When I went vegetarian I gained a lot of fat around my upper stomach.. what do I do??

Question

I went vegetarian a little over a year ago and I didn't do a very good job about eating the proper food. I was lacto ovo and ate a lot of dairy, which in retrospect, I know is wrong.
I later went vegan a little over 6 months ago and lost some of the weight I had gained. But I still have a lot of fat around my upper stomach. It's hard to explain, but it's like right under my rib cage is always bloated. I don't know how to get rid of it.
I've tried exercising and I'm going on a reduced calorie diet. I'm around 1400 right now. Now I'm going to eat nothing but vegetables and tofu. I have to commute to school every day so I get about 40 minutes of walking in plus climbing stairs at my apartment.
I really need ideas because I'm feeling terrible about myself and I honestly don't know what to do.

Good advice so far, but I'm 18 and I haven't grown in years- I doubt if I'm going to grow...

When I started dieting when I was still vegetarian I think I was eating around 2200 and I lost about 10 pounds eating lowering my intake to around 1300. I'm really afraid to increase what I'm eating.

Answer 1

With an active lifestyle, a reduced calorie diet is actually counterproductive.

When your body feels like it is not getting enough to maintain itself, it will begin storing fat, and your problem area is one of the prime storage spots. This might actually be what your problem was in the first place. A properly done ovo-lacto diet is no worse for you than vegan, unless you have digestive problems. If, however, you were eating poor in terms of balance, like it sounds, your body might have reacted with the add-on.

The first thing for you to do is to start gradually increasing your diet to about 2000 calories/day, a normal amount. Make sure that it is well balanced, and go for high protein, lower fat choices. I would also suggest that you put it into 5 smaller, spaced out meals.

Give your body at least a few weeks to adjust to this before changing your exercise plan. Then, you should start with adding in some higher intensity cardio workouts. Go running, if you can, especially up the stairs. If you can't run, try using an elliptical machine. Intersperse this with upper abdomen targeted exercises. An easy one to get started with is some sideways crunches (done at a slant).

Hopefully this helps.

Answer 2

I like Emily's answer...but just to add to that a bit, it sounds like you may want to do a bit more research on what being a vegetarian or vegan (now that you have changed over) really entails. I am a strict vegetarian aka dietary vegan and I have lasted as long as I have because I learned how to cook for myself. I am suggesting this to you too because it is the easiest way to make sure you have a healthy diet.

I thought I would include a link to the Vegan Food Pyramid to give you an idea of proportions:
http://www.chooseveg.com/vegan-food-pyramid.asp

Also, another idea is once you have really settled into a diet and workout routine, a cleansing may be a good idea. Juicing fruits and veggies for a 24-hour period is ideal but eating lightly steamed vegetables every 2-3 hours is also a good way to go (making sure you drink plenty of water and/or green tea 20 minutes after eating). This should be researched first, and pick a day where you will be staying home and not working out. If you like the cleansing, it can be done once a month.

I hope this helps.

Answer 3

Exercise.
Exercise not working? -- you are not doing it correctly.
No matter what your diet is, exercise will thin the fat.

It all depends on how: Hard?; Long?; Often? + Intensity.

Intensity is very important and almost always overlooked by amateurs.

Calories -- forget all about calories. Calories are meaningless. Calories are measured by *burning* a food and measuring the heat it gives off. Moronic. Food does not burst into flames when it enters our body. Calories are just scientists doing what they do best -- creating work for themselves.

Do not focus on calories, focus on QUALITY of your food. You ever see those Shaolin Monks counting calories for their everyday intensive training they do? No. They eat rice and veggies and not must else.

When doing exercise, you will typically need to eat more food. You will eat more but your fat will be less. Your weight will likely go up, but your fat will go down as muscle you develop actually weighs more than twice as much as fat.

To get quality food into your diet, the best way is to start a garden and get to know your food. Read One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka.

Answer 4

I would be more focused on what im eating than how much if i was looking to burn any fat. i would be going for lots of leafy greens and sprouts, with nuts and seeds. i wouldnt want to eat a lot of tofu either... id rather legumes nuts and seeds for protein, plus they have omegas.

I wouldn't space meals out either or eat lots of them. i think proper meals are good for the digestive system and i dont think its optimal to do exercise with a lot of food in your system.

As for exercise, i would try and do some kind of toning exercise and some good cardio.

walking doesnt really burn much fat, you might burn some energy but probably not a lot of fat.

any kind of running, cycling or swimming will do heaps. you really need to get your heart rate up and the sweat flowing to burn fat.

As for toning exercise, anything like yoga, tai chi or pilates will help. having stronger and more toned muscles helps to burn fat.

Also, drink lots of water.

Good Luck : )

Answer 5

Give it some time and stick to you diet, losing weight can take months.. in about 3 months time view yourself again. You simply could be storing body fat for an upcoming growth spurt.

Answer 6

I would seek professional help... cuz we can tell you to work out... but you could lose weight but still have that stubborn fat in your upper abdomen.
Go to the doctor to see if anything is causing you to not be able to lose fat in your upper abdomen.
Get a physical trainer that will for SURE know how to lose fat in specific places.

Good luck

Answer 7

1. Get your blood sugar tested, especially if your arms and legs are thin.
2. Do you bike? Biking (and any other aerobic leg exercise) is a good way to burn it off.

Answer 8

-drink green tea

-lift weights to increase muscle which in turn increases your resting metabolic rate.

-every time you look at something sweet or fatty(in a bad way), pretend to gag to train yourself to not want them and think of them as disgusting poison. =P

-begin each meal with a piece of fresh fruit, salad, or vegetable.
or whenever you have the munchies.

Answer 9

You should eat pulse,nut etc to increase energy