Sick of being overweight - diet alone is not cutting it.

[Anonymous]

Get a professional trainer at a nearby gym.

[Anonymous]

I am also a vegan and have recently had some success losing weight. A few thoughts -

First, you mentioned that you had been eating a candy bar most days. This was a HUGE part of my problem. Sugary junk food often has hundreds of calories. I would eat healthy for the whole day, be at my target calories for the day, and then have a cookie or something at the last minute and blow the whole thing. I think if you cut this out completely (or as someone else suggested, eat a small amount of dark chocolate to satisfy the craving), it will make a big difference.

Second, as others have said I would really recommend adding tofu and tempeh to your diet to get more protein. Tempeh in particular is incredibly healthy and has none of the possible health concerns of other soy products (though I don't buy those anyway).

Third, there have been a few articles recently about micro-fasting. Basically, you eat normally except for 1 or 2 days per week, where you eat only about 1000 calories. (Obviously you would want these to be days when you did not exercise.) Studies indicate that it really helps with weight loss and overall health. I have imported it into my own life as just picking one day a week to eat a very light lunch.

Finally, exercise is really helpful because it gives you a margin of error. Every mile you run burns 100 calories. So if you run 4 miles in the morning, that's an extra 400 calories you have to work with during the day. And strength training is helpful for the reasons others have said - more muscle means you burn more calories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am also a vegan and have recently had some success losing weight. A few thoughts -

First, you mentioned that you had been eating a candy bar most days. This was a HUGE part of my problem. Sugary junk food often has hundreds of calories. I would eat healthy for the whole day, be at my target calories for the day, and then have a cookie or something at the last minute and blow the whole thing. I think if you cut this out completely (or as someone else suggested, eat a small amount of dark chocolate to satisfy the craving), it will make a big difference.

Second, as others have said I would really recommend adding tofu and tempeh to your diet to get more protein. Tempeh in particular is incredibly healthy and has none of the possible health concerns of other soy products (though I don't buy those anyway).

Third, there have been a few articles recently about micro-fasting. Basically, you eat normally except for 1 or 2 days per week, where you eat only about 1000 calories. (Obviously you would want these to be days when you did not exercise.) Studies indicate that it really helps with weight loss and overall health. I have imported it into my own life as just picking one day a week to eat a very light lunch.

Finally, exercise is really helpful because it gives you a margin of error. Every mile you run burns 100 calories. So if you run 4 miles in the morning, that's an extra 400 calories you have to work with during the day. And strength training is helpful for the reasons others have said - more muscle means you burn more calories.

Thank you for this thoughtful and informative post! Sugar is my downfall, absolutely, and I've wondered if that's an impediment to weight loss.

Love the idea about micro-fasting. Am getting into running currently. Can see how this will be beneficial. Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am also a vegan and have recently had some success losing weight. A few thoughts -

First, you mentioned that you had been eating a candy bar most days. This was a HUGE part of my problem. Sugary junk food often has hundreds of calories. I would eat healthy for the whole day, be at my target calories for the day, and then have a cookie or something at the last minute and blow the whole thing. I think if you cut this out completely (or as someone else suggested, eat a small amount of dark chocolate to satisfy the craving), it will make a big difference.

Second, as others have said I would really recommend adding tofu and tempeh to your diet to get more protein. Tempeh in particular is incredibly healthy and has none of the possible health concerns of other soy products (though I don't buy those anyway).

Third, there have been a few articles recently about micro-fasting. Basically, you eat normally except for 1 or 2 days per week, where you eat only about 1000 calories. (Obviously you would want these to be days when you did not exercise.) Studies indicate that it really helps with weight loss and overall health. I have imported it into my own life as just picking one day a week to eat a very light lunch.

Finally, exercise is really helpful because it gives you a margin of error. Every mile you run burns 100 calories. So if you run 4 miles in the morning, that's an extra 400 calories you have to work with during the day. And strength training is helpful for the reasons others have said - more muscle means you burn more calories.

Thank you for this thoughtful and informative post! Sugar is my downfall, absolutely, and I've wondered if that's an impediment to weight loss.

Love the idea about micro-fasting. Am getting into running currently. Can see how this will be beneficial. Thanks again!

Oh, I forgot to ask, how does tempeh not have the weird soy side effects?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am also a vegan and have recently had some success losing weight. A few thoughts -

First, you mentioned that you had been eating a candy bar most days. This was a HUGE part of my problem. Sugary junk food often has hundreds of calories. I would eat healthy for the whole day, be at my target calories for the day, and then have a cookie or something at the last minute and blow the whole thing. I think if you cut this out completely (or as someone else suggested, eat a small amount of dark chocolate to satisfy the craving), it will make a big difference.

Second, as others have said I would really recommend adding tofu and tempeh to your diet to get more protein. Tempeh in particular is incredibly healthy and has none of the possible health concerns of other soy products (though I don't buy those anyway).

Third, there have been a few articles recently about micro-fasting. Basically, you eat normally except for 1 or 2 days per week, where you eat only about 1000 calories. (Obviously you would want these to be days when you did not exercise.) Studies indicate that it really helps with weight loss and overall health. I have imported it into my own life as just picking one day a week to eat a very light lunch.

Finally, exercise is really helpful because it gives you a margin of error. Every mile you run burns 100 calories. So if you run 4 miles in the morning, that's an extra 400 calories you have to work with during the day. And strength training is helpful for the reasons others have said - more muscle means you burn more calories.

Thank you for this thoughtful and informative post! Sugar is my downfall, absolutely, and I've wondered if that's an impediment to weight loss.

Love the idea about micro-fasting. Am getting into running currently. Can see how this will be beneficial. Thanks again!

Wait, you still eat sugar and wonder why you're overweight? You drinking soda too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am also a vegan and have recently had some success losing weight. A few thoughts -

First, you mentioned that you had been eating a candy bar most days. This was a HUGE part of my problem. Sugary junk food often has hundreds of calories. I would eat healthy for the whole day, be at my target calories for the day, and then have a cookie or something at the last minute and blow the whole thing. I think if you cut this out completely (or as someone else suggested, eat a small amount of dark chocolate to satisfy the craving), it will make a big difference.

Second, as others have said I would really recommend adding tofu and tempeh to your diet to get more protein. Tempeh in particular is incredibly healthy and has none of the possible health concerns of other soy products (though I don't buy those anyway).

Third, there have been a few articles recently about micro-fasting. Basically, you eat normally except for 1 or 2 days per week, where you eat only about 1000 calories. (Obviously you would want these to be days when you did not exercise.) Studies indicate that it really helps with weight loss and overall health. I have imported it into my own life as just picking one day a week to eat a very light lunch.

Finally, exercise is really helpful because it gives you a margin of error. Every mile you run burns 100 calories. So if you run 4 miles in the morning, that's an extra 400 calories you have to work with during the day. And strength training is helpful for the reasons others have said - more muscle means you burn more calories.

Thank you for this thoughtful and informative post! Sugar is my downfall, absolutely, and I've wondered if that's an impediment to weight loss.

Love the idea about micro-fasting. Am getting into running currently. Can see how this will be beneficial. Thanks again!

Oh, I forgot to ask, how does tempeh not have the weird soy side effects?

It has to do with the way it is prepared. Tempeh is fermented rather than processed. Because it's not processed, there's no leaching of anything like aluminum. And the fermentation destroys certain anti-nutrients in the soybeans.

[Anonymous]

Stop counting calories, OP!! That's the worst way to lose weight.

Get yourself a notebook, and write down every single thing you eat every day for a week.

Look at what you are eating. Stop ALL processed foods and ALL sugar. Go cold turkey on both.

Get outside and take a 15 minute walk 3-5 days a week. You need to get your body used to exercising, so much so that you will crave exercise, even that 15 minutes, if you don't exercise for more than two days.

Buy only natural, preferably organic foods. Shop at Whole Foods, Wegman's natural foods aisles, MOM's, Trader Joe's for organic and natural foods, nothing processed, nothing with artificial ingredients, nothing with added sugar.

Cook! Simple meals if you haven't a lot of time, but cook your own. Don't eat takeout or frozen pizza. Get your DH to cook.

Limit your diet to lean grass-fed protein, lots of organic fruits and vegetables (frozen are fine), healthy fats (olive, coconut oils, organic canola oil), nuts, seeds, limit dairy and grains as much as possible. Limit alcohol to one glass of beer/wine a day.

Have a sweet desert once a week, that's all.

You will never lose weight by dieting, OP. It always comes right back on when you go off your "diet." But if you make permanent changes in your diet, you'll see the weight come off. Combine it with regular, moderate exercise, and you will lose weight.

DO NOT limit your calories to 1000 per day!! That's insane. Counting calories is worthless. Some calories are great for you (nuts, seeds), and others are horrible (trans fats, for example). It's what you eat that matters.

Now go walk around the block a couple times, and you're done exercising for today!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^I wish you the best of luck but perimenopause and menopause are a whole new ballgame for a lot of women. I've been exercising for years to and there is simply a limit to how much my 50 year old body is going to take or what I am willing to put it through...

I'm 50, and I agree that really upping the frequency of exercise and mixing up the type helps. I'm not yet perimenopausal, that's true, and it's also true that I have not been a consistently strong exerciser throughout my life.

I'm in my 50s, and I agree that it's harder to lose weight, and it's harder to exercise more. Your metabolism slows down after age 50, and really slows after menopause (if you weren't there yet). A friend went through menopause at 45, and gained 30 pounds! Yikes!

I've gained 20 pounds in the last 5 years, during which time I went through menopause. I exercise moderately, but I've had to change my diet drastically. Not only can I no longer tolerate heavy exercise (I can't run much, can only play doubles tennis), but my body can't tolerate dairy or wheat - the former staples of my diet!! I've had to cut out sugar, caffeine, most alcohol, all processed foods with artificial ingredients. I now break out in hives if I eat anything with artificial coloring in it!

However, since figuring out that food was making me feel tired and sick all the time, and making huge changes in my diet (with the help of a holistic MD and a nutritionist), I feel 1000% better. Not so tired, not so many aches and pains.

I only walk and garden now. I've given up horseback riding, which I love more than anything. I can't handle it any longer. It's tough to adjust as we age, but I'd rather feel better than feed myself awful food and get sick and then take prescription medications for the rest of my life. And doing too much exercise was exhausting me.

None of this helps the OP, of course, but some over 50s may empathize.

[Anonymous]

Op if you're questioning whether sugar calories have the same effect as say vegetable calories, you should watch That Sugar Film, an Australian documentary where the subject ate the same amount of calories everyday before filming, but purposefully ate at least 40 grams of sugar a day, the national average there. Before he did not eat refined sugar. But once he started his experiment, he quickly gained weight, especially around the abdominal area. It was very interesting to me.

Yes yes yes, sugar has a huge effect on your weight. In many ways,

[Anonymous]

pp here, I meant 40 teaspoons of sugar a day. That Sugar Film is available on Amazon prime.

[Anonymous]

Look into vegan ketogenic diet if you need a kickstart.

[Anonymous]

If fruit has so much sugar depending on what it is, will it make you fat?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If fruit has so much sugar depending on what it is, will it make you fat?

Yes, of course, in sufficient quantity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If fruit has so much sugar depending on what it is, will it make you fat?

Yes, of course, in sufficient quantity.

Yes, that is why juices (Apple, grape, orange, etc) in large quantities are big problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^I wish you the best of luck but perimenopause and menopause are a whole new ballgame for a lot of women. I've been exercising for years to and there is simply a limit to how much my 50 year old body is going to take or what I am willing to put it through...

I'm 50, and I agree that really upping the frequency of exercise and mixing up the type helps. I'm not yet perimenopausal, that's true, and it's also true that I have not been a consistently strong exerciser throughout my life.

I'm in my 50s, and I agree that it's harder to lose weight, and it's harder to exercise more. Your metabolism slows down after age 50, and really slows after menopause (if you weren't there yet). A friend went through menopause at 45, and gained 30 pounds! Yikes!

I've gained 20 pounds in the last 5 years, during which time I went through menopause. I exercise moderately, but I've had to change my diet drastically. Not only can I no longer tolerate heavy exercise (I can't run much, can only play doubles tennis), but my body can't tolerate dairy or wheat - the former staples of my diet!! I've had to cut out sugar, caffeine, most alcohol, all processed foods with artificial ingredients. I now break out in hives if I eat anything with artificial coloring in it!

However, since figuring out that food was making me feel tired and sick all the time, and making huge changes in my diet (with the help of a holistic MD and a nutritionist), I feel 1000% better. Not so tired, not so many aches and pains.

I only walk and garden now. I've given up horseback riding, which I love more than anything. I can't handle it any longer. It's tough to adjust as we age, but I'd rather feel better than feed myself awful food and get sick and then take prescription medications for the rest of my life. And doing too much exercise was exhausting me.

None of this helps the OP, of course, but some over 50s may empathize.

What does your diet consist of now?