Vegan newbie in mid-40s, starting out! Saying hi & looking for other veggies?

This topic contains 10 replies, has 5 voices, and was last updated by dykask 6 years, 7 months ago.

Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)

MissusMop

10:47 am
28 Aug 17
Permalink

Hi everyone! I started the 5:2 only last week, and today is my second fast day (the first was Thursday, giving me 3 days in between). I was happy with my weight until I met my boyfriend a couple of years ago, and from changing my eating habits being with him, have since been steadily putting it on (he’s fond of chippy teas!).

Now, I’m about 20lbs overweight. Plus, I have been finding it harder to shift weight by just generally cutting down, and think that peri-menopausal hormonal changes might have something to do with that.

I’m vegan, and do generally eat healthily but I guess basically too much, and we also eat out a lot, socialising. Plus, I have renewed interest in craft beers which doesn’t help! So, the dresses that I was fitting into when I met my boyfriend, I can no longer fit into, and have got a bit desperate to lose weight.

Especially, I had a run in with someone last week, and she called me a “fat bitch”. A horrible person, I know, but it has played on my mind and I decided that I really have to do something now.

I’m actually on holiday at the moment, so would welcome any support to stay strong. Luckily we are self-catering, and away from temptation as we are far from pubs/chippies etc. I preplanned what I was going to eat today (blueberries & soya yogurt, homemade cabbage soup & gluten free oatcake, small veg stir fry) and so hopefully, all will be well.

Would love to just hear from other fast dieters today, especially anyone who is also fasting, and would love to connect with other vegans, too!

bigbooty

12:31 pm
28 Aug 17
Permalink

Reduce your alcohol consumption, all grain based foods and cook most of your own meals. Avoid starchy veggies like potatoes and sweet potatoes. Avoid sugar like the plague. That should get you at least half way there. Good luck.

MissusMop

3:07 pm
28 Aug 17
Permalink

Thanks BigBooty. We have had a few drinks as we’re on holiday at the moment, but I don’t drink so much normally (even the craft beers, haha), so once I’m home again, will be much stricter.

Thanks for the advice re potatoes/sweet potatoes, I do eat a lot of these, although cook most meals from scratch. We rarely ever eat processed foods.

bigbooty

3:15 pm
28 Aug 17
Permalink

Potatoes are higher on the glycaemic index than white bread!! They can be made “better” by freezing them overnight after cooking. It rearranges the molecular structuring of the starch making it resistant starch. But who does that? Are you vegan for health reasons or ethical reasons? I like to describe myself as a vegetarian that eats a little bit of meat. My wife and eldest are 100% vegos.

MissusMop

3:35 pm
28 Aug 17
Permalink

Gosh! No wonder I put on the extra pounds following my bf in his chippy habit! I am gluten intolerant so I don’t have bread / pasta type products very frequently, though do have the occasional GF bread or pizza treat (it’s too expensive to buy all the time).

Yes I’m ethical vegan 🙂 Although I am actually intolerant to dairy and eggs too, so it works well for me healthwise and I found much improvement to my health by going vegan. When I first went vegan 6 years ago, I lost a fair bit of weight naturally, but I was more mindful back then in terms of portion size. Obviously, I blame my boyfriend for everything (LOL!).

How long have you been doing the 5:2 BigBooty? How much progress have you made?

Melkarde

4:32 pm
28 Aug 17
Permalink

I’ve got the hairy bikers diet book more to cook on none diet days. I’ve just started too and hubby is veggie so I don’t eat meat at home. I’m struggling a bit I’m not massively overweight just a pound or too and at 50 have noticed I can no longer eat anything. I’ll happily cheer you on. Telling you this is my way of forcing me to keep to my diet it’s a struggle!

blissfulforever

6:57 pm
28 Aug 17
Permalink

Hi congratulations on your 2nd day , hope it went well.
I have started today (yay! finally) , i have done fasts previously for religious reasons but always ended up eating big meals at the end of the day .
restricting to 500 calories will be a challenge but i will take it 🙂
I am vegetarian and cook all my meals at home so not sure how am I going to count the calories but i will try may be eating salads and soups not sure , i will figure out.

How do you all do it if you cook at home , counting calories I mean.

bigbooty

10:32 pm
28 Aug 17
Permalink

@missusmop. Started Feb2015. Got to maintenance weight Mar2016. Been in maintenance since then. 92kg (202lbs) down to 70kg (154lbs) 56 yo male 178cm (5’10”). I water fast every Monday without exception. It sounds like you don’t need to do things drastically different. Just be mindful. If you avoid sugary stuff and eat whole foods I don’t think it should be too difficult. I eat mostly veggies, legumes, beans, nuts and seeds. Love my cheese, couldn’t give that up. Very rarely will I have anything made from grains.

dykask

1:44 am
29 Aug 17
Permalink

I’m on the fence here because I know for many people high carb (vegan) diets work wonders. A lower carb approach might be difficult to pull off if you are really a true vegan. If you have dairy and at least eggs in your diet than I think it is possible to hold back on the carbs easier.

Now I’m not advocating eating store bought bread, but I think starches and grains in general have a unjustified bad rap. The amount of sugar released by food is a factor but it isn’t the only factor. Diets that are low in fat but high in starches seems to work just as well as very low carb approaches. To me the only common link seems to be the avoiding of refined sugar. Probably many vegans become insulin sensitive or something along those lines. There is ample proof that very high card diets work for many people. I think the only difficulties is balancing out the types of amino acids and getting enough of fat soluble vitamins. (I have a daughter that naturally prefers to eat vegan if left to herself so I have some experience here.)

At this point I personally am thinking there are multiple levels of sugar horror and how they impact body. I realize that the impacts probably very a lot depending on one’s gut health and a host of many other factors. For example I know that a lot of the fructose in fruit that I consume makes it into my large intestine because I have a bit of fructose mal-absorption which I view as a good tradeoff.

Worst ==> Added refined sugars … often high corn fructose syrup — no redeeming value and mostly comes without fiber or other nutrients that interfere with the absorption of fructose. Allows the liver to become over burdened. NO DIFFERENT THAN ALCHOL, completely horrible to your body.

Likely Bad ==> Fruit juice, although there is some evidence of fruit juice reducing endotoxins when consumed with a large greasy meal. Still juice is very concentrated.

Caution ==> Dried fruits, lots of good stuff but it could be easy to overeat.

Maybe OK ==> starches that just break down into glucose. It could spike insulin but probably not horribly. Try to eat with some fiber if possible. Mixing with or creating resistant starches is ideal.

OK for people like me ==> Whole fruit … There can be a lot of sugar but there is also fiber and good compounds to offset the bad from the sugar. Personally I have a very difficult time eating enough whole fruit to cause a sugar rush. That is easy to do with processed food these days. Mostly the fruit causes my gut bacteria to be very active. (As in gas being generated and released.)

OK ==> Natural sugars in diary (not ice cream) and “vegetables”. Okay some vegetables that have natural sugar are really low sugar fruits.

Great ==> everything else

EDIT: I know I going against the grain here. However I’m driven by the though that it if wasn’t for starches and grains starvation would be much worse in the world. Probably over 1/2 of the worlds population would starve. I think that is a powerful point in favor of them. Also coming from a farming background I know it simply isn’t possible to grow vegetables many places in the world because of the lack of water. However starches and grains often grow just fine in these dryer places. The variety of diets in the world allows for people to live. I consider that a very big plus.

MissusMop

9:55 am
29 Aug 17
Permalink

Thanks for replying, everyone, nice to meet you all! Well, despite being on holiday, yesterday wasn’t too bad for fasting. Did about 12k of dog walking near the coast in the day, watched some films, and had my main meal in the evening. Was a bit hungry before bed but I found having some hot water mixed with a teaspoon of Marmite helpful.

BigBooty – wow, well done. Way to go! Sounds like this plan worked brilliantly for you. Thank you for the encouragement, also. Yes, mindful is the key really. I do often use raw courgette noodles as ‘pasta’, and processed cauliflower as ‘rice’, so will keep that up and make more of a habit of it.

Melkarde – I think shifting just a few pounds can be a chore, hey? I’ve definitely found weight increase/loss more of an issue since becoming peri-menopausal. I hope you manage that last bit!

Blissfulforever – I quite enjoy the working out calories bit, haha. Just use google and some scales, and try to plan in advance with a spare couple of hours to write everything down. I think it is useful to make a batch in advance, and then portion up and freeze. For example, I made a cabbage soup that I split into three, freezing two portions (it worked out about 75 calories per portion – 500g cabbage, 100g onion, 100g carrot, 3 sprays coconut oil, 1 tbsp tamari, water, black pepper). Would you like to share recipes?

Dykask – thanks for the tips. I think I just generally aim for a wholefoods, non-processed diet overall. Not too regimented as I do like eating out (so yes, will have gf cake maybe then!), but overall, at home, I’m pretty health conscious. Not much sugar, not much packet food, etc. My own issues have centred around the fact that since meeting my boyfriend, who eats a LOT, I’ve become far less mindful. I’ve had to encourage him to move to a healthier diet now, too.

So, two fasts achieved so far and this is my 6th day into 5:2. Think I’m feeling the benefits already as my abdomen area feels far less bloated and I feel less sluggish. While I’m on holiday, we’re probably going to walk at least 12k a day as well, so hopefully – this time next week I shall notice a difference!

dykask

11:51 am
29 Aug 17
Permalink

@missusmop – Great that you have a couple fasts under your belt, now you know you can do it. That is the beauty of fasting, it works with any type of diet.