years to lose it.

[brimstoneSalad]

Ginny Messina has some good advice on her site:
http://www.theveganrd.com/food-guide-for-vegans

To show how obviously wrong that 'dietitian' you talked to is, here's an example of a nutritionally adequate but very low calorie diet (not one you should follow, because it would be hard to eat this way every day):

adequate.jpg

I would blend up the nuts/seeds and chickpeas into a hummus, and dip the veggies in that, and grill the mushrooms or something (mushrooms provide most B vitamins).
You would need a vitamin B-12 supplement and potentially vitamin D with this (unless you spend a lot of time outside).

Bear in mind, this diet is very low calorie (also a little expensive), and would be hard to follow in practice (a couple days, sure, but very low calorie diets result in failure long term). This is just an example of how it's possible to make a low calorie vegan diet (not saying it's recommended).

You really only need a calorie deficit of a hundred or so calories to see some serious weight loss over time. Exercise is also a good method to speed things up if you have the dedication.
If you want to start from that and add another 400 calories from whole grain bread, and some fruit, that would be a more sustainable diet.

[EquALLity]

By the way thank you for your advices and yes I have started to use cronometer.It's fantastic.

Go to the profile tab, click on the vitamins tab down on the page under the nutritional targets. Under vitamin A, you'll see Retinol Activity Equivalent -- click that check box to the right of that, for visible. That's more meaningful than total vitamin A.

That's the only serious problem I have with cronometer's default settings, but it's easy to fix.

Let me know if you have any problems with any particular nutrients.

With a diet mainly of beans and vegetables (and some walnuts or chia seeds or something to get your fatty acids), you should be able to cut your calories down enough to lose a couple pounds a week for a while.
But remember, it took years to gain the weight, so it may take years to lose it.

I thought you said it could take a few months?

[elci_ezgi]

You would need a vitamin B-12 supplement and potentially vitamin D with this (unless you spend a lot of time outside).

I'm using B12 supplements which contains 1000micrograms B12 and my pharmacist told me to take once a week.And also Alpro soy milk has a lil amount of B12.I was working on my new diet and your suggestions will definitely help.Nuts might be a little expensive here but at least we are okay with beans and veggies.I've already lost 6-7 lbs through my plant-based diet without any calorie deficit and I'm sure I can lose more to my healthy weight with reducing my calories.Thank you so much,I kept telling my family how passionate you are with helping people

[Heinechan]

I've always found it very easy to lose weight on a vegan diet. If I stop trying to bulk I will begin losing weight without even trying!

You say you've only dieted before becoming a vegan, and that you've already lost weight since becoming a vegan, so why the emphasis on creating a calorically deficient diet??

Quite frankly, I think that's a bad idea.

Why not just focus on being a healthy vegan, eating whole foods, and seeing how things go? If anything, just get a calorie tracking app and take a look at how many calories you're getting. That's at the heart of weight loss--calories. Not carbs or protein, just total calorie intake. I bet it will be lower than your tdee.

[brimstoneSalad]

I thought you said it could take a few months?

I wouldn't want him to get discouraged if he tries to go too quickly. Most of all, my focus would be on a sustainable vegan diet. Trying to restrict too much might leave him craving old animal foods.

I'd be interested to hear his thoughts on "fat shaming" though.


elci_ezgi, if somebody made fun of you for being fat, would that discourage you from dieting and losing weight, or encourage you, or be neutral?
If you were in the process of losing weight, would the effect be different?
E.g. if you are gaining weight and somebody makes fun of you, would you be more upset about it than if you were losing weight when it happens, since you know in a few months you will be thinner (and you're thinner every week)?