I go back and forth between whether I love/am annoyed by Kathy Freston. For one thing, she’s got some good ideas and is spreading the vegan message like wildfire all over mainstream media (Ellen, Oprah, Aol.com….). BUT there is one fatal flaw about K. Frest and a few other vegan spokesfolks that gets my goat: promoting veganism as an easy tool for automatic weight loss.
Can you lose weight being vegan? Of course — and I can definitely see how it would be easier to lose weight without eating fatty meat and dairy. Will you definitely lose weight eating vegan? No, and the chances of losing weight while eating vegan are probably lower when you eat not-low-calorie vegan pizza, vegan pasta with faux-meatballs, and vegan ice cream — the foods Freston keeps advocating as things to eat when switching to a vegan diet. People should still know they can eat and enjoy these popular “favorite” foods while being vegan (all of the vegan versions of these foods are bomb, especially vegan pizza with Daiya, and Luna and Larry’s or So Delicious’ coconut milk ice cream). But the problem is that Freston uses these foods as examples of good vegan foods and then tells people that they’ll “drop weight” in the first week of eating vegan (supposedly eating vegan foods like these), which isn’t necessarily true. And it sucks that people hear her shpeel, try veganism soley as a weight-loss method, eat processed vegan foods, then give up because they don’t see the miraculous results they were promised.
This notion that eating vegan is guaranteed to make you skinny also completely ignores that fact that there are FAT VEGANS! Sure, you can lose weight being vegan if you want to, but being vegan and being thin don’t automatically go hand-in-hand. People need to know that vegans come in ALL shapes and sizes and that fat vegans (which, as far as the ones I’ve met, are proud to be both fat and vegan) aren’t doing something “wrong” in their vegan diets. There is no “stereotypical vegan” — unless the stereotype is having awesomely low cholesterol. Ha!
In short, vegan diets CAN make you lose weight IF you take in fewer calories than you expel, just like any other diet. Vegan diets CAN be healthy, if you eat [at least mostly] a variety of whole foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, etc…and then treat yourself to some of that delish vegan ice cream or baked goods or “cheeze” or whatever every once in a while. There’s a ton of vegan fatty foods out there (believe me, I would know! Pass the vegan Nutella and aioli mayonnaise please!) and it’s also easy to not lose weight on a vegan diet.
If you want to lose weight and go vegan (for which there are TONS of reasons to do, not just weight loss..how about not shitting all over our planet? how about not funding the horrific abuse and murder of baby cows/chicks/pigs/turkeys/etc?) then eat the processed vegan faux-meats and the like as you transition, but don’t expect weight loss during this period unless you’re also eating less calories. Then start eating more and more whole foods, and try NEW things. Yes, you can and should try new foods on your vegan diet, not just stick to the same old routine. I know it’s comforting to be able to eat the ol’ favorites like pizza, burgers, etc. but if I had never gone vegan, I might never have tried things like kale chips, tabbouleh, chana masala, raw almond butter, and other foods that were previously “exotic” to me. So be fearless and discover a new favorite food, too.
Maybe you’re wondering if I myself have lost weight since I became vegan. Yes I have — but not automatically, because when I became vegan I was also consuming more-than-your-average-amount-of alcohol and eating gigantic vegan burritos filled with guacamole and making weekly trips to the candy store for Sour Patch Kids/Swedish Fish. I lost weight when I stopped drinking/eating so much alcohol/calorie-laden foods and exercising more. (Duh.)
What do you think about the claim that vegan diets MAKE you lose weight? Thoughts on Kathy Freston — do you love her or wish she’d choke on her Gardein? Did you lose weight when you became vegan? Did you care if you did? Or maybe you’ve been thinking about trying veganism as a way to prep for “bikini season”? Tell your tale in the comments!