Do you lose weight when switching to a vegetarian/vegan diet?

I'm not very heavy to begin with (I only weigh about 110 pounds), and my parents were worried that I would lose too much weight if I switched to a vegetarian or vegan diet.



Is there any difference in weight loss between switching to a vegetarian diet versus a vegan diet?Do you lose weight when switching to a vegetarian/vegan diet?
Generally not. Unless you are eating a whole load of meat already and you switch to a more plant based diet, then you could. But, factually, going vegetarian can actually cause you to gain more weight if you are eating a lot of dairy products.

If you go vegan, and eat lots of processed vegan food then you could gain or stay at the same weight.



You will not be underweight eating a vegan diet if you are getting the correct nutrients.

Eat lots of fresh, wholesome, naturally colourful foods and you will be fine. If you like, you can supplement dairy products with soya products or almond milk products or rice or oat milk. I recommend almond milk. As there seems to be the least controversy over it. Some people feel soya is dangerous.



If you have weight to lose, you will lose it, if you don't then you won't.



So, tell your parents, that you will not lose unnecessary weight if they support you by helping you get the correct nutrition for a vegan. Which they should be more than happy to. After all, if they are concerned about you losing too much weight, they obviously are concerned about your health. A healthy vegan diet is very possible.

So, buy a few cook books if you like and some advice on going vegan and recipes can be found on the internet.



Here are a few to get you started:



http://www.vegfamily.com/vegan-teens/ind鈥?/a>



http://www.tofuhoundpress.com/titles/tit鈥?/a>



http://www.humaneteen.org/?q=node/41Do you lose weight when switching to a vegetarian/vegan diet?
No, I wouldn't say there is much unless you stop eating. When starting a new diet I think many different factors will come into play. I wouldn't say it's a misconception, because even I lost weight when I became a vegetarian, but only 15 pounds, and I was already heavy anyway.



Most people who give up meat are already big meat eaters and it sustains a large part of their diet. When you take that away, people think their options of food are limited and don't eat as much. Even though there are millions of different foods to eat that aren't meat.

So they lose more weight then expected.



Also, I did gain weight after a few years. Granted I was unemployed and had any junk to eat at my disposal. So ate to much carbs and cheese. Thus gaining plenty of weight. It doesn't really matter what kind of diet you're on. A vegetarian diet isn't necessarily a healthier alternative.

It's still beneficial and all that, but not much different then an herbivorous diet.
Vegetarian/vegan diets are not low calorie diets.

I lost about 10 lbs after going vegan, that i mainly because I started working out as well and eliminated most junk food.

Follow the vegan food pyramid or vegetarian depending on which one you want to switch to, and you will still get lots of calories and probably not lose weight unless you start working out and eliminate the most junk food you can.

Vegetarian food pyramid-http://www.vegsource.com/nutrition/pyram鈥?/a>

Vegan food pyramid- http://www.veganfoodpyramid.com/Do you lose weight when switching to a vegetarian/vegan diet?
It's possible, but generally speaking, no.



See, if you are going to radically alter your diet, it might take some time for your body to adjust or your cooking routines, etc. and you just might end up eating too few calories by accident. If you are already at a good weight, I wouldn't worry about it. If you were overweight due to eating a bad diet, then switched to a healthy vegan diet, yeah, you'd likely lose that excess weight.



For me, there was no weight difference. Although, SO many people kept saying, "Oh, you look thinner." I heard that over and over and over and if I was actually thinner every time they said that, I'd have been down to 10 pounds pretty quickly, but in actual fact, I lost no weight at all, it was all in their imagination (worrying that I was getting thin on a vegan diet).
I was hoping that weight loss might occur as a side-effect of switching from omnivore to vegan 5 and a half years ago. Unfortunately, it didn't. The only way I lost weight was to use a gym 3-4 times a week.



There are vegan body-builders out there (one group uses the gorilla as symbol), so they don't have a problem with weight loss.Do you lose weight when switching to a vegetarian/vegan diet?
It depends how well you're eating now and how well you'll be

eating vegetarian/vegan. I lost some weight, because you're

cutting out dairy and milk fats and stuff. Plant derived foods

generally have low amounts of fat. But you could easily stay

the same weight on a vegetarian or vegan diet depending on

what you choose to eat.
About the being underweight...do you eat a lot of whole grain foods (wheat, spelt, barley, oats, etc.)? One of the main symptoms of celiac disease is failure to thrive (in small children) or inability to gain weight (in older kids and adults). It's an autoimmune disorder that is caused by an intolerance to gluten (a protein found in wheat, rye, oats, and barley) that attacks your small intestine and prevents you from absorbing nutrients.



It's actually a very common disorder, but many people don't know that they have it. My son and I both have it, and when we went gluten-free (not that hard to do), he gained 20-25 pounds and 3 inches within 3-4 months - which got him to a healthy weight %26amp; height. (He's been vegetarian for almost 2 years.)



Here's some info on celiac: http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases鈥?/a>



I might be completely off, but what you've described sounds like it could be celiac. I first heard about it when I asked a question on Y!A, and someone told me about it...it turned out to be just what we needed. Both he and I are a lot healthier now because of it.



Edit - you actually don't have to eat large amounts of gluten for it to affect you...a single bread crumb has 3-5 times more gluten than a celiac can tolerate. For celiacs, gluten affects them on a molecular level. You may not have it, or you may...but symptoms can be anywhere from one or two mild symptoms to a whole range of severe ones. It can keep you from gaining weight even if you eat small amounts, since it basically kills the part of your intestinal tract that allows you to absorb nutrients.



Things like boxed mashed potatoes, pasta, bread (even non-whole grain), some french fries, some salad dressings, and other similar things have gluten. It doesn't have to be whole-grain things. I only asked about the whole grain stuff because those tend to have a higher concentration.



Just wanted to let you know - there's a lot of misunderstood info out there about it. If you have a family member who has celiac, your chances go from 1 in 133 to 1 in 10. I'd really recommend checking into it. The treatment is relatively easy, and allows you to be healthy.



Anyhoo, I hope all goes well with switching to veg.
*sigh*

I haven't lost a pound... its been since November



LOL... too bad cheesecake isn't made out of meat, then maybe I would have lost something by now!!!



but, weather I lose weight or not, I'm a vegetarian for life. I chose this lifestyle to do my part for the Earth and the living beings on it.



*it would have been nice to lose some weight, tho*
it depends i guess. i stopped eating meat just about a month ago, and i've lost 13 pounds, SO FAR. but i'm perfectly okay with that :D hah
i didnt lose that much weight. maybe like 5 pounds at the most lol. but if u go vegan then u might lose more, but vegetarian takes away less