In case you missed it, Jack had a good post last week about fat in vegan diets.
And if you’re looking to maximize nutrient intake with attention to just a few details, take a look at my post on the 7 Habits of Healthy Vegans on One Green Planet. (This is a very condensed version of a talk I’m giving in Chicago next week. Hope you can be there if you live in the area!)
Discover more from The Vegan RD
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
When and where in Chicago?
Kathi, click on the link in the post for details. It’s on 2/11 at 11:00 am at the Sulzer library.
That’s a really interesting article! Right now, I am using an online food tracker, and I find that it’s really hard to stick to under 25% fat–even without oil in the diet. I don’t go overboard, but I eat a few walnuts, ground flaxseed, and a serving or two of Gardein or Field Roast products each day. I might also use 1/2 tsp of oil for lightly sauteing onions or roasting vegetables. Right now at 1250 calories a day, I have my macros set at 20% protein; 20% fat; and 60% carbs. I might reassess this, or perhaps feel a little less guilty about going a tad over in my fat consumption.
Sorry to be a budinkski but are you exercising, too?
If you’re at all active, 1250 is *not enough* calories. It’s actually just a tiny eek above the suggested bare minimum for women. I’d say it’s not enough calories, period.
I lost 60+ lbs about 2.5 years ago. Took me a year to do it. I ate around 1400-1700 for most of my weight loss. Once I took up running, I rarely at less than 1600 a day. The weight still came off.
The problem with eating so little, besides the risk of undereating and having too high a deficit, is that you end up burning a lot of muscle along with the fat. I found eating more and using activity, rather than calorie restriction, to get me to the 500 calorie deficit a day thing worked well. I maintained muscle and ended up fit, not just skinny. I think I typically had a 200 or so deficit from food intake and then 300+ due to exercise.
I’m still within my 10lb goal weight window (though on the higher end due to just having finished a marathon training cycle/race and I always get super hungry when I’m running a lot!) and in maintenance I’ve found I can eat quite a bit as long as I’m active. 🙂
Good luck! Losing is tough and maintaining can be one heck of a rollercoaster, too. If you haven’t done so, maybe check out sparkpeople.com? It’s free and full of resources. Myself and my best buddy used it to reach our weight goals.
Hey! Great post
I just wanted to tell you that I bought your book Vegan for Life yesterday on Amazon! (It will be here tomorrow) I enjoy your blog immensely and check it often to see if you have any new posts. I am so glad, as a young person, to have awesome vegan role models like you! Thanks for your work! 😀
I’m always hearing people tell me that vegan nutrition is complicated. It really isn’t. I usually shoot them this link, telling them all they need to know can fit on *ONE* page:
http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/dailyrecs
Your “7 Habits of Healthy Vegans” is even simpler! Bravo!
Apart from a tool to keep people from overwhelming themselves into inaction, these short lists make great check lists for people starting off on a vegan diet or who are having issues.
Ginny,
I’m curious as to your opinion on the 80/10/10 diet, primarily the separation of sugars from fat in a meal, and how that can reduce the effect of excess candida in the gut.
I’ve been looking into becoming a low fat raw vegan, and 80/10/10 seems to be the best guide. Most of the people i’ve chatted with about this diet are ultra marathoners and Cross Fit fans. I’m not – i just do the new P90X2 and Insanity home workouts right now, but i do like the idea of really upping my fresh fruit intake. No juicing, just eating the fruit whole.
If you have any feelings/opinions on 80/10/10, i’d really like to learn more, thanks!