Losing Weight Vegan Style

October 19, 2008 | 9 Comments

A while back I did a vlog wherein I said I went vegan and didn’t lose any weight. I only lose weight when I TRY to lose weight, not when I try to save animals’ lives. The reason, I surmise, that I didn’t lose weight was because:

I was already vegetarian and relatively healthy. A switch from vegetarianism to veganism isn’t nearly as dramatic as a switch from omnivorism to veganism.
I was and still am a bit of a convenient vegan. I eat convenience foods more often than I should. I’m not truly a “junk-food vegan” but I have nothing against junk-food veganism :)
I drink alcohol, I drink coffee, and I consume sugar.
I tend to over-eat, regardless of what kind of food I eat.

That said, I didn’t gain any weight when I went vegan. In fact, it’s easier now to maintain my current weight as a vegan than it was as a vegetarian.

HOWEVER, I know what it’s like to lose weight. I lost about 40 pounds once and I’ve kept that weight off. I was vegetarian pre weight loss and vegetarian post weight loss. It wasn’t about vegetarianism. It was about getting control of my eating and about exercising more. In that time I learned lot about weight loss. I share some of those tips here:

How to lose weight healthily & happily:

Eat foods that are nutrient-dense. Eat a variety of healthful, whole foods.
Avoid nutrient deficient foods, like many processed foods. Avoid dangerous foods: meat, dairy and eggs.
Exercise regularly, preferably an hour a day.

Counting calories is a tried and true method for weight loss. But in order to stay healthy, those calories should come from healthy, whole foods. And in order for your heart and lungs to stay healthy and your body to look toned, you need to exercise, too.

I know this from experience and research. I recommend reading:

The China Study
The Thrive Diet
Eat More, Weigh Less
Fit or Fat

Mentioned in the above video:

Diet Power ( http://dietpower.com/ )
DietMinder Personal Food & Fitness Journal
Vega Complete Whole Food Health Optimizer
Deva Vegan Multivitamin & Mineral Supplement

More resources for vegan weight loss:

Posted by Elaine Vigneault | Filed Under Food, Health, Fitness, & Beauty, veganism
9 Comments to "Losing Weight Vegan Style"

Obesity Myth

August 25, 2008 | 2 Comments

From my mom’s review of The Obesity Myth:

It is healthier (from a mortality standpoint) to be 75 pounds overweight than 5 pounds underweight, if you are moderately active. Moderately active translates to four or five brisk 1/2-hour walks per week.
Two persons of the same weight and height can respond to the same food in entirely different ways.
Dieting is the problem, not the solution. Persons who go on calorie-restricted diets lose weight, then regain it, and gain more. The more often they diet the more they ultimately gain. There are few exceptions.
There is no difference in mortality between persons of average weight and persons of higher weight in terms of overall health, when you control for levels of activity and type of food they eat.

Read her review of The Obesity Myth here >>

Posted by Elaine Vigneault | Filed Under Books, Feminism, Food, Health, Fitness, & Beauty
2 Comments to "Obesity Myth"

Sun and Daughter (Vitamin D for Vegans)

June 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment

More pro-meat propaganda:

Glasgow: “A girl of 12 brought up by her parents on a strict vegan diet has been admitted to hospital with a degenerative bone condition said to have left her with the spine of an 80-year-old. [...]

“The youngster, fed on a strict meat- and dairy-free diet from birth, is being treated at the city’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children. She is said to have a severe form of rickets and to have suffered a number of fractured bones. The condition is caused by a lack of vitamin D, which is needed to absorb calcium and is found in liver, oily fish and dairy produce.”

So, that’s the spin. Here’s the truth:

The vitamin D found in dairy is artificial. It’s been fortified. You know why? Because omnivorous children were getting rickets. So the US government started fortifying dairy with vitamin D.

And now, many other foods are fortified with vitamin D, too, such as SOYMILK, orange juice, and breakfast cereals. Even mushrooms and nutritional yeast may be good sources of vitamin D for some people.

Oh, yeah, and vitamin D can be absorbed through sunlight. It’s recommended that everyone spend some time outdoors everyday to get a good, healthy dose of vitamin D. (Hello? One of the reasons I love Vegas: sunlight is good for humans.)

However, dark skin pigmentation makes vitamin D absorption through sunlight more difficult, so some people with darker skin may want to pay extra attention and make sure they get vitamin D in their diet.

Also, vitamin D requires some dietary fat. The best sources of dietary fat are vegan sources.

Also, one can receive too much vitamin D. You can overdose on vitamin D. So it’s not always a good idea to use supplements for vitamin D because of that risk. Simply spend some time outdoors and eat a wide variety of vegan foods. However, if you live in the north, you should probably take a supplement during the winter.

Oh, and if you read The China Study you’ll learn that a diet that contains animal products tends to inhibit the production of a special feature of vitamin D. the resulting trend is that people with low exposure to sunlight (living at northern latitudes, like Scotland) who also eat animal-based diets (meat-centric) are more likely to get Multiple Sclerosis than people who have higher sunlight exposure and eat plant-based diets. (See the appendix starting at page 361.)

What’s the take-away? Well, duh, if you care about your health or the health of your children (or other people you feed) you need to do a little research about nutrition and learn about food. Everyone needs to learn about nutrition, not just vegans!

Anyone can create a poor diet that results in a vitamin deficiency. Don’t think that eating meat will protect you, it won’t. In fact, it will only hurt you. Studies consistently show that people who eat plant-based diets (when given a choice) are healthier than people who eat animal-based diets. Moreover, people who eat whole, unprocessed foods are more likely to get adequate nutrition than people who eat processed foods.

For more information on a healthy, vegan diet, please read these sources:

Hat tip to Increasing Veganicity, who found the pro-meat propaganda.

Posted by Elaine Vigneault | Filed Under Family, Kids, & Friends, Food, Health, Fitness, & Beauty, veganism
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15 Ways To Be Vegan On The Cheap

April 26, 2008 | 15 Comments

People often tell me it’s too difficult to go vegan because it’s too expensive to buy fresh, organic produce and other vegan foods. Indeed, there is a food crisis right now and food is becoming more and more expensive - for everyone.

But there are plenty of ways to go vegan and keep it on the cheap. In fact, eating vegan is often cheaper than eating as an omnivore. I came up with a few suggestions:

Stop buying substitutes: You don’t need meat substitutes or vegan cheese. If you like them and can afford them, by all means get them. But you don’t need them. So if money is tight, opt for lentils and rice instead of frozen fake chicken.
Eat the cheap foods: Beans and rice, peanut butter and jelly, potatoes, soups, etc. Look at the diets of people without access to cheap meat and emulate them. Start shopping in the “ethnic” foods section and stop shopping in the section designed for rich, white folks.
Plan your meals: Plan your meals so that shopping trips don’t involve unnecessary, expensive items or foods that will go to waste. Make large batches of soups, chilies and other foods and freeze half for later.
Shop at green markets: Farmer’s markets are invariably cheaper than Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, or other large groceries. And farmer’s markets are often organic. (Many states now allow you to use food stamps at farmer’s markets.)
Look for sales: Often groceries will put produce on sale if they have an excess quantity or if it’s ripe and will over-ripe tomorrow. You can snag these items in large quantities, prep them at home, and toss them in the freezer for use later.
Buy in bulk: Many groceries have a dry foods section with grains and beans. If you bag and label the food yourself, you’ll usually save some money at the register. Also, if you’re comfortable with it, shop at places like Cosco where you can get bulk produce and some other non-animal foods. And if you don’t have storage for bulk items or if you can’t afford the price, go in on it with a friend or neighbor.
Shop in season: Try to buy the foods that are in season where you live. They will often be less expensive than the imported foods.
Use coupons: Most of the time coupons are only for specific brand names, but sometimes you’ll find produce coupons. So just keep an eye out for them and use them when you see them.
Shop online: You can buy some vegan foods online. For example, Tasty Bite sells prepared dishes online at about half the cost of what the stores charge.
Opt for the alternatives: You don’t have to buy always fresh, organic produce if it’s too expensive or not available. Nonorganic produce, canned, frozen, and dried vegan foods are still a better choice than animal products. (Here’s a guide to pesticide loads. You could choose to buy only the organic versions of foods with high pesticide loads and buy the nonorganic versions of foods with low pesticide loads. This won’t do much to help the environment, but it’s better for your health.)
Use cookbooks and guides designed for cheap living: This book, Student’s Go Vegan Cookbook, is designed for the frugal vegan. There are other vegan guides, too, like Alternative Vegan, that focuses on easy to find vegan foods, and Vegan On A Shoestring. And you can often adapt advice about frugal living geared for omnivores to fit your vegan lifestyle because most of it is about saving money, not about consuming animal products.
Grow your own food: Even if you only have room for a small container garden, you can still grow some herbs and cut back on that expense. If you have more room, you can grow some fruits and vegetables. And if you don’t have room, but you’re feeling adventurous, you can start a guerrilla garden. (We did that once. We found a barren spot of land, built a wooden frame, filled it with planting soil, and planted a small guerrilla garden.)
Keep your produce fresh longer so nothing goes to waste: I love these bags because they help my produce stay fresh longer. But you can also use paper bags, the crisper in your fridge, or you can freeze the produce.
Reuse bags or use cloth bags: Many grocery stores give a discount of 5 cents per bag. It might only save 25-50 cents per shopping trip, but that adds up. It’s good for the environment and it’s good for your pocketbook.
Get your priorities straight: If you have any disposable income at all, then the excuse that ‘being vegan is too expensive’ doesn’t cut it. You just have to decide that you care about your health, the environment, and/or animals and just do it. (Even food stamp programs and WIC offer ways to eat vegan or vegetarian.)