New Vegan gaining weight. Help

[SunsetRunner]

I have started a Vegan diet for 2 weeks, for health reasons. Please don't judge. All refinded sugar cut out, all other processed foods and garbage food is cut out. I gained 4 lbs. Very upsetting. Has anyone else experienced this? Also what is with all the gas? Any advise would be appreciated. 

[Dominique]

I think two weeks is too short to draw any conclusion, especially since you appear to be a woman (possible impact of hormonal cycle). Any drastic change to your diet and/or your exercising can cause water retention. Fiber should also be introduced progressively, in order not to upset your system: chances are you switched to a diet very low in fiber (typically the case with highly processed / junk food) to one very high in the stuff. Are you prone to IBS?

[PiperSue]

I think it may take some time for your body to adjust. Just be careful not to overdo it with the carbs. That was my downfall early on. In my mind I thought that since I wasn't eating fatty dairy, that I could eat whatever portion sizes I wanted otherwise. Nope. I started focusing on raw foods and less bread and pasta and the weight started dropping off. I felt like I was constantly grazing and working out less than I ever had and 25 lbs dropped in 3 months.

I do notice that when I stray from the mostly raw foods, I can gain it back pretty easily as I love carbs.  Give it some time.

[Malme84]

What types of foods are you eating now?

[Inga]

you don't mention what you are eating. Are you eating fruits and veggies or processed vegan foods?  How many calories?

[GershonSurge]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

I have started a Vegan diet for 2 weeks, for health reasons. Please don't judge. All refinded sugar cut out, all other processed foods and garbage food is cut out. I gained 4 lbs. Very upsetting. Has anyone else experienced this? Also what is with all the gas? Any advise would be appreciated. 

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@SunsetRunner

It's easy to design an unhealthy vegan diet. Given what you said you eat, I'd look at oils, like olive oil, etc., as one culprit. The second culprit would probably be the fat content in nuts and some vegetables like avocados. Since you are trying to lose weight, I suggest limiting fruits to one or two a day.

Many people think a person can eat unlimited foods on a vegan diet. The actual phrase is "as much as you want." This means eating until your physical hunger pangs disappear. If they come back in a bit, eat some more. If you stick to this, there is no reason to count calories. (A bit of a heresy, even to me.)

The optimum macro percentage is about 80% complex carbs, 10% fat and 10% protein. This is quite difficult to achieve, and you may end up closer to 74%, 13% and 13%. Don't worry about proteins. It's impossible to accidentally get less than you need if you aren't starving yourself.

Now to change the term from "vegan" to a "Starch based, whole foods, plant based diet." Dr. T. Colin Campbell suggets there are three food groups: Processed foods, animal products, and whole foods. Only the last is healthy. You can add small amounts of sugar for flavor. Note: Vegetable oils are processed. Whole grain breads are not. Watch for fat content. It should be close to zero. Whole grain pasta is not considered processed. Portion size should be smaller than most people want.

The gas generally disappears after a month or so. It's often caused by beans. 

For recipe ideas, I suggest going to www.drmcdougall.com. You might also ask the same question in the forum there. 

I wish you the best in your journey. 

[Dominique]

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@GershonSurge wrote:

Vegetable oils are processed. Whole grain breads are not. 

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Quality olive oil (virgin oil obtained from first pressure with cold-extraction) is very minimally processed, certainly less than any kind of bread. You view it as processed because of your phobia for fats. Lower quality oils are processed, because the extraction process involves heating, the use of chemical solvents etc.

In spite of including the animal products you so dread, Mediterranean diets fare well (low rates of heart disease, obesity etc.) and it’s correlated with high consumption of extra virgin olive oil (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4198773/ ). 

[Malme84]

@GershonSurge

Not all processed foods are bad. A person needs to distinguish between minimally and highly processed foods. Minimally processed foods include things like whole grain products, frozen vegetables, etc. The only way to completely eliminate all processed foods is to eat raw food right from the source.

The same goes for fat; a person needs to distinguish between healthy (unsaturated) fats and unhealthy (saturated) fats. There are huge health benefits to consuming unsaturated fats (e.g. lowers cholesterol) and diets low in all fats typically lead to nutritional deficiencies as none of the fat soluble nutrients are being absorbed. @Dominique mentioned the Mediterranean diet, and one reason that diet has been showing tremendous health benefits despite the high fat consumption is because almost all the fat comes from mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fats found in olives, olive oil, and fish. The Mediterranean diet avoids consumption of almost all the high saturated fat foods like red meat, with the only real exception being the small consumption of some dairy products like cheese.

[GershonSurge]

@Malme84

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Frozen vegetables wouldn't be considered processed. A frozen vegetable dinner where oil, sugar and salt have been added to appeal to addictions to these substances wouldn't come under the "whole food plant based" label.

Whole grain bread is simply milled and cooked. As long as only a small amount of sugar (about 2 teaspoons/loaf to feed the yeast) and about a teaspoon of salt are added, it's fine. 

Cooking starches is necessary for digestion. People have been doing it since the first potato fell in the fire. (Made up statistic.)

You would have to say which Mediterranian diet you are referring to. The only study was done a small sample in Crete. The Mediterrainian diet provides NO benefits when compared to a starch based, whole food plant based diet. The oil increases chlorestoral for these people. It also causes the blood cells to clump together within minutes after eating. 

You'd have to provide a reference for people on a starch based, whole food plant based diet having nutritional deficiences. Comparing to a vegan or vegetarian diet doesn't count. Ten percent fat is plenty, and it's difficult to get below that if eating starches.

I suggest reading The Starch Solution by Dr. McDougall or Whole by Dr. T. Colin Campbell for more information. 

[Malme84]

@GershonSurge

Frozen vegetables are considered processed food (minimaly processed to be specific). Processed food is any food that has undergone any physical or chemical process, and frozen vegetables have been blanched and frozen. Hence my point about distinquishing between minimally processed and highly processed foods.

[GershonSurge]

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@Dominique wrote:

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@GershonSurge wrote:

Vegetable oils are processed. Whole grain breads are not. 

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Quality olive oil (virgin oil obtained from first pressure with cold-extraction) is very minimally processed, certainly less than any kind of bread. You view it as processed because of your phobia for fats. Lower quality oils are processed, because the extraction process involves heating, the use of chemical solvents etc.

In spite of including the animal products you so dread, Mediterranean diets fare well (low rates of heart disease, obesity etc.) and it’s correlated with high consumption of extra virgin olive oil (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4198773/ ). 

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"The results indicate an overall risk reduction of all-cause mortality (11%), cardiovascular mortality (12%), cardiovascular events (9%), and stroke (17%) when comparing the top versus bottom third of MUFA, olive oil, oleic acid, and MUFA:SFA ratio."

The percentages are relative instead of absolute. Cardiovascular events mortality is decreased from about 40% of the population to about 35.4% of the population. Compare this to populations on whole food plant based diets where heart disease is virtually unknown. I've chosen the virtually 0% risk instead of 35.4% risk.

My preference for a low-fat diet is based on solid research, not a phobia. 

edited

[GershonSurge]

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@Malme84 wrote:

@GershonSurge

Frozen vegetables are considered processed food (minimaly processed to be specific). Processed food is any food that has undergone any physical or chemical process, and frozen vegetables have been blanched and frozen. Hence my point about distinquishing between minimally processed and highly processed foods.

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@Malme84,

Your definition is fine with me.

[DramaQueenDiva]

I am not Vegan, but my best friend is.  Have you tried controlling your portions?  Sometimes we tend to overeat, no matter what our diet is.  I found that portions and exercise is everything.  Also, since there are some vitamins and nutrients only found in meat products, have you tried finding supplements for these vitamins and nutrients?