I am 3 weeks vegetarian. I am getting slimmer but I am gaining weight. What is going on?

Question

I have a pretty good gut. It has been shrinking steadily yet I have gained 10 Lbs. I am now 260 Lbs. Anyone experience something like this?

I do not drink any alcohol.

Answer 1

If you're getting slimmer but heavier, it's probably because you're losing fat and gaining pure hard, sexy muscle matter. Vegetarianism does that to people.

Answer 2

Are you exercizing? Muscle weighs more than fat, so while you may be losing the fat in your abdomen, you may be building muscles in your arms and legs.

If you're not exercizing, are you eating more salty foods? Or are you emptying your intestines more often because of the increased veggies and grains in your diet, therefore causing your gut to appear smaller, but not really losing pounds.

BTW, just because you're on a vegetarian diet, doesn't mean you will lose weight. If you want to lose, start walking a few days a week, lift some light weights, be more active. And don't overeat those vegetarian foods that are still full of calories.
Good luck!

Answer 3

What are You eating too much of one type of food? Such as just Salads? You need to eat a variety of foods.. beans, fruit, cereal, grains veggies. I typed in order of most important.
beans 1st fruit 2nd, cereal 3rd. You might not have too much to worry about. Your body could just be adjust to the lack of meat. Meat eaters have oblong cells. Vegetarians that never have eaten meat have almost round cells. Those that were meat eaters and become vegetarian have oval cells. When I became vegetarian I got up to 319 lbs but it
gradually went down! Now I'm 213 lbs and age 57 5' 7" normal level for me. It's a good move to become vegetarian. Meat is dead so if one eats something dead aren't they eating death? Don't listen to Meat Pushers
they are just pushing it for the $$$'s! a mere 10 # gain in 3 weeks that's nothing to worry about. Your weight will likely go up and down
as you figure out your veggie diet routine
check out www.vegetariantimes.com that might help you some!

Answer 4

There are a variety of reasons that could explain your weight gain - most of which are well explained above.

I just want to add to that not to worry about it - weight change either way, as well as slimming down or getting larger, is common with any change of diet. I lost loads of weight really suddenly when I became a vegan, but it did after a while level out. If you can't attribute your weight gain to any of the above factors then just keep eating healthily and when your body adjusts your weight should hopefully level out.

Answer 5

You didn't mention whether or not you are working out... if so, you could be gaining weight. If not, you could be retaining water... you may have increased your carbs (pasta, sugar, etc.) to compensate for no meat. I have some advice... steer clear of refined products... white rice, sugar, etc. Try to eat whole grains like brown rice or sprouted grain bread products (which are grains that are sprouted, air dried, then ground into "flour" and made into bread). The bread is actually a complete protein. I like the raisin bread. Also instead of eating pasta...eat spaghetti squash with marinara sauce on top... try eating more beans (take bean-o!). And no sugar or flour! I hope this helps.

Answer 6

Are you exercising at all? Even a 30 minute walk daily will slim you down. Write down everything you ate today and yesterday, then look up the calorie counts for each product or vegetable/fruit. Ideally you should be getting no more than 2000 calories daily

Answer 7

Eat more vegetables in salads and cooked soups so you aren't eating tons of carbs. When you eat carbs eat whole grain and not smothered in butter. Don't eat lots of fatty corn chips and cheese, it's vegetarian, but high calorie. I started working out two years ago and didn't lose any weight at all, but shrunk in size.
Check you calorie intake in beverages. Even if you aren't consuming alcohol, remember that soda, juice, and soymilk have calories that you can readily consume without taking their caloric impact into consideration.

Answer 8

If you're losing inches, then you're doing something right! Are you doing more weight training than you use to? If so, you may be gaining muscle-weight and losing the fat-weight. Muscle weighs more than fat, so that would explain the inches lost with a weight gain. Hope this helped!

Answer 9

Vegetarians are not necessarily slim! Legumes and carbohydrates, breads, nuts, bananas, avocado still contain fat and fruits have lots of sugar! Its moderation in all things coupled with exercise. Calories in need to be burned!

Answer 10

actually you will gain weight faster if you are being a vegetarian.