Supersize me- Vegan diet to the rescue
I just watched 'Supersize me' for the 1st time and was suprised to find the bloke lost the pounds he gained when it finished by going on a vegan diet.
There was a guy on Youtube who tried to document 30 days of vegetarianism with 1 week vegan, one week raw.. It was really funny, as he went from nothing but frozen carrots peas and corn to veggie burger and soy milk.. I think he gave up..
I've actually gained weight since becoming vegan (which is good because I'm underweight).
What's everyone else's experience been? Did you gain, lose or maintain?
Also, for anyone that's seen 'Supersize me' (or not), do you agree it's okay to confront an obese person about their weight (as posing a serious health risk)? I always get 'you're too skinny', but I never hear anyone walk up to an obese person and go 'you're too fat'.
-just wondering about other people's opinions..
The guy from supersize me (Morgan Spurlock's) girlfriend/fiance, Alex is a vegan chef (professional I think) They mention that on his show "30 days." And though he is not vegan, I'm sure he certainly eats that way when she's doing the cooking! :D
I would never tell someone they were too skinny or too fat unless they expressed a personal interest in losing or gaining weight as one time or another. Then I would feel, since they brought it up, that it was okay to inquire or advise perhaps.
I show this movie every quarter to my contemporary health class. Unfortunately most of my students still leave the class and go across the street to McDs >:(
I personally lost about 100 pounds when I went vegetarian about 13 years ago. and have maintained most of the time. I have been vegan for awhile now and did fine until I found this website and started baking again ::) I could probably stand to loose 10 pounds or so to be at my ideal weight.
When I first became a vegetarian I ate all the wrong foods. I knew I just did not want to consume rotting flesh anymore, and did not research a proper diet at all. I went on tour for 4 months and ate nothing but bagels, pizza, pasta, more pizza, more pasta, and beer. When I got home, I kept up the same diet for a few more months, in the long run, I ended up putting on about 20 lbs (maybe a bit more). I then started to research eating properly and started to learn about proper nutrition. That and running/hiking at least 6 days a week took off all the weight. Since I became vegan/organic (about 2+ years now), I have remained the same weight the whole time. I have maybe fluctuated about 2 or 3 lbs. at most in either direction.
I will never bring up a persons weight unless they ask me a question regarding it. If it is something they want to discuss, I'll try and listen and help in anyway I can. You are so very right when you say that people will say to someone, "you look to skinny", but you will never really hear them tell another person that they look too fat (unless it's a family member....maybe).
Has anyone ever heard of what disturbing things they do? yuck....it makes me glad that i'm a vegan ;)
Do tell! I know they underpay the tomato pickers, but what else? Sometimes in desperation I will get a bean burrito if I'm on the road. Maybe I don't want to know!? :(
I went vegetarian about 9 years ago to "lose weight," but that never happened. I stayed vegetarian and my weight fluctuated the same it did when I was an omnivore. Since becoming vegan about 4 years ago my weight has fluctuated within a 50 pound range. I know this is a lot but it wasn't directly connected to being vegan. Overall, being vegan did nothing for or against my weight, but everything for my health. I found that what kind of vegan I was (junk food or health nut or other) had everything to do with my weight while the simple fact that I was vegan did not.
Supersize Me finally got my DH to seriously consider what he eats. Even for an omnivore, his diet was atrocious. I had talked to him and talked to him about the importance of eating vegetables and fruits and laying off so much meat, but he just pooh-poohed it. Once we watched it and he saw the "facts" from someone who didn't have a personal agenda about his diet, he was willing to discuss it. It lead to us eating more plant-based meals and my becoming vegetarian again and him actually enjoying the more diverse flavors that our meals have now. I'm so glad that I rented that movie! He's lost down to 211 from a high weight of 240-something. We're trying to eat healthy more so than just low fat/calorie.
i wish i could say i've lost weight, it's been smoething i'm struggling with and was one of the reasons why i wanted to go vegan--not because i ate meat, because i just genuinely don't like to eat meat, but because i was eating junk all the time and wanted to eat healthier to feel better
unfortunately, there are way too many tasty treats on here!! thats why i'm glad i'm good at math so i can cut a recipe for 24 cookies down to just 6 cookies so there's not a million thing hanging around the house.
i've seen (most of) Supersize Me. i thought it was really interesting and i was bummed that i missed the end (my sleep meds kicked in). but i would never EVER tell someone they were fat. i have strugged with fo the last 5 years and i know how devistated i would be if someone made a negative comment about my body. BUT.. if someone ever expressed wanting to change their weight, i might have a discussion with them, but still never tell them they are fat.
morgan spurlock's girlfriend Alex wrote a book about being vegan? i don't remember the name but i saw it on amazon.com the other day when i was looking for a good vegan cookbook to order
I would never tell someone they were fat but I do tell people when they are leading an unhealthy lifestyle. I teach this stuff afterall.
It is very interesting that it is a social norm for people to tell smokers that they are killing themselves but not someone who is stuffing their face with cheetos. It must be done with tact but some people need to be gently helped to understand that they are slowly killing themselves and their children.
speaking of supersize me, has anyone seen fast food nation? if so, how is it??
I think baypuppy meant that the cheese is not made with animal rennet, not that it is dairy free. As far as I know (and I have checked the taco bell nutritional info online) the cheese is "real"--aka a milk product and therefore not vegan. If you are vegan you should request any taco bell items prepared without cheese.
http://www.amazon.com/Great-American-Detox-Diet-Well-Being/dp/1594862311
Here's the book by Morgan Spurlock's gf Alex
I haven't seen Fast Food Nation, just read it and the book is awesome and life changing. (I give it as a gift!)
I heard the movie isn't great, unless you read the book and 'get it' already.
with me im not a vegetarian or vegan yet (waiting to move out). i have been struggling with my weight for 7 yrs now. 7 yrs ago i was around 90 lbs (that is the weight i should be at b/c im 4 ft 8) and that was b/c i used to rollerblade all the time or go bike riding. i stopped after my friend from cali moved back there. zack made it difficult for me to walk around the neighborhood b/c he made it seem like i was cheating on him or something so i never lost my pregnancy weight. once i get my sleep pattern back on track (always have been a nite person since i was merrick's age according to my mom) i will try to eat more fruits and veggies. actually b/c of working at mc d's and my dad always wanting to cook beef and other meat like it im not really into that anymore. with me i would prefer to eat chicken.
I lost a lot of weight when I became vegetarian (about 60#), but in all fairness, I also "discovered" daily exercise and weight lifting around that time, too. Funny, my family started freaking out when I lost the weight and they thought i had an eating disorder and was too thin (which was crap, I'm 5'8" and I was 135#). They just weren't used to seeing me fit. Oddly depressing.
As I've gotten better at vegetarian cooking and the availability of suitable foods has increased over the last ten years, as well as passing into my 30's, & getting married, and drastically slacking on the weights (why??), some of the weight has returned.
OK, the beer probably doesn't help, either ;)
I still look and feel SO much better at 32 than I did at 18.
I haven't been vegetarian that long (5 months), but in that time I have lost 8 lbs. Ultimately I think it's because my digestion has improved incredibly. I always had problems with bloating, ever since I was a child (You could always tell it was me by my protruding/preganant like belly---> turns out that's a symptom of celiac disease, which I later found out I had....), and once I went on a gluten free/lactose free diet in my early 20's I ended up having problems with constipation too. But since cutting out meat and most other animal products, for the first time in ages my GI tract feels "normal". YAY!!!
I have confronted people about being obese. I am a nurse, and occassionally I get patients who are morbidly obese who moan and groan about genetics causing their weight problems. Now, I'm sure that genetics do have some role in body structure (there will always be some people who try as they may, can never seem to lose that last 20 lbs) but if you're tipping the scale at 300 lbs, you need to stop deep frying you food and eat some leafy greens.
When I confront people, I am as polite as I can be, and try to explore weight loss options for my patients such as diet modifications and exercise. I was over weight when I was in my early teens, and I felt terrible. I felt like everyone was judging me and thinking that I was a big fat pig. I had very low self esteem, so I try very hard to be respectful to the patients I counsel on weight loss. But at the same time, I'm really tired of the "geneitics" excuse.
Keep in mind, the patients I look after are often so obese that they need special machines to help them breathe at night. The weight on their chests presses down on their lungs and makes it difficult for them to breathe, even when they are awake. They have asthma, coronary artery disease, diabetes.... the list could go on and on and on.
I would not walk up to someone on the street and rip the Big Mac out of their hands and start lecturing them about their weight. That would be unforgivable. And unless I have a patient who is dangerously underweight due to a cause that was modifiable (usually the dangerously underweight are dying/palliative) I leave thin people alone too.
I agree that someone on the street is out of place to tell people, but friends and family in some cases could be encouraged to confront people supportively when it is to a dangerous (not just puppy fat) degree. There are of course medical conditions that result in weight gain etc. where the idea is not applicable..
I'm talking about level 2 (and upward) obesity (as per BMI test), not just someone with a few extra pounds.
When I was overweight (by BMI standards) I was drastically unhappy, teased about it etc. but no one actually offered me advice or support on how to change. The idea of losing weight often goes hand in hand with the word 'diet', but personally I have not yet found a diet I could actually follow. I find a lifestyle more workable, fresh produce cheap and tasty and getting out and living life actively positively enjoyable, but silly me ended up underweight, so I'm still learning.
My friend's doctor just said to her 'lose some weight' and shuffled her out the door offering no guidance as of how to achieve this goal.
This is where I believe we need education, I mean what good is the food pyramid if you don't know how to cook? Where does tomato sauce fit into the pyramid? The word exercise leads the mind to gym, but gyms cost money. Who has the time?
-just me rambling again, sorry..
pizzacat you are exactly right. This is what I try to teach everyday in my classrooms. I just started a new quarter and I have around 75 students in my contemporary health classes. I don't have access to a kitchen but just short of that I do all I can to teach a sustainable lifestyle change verses 'diets' which were never sustainable for me.
It is important to note that an extra 20 or so pounds could be in the range that is unhealthy for a person. 20% past what what is healthy for a person is considered obese and the level at which certain diseases become more likely. for a small framed person that could be 20-30 pounds.
No need to apologize, I may be the biggest "rambler" here on vegweb (along with being the biggest idiot) ;)
One does not need to join a gym, I have not belonged to one since I was in college (and when I was in college I never went there and used it anyway). All one has to do is walk, jog, hike, do push ups, sit ups, etc. There's plenty of ways to stay in shape.....as long as someone has the will and the want to do it and actually get in shape. A lot of people could start by parking their car in the furthest spot in the parking lot. Heck walk to the store if you can. Taking the stairs up or down three flights of stairs is healthier than waiting for the elevator while drinking a coke. :D
I used to get the "you're too skinny" comments....but that was years ago. It's not o.k. to walk up to a skinny person and say "you're too skinny". Of course, I got "you're putting on weight......" so now I have the opposite rudeness to contend with. I don't think it's socially acceptable to comment on people's weight, unless they are a close friend or relative and yourconcerned.
End of rant.
I loved Supersize Me.
I am not likely to lose weight being vegan and I did since going back, but not because of the diet, I suspect.
My kids don't mind when I change to strictly vegan. The general comments are things like WOW when did YOU learn to cook? I also only bake vegan and when I am not vegan I don't bother. I can't tell you why. I have been vegan and/or vegetarian the last 30 yrs ( about 20% of that time not).
I think it is far to say that when I am vegan, I do eat more and I do it more often. I might not actually lose much weight, but I find that I can have HOMEMADE baked goods and not gain weight. I can eat what I want and I am dropping about 2 or 3 lbs a month right now. I am more active than I used to be too, but not a mad exerciser for sure. If I ate less I think I'd drop weight all right. I just like that I am 47 and I can eat whatever and as much as I want.
Oh I should add...since going vegan last September, I also stopped all transfats (THANK YOU FOR vegan doughnut nuggets!!!) and I gave up high-fructose corn syrup. THe corn syrup thing I started at Christmas and I can tell you that made a huge difference in my bloating problems and with sugar cravings, which are pretty well gone. It is in EVERYTHING though and nixing it meant making my own ketchup and several other things.
It is good to go green!
( snippage)
and I gave up high-fructose corn syrup. THe corn syrup thing I started at Christmas and I can tell you that made a huge difference in my bloating problems and with sugar cravings, which are pretty well gone. It is in EVERYTHING though and nixing it meant making my own ketchup and several other things.
It is good to go green!
I'm also trying to eliminate high fructose corn syrup. I don't do all shopping in my house and my DH forgets that he's suppose to look at the label and if hfcs is in there, he's not supposed to buy it. He's very forgetful that way. But the hfcs is now minimal in my diet and I also find I don't have the sugar cravings I used to. I don't bother making my own ketchup but I was never a big ketchup eater anyway. I've found the only salad dressings that don't have it are the South Beach diet brands. That's a big rule with that diet, no hfcs, and at least that type of their products reflect that. I haven't looked at their other products (since I don't eat meat, I have no reason to look at the frozen meals).
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