My weight stayed exactly the same when I went vegan. I guess I was eating pretty similarly before I was vegan, just with some added animal products. It's not like I went from Doritos and Mountain Dew to a whole foods diet. I guess it depends on whether one has extra weight to lose when they went vegan? Are there studies that show that going vegan is associated with significant weight loss? I've heard reports all across the board.

I don't want to promote veganism as a weight loss fad, because people will come and go and if it doesn't work in the first 2 weeks, then they can say "Oh, tried it. Didn't work." Being vegan is about so much more than just what you put into your mouth. I just can't imagine veganism being promoted like say, the Atkins Diet, which came and went. Vegan has nothing to do with quality of foods or low fat or anything usually diet-associated. It's simply an animal-free lifestyle. One can be vegan and eat cookies and potato chips all day. Does that sound healthy?

I just don't like how veganism gets thrown into the mix so often, because the general population doesn't seem to understand what it's all about. For most of us, this isn't something we pick up for a few weeks at a time to drop some weight. It's a lifestyle change and a lifestyle choice, much different than a diet.

None of those things.  ???

I'm hypothyroid, so I've always made conscience food choices.  My proportions shifted slightly.  I get more carbs/fiber and fewer fats/sodium, but it was a minor shift.  That, and I eat much less processed food now.  It's a conundrum.

Surely veganism = weight loss is a dead horse, by now? If you'll pardon the pun.
Going vegan does not equal weight loss. Veganism is not necessarily healthier than a non-vegan diet, especially not if one has access to a Hannah Kaminsky cookbook or a cheap source of Tofutti. :P Fat people are not necessarily unhealthy, and if they are, their weight is not necessarily the root cause. Veganism should probably be undertaken as more of a lifestyle change than a weight loss 'diet.'

(This post would probably seem more credible if I went and dug out the old threads to this effect, but...)

What Tweety said about what's already been done, and

I went vegan very abruptly, and lost no weight. My diet was also healthier once I went vegan (vs diet of junk food pre-vegan). Who knows. Everyone's different.

eta: giving it more thought, it would take more than the intuition that veganism is good for weight loss. Granted there has been far flimsier evidence for diet fads that happen, but it'd just be more responsible if there was a good amount of research that showed that a vegan diet (w/o other restrictions) lead to a decrease in BMI and/or fat mass by percent, and giving an average kcalories/day and makeup of that diet (e.g. average 8% calories from protein, 20% fat, 72% carbs, so that we know the average is not a diet of oreos, and it was more than a diet of lettuce).

if it takes a lowfat vegan diet for people to lose weight reliably, then you might wonder why not just do a low fat diet (not necessarily vegan), since it's conventional wisdom that it would work. Veganism appears to be inconvenient, so a strong case would probably be needed... unlike Atkins, since while weight loss seemed unlikely, it was a decadent diet that many took to easily.

I think the problem is really three things:
- diet fads don't last
- diet fads are for women
- people already know how to lose weight

if you're doing something as a weight loss fix, it's not permanent. either people fall off the wagon all the time, or achieve their goal and go back to their old habits to a degree (some people keep the diet, but that's not the majority). overall, i'm not sure how many more vegans we'd get, and how fewer animals killed.

crash dieting is marketed to women (with disposable income!), and that's already the receptive audience for veganism. i.e. it's already people being targeted or considering vegetarianism/veganism.

third, i think people generally know how to lose weight (eat fewer calories, exercise more, eat healthier, etc). it's just a matter of making it appear easy and tasty (everyone knows how to lose weight, but no one wants to change what they're doing). So it takes more than saying veganism leads to weight loss - it has to be convenient, reasonably cheap*, and tasty in a way that most people already like (i like tofu and kale and curry, but most people aren't as familiar). *veganism can be done totally balanced and very cheap, but that's not the impression others get with all the substitute dairy/meat products out there, as well as the fact that (specifically) vegan food is easier to find in more "upscale," urban markets.
since veganism doesn't come off easy OR tasty, that solidifies it as a temporary diet fix. unless there's a home-cooking revolution, the way to make it convenient and tasty is instant-type (frozen, microwaveable, family-sized) vegan foods in regular stores with familiar flavors.

Despite the fact that when people here "healthcare," they think " hospitals," no, I am not in the field that would profit off of obesity ;)b even if i were, i'm still fairly sane (IMHO, of course).

anyway, i get that you're not suggesting it as a fad diet. however, in the sea of fad, non-permanent diets, i think that's how it would be taken. generally if something is taken as a legit shift in how we think about food, it tends to get integrated into what public health & the government promote, like the "5-a-day" things for fruits and vegetables. If it's some person promoting it, even if they're a doctor and a dietician and have PhDs etc etc... it's not the same as it coming from an ad campaign from an official organization. =/

I've been an exclusively plant-eating creature for almost exactly two years; I actually gained a couple pounds, early on, b/c I so enjoyed playing w/ new recipes & exploring new foods that I cooked more.  :)  I will say, tho, that *when I'm paying attention* to weight issues, it's much easier to maintain a healthy weight without going hungry, counting calories, etc compared to how I ate before... but there's also lots of curvy vegans about (self happily included!), so clearly it's not always a 'weight loss' thing-- and selling it as such, imo, is selling it short.

I surely have no problem with saying 'if you ARE trying to lose weight and are veg-curious, a whole-foods veg diet can be weight-loss friendly'... but as a sole or even primary reason for trying it, I don't think that's a very strong position to try to argue.

That... is some remarkably uncompelling debate content.

My prior post had nothing to do with 'selling veganism to little girls with eating disorders,' or whatever... I was/ am saying that weight loss is the very least of the reasons I think veg eating is a good idea. Seems like you started this thread to give yourself a soap box for preaching against veganism because you think it is unhealthy, causes excessive weight loss, and only 'little girls with eating disorders' are susceptible to its evil charms. In which case debate is not the goal, and we're all wasting our time engaging you on this thread.

For the record, I'm 40 and a happy size 12/14, depending on the cut of the clothing... I have never had an eating disorder, except perhaps in the sense of having an addiction to foolishly expensive coffee and being unable to resist buying non-local out-of-season produce during winter months, especially citrus fruits.

I'm interested in which of the three reasons for planteating I mention, above, that you think i can't support? betcha i can.  

Regarding nutritional viability, the folks who make the study of human nutrition their life's work-- ie professional nutritionists at the American Dietetic Association and every other similar organization around the world-- seem to disagree with you; I'm gonna go ahead and take their (research-based, peer-reviewed) word for it, over yours.

I am truly sorry that you have not had a positive experience with vegan eating; bitterness and condescension, though, do not make your opinions any more or less valuable than anyone else's. I'm not sure what you hope to accomplish here, but wish you well-- whether you like veganism or not.  

I do; and I'm happy and healthy and well, and am going to eat this way til I die of old age-- probably still with a junk-in-the-trunk booty, and sorry for not a damn bit of it. :)

FB, I'm gonna write into my will that my family gets *nothing*, unless they use that as the epitaph on my headstone (right AFTER i die of old age, righteous badonkadonk in tow).  ;D

Dude: oh nuh-uh-- there's too much-- we'll be here all day!... Let's zero in on our points of disagreement. YOU raised it-- so, you bring forth the evidence YOU think is relevant, as follows...

Please provide supporting evidence that
1) Animal based diets (specifically within industrial/ 1st-world nations, where factory-style farming is the norm) are more sustainable/ cause less pollution/ use less water/ are a more efficient use of resources/ have a lower carbon footprint/ cause less environmental harm than vegan diets.
2) Animal-based diets reduce risk for vascular disease, high cholesterol, diabetes, stroke, cancer, or Alzheimer's disease (or the complications resulting from these conditions).
3) Industrial animal agribusiness does not participate in animal cruelty, as a matter of standard practice.

Bring whatcha got, and we'll see if we have time to review it, etc etc etc.

If that is too difficult, please consider at least specifying which general premise you challenge. Even as a planteater, I've only got prob'ly 60 more years or so to hang around, and-- hate to tell ya-- but there's a tremendous amount of data out there, supporting the hypothesis that vegan diets are a good idea on all fronts mentioned above... so, let's prioritize, for efficiency's sake. Pick a category: if you can't bring your own supporting data, which of the general categories above do you challenge? Vegan eating is *not* primarily a weight loss issue; acknowledge, or rebut with fact versus opinion.

"Truly, you have a dizzying intellect." -- the Dread Pirate Wesley

oh god, here we go with the GNC soy shakes and lysine again