First Weeks of Vegan Weight Loss and Why NOT to Starve

So, when I started my clean eating endeavor, I didn't weigh myself until January 5th, and clocked in at about 184ish lbs. I jumped up on my scale Monday and realized I've lost more than ten pounds since starting this endeavor, about 171! Elated! I was NOT expecting such sudden and dramatic results. I never went hungry, just ate clean. In the photo are things that have got me through this past week in the half. Some of this I literally eat EVERY day. If you're not hip to these Field Roast sausages, by the way, you're missing out. They are the busy vegan's heaven send. Versatile, quick and easy to use, and affordable if you can find the 12 packs at your local Costco.

Now back to why not to starve...I've done a lot of "jump starts" and cleanses to get a kick start on losing weight in the past. I have done a water only cleanse for six days. I've done the lemonade cleanse for 12. It was agony the first few days, but afterwards, I could tolerate the hunger pangs alright. I found it helpful psychologically as a means to "reclaim" my self-control, plus the quick weight loss gave me extra motivation. It is not, however, sustainable and particularly healthy. This time around in my quest to get right, I took advantage of having a coach. I asked Omowale his thoughts on such cleanses, which I know are quite controversial. He challenged the safety and necessity of any type of "liquid only" died, including juice cleanses, and recommended that I refrain and instead just continue eating vegan, stay active, and remember to eat light at night.

Following his advice, I found the results exactly the same as if I were eating nothing at all. Truly. When I did water, lemonade, and juice cleanses in the past, I didn't lose weight at any faster a pace than now. So no need to swear off solids for a jump start, or even to eliminate carbs or any of the other drastic things we've been told to do.

Here are some things I've been doing which have contributed to my results:

-I generally eat my grains such as quinoa or brown rice earlier in the day with a huge serving of vegetables and some tofu or Field Roast. Sometimes I split it so I eat some early afternoon and some later at work, but never large servings at night before bed.

-I eat a huge amount of greens such as kale and spinach with everything. Everything. I boil it, stir fry it, hell I even take it to work raw and microwave it (I know I know, nutrients, but whatever, it works). It fills me up and makes me happy. Leafy greens are the best things you can eat, and there's really no getting too much.

-I take fruit around with me if I get hungry and snack on that. Kiwis and papaya mostly these few weeks. Oranges too. I eat these by themselves as snacks. I've read that most fruit shouldn't be combined with starches, vegetables, fats for optimal digestion, nutrient access, etc. But mostly, I just think they're great alone.

-I stay away from heavy carbohydrates at night, and opt for tortillas at the most with lots of salad of varying textures and colors, and half of a Field Roast Sausage. I like spinach with chopped red cabbage, onions, jalapenos, and olives with a salsa dressing mostly. It gives me the extra crunch and color, plus it's tasty.

-I stop eating at 11. I give my body 12-14 hours without food so my digestive system has a break. This last bit was not recommended by Omowale, especially since it means I often don't eat prior to my workouts in the morning. If I could eat earlier at night, it would solve this problem. But so far for me, it's working out alright, and I don't find myself very hungry until after my workouts.

-I drink the pictured Vega Performance Protein after I do workouts for extra protein boost. Now again, this goes against the advice of my coach Omowale, so I may be amending this habit soon. He has some literature coming out about why he doesn't take supplements, so I'm looking forward to reading that.

-I don't trip on my own rules too tough so long as I'm excluding dairy and meat. If I'm hungry, I eat. But I really try to listen to my body. When I eat, I wait to see if that's enough instead of just eating a bunch, which was what I did a lot before.

-I stay hydrated. It's a trip how often we confused thirst with hunger.

-I don't calorie count. Okay, okay, I did for a few days using MyFitnessPal, but I don't regularly. But seriously, don't do this. It's tedious and annoying and if you're like me, you get obsessive over it, and it's just not a sustainable way to develop healthy, positive nutrition habits. Awareness is one thing, but calorie counting on a regular basis is not the biz.