If I accurately predicted your joke about not having this problem then like, subscribe, notification bell, turn RUclips notification on, write me a thoughtful email, donate to an animal sanctuary, tell someone you love them, see the world, write a book, oops I got carried away. Come to Costa Rica? vegotravel.com/costa-rica-2025-feb/
❤ Any nuts in my diet at all means I am always over my allotment of calories. Vegan transitioned now for over 3 years @ 51 years old lifting weights about 2 years. My average calories are about 2600 and often over 3000. Adding beans and nut to a plant diet makes it impossible to starve.
Oh my, hummus is the bomb. Roasted red pepper, kalamata olive, dill pickle, Thai curry, regular, etc, etc. However you make it and it's so easy to make we shouldn't be buying it made.
now vegan for...96 hours ! I love it ! Mic, you often mention your recipe Ebook , where can I find it ? I badly need recipes. Thanks ! p.s. what "converted" me was this documentary, "Dominion", about what animals suffer. I'll have no part in that ! Peace !
Welcome to the cult! Seriously, if you are anything like me (tenth year as a vegan), you won't regret it. Mike is a great resource, as you already know, but also check out Simnett Nutrition, Hench Herbivore for healthy and delicious recipe ideas. Happy New Year
@pilonpatrik573 just quit while its early, human are made to eat meat, eggs, drink milk. Thats he most dense nutritious food you can get your hands on. Leafy greens, roots, seeds are not even edible, most are toxic, full of undigestible fibre, carbs and sugar.
The Whole Food Plant Based Cooking Show is also great, has been on youtube so long. Those two channels will teach you more than you could ever need to know about vegan cooking.
After finally mastering my high protein vegan life style, combined with intermittent fasting, I eat a ton and I weigh what I did in high school, many decades ago! (I'm thin.) My weight seems to have totally stabilized. I agree with all the tips and tricks here b/c I was definitely eating too few calories after going from vegetarian to vegan. Then I gained weight too after a bad surgery that left me bedridden for months and I was junk eating while in bed. Back on track now. When people ask me how I stay in shape, the first thing I always say is, "I'm vegan."
You are doing great. If you want to be further healthier eat low protein. We need high protein is a false information spread by the meat, dairy and supplement industry. We need very few protein just like gorillas, horses, elephants. More protein is bad for your health in various ways.
The reason I don't wanna go vegan is because I'm afraid of a carbohydrate-based diet which is what the vegan diet is it feels like. Wouldn't you more easily gain weight by being vegan? Back in the day when I ate more plantbased it was my experience.
@MrJazzCat38 Completely depends on what foods you eat. Carbs are irrelevant, it's about the calorie density. It will be very easy to gain weight eating vegan junk food, it will be somewhat easy to overeat if you eat lots of grains like bread and pasta (but plenty of people have no problem staying slim with this), and then it will be really hard to gain weight if you mostly eat lower calorie dense stuff like lentils and sweet potatoes.
@MrJazzCat38 I used to think like this. Then I watched McDougalls presentation on the Starch solution which made me remember my biology classes that the human body is actually made for using carbohydrates. The lecture from Dr Doug Lisle called losing weight without losing your mind, when he goes through the mechanics of satiety and the concept of calorie density. But just as a general rule: "dry starches" like all flour products, like dried fruit, etc, promotes weight gain. "Wet starches", ie that are bound with water, like potatoes, beans, sweet potatoes etc etc- will promote weight loss (cause they are so low in calories).
About people not knowing what to eat when they "go vegan", I was once interviewed by a local newspaper (we live in a wine, beef and cheese part of the country) when someone found out we are vegan, hahahahaha! The reporter kept asking me to show her the "vegan food" we eat and I kept showing her my pantry and saying "we eat food, just food, just normal food and just not animal products". She said she ate most of the stuff in my pantry but where was the "vegan" food". I tried to explain about protein in beans, nuts, cereals and pretty much in everything in small doses but she seemed quite confused about what we actually ate because it was too similar to what she ate. So, basically, take away the idea of having meat, fish, poultry or cheese on a plate and for a lot of people you have actually removed THE food. If you go to a supermarket and look at the salads and the sandwiches,, they all have either cheese or meat or fish or poultry in them. ALL of them. Remember where I live. So in a society where animal protein and by-products are promoted as being the main and only consistent ingredient in EVERY meal, if you take that away then they cannot imagine what to eat. As you say, it is an education problem. A dear friend of mine, with who we used to play bridge, when I told her we don't eat animal protein replied "but you still eat shrimps, right?" which also demonstrates that to many people animal protein means beef or pork.
New vegans could possibly be missing out starches from their diets as starches have been demonised as being "fattening" over recent years. Starches are a good way of adding some calorie density to the diet. I don't struggle to get my calories in because I base my diet around starches.
Starches (non processed) as low in calorie density though. However I think you're right that they might eat too little starches! It's very filling with non processed starches after all!
You should eat as much starches as you want including bread. There is nothing wrong with anything "processed " if it only has clean ingredients. All cooked starches even if only one ingredient are processed, which is not bad. You also should not eat more than 2 pounds of vegetables a day unless you truly feel like eating more than that.
SNACKING!! I feel like our modern diet culture has given snacking a negative connotation, but snacking throughout the day and between meals is normal as well as can be healthy because it can give you more sustained energy throughout the day, as well as significantly increase your calorie count. My favorite snacks are nuts, dried fruit, apple or banana with peanut butter, vegan yogurt with fruit, whole grain crackers with vegan cheese, etc. I also think processed foods are typically shunned, but if calories are a main concern, I wouldn't shy away from processed foods. Sometimes being able to pop something in the microwave, or boiling some raman noodles, or slapping some vegan meat on a sandwich, can be the difference between eating something or nothing. I love instant canned soups with toast, or an instant rice dish, or instant noodles. I dont eat them everyday, but when life is hard and you're hungry, they can be pretty lifesaving.
My stomach is a bottomless pit (and I'm a petite woman of 58). I'll always be a volume eater, I was a food addict, now slim after being WFPB for almost 5 years. I used to be fat and so unhealthy. But I still need to watch my weight, I can put on weight very easily on my oil & sugar-free WFPB diet, no problem. I love being able to eat generous amounts of food, but eating too little and losing weight is definitely not an issue for me!
Same here. The weight came off and my cholesterol came down on a WFPB diet but then I got too good at making tasty sauces and dressings using nuts and seeds and the weight started going up. Proves you can still get fat on plants.
There is no such thing as a sugar free diet unless you're eating keto. No carbs are fattening. Only fats and oils are fattening. I'm 5'8" and always 120-130 pounds eating high carb very low fat, no more than 10-15% fat. If I was offered 1 billion dollars to get over 140 pounds eating the way that I do, I still couldn't do it. If I started eating a lot more fat, then I probably could.
I had brain fog way before I became Vegan/WFPB... it was due to my AuDHD and not my diet, and actually it has improved after I went on a Vegan and WFPB way of eating
OMGosh Mike you were the one who taught me to eat enough back in 2017 when I started out. I remember you saying it was a major mistake in people giving up on eating vegan, and so needed that advice back then! Happy New Year and thank you for what you do!🙏💖
I eat too much chocolate, vegan cheese(violife), and Mr.Noodles as a vegan. I need to stop…. So now I will be eating more dry beans, frozen greens, fruit, etc… I also need to start eating oats again. I just need to balance my meals and not eat the same thing everyday.
I would also recommend a food entry journal or something. I have started to not too long ago and my top three area I lack a lot that I had no idea I was that low. I use MyFitnessPal. I eat too much vegan nuggets, vegan ice cream, noodles, sauces and drink my calories too much. So far it has helped me take a moment to see if it’s worth it to add a snack (sometimes I have have eaten all these at once maybe due to binge eating) but now I’m making progress. I also added more greens and beans lately and I’m feeling more satiated.
@@jburnett7071 Upfield is a big margarine corporation. It also owns Country Crock, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, and a large selection of other products. I boycott that company because it's on a BDS list (which I can't find at the moment). I hope my fellow vegans are following BDS, as it's really not restrictive.
It’s so nice to hear this addressed, so much in the health space is about weight loss. It’s like every food is evaluated on how few calories it is. Like, hello, we need calories to live. Cauliflower is good, but it doesn’t replace what you get from eating a whole grain.
I learned from Dr. McDougall how to fill my plate and Star with half starch and then have fun with vegetable and legumes on the other half. There is an infinite variety you can enjoy with this concept. Been doing this over 10 years and it dies not get boring for me or my husband. If my weight falls too far, eat some olives or nuts or avocado. I It goes up, I watch food which have some fat in them and eat a little less of them of not at all for a week or too. Still not feeling hungry or deprived doing this. Take BP once a week, always good. Get in my steps, lift a few weights. Clothes keep fitting and I’m feeling good. At 71 years old, people take me as being in my 40s or not older than my mid fifties. One of the benefits of the diet is I no longer have blackheads on my nose, nor any large pores.
Sharing one of my “tricks” - I grind raw pumpkin seeds and add them wherever I can incorporate them, by tablespoons. They are almost tasteless and have a great nutrient profile. The only thing to watch out for - they spoil quickly, I grind a cup at a time in a coffee grinder and store them in a glass jar in a fridge.
For some. I have severe reactions to B vitamins. I'll break out in rashes or my heart beats all crazy. I can only do non fortified nutritional yeast or meats for b vitamins
I've been vegan for 10 years-ish and ive been struggling to lose weight because I have a binge eating disorder. I know for sure that if i was still eating animals I would be incredibly obese.
Thanks for this, Mic! Good information. I'm around non-vegans all the time, as most of us are, and they always give me funny looks about the platefuls of WFPB food I'm consuming. Even if I explain calorie density to them, including plant vs. meat/dairy differences, they look at me like I'm an alien and go back to their small, S.A.D. lunch.
I really struggled at first with a vegan diet b/c I could not eat enough food to get enough calories in. I was feeling way too full trying to get it all in. I don't digest nuts or avocados well and I don't do oils. So trying to get enough calories in on a low fat diet is hard. I have discovered that the only way I can make it work is to eat FOUR MEALS PER DAY and to make sure I eat beans at 2 or 3 of those meals. I only eat whole foods. Nothing processed. NO breads or anything. I eat a lot of higher protein organic oatmeal. All my food is 100% organic.
There is nothing wrong with anything "processed" if it has no bad ingredients in it. Everything cooked is processed. Everything cut with a knife is processed. There is certainly nothing wrong with cutting or grinding grains and legumes or cutting or blending fruits and vegetables. Cooked beans are highly processed, but again, that is not bad. I don't understand why you wouldn't want to eat bread with only clean ingredients unless you truly have a gluten intolerance.
@@dj-fe4ck bread is processed. I'm doing well with my current plan. I don't think yeast is healthy and most bread is moldy when you buy it. I never feel as good eating bread as I do when I don't eat it.
@@dj-fe4ck then you have a much bigger stomach than me. I am a 5 foot tall lady that weighs 90 lbs. no way i can eat that much without feeling horrible.
9:40 Why would anybody going on a vegan diet replace a tortilla with an iceberg salad leaf. Tortillas are already vegan! No replacement needed from an ethical standpoint.
Especially for tall and active people, not getting enough calories can be easy to fall into I was just eating normal for myself (beans and rice, various raw and steamed veggies, a few servings of fruit, tofu and the vegan alt meats and specifically protein shakes that were just vegan powder and water) But I wasn’t tracking calories at all, I was just mentally checking off the nutrients I needed without thinking of calories Because I thought, if I wasn’t eating enough I’d simply get hungry! But that wasn’t the case for whatever reason I needed upwards of 2600 if not more on days I worked out more, and I was getting about 1700 average (don’t know exactly, but it’s from hindsight calculations) But if you’re active and over 6ft, take care to keep track of calories
Definitely, I’m a six foot female and my caloric needs are around 2500-2700 calories, depending on my activity and time of the month. I only track occasionally, but I always come in right around there, and I’ve been the same weight for decades.
When I went vegan, I initially lost a lot of weight due to a lack of knowledge about calories. However, a bit of research solved this issue. Speaking from personal experience, I believe the problem arises when people go deep into a health rabbit hole. They give up oils, nuts, and other calorie-dense foods. Many plant-based health influencers eat mostly raw or very low-calorie foods. I doubt they are even consuming 900 to 1,200 calories a day.
I feel like this (effects of calorie deprivation) is something that people don’t talk enough about. Especially as tied to the plant-based diet, but also in general when people are trying to lose weight, etc.
I am a 49-year-old woman who has been vegan since 2000. According to my nutrition calculators, I'm averaging about 1,600 to 1700 calories per day. I walk about 45 minutes each day and I also do some strength training with dumbbells at home a few times a week. I've gained 20 lb since going through menopause without changing anything else in what I do other than increasing my exercise and being more intentional about eating on processed foods that are vegan. My doctor wasn't any help. She told me that I probably need less than 1,600 calories per day and that I should "cut back on carbs". I literally almost started crying when I told her that I'm a plant-based vegan and that carbohydrates are the focus of my lifestyle. She sent me to a nutritionist who basically told me the same stuff. I'm just feeling so hopeless even though I don't want to give up being vegan. I've been vegan for over 20 years but I don't know why my physical health is declining. I'm still so confused about how much to eat. Now that I have stopped my menstrual cycle it doesn't matter how little I eat or how much I eat. I can't seem to lose weight and I exercise daily and I eat very clean. There's not a lot of good advice for women post menopause, especially for women who are plant-based vegans. I keep hearing that we need more protein and that for someone my height who is about 5'5 and I weigh about 155 and I want to weigh less, that my protein should be over 100 per day. So I'm relying heavily on protein powders and lots of tofu and fortunately, my family knows how to make mock meats so we can make them in abundance and minimally processed, but I still feel like I should weigh less due to the type of food I'm eating. I look at my meals sometimes and I just feel so discouraged because I know people that are omnivores that look so much leaner and stronger and healthier than I do. And I know I'm exercising more and eating cleaner than they do. I have plain oatmeal with soy milk and berries and protein powder in the morning and then for lunch I'll have something like beans and a salad and then for dinner it varies. But I always make sure to have a vegan protein and lots of vegetables and then I snack on fruits throughout the day and add in avocados and nuts. But I try not to overdo it and I do log everything into an app to see roughly what I'm getting as far as my macros. It's so frustrating because I don't feel like I look vegan. I look overweight and like I eat a standard American diet but I don't and it's very upsetting. I'm really trying to lose 20 or 30 lb but I just can't seem to do it and I've been trying for about 2 years. I think this is why people in midlife start considering going off of the vegan diet. It's like we were going along so fine and we thought we were healthy and all of my levels look good at the doctor but my physical body doesn't match my health on the inside. I know being vegan is more than physical looks. It's more about the environment and the animals and making sure that I have a functional body into my elderly years hopefully. I just wish that I could find a solution for weight loss because I don't think it's good to be overweight even if I'm "healthy" inside. Am i just supposed to accept that I'm fat now? The menopause belly is a real thing for all women regardless of their lifestyle dietary choices and I just wish there was more advice out there from vegan doctors for us women who are going through this.
More than just the volume of food is the fact that so few people know and enjoy cooking. I love to cook now which is good, because I love to eat. I owe a lot to the people who made my instant pot and bread maker.
I try to eat just whole plant foods but my weight still tends to creep up. Something always happens like I have to work real hard outside or I get sick and I end up losing it but then it starts creeping up again. I'm probably eating too many walnuts and ground flax seed but I was hoping to get my omegas that way.
A lot of calories hide in soups, sauces, sugary drinks and other liquid things. They are very easy to consume and, before you realise it, you ingest hundreds of secret extra calories. First of all, you should give up sodas, fruit juices or alcoholic drinks. Try tea instead. Then, you should take it easy with extra oily things in your diet, like fried foods, sauces, dressings - they all add up really quickly. Wallnuts or flaxseeds can explain your weight gain in theory, but given how nutritious and full of fiber they are, I wouldn't look at them, but at carb heavy foods, like white rice, white bread etc (you should switch them to their whole versions entirely).
Me too but I'm post menopausal so that may be a factor. I think I just eat too much for my slow metabolism and I love food. I avoid nuts mostly, occasional avo but no other high fat foods. I just really like my cooking and find it hard to eat just one serving.
I have to say that I eat a ton and never feel filled up. I exercise a lot, a whole lot, and have trouble putting on weight, but I do cardio and weight lifting. I think my problem is I burn about 2700 cals a day and it's hard to judge how much to eat and I try and stop eating early in the evening, which exacerbates the issue.
"I think my problem is I burn about 2700 cals a day and it's hard to judge how much to eat and I try and stop eating early in the evening, which exacerbates the issue." THIS is why calorie tracking is a useful tool, especially in the context of gains & performance outputs like yourself. I know... I know... "counting calories is EVIL". /s I dunno if you're one of those ppl who are triggered by the concept of tracking, but it *IS* a very useful tool when you're flying blind... as it seems u are. When I'm in a training block, I too find it EXTREMELY difficult determining my calorie intake & maintaining weight. Between 4 meals + 2 snacks + endurance gels/gu/chews + hydration/carb mixes, I find it impossible to keep even ballpark guess my intake w/o using an app. If I don't track then I'll under eat and drop weight. To a degree it's fine, but past 5-8 lbs and I start losing muscle mass, fatigue sooner - can't finish prescribed workouts and my race times tumble. If you're essentially burning everything you're putting into your body, then macro quality isn't really all that important in the grand scheme... u can afford to eat less 'clean' during peak training... meaning u can afford to eat more refined carbs/junk & more fats simply for the fuel (which equates to performance). Practically ANY refined carbs are acceptable if you're just trying to fill the gas tank. Though beware of too toooo much fat due to GI distress during hard activity. For ex., the day before a massive long run I'll eat PB/J on the trashiest white bread or bagels I can find. That's like 500-600 cals a pop! And I can slam down two in 5 mins. Then the morning of, a cup of oatmeal, some dry fruit like raisins or dates (not fresh fruit... u want dried fruit for the calories), and 2-3 tbls of PB - that's another 700 cals right there. For me the hard part is hitting my protein requirement w/o feeling too bloated. This is where pea or soy protein powders are useful. I find it MUCH easier to hit my protein macros by drinking them vs. trying to get all 100% from whole foods like tofu, beans, lentils.... just too much bulk
@@EricS-uf9mv thanks for the reply. I do track sometimes, and it's useful no doubt. Cronometer is great. But what is hard, still, is trying to figure out how I will feel at 9pm after eating all the cals I thought I needed. I still often feel hungry and don't want to eat because it's too late. Right now I'm trying to fill up by 4-5 pm and make a guess that this is enough for me. I am stuck at a low weight and can't gain, even when I overeat, nothing happens too much. My metabolism takes it all and demolishes it. Yeah, I think I gotta come up with snacks that are decent.
@@shiv_ring I do nut butters but then I'm also trying to get lower in fat, because right now I'm eating too much nut butter fat and my omega 3-6 ratio can get messed up. thanks for the thoughts.
In case he doesn't make one - I think it's pretty simple and same rules he's said for calories apply to protein. Check government guidelines for recommended protein intake for your age/gender/desired weight. Track what you eat in chronometer for a day or two, see what it is in your diet you should be eating more or less of. Make yourself aware of protein content of food - I'm Australian and use the Australian Food Composition Database online to sort foods by a chosen nutrient. This helps me make more informed dietary choices.
I realized this was a common problem for me. I'm an endurance athlete and eat relatively intuitively. Eating vegan in definitely eating a lot of rice, chickpeas, quinoa, beans etc paired with high volume veggies. I'll get full by volume and be hungry like 2 hours later. But if I was eating by a standard 3 meals a day plus occasional snacks, I found I'd get really hungry before bed, and if i didn't really feed that hunger a few times in a row it would catch up to be in a binge feeling like my body is trying to play catch up several days later. Upping to 4 meals a day plus snacks helped a ton and upping protein (which is the hardest part cuz I'm allergic to soy and STRUGGLE to get enough protein) also helped.
I can easily not feel hungry for at least 18 hours a day. Potatoes, rice, wheat, oats, beans, lentils and peas keep me full for a long time. I also rarely eat soy, maybe 10 days a year at most, so you don't need it to get enough protein.
Btw, all foods are processed, unless we grow it ourselves and are able to pick and eat it directly from our gardens. Once people become more aware of sodium levels which is in some products is significantly higher than others, and can cause high blood pressure, strokes and other craziness. But the best thing to do while going Vegan is focusing on foods that are minimally processed.
Btw all the plants you eat are man-made and dont exist in nature. You eat food that didn't exist before the agricultural revolution, and has further changed significantly in the last 100 years. Its a myth that veganism is good for humans, you cant find another species that has ever existed that does better on its unnatural diet, we wont be any different.
Thank you Mic and a very Happy Healthy 2025 to you and all your viewers! Let's hope the new year will be a better one as a lot of us have not had an easy 2024. And let's spare a though for those people in war situations, honestly I don't know how they manage to keep going with hardly any food, no medical care, I wish I could help them.
@@Daniel-of6rw First of all, he lies about the vegan diet being healthy. But that's what almost all vegans do. Second, he edits other people's videos to make them agree with what he claims. But that's probably still not enough for you.
@nurseratchet77 Judge much?! Gained 150lbs on it. Might be the OSA. Maybe the jabs? Maybe the carbs? You tell me genius. Only vegan diet where I haven't gained weight in 6 years of taking mercy on the animals has been fruitarian. Raw vegan I can maintain weight but not lose when I need to lose. Fruitarian is hard to stay on due to location and unripe fruits and harsh winters. Tried Starch Solution. SOS Free, etc... Gain on them all.
I'm eating very high carb very low fat and mostly cooked starches, 2000-3000 calories a day, some days more, and I'm 5'8" and always 120-130 pounds. I could not possibly get over 140 pounds eating the way I do, not even for 1 billion dollars. I'm oil, nut, and seed free, but not sugar and salt free. I don't know how anyone can be completely salt free and eat a high starch diet. I don't need salt every day, but I can't go weeks or months without it.
My main staple food is porridge of soy flour mixed with either corn meal (grits) or millet. Sometimes I substitute pasta or potato for the corn/millet, and just cook up the soy flour with some water and seasonings to mix with them. I also add some broken-up tempe in the porridge or with the soy flour that I cook for the pasta/potato. Cheap and easy...just soak the soy+corn/millet porridge batches overnight, refrigerated, before cooking in a rice cooker the next day. Veggies and fruits are then just side dishes or snacks. Spirulina is my main "veggie", though it's also 60% protein, and I just mix it with a vitamin-enriched fruit drink powder in a shaker cup.
I went back to being raw vegan/ vegan after 2 years of SAD ... I am not handling the Fiber Well😅😅.... my fiber went up almost 30 G so I went from like 20 G of fiber to 55 G
Hey, great that you went back. :) If you're not handling the fiber well, maybe consider reducing the raw aspect of it, and cook more in bulks. Especially things like legumes (lentils/beans) and grains I'd try to "overcook" rather than undercook. You can also start with less fiber first, like Mic said, and creep your way up (only as much as you want to); it should just be the initial phase that needs some more thought until you get accustomed to it.
Mic, Great video always! I know this isn't an issue for those of us that are Vegan, but please address cholesterol and sodium intake that our non vegan friends passively overlook when consuming their meals, but those are the most deadly factors of how they eat.
I understand that most of the stuff on your channel is about food and nutrition, Mic and that's great, but, in an instance like this I feel obliged to say, this is very specifically about plant based diets, rather than veganism.
I started out as WFPB for the first few years and I struggled to get enough calories throughout the day, but after I added canola and olive oil like 5+ years ago, I never had issues again.
Ok, that is Bullshit! I am Vegan! I have Severe Chronic Fatigue for 9 years yet. And I eat A LOT! Including Nuts and Seeds and Oil, and cooked food every day. My BMI is around 25, overweight, but I also have muscles! I've made MANY Blood Tests. I take B12 and D3. Everything you were talking is bullshit and a possible, but Not very Probable Exception for a vain girl, wanting to look like her favourite model! Some people really suffer on a vegan diet, so it is better for scientists to find out what is going on with us. Instead of stupid speculations that we eat only salads, so we starve! That is NOT me and Many others!
Hi Mic, I appreciate all the valuable content you share! I was wondering if you have any insights into managing supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) through a vegan diet or lifestyle changes. I've been on beta-blockers for 8 years. I know Veganheartdoc eventually needed ablation to treat her SVT, but I’ve also read about Kale Brock using a paleo/keto diet to "heal" his SVT, potentially due to increased GABAergic activity balancing the nervous system. Do you think there’s a way to balance the neuroendocrine system (HPA axis regulation) with a plant-based approach to reduce the likelihood of SVT episodes? My episodes can spike to 230 bpm, so I’m seeking safe, natural interventions. Thanks so much for your time and everything you do! P.S. I’ve heard that better blood flow in small vessels might contribute to overall nerve health, and I’d love to know if there’s any evidence or thoughts on this in relation to heart innervation. Thanks so much!
And yes, whole food fully plant based doesn't result in too few calories for me - I think, because I don't count my macros. Or calories. My BMI and body measurement seem right though of course people keep saying I'm too thin. I feel fine with the "thin" part, thank you - at one point decades ago my BMI was sometning like 24.9. Never again! For those who do have trouble getting enough calories nuts and seeds seem an obvious choice. (A maximum of one cup a day from oxalate concerns, Dr. Greger said.) More of cooked grains and legumes... one strategy, the opposite of Chef AJ's "If it's in my house it's in my mouth." would be to keep healthful yet calorie dense foods close by, in a drawer of one's desk at work, or close by to be nibbled and munched while watching tv, reading, etc. More meals/mini meals during a day. Tahini, hummus, bean salads for those who like those things... Well good luck.
I hate problems eating enough on a strict vegetarian diet until i got diagnosed with IBS and learned about low FODMAP. I think my body was rejecting the high fodmap foods i was eating and causing my appetite to disappear. Now that my ibs is under control i have no issues with vegetarian eating.
Thank you for addressing this! I eat large portions and I am doing great, but my husband eats small portions, he has to eat more pasta, rice, beans, more calorie dense foods, even with low activity.
Vegan meal's in restaurant are typically lower in calories. If you order a vegetable pizza without cheese there is no ingredient added that would add back the calories lost from the cheese.
I get a little worried when I see those videos or recipes of “cauliflower steak” or “mushroom burger”, because I think: where is the protein? Where are the calories? Because then people think that those are the “vegan foods”, and they can have problems. When I went vegan, I ate too much bread and rice for a long time. Tracking calories and macros has helped me learn a lot, and have a more balanced diet. Great video, thank you!
Most supermarket breads I prefer to avoid, but if it only has clean ingredients, you can't eat too much. If you don't want gluten, then you certainly can't eat too many gluten free grains.
When I first tried wfpb I felt great until 5 days in, I was slamming food yet my stomach would not shut up!! And I was feeling low energy like I wasn’t eating enough. I was following recipes from forks over knives and at that point I used chronometer to type in the recipes I made and realized I was massively under eating but eating high volume foods. So I regrouped to Incorporate higher calorie foods in my meals and now it’s sooo much better lol wish more wfpb recipes would tell you up front how many calories in a serving because it really helps to plan out what to meal prep for the week.
It's crazy that people eating vegan aren't getting enough calories. If you just eat normal, it's really easy to get enough calories. Yeah swapping out pasta for zucchini is crazy and can do it, but I'm saying eating normal. Breakfast, granola, fruit, soy milk = 300 C, lunch = one pot meal beans, rice, broccoli, peppers, onions, tomatoes, spinach, nuch, hot sauce = 1000 C, Dinner pasta, marinara, veggies = 800 C, this is 2100 C without trying, eating minimal, no snacking. Most people are eating WAY more than this. How are you not getting enough calories?
Mic, can you please do a video on oral health? IDK if this is true, but it really has been concerning me that fellow vegans don't talk enough about how hard it is to get the nutrients needed for good teeth *(calcium and probiotics)* on a plant-based diet, as they mostly come from dairy. I've been to a dentist who's "never met a vegan with good teeth", and my family's been bullying me into eating animals for my oral health. *We the vegan community need to prove that eating animals is not necessary even for good teeth.*
200-300 mg of calcium a day is already enough. From 2017 to 2022 I didn't go to the dentist at all and I had no cavities at all. They were amazed that everything looked so good after more than 4 years of not going.
Only fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes. I don't really think it's necessary to eat more than 300 mg of calcium a day. However, if you think you need a lot more, you could easily eat over 1,000 mg in one day from corn tortillas.
I wouldn't say it's all that difficult, really. For probiotics there's yogurts, sauerkraut, kimchi, tempeh, etc. Legumes tend to have good mineral profiles and leafy greens are calcium dense. You can also always get fortified foods or calcium supplements. The only thing may be nutrient pairing to improve bioavailability of those minerals such as magnesium, vitamin D, vitamin K2 from fermented foods and phosphorus specifically for calcium. The primary reason for poor teeth if anything would be improper mastication, it's important to eat foods that require chewing and wear our teeth properly for good dental health. A full deep dive video into nutrient pairing would be awesome.
No disrespect to my fellow vegans on this thread. You are all winners in my eyes. But l don't understand this obsession with getting enough calories. We all have different metabolic rates. So some will be thin and some will be lean but muscled on a vegan low fat lifestyle. I seldom eat nuts or avocados or any other high fat plant food. This just means my full feeling doesn't last long. So l eat constantly. I'm thin, at 6'1" and 156 lbs, but have ample muscle tone for a 75 year old on a low fat vegan meal plan. I occasionally eat processed foods if they are clean and low fat. I would say l don't eat a lot of protein. But l include beans a few times a week. And lots of leafy greens. I don't count calories, l don't worry about protein, l keep fat around 10-15% of calories. High starch. I think you're body will seek the number of calories it needs to meet your metabolic demands through out the day. Low fat, starch based WFPB probably sums it up for me.
I have the not eating enough problem. Vegan 2 years here. 4 months ago I joined the gym, they took some measurements. A few weeks ago, they measured again. More muscle percentage, more size overall. I was, I thought, doing a small bulk. But it turns out, I also lost 2% body fat. I know that would be great news for some, but I wasn't trying to lose fat. I thought I was eating enough and I didn't mind getting some extra fat 🤷🏻♂️
As a vegan I don't even get that why! You can fill the gap so easily in the evenings. Eat two pieces of bread with peanut butter, nuts, some friuts, a bowl of lentil, some hummus. I just tired of the Broccoli propaganda! I eat them only once a week. People think vegans are alive on Broccoli! My favourite meal is a bowl of well cooked chickpea and I end it with two boiled potatoes. I eat tufu and spinach sandwich every other day. I think it is a western problem, in East vegans don't eat salad excessively they eat grians, rice and nuts.
I booked the last of those two spots on the Costa Rica trip, apparently. Can you please confirm you've got my booking as I've paid the deposit and emailed and messaged you via FaceBook. Really hope it's all gone through okay as your website still says the spot's available. 😳
Chugging agave or maple syrup is a sure fire way to bump the calorie intake. All jokes aside: putting a bit more salt in or on top of the food increases the at libitum food intake and not getting sick 🤒 🤢 will help with consistent energy intakes when trying to gain weight. This is in my advising experience a major factor in speed of progress when someone is actively trying to gain bodyweight and/or muscle mass.
Long term vegan here, never had a problem eating enough before. Current events has me without any appetite at all. The only thing I want or enjoy is tea. Not even drinking enough water but tea so 🤷♀️ Getting a bit of protein in the soy milk I use. Not starving, forcing down soup. It’ll get better.
I used to have this problem as I wasn't aware of the caloric density of different foods and was eating too much low calorie foods. Now I don't have a problem meeting my caloric needs besides the fact that I have to eat more food than I want and have appetite for and that doing so makes me so bloated I question myself daily if I'm going to continue like this. I'm not doing it for myself, that's for sure.
When starting veganism, it is said that many people don’t realize how much they need to eat. It can be dangerous in fact, and I’ve heard a lot of reminders from the doctors who push vegan night about it. I lost weight as I expected, but I think I probably under ate Getting B12 is a good idea also from a pill is easiest for money.
I would even say that whole plants diet has higher risk of getting deficiencies. Processed foods historically became fortified to solve deficiencies on a population level. If you go whole plants and don't know what you are doing you will most probably become deficient in something.
I have an old video on it but the science doesn't support the main claims of the diet about which blood types need meat or not. ruclips.net/video/DWgVBN5FuAw/видео.html
I wonder if there's a documentary on that Ansel Keyes starvation experiment. I noticed that the guys in that picture all looked very slim to begin with. That would be interesting to watch.
i got so many allergies that make it hard to eat its getting annoying im scared to eat any fruits or veggies ive just been eating rice n beans and oatmeal with a protein shake every morning... nothing to do with veganism but yeah anyone else with severe oral allergy syndrome from pollen will understand
I eat about 1300-1500 calories am 6'2, stable 70kg, walk steep on steep inclines 9000 steps a day, climb 3-4 times a week, my bloodwork is always really good, put on muscles quickly. I am physically very uncomfortable eating more than I do, I tried doing several small meals a day for 6 months but it made me feel extremely ill. I do eat a very nutrient dense and diverse meal though, even if it's more or less the same every day with tiny changes and additions over time due to severe bloating and abdominal pain otherwise. This low calorie diet feels fantastic for me. I don't understand how people can do 2000+ calories without bloating and extreme discomfort. Maybe I have some kind of eating disorder where I'm extra sensitive to digestive discomforts.
I just double checked the equation and tested it an it seems to work. For example, a 140 lbs female who is 5'4", age 35 needs 1,579 calories if sedentary but 2,040 when exercising 3-5x a week. Maybe it is glitching for you, sorry you are having trouble.
If I accurately predicted your joke about not having this problem then like, subscribe, notification bell, turn RUclips notification on, write me a thoughtful email, donate to an animal sanctuary, tell someone you love them, see the world, write a book, oops I got carried away. Come to Costa Rica?
vegotravel.com/costa-rica-2025-feb/
easy, its called pasta.
you look like you are dieing
❤ Any nuts in my diet at all means I am always over my allotment of calories. Vegan transitioned now for over 3 years @ 51 years old lifting weights about 2 years. My average calories are about 2600 and often over 3000. Adding beans and nut to a plant diet makes it impossible to starve.
My hummus addiction ensures that I always eat enough
Just as long as it's not Sabra. Gotta BDS.
Peanut butter addict here 😁
100%
@@dodgeball693 LOL! I'm finishing up some leftovers for dinner and adding the humus and chips, and peanut butter on toast for 'dessert.' :)
Oh my, hummus is the bomb. Roasted red pepper, kalamata olive, dill pickle, Thai curry, regular, etc, etc. However you make it and it's so easy to make we shouldn't be buying it made.
now vegan for...96 hours ! I love it ! Mic, you often mention your recipe Ebook , where can I find it ? I badly need recipes. Thanks !
p.s. what "converted" me was this documentary, "Dominion", about what animals suffer. I'll have no part in that !
Peace !
Hey, congrats! The animals would thank you, if they could. :P There's a link in the video description after "Link Page with eBooks, [...]"
Welcome to the cult! Seriously, if you are anything like me (tenth year as a vegan), you won't regret it. Mike is a great resource, as you already know, but also check out Simnett Nutrition, Hench Herbivore for healthy and delicious recipe ideas. Happy New Year
@pilonpatrik573 just quit while its early, human are made to eat meat, eggs, drink milk. Thats he most dense nutritious food you can get your hands on. Leafy greens, roots, seeds are not even edible, most are toxic, full of undigestible fibre, carbs and sugar.
Rainbow Plant Life is a great channel for learning vegan wfpb cooking
The Whole Food Plant Based Cooking Show is also great, has been on youtube so long. Those two channels will teach you more than you could ever need to know about vegan cooking.
After finally mastering my high protein vegan life style, combined with intermittent fasting, I eat a ton and I weigh what I did in high school, many decades ago! (I'm thin.) My weight seems to have totally stabilized. I agree with all the tips and tricks here b/c I was definitely eating too few calories after going from vegetarian to vegan. Then I gained weight too after a bad surgery that left me bedridden for months and I was junk eating while in bed. Back on track now. When people ask me how I stay in shape, the first thing I always say is, "I'm vegan."
You are doing great. If you want to be further healthier eat low protein. We need high protein is a false information spread by the meat, dairy and supplement industry. We need very few protein just like gorillas, horses, elephants. More protein is bad for your health in various ways.
The reason I don't wanna go vegan is because I'm afraid of a carbohydrate-based diet which is what the vegan diet is it feels like. Wouldn't you more easily gain weight by being vegan? Back in the day when I ate more plantbased it was my experience.
@MrJazzCat38 Completely depends on what foods you eat. Carbs are irrelevant, it's about the calorie density. It will be very easy to gain weight eating vegan junk food, it will be somewhat easy to overeat if you eat lots of grains like bread and pasta (but plenty of people have no problem staying slim with this), and then it will be really hard to gain weight if you mostly eat lower calorie dense stuff like lentils and sweet potatoes.
@MrJazzCat38
I used to think like this. Then I watched McDougalls presentation on the Starch solution which made me remember my biology classes that the human body is actually made for using carbohydrates. The lecture from Dr Doug Lisle called losing weight without losing your mind, when he goes through the mechanics of satiety and the concept of calorie density.
But just as a general rule: "dry starches" like all flour products, like dried fruit, etc, promotes weight gain.
"Wet starches", ie that are bound with water, like potatoes, beans, sweet potatoes etc etc- will promote weight loss (cause they are so low in calories).
Thats the first thing i say to people also, whatever they say to me.
I found you a long time ago, but I’ve been watching more of your videos again lately. Thank you so much for the information and all of your hard work.
THANKS SO MUCH! Editing is quite a doozy
About people not knowing what to eat when they "go vegan", I was once interviewed by a local newspaper (we live in a wine, beef and cheese part of the country) when someone found out we are vegan, hahahahaha! The reporter kept asking me to show her the "vegan food" we eat and I kept showing her my pantry and saying "we eat food, just food, just normal food and just not animal products". She said she ate most of the stuff in my pantry but where was the "vegan" food". I tried to explain about protein in beans, nuts, cereals and pretty much in everything in small doses but she seemed quite confused about what we actually ate because it was too similar to what she ate. So, basically, take away the idea of having meat, fish, poultry or cheese on a plate and for a lot of people you have actually removed THE food. If you go to a supermarket and look at the salads and the sandwiches,, they all have either cheese or meat or fish or poultry in them. ALL of them. Remember where I live. So in a society where animal protein and by-products are promoted as being the main and only consistent ingredient in EVERY meal, if you take that away then they cannot imagine what to eat. As you say, it is an education problem. A dear friend of mine, with who we used to play bridge, when I told her we don't eat animal protein replied "but you still eat shrimps, right?" which also demonstrates that to many people animal protein means beef or pork.
Wow!
My response to this is, take the meals you previously ate and veganise the dishes. Like replacing ground beef with tvp or lentils or even beans.
@@Human_Herbivore Exactly! it's really not rocket science, is it!!!
New vegans could possibly be missing out starches from their diets as starches have been demonised as being "fattening" over recent years. Starches are a good way of adding some calorie density to the diet. I don't struggle to get my calories in because I base my diet around starches.
Mcdougall makes a strong argument we are starchivores
Starches (non processed) as low in calorie density though. However I think you're right that they might eat too little starches! It's very filling with non processed starches after all!
Same starch ftw ❤
You should eat as much starches as you want including bread. There is nothing wrong with anything "processed " if it only has clean ingredients. All cooked starches even if only one ingredient are processed, which is not bad. You also should not eat more than 2 pounds of vegetables a day unless you truly feel like eating more than that.
@liahk1000 They're not low in calorie density except for potatoes, and even those aren't that low compared to vegetables.
SNACKING!! I feel like our modern diet culture has given snacking a negative connotation, but snacking throughout the day and between meals is normal as well as can be healthy because it can give you more sustained energy throughout the day, as well as significantly increase your calorie count. My favorite snacks are nuts, dried fruit, apple or banana with peanut butter, vegan yogurt with fruit, whole grain crackers with vegan cheese, etc.
I also think processed foods are typically shunned, but if calories are a main concern, I wouldn't shy away from processed foods. Sometimes being able to pop something in the microwave, or boiling some raman noodles, or slapping some vegan meat on a sandwich, can be the difference between eating something or nothing. I love instant canned soups with toast, or an instant rice dish, or instant noodles. I dont eat them everyday, but when life is hard and you're hungry, they can be pretty lifesaving.
I wish I had the problem of not eating enough! I tend to eat a bit too much and struggle to stay slim - there's so much delicious food!
Congrats on your ten hear anniversary. This is a good review. ❤
You're a fucking Legend!
My stomach is a bottomless pit (and I'm a petite woman of 58). I'll always be a volume eater, I was a food addict, now slim after being WFPB for almost 5 years. I used to be fat and so unhealthy. But I still need to watch my weight, I can put on weight very easily on my oil & sugar-free WFPB diet, no problem. I love being able to eat generous amounts of food, but eating too little and losing weight is definitely not an issue for me!
Same here. The weight came off and my cholesterol came down on a WFPB diet but then I got too good at making tasty sauces and dressings using nuts and seeds and the weight started going up. Proves you can still get fat on plants.
There is no such thing as a sugar free diet unless you're eating keto. No carbs are fattening. Only fats and oils are fattening. I'm 5'8" and always 120-130 pounds eating high carb very low fat, no more than 10-15% fat. If I was offered 1 billion dollars to get over 140 pounds eating the way that I do, I still couldn't do it. If I started eating a lot more fat, then I probably could.
I had brain fog way before I became Vegan/WFPB... it was due to my AuDHD and not my diet, and actually it has improved after I went on a Vegan and WFPB way of eating
OMGosh Mike you were the one who taught me to eat enough back in 2017 when I started out. I remember you saying it was a major mistake in people giving up on eating vegan, and so needed that advice back then! Happy New Year and thank you for what you do!🙏💖
I eat too much chocolate, vegan cheese(violife), and Mr.Noodles as a vegan. I need to stop…. So now I will be eating more dry beans, frozen greens, fruit, etc… I also need to start eating oats again. I just need to balance my meals and not eat the same thing everyday.
I would also recommend a food entry journal or something. I have started to not too long ago and my top three area I lack a lot that I had no idea I was that low. I use MyFitnessPal. I eat too much vegan nuggets, vegan ice cream, noodles, sauces and drink my calories too much. So far it has helped me take a moment to see if it’s worth it to add a snack (sometimes I have have eaten all these at once maybe due to binge eating) but now I’m making progress. I also added more greens and beans lately and I’m feeling more satiated.
I stopped eating Violife cheese (but still eat other brands) because Violife is owned by Upfield
@@supermario69kraftgami23 who is upfield?
@@jburnett7071 Upfield is a big margarine corporation. It also owns Country Crock, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, and a large selection of other products.
I boycott that company because it's on a BDS list (which I can't find at the moment). I hope my fellow vegans are following BDS, as it's really not restrictive.
@@jburnett7071 I think my response was deleted. IDK why.
This is an important video! I hope people who need it are able to find it 💖
It’s so nice to hear this addressed, so much in the health space is about weight loss. It’s like every food is evaluated on how few calories it is. Like, hello, we need calories to live. Cauliflower is good, but it doesn’t replace what you get from eating a whole grain.
*watching this while eating my usual banana with dates and peanut butter snack* 🤷♀️💁♀️
Very grateful and appreciative of all you do Mic ❤
Happy New Year Mic! Give peas a chance in the new year.
I learned from Dr. McDougall how to fill my plate and Star with half starch and then have fun with vegetable and legumes on the other half. There is an infinite variety you can enjoy with this concept. Been doing this over 10 years and it dies not get boring for me or my husband.
If my weight falls too far, eat some olives or nuts or avocado. I It goes up, I watch food which have some fat in them and eat a little less of them of not at all for a week or too. Still not feeling hungry or deprived doing this.
Take BP once a week, always good. Get in my steps, lift a few weights. Clothes keep fitting and I’m feeling good.
At 71 years old, people take me as being in my 40s or not older than my mid fifties.
One of the benefits of the diet is I no longer have blackheads on my nose, nor any large pores.
The concept of health in "The 23 Former Doctor Truths" book completely explains this. I wish I read it sooner
Sharing one of my “tricks” - I grind raw pumpkin seeds and add them wherever I can incorporate them, by tablespoons. They are almost tasteless and have a great nutrient profile. The only thing to watch out for - they spoil quickly, I grind a cup at a time in a coffee grinder and store them in a glass jar in a fridge.
I"ve been vegan for more than 20 yrs. The only thing that has come up on a blood test of concern is low B12 and D. Easy to get over the counter.
For some. I have severe reactions to B vitamins. I'll break out in rashes or my heart beats all crazy. I can only do non fortified nutritional yeast or meats for b vitamins
How do you feel?
Congratulations and thank you for providing a wonderful space for ten years 🎊
I've been vegan for 10 years-ish and ive been struggling to lose weight because I have a binge eating disorder. I know for sure that if i was still eating animals I would be incredibly obese.
In India we snack on roasted black chickpeas throughout the day
That sounds delicious, I have some Kala Chana in my pantry. What seasonings do you roast them with?
Thanks for this, Mic! Good information.
I'm around non-vegans all the time, as most of us are, and they always give me funny looks about the platefuls of WFPB food I'm consuming.
Even if I explain calorie density to them, including plant vs. meat/dairy differences, they look at me like I'm an alien and go back to their small, S.A.D. lunch.
I really struggled at first with a vegan diet b/c I could not eat enough food to get enough calories in. I was feeling way too full trying to get it all in. I don't digest nuts or avocados well and I don't do oils. So trying to get enough calories in on a low fat diet is hard. I have discovered that the only way I can make it work is to eat FOUR MEALS PER DAY and to make sure I eat beans at 2 or 3 of those meals. I only eat whole foods. Nothing processed. NO breads or anything. I eat a lot of higher protein organic oatmeal. All my food is 100% organic.
You should be eating bread, especially if you struggle to get enough calories.
I can easily eat 2000-3500 calories in one or two meals on a very low fat diet. No nuts, seeds, avocados, oils, or chocolate.
There is nothing wrong with anything "processed" if it has no bad ingredients in it. Everything cooked is processed. Everything cut with a knife is processed. There is certainly nothing wrong with cutting or grinding grains and legumes or cutting or blending fruits and vegetables. Cooked beans are highly processed, but again, that is not bad. I don't understand why you wouldn't want to eat bread with only clean ingredients unless you truly have a gluten intolerance.
@@dj-fe4ck bread is processed. I'm doing well with my current plan. I don't think yeast is healthy and most bread is moldy when you buy it. I never feel as good eating bread as I do when I don't eat it.
@@dj-fe4ck then you have a much bigger stomach than me. I am a 5 foot tall lady that weighs 90 lbs. no way i can eat that much without feeling horrible.
9:40 Why would anybody going on a vegan diet replace a tortilla with an iceberg salad leaf. Tortillas are already vegan! No replacement needed from an ethical standpoint.
Especially for tall and active people, not getting enough calories can be easy to fall into
I was just eating normal for myself (beans and rice, various raw and steamed veggies, a few servings of fruit, tofu and the vegan alt meats and specifically protein shakes that were just vegan powder and water)
But I wasn’t tracking calories at all, I was just mentally checking off the nutrients I needed without thinking of calories
Because I thought, if I wasn’t eating enough I’d simply get hungry! But that wasn’t the case for whatever reason
I needed upwards of 2600 if not more on days I worked out more, and I was getting about 1700 average (don’t know exactly, but it’s from hindsight calculations)
But if you’re active and over 6ft, take care to keep track of calories
Definitely, I’m a six foot female and my caloric needs are around 2500-2700 calories, depending on my activity and time of the month. I only track occasionally, but I always come in right around there, and I’ve been the same weight for decades.
When I went vegan, I initially lost a lot of weight due to a lack of knowledge about calories. However, a bit of research solved this issue. Speaking from personal experience, I believe the problem arises when people go deep into a health rabbit hole. They give up oils, nuts, and other calorie-dense foods. Many plant-based health influencers eat mostly raw or very low-calorie foods. I doubt they are even consuming 900 to 1,200 calories a day.
I feel like this (effects of calorie deprivation) is something that people don’t talk enough about. Especially as tied to the plant-based diet, but also in general when people are trying to lose weight, etc.
I am a 49-year-old woman who has been vegan since 2000.
According to my nutrition calculators, I'm averaging about 1,600 to 1700 calories per day. I walk about 45 minutes each day and I also do some strength training with dumbbells at home a few times a week.
I've gained 20 lb since going through menopause without changing anything else in what I do other than increasing my exercise and being more intentional about eating on processed foods that are vegan.
My doctor wasn't any help. She told me that I probably need less than 1,600 calories per day and that I should "cut back on carbs". I literally almost started crying when I told her that I'm a plant-based vegan and that carbohydrates are the focus of my lifestyle.
She sent me to a nutritionist who basically told me the same stuff.
I'm just feeling so hopeless even though I don't want to give up being vegan.
I've been vegan for over 20 years but I don't know why my physical health is declining.
I'm still so confused about how much to eat.
Now that I have stopped my menstrual cycle it doesn't matter how little I eat or how much I eat. I can't seem to lose weight and I exercise daily and I eat very clean.
There's not a lot of good advice for women post menopause, especially for women who are plant-based vegans.
I keep hearing that we need more protein and that for someone my height who is about 5'5 and I weigh about 155 and I want to weigh less, that my protein should be over 100 per day.
So I'm relying heavily on protein powders and lots of tofu and fortunately, my family knows how to make mock meats so we can make them in abundance and minimally processed, but I still feel like I should weigh less due to the type of food I'm eating.
I look at my meals sometimes and I just feel so discouraged because I know people that are omnivores that look so much leaner and stronger and healthier than I do. And I know I'm exercising more and eating cleaner than they do.
I have plain oatmeal with soy milk and berries and protein powder in the morning and then for lunch I'll have something like beans and a salad and then for dinner it varies. But I always make sure to have a vegan protein and lots of vegetables and then I snack on fruits throughout the day and add in avocados and nuts. But I try not to overdo it and I do log everything into an app to see roughly what I'm getting as far as my macros.
It's so frustrating because I don't feel like I look vegan. I look overweight and like I eat a standard American diet but I don't and it's very upsetting.
I'm really trying to lose 20 or 30 lb but I just can't seem to do it and I've been trying for about 2 years.
I think this is why people in midlife start considering going off of the vegan diet. It's like we were going along so fine and we thought we were healthy and all of my levels look good at the doctor but my physical body doesn't match my health on the inside.
I know being vegan is more than physical looks. It's more about the environment and the animals and making sure that I have a functional body into my elderly years hopefully.
I just wish that I could find a solution for weight loss because I don't think it's good to be overweight even if I'm "healthy" inside.
Am i just supposed to accept that I'm fat now?
The menopause belly is a real thing for all women regardless of their lifestyle dietary choices and I just wish there was more advice out there from vegan doctors for us women who are going through this.
I struggle with this because i dont want to eat anything high fat because it hurts my arthritis.
More than just the volume of food is the fact that so few people know and enjoy cooking. I love to cook now which is good, because I love to eat. I owe a lot to the people who made my instant pot and bread maker.
I try to eat just whole plant foods but my weight still tends to creep up. Something always happens like I have to work real hard outside or I get sick and I end up losing it but then it starts creeping up again. I'm probably eating too many walnuts and ground flax seed but I was hoping to get my omegas that way.
A lot of calories hide in soups, sauces, sugary drinks and other liquid things. They are very easy to consume and, before you realise it, you ingest hundreds of secret extra calories. First of all, you should give up sodas, fruit juices or alcoholic drinks. Try tea instead. Then, you should take it easy with extra oily things in your diet, like fried foods, sauces, dressings - they all add up really quickly. Wallnuts or flaxseeds can explain your weight gain in theory, but given how nutritious and full of fiber they are, I wouldn't look at them, but at carb heavy foods, like white rice, white bread etc (you should switch them to their whole versions entirely).
Me too but I'm post menopausal so that may be a factor.
I think I just eat too much for my slow metabolism and I love food. I avoid nuts mostly, occasional avo but no other high fat foods. I just really like my cooking and find it hard to eat just one serving.
@@george64826she said she's whole food so that eliminates all the junk you mentioned.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with plain white rice.
There's nothing wrong with 100% pure fruit juice either.
I have to say that I eat a ton and never feel filled up. I exercise a lot, a whole lot, and have trouble putting on weight, but I do cardio and weight lifting. I think my problem is I burn about 2700 cals a day and it's hard to judge how much to eat and I try and stop eating early in the evening, which exacerbates the issue.
Did any tips in the video help you? I think nut butters and thick smoothies are great ways for more calories.
"I think my problem is I burn about 2700 cals a day and it's hard to judge how much to eat and I try and stop eating early in the evening, which exacerbates the issue."
THIS is why calorie tracking is a useful tool, especially in the context of gains & performance outputs like yourself. I know... I know... "counting calories is EVIL". /s I dunno if you're one of those ppl who are triggered by the concept of tracking, but it *IS* a very useful tool when you're flying blind... as it seems u are. When I'm in a training block, I too find it EXTREMELY difficult determining my calorie intake & maintaining weight. Between 4 meals + 2 snacks + endurance gels/gu/chews + hydration/carb mixes, I find it impossible to keep even ballpark guess my intake w/o using an app. If I don't track then I'll under eat and drop weight. To a degree it's fine, but past 5-8 lbs and I start losing muscle mass, fatigue sooner - can't finish prescribed workouts and my race times tumble. If you're essentially burning everything you're putting into your body, then macro quality isn't really all that important in the grand scheme... u can afford to eat less 'clean' during peak training... meaning u can afford to eat more refined carbs/junk & more fats simply for the fuel (which equates to performance). Practically ANY refined carbs are acceptable if you're just trying to fill the gas tank. Though beware of too toooo much fat due to GI distress during hard activity. For ex., the day before a massive long run I'll eat PB/J on the trashiest white bread or bagels I can find. That's like 500-600 cals a pop! And I can slam down two in 5 mins. Then the morning of, a cup of oatmeal, some dry fruit like raisins or dates (not fresh fruit... u want dried fruit for the calories), and 2-3 tbls of PB - that's another 700 cals right there. For me the hard part is hitting my protein requirement w/o feeling too bloated. This is where pea or soy protein powders are useful. I find it MUCH easier to hit my protein macros by drinking them vs. trying to get all 100% from whole foods like tofu, beans, lentils.... just too much bulk
@@EricS-uf9mv thanks for the reply. I do track sometimes, and it's useful no doubt. Cronometer is great. But what is hard, still, is trying to figure out how I will feel at 9pm after eating all the cals I thought I needed. I still often feel hungry and don't want to eat because it's too late. Right now I'm trying to fill up by 4-5 pm and make a guess that this is enough for me. I am stuck at a low weight and can't gain, even when I overeat, nothing happens too much. My metabolism takes it all and demolishes it. Yeah, I think I gotta come up with snacks that are decent.
@@shiv_ring I do nut butters but then I'm also trying to get lower in fat, because right now I'm eating too much nut butter fat and my omega 3-6 ratio can get messed up. thanks for the thoughts.
Nice video, Mike. Could you also do a similar one that focuses on protein, not enough or too much? Keep up the good work!
In case he doesn't make one - I think it's pretty simple and same rules he's said for calories apply to protein. Check government guidelines for recommended protein intake for your age/gender/desired weight. Track what you eat in chronometer for a day or two, see what it is in your diet you should be eating more or less of. Make yourself aware of protein content of food - I'm Australian and use the Australian Food Composition Database online to sort foods by a chosen nutrient. This helps me make more informed dietary choices.
veganuary 2025
I realized this was a common problem for me. I'm an endurance athlete and eat relatively intuitively. Eating vegan in definitely eating a lot of rice, chickpeas, quinoa, beans etc paired with high volume veggies. I'll get full by volume and be hungry like 2 hours later. But if I was eating by a standard 3 meals a day plus occasional snacks, I found I'd get really hungry before bed, and if i didn't really feed that hunger a few times in a row it would catch up to be in a binge feeling like my body is trying to play catch up several days later. Upping to 4 meals a day plus snacks helped a ton and upping protein (which is the hardest part cuz I'm allergic to soy and STRUGGLE to get enough protein) also helped.
I can easily not feel hungry for at least 18 hours a day. Potatoes, rice, wheat, oats, beans, lentils and peas keep me full for a long time. I also rarely eat soy, maybe 10 days a year at most, so you don't need it to get enough protein.
Thank you for this video. It is very needed.
Btw, all foods are processed, unless we grow it ourselves and are able to pick and eat it directly from our gardens. Once people become more aware of sodium levels which is in some products is significantly higher than others, and can cause high blood pressure, strokes and other craziness. But the best thing to do while going Vegan is focusing on foods that are minimally processed.
There is nothing wrong with salt if you are not averaging more than 2 or 3 grams of sodium a day
Btw all the plants you eat are man-made and dont exist in nature. You eat food that didn't exist before the agricultural revolution, and has further changed significantly in the last 100 years. Its a myth that veganism is good for humans, you cant find another species that has ever existed that does better on its unnatural diet, we wont be any different.
@KK and the animals aren't man made either? Of course they are.
Which is not what he is talking about so why coment this mr obvious.? @@dj-fe4ck
Thank you for addressing this Mic.
Thank you Mic and a very Happy Healthy 2025 to you and all your viewers! Let's hope the new year will be a better one as a lot of us have not had an easy 2024. And let's spare a though for those people in war situations, honestly I don't know how they manage to keep going with hardly any food, no medical care, I wish I could help them.
Great Video!
Thank you Mic!😊
Bro is a legend
Yes. Legendary liar.
@@polibm6510 lying about what? Make a claim, support it with evidence.
@@Daniel-of6rw First of all, he lies about the vegan diet being healthy. But that's what almost all vegans do. Second, he edits other people's videos to make them agree with what he claims. But that's probably still not enough for you.
Honestly still learning this as a vegan over 10 years 🫣😶🌫️ lol. Thank you for this helpful video 😅
How not to get fat and stay fat eating vegan is more of a video that most of us can relate to brother
How are you getting fat on a vegan diet?
@nurseratchet77 Judge much?! Gained 150lbs on it. Might be the OSA. Maybe the jabs? Maybe the carbs? You tell me genius. Only vegan diet where I haven't gained weight in 6 years of taking mercy on the animals has been fruitarian. Raw vegan I can maintain weight but not lose when I need to lose. Fruitarian is hard to stay on due to location and unripe fruits and harsh winters. Tried Starch Solution. SOS Free, etc... Gain on them all.
I'm eating very high carb very low fat and mostly cooked starches, 2000-3000 calories a day, some days more, and I'm 5'8" and always 120-130 pounds. I could not possibly get over 140 pounds eating the way I do, not even for 1 billion dollars. I'm oil, nut, and seed free, but not sugar and salt free. I don't know how anyone can be completely salt free and eat a high starch diet. I don't need salt every day, but I can't go weeks or months without it.
My main staple food is porridge of soy flour mixed with either corn meal (grits) or millet. Sometimes I substitute pasta or potato for the corn/millet, and just cook up the soy flour with some water and seasonings to mix with them. I also add some broken-up tempe in the porridge or with the soy flour that I cook for the pasta/potato. Cheap and easy...just soak the soy+corn/millet porridge batches overnight, refrigerated, before cooking in a rice cooker the next day. Veggies and fruits are then just side dishes or snacks. Spirulina is my main "veggie", though it's also 60% protein, and I just mix it with a vitamin-enriched fruit drink powder in a shaker cup.
I went back to being raw vegan/ vegan after 2 years of SAD ... I am not handling the Fiber Well😅😅.... my fiber went up almost 30 G so I went from like 20 G of fiber to 55 G
Hey, great that you went back. :) If you're not handling the fiber well, maybe consider reducing the raw aspect of it, and cook more in bulks. Especially things like legumes (lentils/beans) and grains I'd try to "overcook" rather than undercook. You can also start with less fiber first, like Mic said, and creep your way up (only as much as you want to); it should just be the initial phase that needs some more thought until you get accustomed to it.
Congrats on your 10th year on RUclips Mic, I hope you get 1M subs this year
Mic, Great video always! I know this isn't an issue for those of us that are Vegan, but please address cholesterol and sodium intake that our non vegan friends passively overlook when consuming their meals, but those are the most deadly factors of how they eat.
"where ever you go, people are all the same"
Congrats on 10 years. You are one of my favorite vegan voices on YT.
Could you cover how bad vegan butter and margarine are? I cant quite figure it out! Thank you ❤
If, at the end of a meal, I still feel hungry and that sumpin' is missing . . . a big slug o' crunchy, plain peanut butter always does the trick.
I understand that most of the stuff on your channel is about food and nutrition, Mic and that's great, but, in an instance like this I feel obliged to say, this is very specifically about plant based diets, rather than veganism.
I started out as WFPB for the first few years and I struggled to get enough calories throughout the day, but after I added canola and olive oil like 5+ years ago, I never had issues again.
Ok, that is Bullshit!
I am Vegan! I have Severe Chronic Fatigue for 9 years yet.
And I eat A LOT! Including Nuts and Seeds and Oil, and cooked food every day. My BMI is around 25, overweight, but I also have muscles!
I've made MANY Blood Tests. I take B12 and D3.
Everything you were talking is bullshit and a possible, but Not very Probable Exception for a vain girl, wanting to look like her favourite model!
Some people really suffer on a vegan diet, so it is better for scientists to find out what is going on with us. Instead of stupid speculations that we eat only salads, so we starve!
That is NOT me and Many others!
We just need Real Help, not speculations!
We want to be Vegans!
Vegan on a weight loss program here, using calorie restriction - it's how it's done not the calorie restriction per se.
Hi Mic, I appreciate all the valuable content you share! I was wondering if you have any insights into managing supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) through a vegan diet or lifestyle changes. I've been on beta-blockers for 8 years. I know Veganheartdoc eventually needed ablation to treat her SVT, but I’ve also read about Kale Brock using a paleo/keto diet to "heal" his SVT, potentially due to increased GABAergic activity balancing the nervous system. Do you think there’s a way to balance the neuroendocrine system (HPA axis regulation) with a plant-based approach to reduce the likelihood of SVT episodes? My episodes can spike to 230 bpm, so I’m seeking safe, natural interventions. Thanks so much for your time and everything you do! P.S. I’ve heard that better blood flow in small vessels might contribute to overall nerve health, and I’d love to know if there’s any evidence or thoughts on this in relation to heart innervation. Thanks so much!
And yes, whole food fully plant based doesn't result in too few calories for me - I think, because I don't count my macros. Or calories. My BMI and body measurement seem right though of course people keep saying I'm too thin. I feel fine with the "thin" part, thank you - at one point decades ago my BMI was sometning like 24.9. Never again!
For those who do have trouble getting enough calories nuts and seeds seem an obvious choice. (A maximum of one cup a day from oxalate concerns, Dr. Greger said.) More of cooked grains and legumes... one strategy, the opposite of Chef AJ's "If it's in my house it's in my mouth." would be to keep healthful yet calorie dense foods close by, in a drawer of one's desk at work, or close by to be nibbled and munched while watching tv, reading, etc.
More meals/mini meals during a day. Tahini, hummus, bean salads for those who like those things... Well good luck.
A updated meal prep would be great 👍
I hate problems eating enough on a strict vegetarian diet until i got diagnosed with IBS and learned about low FODMAP. I think my body was rejecting the high fodmap foods i was eating and causing my appetite to disappear. Now that my ibs is under control i have no issues with vegetarian eating.
Wrap your lettuce wraps in rice paper to make summer rolls! Still relatively low calorie but much more substantial than just lettuce.
Thank you for addressing this! I eat large portions and I am doing great, but my husband eats small portions, he has to eat more pasta, rice, beans, more calorie dense foods, even with low activity.
This is smart actually with veganuary being here
easy, its called pasta.
Vegan meal's in restaurant are typically lower in calories.
If you order a vegetable pizza without cheese there is no ingredient added that would add back the calories lost from the cheese.
I get a little worried when I see those videos or recipes of “cauliflower steak” or “mushroom burger”, because I think: where is the protein? Where are the calories? Because then people think that those are the “vegan foods”, and they can have problems. When I went vegan, I ate too much bread and rice for a long time. Tracking calories and macros has helped me learn a lot, and have a more balanced diet. Great video, thank you!
You cannot eat too much bread and rice
Most supermarket breads I prefer to avoid, but if it only has clean ingredients, you can't eat too much. If you don't want gluten, then you certainly can't eat too many gluten free grains.
i feel u i love hummus ❤😂
In the twins experiment the vegans were averaging 1600 calories a day, eating to failure. Adding a spoon of something would certainly help.
I get plenty of calories because of nuts. It's easier for me to get full without overeating on a vegan diet than when I ate animal products.
Been making some serious gains recently in the gym 5 year vegan here!
Eat ya calories and you’ll be good
When I first tried wfpb I felt great until 5 days in, I was slamming food yet my stomach would not shut up!! And I was feeling low energy like I wasn’t eating enough. I was following recipes from forks over knives and at that point I used chronometer to type in the recipes I made and realized I was massively under eating but eating high volume foods. So I regrouped to Incorporate higher calorie foods in my meals and now it’s sooo much better lol wish more wfpb recipes would tell you up front how many calories in a serving because it really helps to plan out what to meal prep for the week.
Great information ❤❤
It's crazy that people eating vegan aren't getting enough calories. If you just eat normal, it's really easy to get enough calories. Yeah swapping out pasta for zucchini is crazy and can do it, but I'm saying eating normal. Breakfast, granola, fruit, soy milk = 300 C, lunch = one pot meal beans, rice, broccoli, peppers, onions, tomatoes, spinach, nuch, hot sauce = 1000 C, Dinner pasta, marinara, veggies = 800 C, this is 2100 C without trying, eating minimal, no snacking. Most people are eating WAY more than this. How are you not getting enough calories?
Long time endurance athlete and vegan here. I find it pretty easy to eat 4000kcal when needed. Nuts, guacamole hummus etc all packed.
Mic, can you please do a video on oral health? IDK if this is true, but it really has been concerning me that fellow vegans don't talk enough about how hard it is to get the nutrients needed for good teeth *(calcium and probiotics)* on a plant-based diet, as they mostly come from dairy. I've been to a dentist who's "never met a vegan with good teeth", and my family's been bullying me into eating animals for my oral health. *We the vegan community need to prove that eating animals is not necessary even for good teeth.*
200-300 mg of calcium a day is already enough. From 2017 to 2022 I didn't go to the dentist at all and I had no cavities at all. They were amazed that everything looked so good after more than 4 years of not going.
@@dj-fe4ck Thanks for that response. That really makes me hopeful.
What was your source of calcium?
Only fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes. I don't really think it's necessary to eat more than 300 mg of calcium a day. However, if you think you need a lot more, you could easily eat over 1,000 mg in one day from corn tortillas.
I wouldn't say it's all that difficult, really. For probiotics there's yogurts, sauerkraut, kimchi, tempeh, etc. Legumes tend to have good mineral profiles and leafy greens are calcium dense. You can also always get fortified foods or calcium supplements. The only thing may be nutrient pairing to improve bioavailability of those minerals such as magnesium, vitamin D, vitamin K2 from fermented foods and phosphorus specifically for calcium. The primary reason for poor teeth if anything would be improper mastication, it's important to eat foods that require chewing and wear our teeth properly for good dental health. A full deep dive video into nutrient pairing would be awesome.
I use Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen app and it really helps me stay on track. Thank you for another great video Mic!
No disrespect to my fellow vegans on this thread. You are all winners in my eyes. But l don't understand this obsession with getting enough calories. We all have different metabolic rates. So some will be thin and some will be lean but muscled on a vegan low fat lifestyle. I seldom eat nuts or avocados or any other high fat plant food. This just means my full feeling doesn't last long. So l eat constantly. I'm thin, at 6'1" and 156 lbs, but have ample muscle tone for a 75 year old on a low fat vegan meal plan. I occasionally eat processed foods if they are clean and low fat. I would say l don't eat a lot of protein. But l include beans a few times a week. And lots of leafy greens. I don't count calories, l don't worry about protein, l keep fat around 10-15% of calories. High starch. I think you're body will seek the number of calories it needs to meet your metabolic demands through out the day. Low fat, starch based WFPB probably sums it up for me.
I have the not eating enough problem. Vegan 2 years here. 4 months ago I joined the gym, they took some measurements. A few weeks ago, they measured again. More muscle percentage, more size overall. I was, I thought, doing a small bulk. But it turns out, I also lost 2% body fat. I know that would be great news for some, but I wasn't trying to lose fat. I thought I was eating enough and I didn't mind getting some extra fat 🤷🏻♂️
As a vegan I don't even get that why! You can fill the gap so easily in the evenings. Eat two pieces of bread with peanut butter, nuts, some friuts, a bowl of lentil, some hummus. I just tired of the Broccoli propaganda! I eat them only once a week. People think vegans are alive on Broccoli! My favourite meal is a bowl of well cooked chickpea and I end it with two boiled potatoes. I eat tufu and spinach sandwich every other day. I think it is a western problem, in East vegans don't eat salad excessively they eat grians, rice and nuts.
Tofu and spinach sandwiches are my go to lunch! I add a little hummus as well for a little change sometimes.xx
@@susanlansdell863 Yaaa! Hummus goes well with everything, it's my hero! 😉
@ yep it’s the good stuff!xx
I booked the last of those two spots on the Costa Rica trip, apparently. Can you please confirm you've got my booking as I've paid the deposit and emailed and messaged you via FaceBook. Really hope it's all gone through okay as your website still says the spot's available. 😳
Chugging agave or maple syrup is a sure fire way to bump the calorie intake.
All jokes aside: putting a bit more salt in or on top of the food increases the at libitum food intake and not getting sick 🤒 🤢 will help with consistent energy intakes when trying to gain weight. This is in my advising experience a major factor in speed of progress when someone is actively trying to gain bodyweight and/or muscle mass.
Long term vegan here, never had a problem eating enough before. Current events has me without any appetite at all. The only thing I want or enjoy is tea. Not even drinking enough water but tea so 🤷♀️ Getting a bit of protein in the soy milk I use. Not starving, forcing down soup. It’ll get better.
Happy 10 year RUclips Anniversary 🥳
And yes, my problem is not not eating enough 😁
I used to have this problem as I wasn't aware of the caloric density of different foods and was eating too much low calorie foods.
Now I don't have a problem meeting my caloric needs besides the fact that I have to eat more food than I want and have appetite for and that doing so makes me so bloated I question myself daily if I'm going to continue like this. I'm not doing it for myself, that's for sure.
When starting veganism, it is said that many people don’t realize how much they need to eat. It can be dangerous in fact, and I’ve heard a lot of reminders from the doctors who push vegan night about it.
I lost weight as I expected, but I think I probably under ate
Getting B12 is a good idea also from a pill is easiest for money.
I would even say that whole plants diet has higher risk of getting deficiencies. Processed foods historically became fortified to solve deficiencies on a population level. If you go whole plants and don't know what you are doing you will most probably become deficient in something.
Oreos and potato chips will help get your calories up. 😂
What are your thoughts on the blood type diet?
I have an old video on it but the science doesn't support the main claims of the diet about which blood types need meat or not.
ruclips.net/video/DWgVBN5FuAw/видео.html
I wonder if there's a documentary on that Ansel Keyes starvation experiment. I noticed that the guys in that picture all looked very slim to begin with. That would be interesting to watch.
i got so many allergies that make it hard to eat its getting annoying im scared to eat any fruits or veggies ive just been eating rice n beans and oatmeal with a protein shake every morning... nothing to do with veganism but yeah anyone else with severe oral allergy syndrome from pollen will understand
Sadly, not a problem for me, even if I just stick with wholefood plant based diet...I am such a greedy bastard :)
I eat about 1300-1500 calories am 6'2, stable 70kg, walk steep on steep inclines 9000 steps a day, climb 3-4 times a week, my bloodwork is always really good, put on muscles quickly. I am physically very uncomfortable eating more than I do, I tried doing several small meals a day for 6 months but it made me feel extremely ill. I do eat a very nutrient dense and diverse meal though, even if it's more or less the same every day with tiny changes and additions over time due to severe bloating and abdominal pain otherwise. This low calorie diet feels fantastic for me. I don't understand how people can do 2000+ calories without bloating and extreme discomfort. Maybe I have some kind of eating disorder where I'm extra sensitive to digestive discomforts.
Your calculator says that as a sedentary lifestyle I would eat more calories than someone who exercised moderately 3x/wk. *confused*. Help?
I just double checked the equation and tested it an it seems to work. For example, a 140 lbs female who is 5'4", age 35 needs 1,579 calories if sedentary but 2,040 when exercising 3-5x a week. Maybe it is glitching for you, sorry you are having trouble.
Eat too much? I did, then I started to use a smaller plate or bowl! Quick and easy solution.