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mooli magic
Nov 22nd, 2006, 12:27 AM
OK,

So there's a poll running about people's BMI in this forum and a few of us are a bit on the cuddly side (though I totally agree with what's been said. It's a scientific fact that BMI is not totally accurate and varies with your frame and build in general.)

Anyway, my question is, if you're vegan and overweight, do you feel guilty? Do you feel that perhaps your not the best advert for the vegan diet given your extra pounds (or stones!!) I'm about 3 stone overweight- calculated by what I was before I put on all this weight- though i'm tall so probably carry it better than most. However, I have bad body image anyway so apart from all the guilt wound up in that, I feel a bit guilty being vegan too. Not that I think vegans should be perfect, but I do believe that a balanced vegan diet is sooooo much healthier than the average diet and I just wish i could physically represent that. I really want to get back to that place where food is normal again and I'm back to a normal weight....and then feel proud to be vegan. *Sigh*

What does anyone else think?

Tigerlily
Nov 22nd, 2006, 12:52 AM
I don't feel guilty but I feel frustrated. It seems that everyone is very thin and can keep their weight off by being vegan. I have found that being vegan has no affect on me on keeping weight off. I gain weight easier now, actually.

aubergine
Nov 22nd, 2006, 12:56 AM
I like cuddly Vegans.

I think women look more appealing with a bit of shape.

I like all Vegans though. It's just worth raising my hand as it's pretty unfashionable in the UK to fancy anyone who doesn't resemble a twiglet. Why limit ourselves?

Risker
Nov 22nd, 2006, 12:58 AM
I think being skinny is a stereotyped view of vegans so it's nice that there are some of us with curves.

I love cudddly :)

mooli magic
Nov 22nd, 2006, 01:12 AM
Awww, shucks :)

I'm feeling very loved already!

I actually find it very easy to lose weight (when I'm in the right frame of mind to try!!) and my natural constitution is tending towards being very slender, so although I say I need to about 3 stone I think a lot of people would probably be a bit shocked if I said that because from their perspective I don't look that overweight at all. The sceptic in me isn't sure whether that's just because our perceptions of overweightness have been skewed due to the obesity problem though!

GoGreen
Nov 22nd, 2006, 02:18 AM
Vegans tend to eat fewer fat and calories than meat eaters, but our problems is usually high carbo foods which act mainly as sugar in the body. While it's great to have a wide array of packaged vegan foods, pastas, etc. they all act as sugar in the body, which causes insulin levels to rise and excess insulin in the body can cause you to gain weight. I struggle with the same issue. I have a hard time finding foods higher in protein (that aren't soy) and eat enough to feel satisfied so that I'm not eating a package of crackers in one serving.
Quinoa is pretty high in protein and is so versatile.
You also need to make sure you drink enough water and take in the right amount of fats.

howdawg
Nov 22nd, 2006, 02:32 AM
I agree with risker! I am a large vegan and love it.. Many people think vegans are skinny and unhealthy.. I on the other hand pride myself on being very big and healthy.. I can look at someone and say hey, look.. I'm vegan and obviously not having a problem finding food!

Tigerlily
Nov 22nd, 2006, 03:15 AM
It's obviously different being a male than a female. As a teenaged female, I feel the pressure to be thin. It brings me down a lot of the time.

howdawg
Nov 22nd, 2006, 03:30 AM
I would just like to say that I like my vegan women to be healthy, and I get very angered at the stereotypical women that you feel this pressure to be. I have a big problem with todays media and the things they promote. From MTV to Fox news, I don't like it! :) I'd like to add that in many cases 'thin' is very unhealthy, and that is not a turn on.... Sorry if I'm of no help!

Aims
Nov 22nd, 2006, 03:44 AM
Nah, I don't feel guilty about being a tubbier sort of vegan - I just want to lose a few kgs because they make me feel kinda crap lately.
But I want to get fitter more than anything, it's more a desire to be healthier in general really.

Yogini
Nov 22nd, 2006, 05:55 AM
People are going to use you as a bad example of what veganism does to you no matter what you look like. Thin? Vegans are underweight. Not thin? Veganism makes you fat. Scot-Irish and fair skinned? Veganism makes you pasty. I'm not sure what they say when you're dark-skinned, but I'm sure they sure they find some way to insinuate it's unattractive and the result of being vegan.

My point? People want to convince themselves veganism is unhealthy because it gives them an excuse to not change. Don't worry about what they say. If you're healthy and happy, be happy. If you're unhealthy and unhappy, look into making a few changes. If you're healthy and unhappy, uh...get therapy? If you're unhealthy and happy, whatever. At least you're happy. And I guess I'd rather be happy than healthy, because what good is anything else if you're not happy?

And that's me going off on a tangent.;)

howdawg
Nov 22nd, 2006, 05:58 AM
Wonderfully said Yogini! Especially those last couple of sentences! :D

fiamma
Nov 22nd, 2006, 10:11 AM
Since vegans are a minority group and sometimes seen as "extreme" there are always going to be stereotypes flying around and people are always going to be looking for ways to put us down. I think we have to work at ditching this stereotype that vegan=skinny - I think despite what us women think, a lot of men are turned off by skinny women and love women with a little flesh on their bones :) Sorry if this sounds trite, but it's so important to love yourself, and love the body you're in, because no-one else can do it for you. And how many times have we seen people who are not "classically" beautiful and don't have amzing bodies but just exude an incredible energy and happiness because they love who they are? That's what I'm working towards anyway. Peace and love to all :)

Lovable Veg
Nov 22nd, 2006, 11:02 AM
I am sooo not skinny...i used to be way too skinny when i suffered from an eating disorder. But since becoming a vegetarian and then later on a vegan, i gained a bit of weight and i am at last actualy happy with my body and myself! Im just so sick of worrying about it and wat otha ppl think. Ive gotten comments that ive put on weight...and that hurt..but not as much as it would of before. I just feel so much happier coz im actually doing sumthing worthwile and im proud of myself 4 accomplishing veganism...its not the easiest thing in the world! lol. For the first time in a long time i am happy with myself. I am loving food and just trying to be healthy...not skinny. I hope everyone agrees with that.

mooli magic
Nov 22nd, 2006, 12:32 PM
I feel so much better this morning- in a bit of a downward negative spiral last night, I think.

Ultimately, I do need to lose weight because I need to be healthy, and carrying around the extra isn't helping. However, I do see the need to accept myself as the way I am right now and forgive myself for not being perfect in the way I want to be. What's really stupid though is I get angry and frustrated with myself for being all the things I don't want to be- a procrastinator, disorganised, being in a state of imbalance most of the time, whereas if I just treated myself as the person I'd like to become then I'd feel so much better. And Fiamma- trite, maybe, but it's a truth! Self love is the only way to go, and now I've got rid of most of the eating disordered thinking I'm trying to aim for balance, rather than perfection which is important as you say.

Yogini- how wonderful is is to laugh about stuff when we get too serious about it! I loved your post, it was very accurate but made me smile too- even better!

Howdawg- I agree...skinny isn't necessarily healthy, and in a lot of cases not. I'm going to lose what naturally comes off when I stop eating so crap and then let my own body stabilse I think. I'm gonna keep some of those curves, for sure :)

howdawg
Nov 22nd, 2006, 02:28 PM
I'm going to lose what naturally comes off when I stop eating so crap and then let my own body stabilse I think. I'm gonna keep some of those curves, for sure :)

You go girl!

RedWellies
Nov 22nd, 2006, 04:04 PM
Post a pic for us to see!:)

mooli magic
Nov 22nd, 2006, 04:16 PM
How fat- sorry 'curvy' I am? lol!

I don't think I have anything recent as in a full body photograph (meant that in a completely undodgy way!) The only thing I do have is one of me in Adho Mukha Svasana (again, undodgy, it's a yoga posture!) but that's different cos anyone's gonna look different when they're half upside down...plus, I think I've put on a few pounds since July :(

RedWellies
Nov 22nd, 2006, 04:22 PM
How fat- sorry 'curvy' I am? lol!


Oops, no, didn't mean it quite like that!!:o I meant, we all say nice things about each other and I'm sure you're not fat (as you say you might have a slightly distorted self body image), so post a pic. But you don't have one:( :)

mooli magic
Nov 22nd, 2006, 04:31 PM
I know you didn't mean like that :) Anyway you never know, I might've enjoyed it if you all jeered and poked at me with sticks :D

Mind you, saying nice things about me sounds even better so I'll endevour to get a piccie, post it and sit back and lap up the praise!!!

Christa
Nov 22nd, 2006, 04:59 PM
I went through a time of being plumper than desired, though I blame that on too much beer in college. Anyway, after having my first child I got very thin. I think it was just that I was so busy and the last thing you want to do is to cook. I never keep convenient junk food in the house, so my choices were to cook, to not eat, or to eat an apple, etc. I recognize though that I was undernourished. It's important to eat enough. I found this article which lists 5 great food tips for losing weight. I found it very smart. It lists important things like spirulina (AWESOME!). I also love stevia. It is a natural sweetener with no or low calories. Rhodiola root is something I've used in the past too, which helps to lose weight, I think because it helps you deal with stress and balances your mood. Because I'd rather not cook, I eat a lot of raw foods and sandwiches. With your bread, just try to find ones that don't contain high fructose corn syrup. Sprouted bread is the best.

http://www.newstarget.com/003550.html

yasha
Nov 23rd, 2006, 06:41 AM
I AM A CUDDLY VEGAN and although to be healthy I need to lose about 30 pounds, I am not ashamed. I feel healthier as a vegan than I did as an omni and I think I am happier in general. I would like to be thinner to fit into some of my favorite jeans, but I have managed without them for almost a year so I guess I don't need them anyway. It is frustrating sometimes to wear jeans in a size that I used to think was OMG FAT SIZE, but I realize that I was an immature teenager at the time and that as a woman, I am not going to subject myself to the media's standards for me.

Lydia_Sorrow
Nov 23rd, 2006, 09:27 AM
It's obviously different being a male than a female. As a teenaged female, I feel the pressure to be thin. It brings me down a lot of the time.

Exactly! The only time I lose weight is on water fasts and I know that is purely water weight which always comes back. I dunno..maybe I am just MEANT to be this size. I mean, I can feels all my ribs and hipbones etc. They stick out. Cant people realise maybe this is just me? This is how I am supposed to be.

Maybe.

Marrers
Nov 23rd, 2006, 02:09 PM
I'm 3-4 stone overweight and personally I'd like to be slimmer (but not quite enough to do anything about my junk food diet, lol!)

However, I do enjoy the double take people do when they find out I'm vegan - I always say "as you can see I'm not wasting away!"

It's good to challenge the stereotype.

mooli magic
Nov 23rd, 2006, 10:40 PM
Hi Marrers,


personally I'd like to be slimmer (but not quite enough to do anything about my junk food diet, lol!)

Yeah! and there's that!