Vegan doesn’t equal healthy

I’ve been vegan for the past 4 and a half years, and I’m now on a journey to lose 22lbs. I never thought this was possible.

Being young and vegan, I mistakenly assumed I could eat whatever I wanted, in whatever portions. Though my weight has never been at a point where a doctor explicitly told me that weight loss is necessary, I’ve found myself unhappy with my body.

I’d compare my diet to my peers - at least I wasn’t like the girl in my class that goes off campus every day for Taco Bell, or the boy that visits Starbucks for sugary lattes multiple times a day. I suppose I did eat healthier than the average teenager, but I had no idea about the importance of calorie counting and wholesome foods over processed ones.

When I am in the United States, it’s not too uncommon to be vegan these days. There’s plenty of options for me! Banana flavored nondairy milk, peanut butter, cookie butter (bless Trader Joe’s), microwave meals, soy chicken nuggets, sweetened cereals, breads, cookies, you name it, it’s veganized. It hasn’t been until I started incorporating more real, plant-based foods and controlled portions that my weight is coming off.

Tl;dr - it’s not the diet that makes the weight loss, it’s the caloric deficit

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Bar food strategies

Hi everyone! I wanted to share these bar food strategies I’ve learned in the last few months of losing. The assumption is that your default order would have been a burger/sandwich/equivalent (I’m vegetarian, so I order bean patties or Beyond burgers) + fries/chips/fried equivalent.

Using one of these strategies vs. the default order doesn’t make that much of a difference in the grand scheme of things CICO-wise, but it can have great psychological benefits. It makes you feel like you’re still in control and on-the-wagon, it helps you navigate a potentially tricky situation, and it makes you feel and actually BE lighter the next morning.

Deciding on the strategy beforehand is helpful because you don’t have to think about it in the moment. When the server comes, you’ll know what to do, and there’ll be less room for things to go sideways:

1. Order a salad. This may seem radical, but hey - you’re allowed! I was initially afraid of peer/SO pressure or scrutiny, but I’ve found people don’t really care about it, and they hardly ever comment (I realize this may not be the case for everyone). Also, you may think you’ll be missing out flavor-wise, but once you’re actually eating the salad, you’ll realize/remember salads are delicious and satisfying. Order the dressing on the side so you control the amount. If you think you’ll have some FOMO on fried foods, you can plan to steal from someone or share a side.

2. Order a burger or equivalent main dish, but substitute the chips/fries/side for a salad. Again, decide this beforehand and execute it without thinking about it. It will make you feel proud of your choice, and your meal will still be super satisfying – I always find I don’t actually miss the fries.

3. (I haven’t tried this one yet, but I’ve read it repeatedly on this sub and I’m eager to try it) Order the default main dish + fried side, but pack half of everything from the get-go. You will still have eaten everything you craved and you will still be satisfied. Plus, you will have two delicious meals for the price of one. You will have outsmarted bar food, both financially and diet-wise.

Bonus: I used to mindlessly order a second beer when offered. I really don’t need a second beer, especially since my tolerance has gone down with weight loss. I’ve found that if I keep the glass a quarter-full, I don’t get offered a second beer, nor do I need it. I gulp down the last of it as I get up to leave, IF I even feel like finishing it by then. Helps avoid hangovers, bloating, and over-spending!

How do you deal with bar food while losing/maintaining?

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Does anybody else feel deflated by the lack of physical/visual progress?

TL;DR at the bottom. This morning I weighed in at 217.6lbs which puts me 77.4lbs down from my starting weight of 295lbs and just 42.6lbs away from my goal weight of 175lbs.

The thing is, I don't look like I've lost nearly 80 lbs this year. To me it's like I've lost maybe 5lbs. I still have gigantic thighs, big arms, plump butt, wide hips, a bulging belly, hanging fupa and big man boobs.

Everything seems to point to the contrary though. I definitely look less plump in my most recent progress picture, my clothing sizes have all reduced, I've had to get new belts, my measurements have decreased but physically... I feel the same when I look in the mirror or down at my body.

Don't get me wrong, I've read a lot about how weight loss isn't linear and that it's more noticeable towards the end, also that genetics plays a big role. I'm also aware that at my current weight I'm still in the obese range. I guess when I started in January I envisioned being a day and night difference by now but that has not happened. At 40lbs down I was telling myself "the next 40lbs will be better" but that isn't the case and I'm really paranoid the next 40lbs won't be either... And that's my goal weight!

To be clear, even though I do feel a bit deflated by this... I'm not quitting. If anything this just fuels me to keep going and try harder. But I'm so scared that there's something wrong with me, or maybe just eating less isn't enough. The scale is going down but it doesn't feel like I am...

TL;DR: I've lost nearly 80lbs this year and in another 40lbs I'll hit my goal weight of 175lbs. Despite being 2/3 of the way to my goal, physically I feel as though I look nearly identical to my starting weight. Despite my clothing sizes and measurements decreasing, I still feel and look massive. However I won't let this feeling stop me achieving my goals.

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Scales are my enemy #1 right now!

For the past few months of my weight loss journey have been extremely focused on counting calories and stressing about food way too much. I also realized that the scale wasn't helping, as I weighed myself multiple times in the morning and the scale would dictate whether my day would be good or bad straight from the morning.

So I decided to give away my scale to my parents, only having access to a measuring tape (which I honestly should also give away) and I focused on eating healthy rather than counting calories. It was rough at first, but slowly I adapted to eating when I feel hungry, and not counting every single calorie in my food. I was doing great, and I was still noticing progress with my measuring tape.

But then I made the mistake on weighing myself when visiting my parents, and that threw me completely on a loop. I fell right back to counting calories and overly restricting to the point where I would anyways eat most of my calories in the evening before bed because I was so hungry from not eating through out the day. Finally had the smack-in-the-face talk with my boyfriend and realized, that I can't use the scale if I want to lose weight-- nay, be healthy and happy. I need to completely give it up and focus on healthy food and hunger cues. And the occasional treat, of course. I have a good grasp on my hunger when I'm not restricting way too hard. I also make all of my food (I love cooking), and eat plant based most of the time, so I should have this under control.

I simply need to give up the idea that I'm doing this purely for weight loss, and start seeing this as a lifestyle change. I need to be happy with what I put in my body rather than focusing on a number. Rant over.

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Starting my weight loss journey

I'm pretty new to reddit but thought it would be a good place to look for weight loss advice. I am currently 6'2'' and 302 pounds. I know I have some muscle mass under all this flab because I used to play football a couple years ago and have been strength training on/off for the past year. People are often shocked when I tell them my weight, and say I look closer to 240-260. In any case I'm only 25 and I really feel like this is holding me back from enjoying my life, Here are my questions:

1. What is the lowest calorie intake I can restrict myself to without causing severe muscle loss (25/male/302LB/6'2''). My current daily intake is 1400 calories

   1. Any tips on specific macros/what I should be eating? I've always been a stockier guy with broad shoulders, gains weight rather quickly. Right now my diet amounts to 134g protein, 56g fat, 64g carbs (I aim for 40/40/20). I'm using myfitness pal to track everything.
   2. If I really wanted to push myself (I'll do what is takes), how long would it take to slim down to around 200 pounds. I know this questions is asked all the time, but I just want something to work towards

Thanks everyone!!

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Sustaining weight when on period?

Hi all.

I’m currently at 218lb as a 5’6 female. I’ve been sticking to a 750-1000 calorie deficit per day, and have generally lost 2lb (sometimes slightly more, sometimes slightly less) per week since I started my weight loss journey in late September. This week however I’ve only lost 0.8lb and I’m a little disappointed. It was my graduation on Tuesday so I had a day without calorie counting and ate lunch from the ceremony buffet. I must have ate about 2 veggie sandwiches and a couple of mini cupcakes, however my cal burn that day was 3000+ according to my Fitbit so it was more of a maintain kinda day. Since then, the weight hasn’t came off and I’m putting it down to that day, but can periods also influence weight loss much? I don’t technically have a period since I’m on contraception that’s stopped it but I currently have cramps and acne. I know it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but I’m worried this will be a common trend and I’ll get demotivated. I know weight loss slows down, but I’m still in the obese category so still wanted to see consistent weight loss. TIA. 😊

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Got a much needed reminder of how far I've come today.

About four months ago I sustained an injury, I've managed to rehab to the point that my everyday life is unaffected but I can't take part in all the sports I had been participating in prior to my injury. I'm unfortunately going to need surgery followed by a long recovery before I can return to the sports I love and not every day is a good day for me right now, I'm finding it hard to cope and injury-related depression is a real thing.

I've also put the last of my weight loss pretty much on hold because honestly right now, it's just too hard to think about plus my physio recommended eating at maintenance anyway to help build up muscle mass faster. So even though I do still have a bit of weight left to lose, probably between about 7 to 15 kilograms it's currently on the backburner. That's also been adding to the feeling of failing and just general unhappiness.

But today I was tidy up and organising the spare room because I'm probably going to have to spend a few weeks sleeping in the spare bed after my surgery and I did not want to be living in what is basically a glorified storage room. During the tidy up I found a photo of me from approximately 10 years and ~70kg ago and it was a very timely reminder of what I'm capable of. It was proof of my success and proof that even though life is shit right now and my progress has stalled for that I Can Do This and that when the time is right I'll do it again and 'finish' this thing.

Picture of me about 10 years ago vs. now.

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