Why Diet is Key to Weight Loss Success
A member emailed:
"I started eating a plant-based diet almost a year ago after watching Forks Over Knives. When I started, I lost weight and felt great, but now I'm starting to gain! Over this past year, I have gotten tired of salad, peanut butter and beans. I don't have a lot of time to cook, so when I'm busy I don't eat. Then I come home and eat 4 rice cakes with a little peanut butter and all fruit preserves. I really never get hungry for dinner so I just eat some peanuts and go to bed. I also exercise 3 times a week, it used to be more, but work and kids make it hard for me. I have a friend that eats mostly paleo and I'm tempted to try it. She had success eating this way with losing weight. Any advice?"
I'm sorry to hear this has happened, but can tell you it's the peanut butter. Added fats, especially oils, but also nuts and nut butters will pack on the pounds, even if you're not overeating calories. I've had many clients who, even when they scrupulously counted their calories, continued to gain or did not lose weight while eating avocado and peanut butter. Some clients find they can have a little without problem, but fat is a common culprit. As is hidden oils.
You can see the list of other culprits here: How the Plant-Based Diet Made Me an Overeater {REVISITED with more honesty}
I actually don't recommend exercise during attempts at weight-loss as it can slow you down and create too many variables, so don't worry about not being able to exercise. It's more important to eat right :)
Paleo will destroy your health, it's so harmful for the body. People sometimes lose weight on diets like that because they force their body to get sick in ketosis. People also lose weight starving themselves--not that that's healthy! At best you could say paleo is a vanity diet, but that's all it is.
People who eat a high-protein diet have 4x the risk of death from cancer and diabetes and double the risk of death from any other cause, reports a recent UCLA study.
And you've seen Forks Over Knives, so you know how animal foods feed cancer and damages the heart.
Even too much plant protein is taxing on the body.
If you want to lose weight, you have to cut the fat out and the convenience foods--remember that a can of beans and rice from the freezer is easy, as is a bag of frozen veggies. A great book is The Starch Solution.
I also cannot recommend the meal plans enough! You take 2 hours to prep all the meals for the week, then you can reheat all week long. If it's just two of you, then leftovers = lunch and you can do a simple breakfast like oatmeal, or one of our other suggestions. The meal plans also more than pay for themselves :) and eating paleo ain't cheap!
Good luck!