How can I lose weight and what is the weight I should be?

How are you fat if your a vegan….?
i never met a fat vegan no offense.
I think you should talk to a doctor to get the best advice.

Lose Weight As a Now Vegetarian

Eat Healthy.

A Healthy diet is the secret to weight loss success. To many people the term “Vegetarian” implies someone who eats healthy. We envision all the types of far out, unheard of and little known healthy food that the normal person just would not eat. For a few vegetarians this is true. For most they eat like everyone else just avoiding meat. Meat alone does not cause us to gain weight unless we over do it. In fact the number one culprit in weight gain is sugar. Sugar as plain table sugar and sugar in all of its artificial forms are the number one cause of weight gain. Sugar is a simple carbohydrate that equals energy or just added weight. Because sugar is the number one food additive and the processed foods and flours are either simple sugar or converted to simple sugar once we eat it, we gain weight because of the excess of sugar in our systems. To lose weight we must first reduce these simple sugars. If possible we should completely avoid them and eat a healthy diet of fruit and vegetables, whole grains, seeds, nuts and beans. This Healthy diet is the key to weight loss.

Eat Vegetables.

This may seem obvious but it is important that we eat at least 4-5 servings of vegetables a day. Many vegetarians give up meat yet they eat everything but vegetables as their main source of nutrition. Vegetables should be number one, hence the name vegetarian. Fruit and vegetables should provide 60% to 70% of our caloric consumption. Since fruit is mainly for energy they contain more natural sugar than vegetables and that could cause weight gain or in the very least hinder our weight loss progress. We need fruit. We need vegetables and we need more vegetables.

Eat Fruit.

3-4 servings of fruit a day is recommended by the USDA and any less and we are depriving ourselves of needed nutrition and energy. If we eat too much more fruit we will begin to gain weight as many fruits are full of natural sugar. Too much sugar, whether natural or not, causes weight gain.

Eat Whole Grains.

Avoid processed foods. Avoid the unnatural processed cereal, rice, bread and pasta. Instead choose whole grain cereals, breads, rice and pasta. Processed foods process out the nutrition and add starch, sugar and preservatives. These are all equal a formula for weight gain and poor health. Whole grains like rice, wheat, oats barley etc. provide the natural nutrition God intended.

Eat Seeds, Nuts and Beans.

Seeds, nuts and beans all provide protein and other nutrition we miss when we do not eat meat. Really, seeds, nuts and beans provide more nutrition with less fat than meat. These help us get the nutrition we need avoiding the excess fat.

Drink Plenty of Water.

Not only is water good for all the organs in our body but water helps us to lose weight. A body that functions properly needs 8 to 10 glasses of water daily. Water helps increase our metabolism. Increased metabolism burns more calories. Water also helps our digestive system. Therefore we eliminate the toxic waste that can build up in our system. When you do not drink enough water you body retains water and thereby increasing your weight. Our bodies are two thirds water, even down to the cellular level. As such water is the key to all of our bodily functions. Yet many diets do little more than to reduce water weight which the body will begin to retain for survival mode and thus the weight will return.

Regular Exercise.

Regardless of what you eat if you do not exercise regularly losing weight is difficult. One way we lose weight by burning more calories than we consume. Exercise helps us to burn calories. When we give up meat we generally consume fewer calories if we eat properly. Like water if we do not have enough physical activity the body will retain fat. Our bodies react to our sedentary state and stores fat for the time that is needed. That time is when you exercise. Since we are programmed either to burn fat or store fat, regular exercise is the only way to ensure we are not in the “store fat mode”.

At your height a good weight would probably be somewhere between 120 and 150 pounds. You need to talk to your doctor about which exercises you can do, because there are many possibilities for people I know who are in a similar health situation to yours.

Weight loss is an overall process and there are no magic answers. Pay no attention to weight loss supplements and pills and all the latest fads. You need to think about many factors but most of them are related to issues we’ve known about for a very long time. There are many sensible things you can do that will make a tremendous difference over the long term if you need to lose weight. It can be done in a healthy way. This is what has worked for me.

Keeping a food journal really does help. It will give you a much better sense of how much you are eating, and when, and why.

Make a few additional small changes – walk everywhere, always use stairs instead of elevators, walk on escalators, get up and move around at least once an hour if your work or your life in general is sedentary, walk every day, use a pedometer. Walking 10,000 steps a day is a really good idea. Build up to a long brisk walk everyday, or most days. Be more active and watch less TV and spend less time on the computer. Buy one piece of exercise equipment to have at home and be strict with yourself about using it. Sometimes you can find mini-steppers or exercise bikes at second hand stores and thrift stores for just a few dollars.

Start a weight lifting routine. Join a gym. Possibly you can find one that has someone who specializes in weight lifting programs for beginners. Weight lifting will increase your metabolism as well as improve posture and appearance overall. Even if you can’t get to the gym you can work out at home using things around the house. Invest in a good weight training book. The Dummies series actually has a good one.

In terms of diet, cut out or reduce things like junk food, pop, fat, fast food. Eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meat, fish. Particularly if you choose a vegetarian lifestyle include natural peanut butter, hummus, dried fruit and nuts. Pay close attention to getting the nutrients your body needs to be healthy.

Make your portion sizes smaller. Use a smaller plate – in our society we have become accustomed to thinking that we need a large plate of food at every meal, and we don’t. About quarter of your plate of food should be protein and at least half of it should be veggies.

Learn to count calories. At your current weight and activity level, you may possibly need about 2000 calories or more to maintain your current weight. So you will lose weight at a reasonable and healthy rate if you cut back to about 1600 or 1700 calories a day.

Eat small amounts frequently, rather than three large meals. Never skip breakfast. Include some protein in your breakfast. It will help get you through the day.

Drink plenty of water, at least 8 big glasses of water a day, and more if it is very hot, if you sweat a lot, or if you are exercising intensely, and eliminate fruit juices. Fruit juices have too many calories, so get your vitamins from fresh fruit, not the juice. You will begin to see changes in your body.

Vary your routines. Don’t eat the same number of calories every day (vary your calories from 1400 a day to 1900 or 2000 some days), eat a variety of foods, and do different kinds and amounts of exercise. You will lose weight much more efficiently if you mix things up from time to time so that your body doesn’t adjust to any one routine.

An area that many people overlook is getting enough sleep. You are much more likely to overeat or to binge eat if you are tired and not well rested, so get enough sleep.

Check out websites about nutrition, exercise, weight training, etc. Here are a few helpful links.