Vegetarian weight loss

Question
I have been vegetarian for 10 yrs. I do eat fish and dairy, but no poultry or meat.  I am 56 and my problem is I have been gaining wt steadily for the past 10 yrs. Recently I read something about weight gain and protein deficiencies. could this be a cause? I weigh 162 and should be about 130 max. I don't eat excessively and snack very seldom.

Answer
Hi Iswrae,

Many people do gradually put on weight as they get older - your metabolism slows down and if you continue to eat the same amount as you did when you were younger, you will slowly gain weight.

If you are following a well balanced vegetarian diet, you should not be deficient in protein (and protein deficiency would not be a reason for you to gain weight, anyhow). Make sure you are getting at least 2-3 servings per day of legumes, nuts/seeds, tofu, eggs and fish. Also, make sure you are including lots of fruits, vegetables and whole grains in your diet. These contain lots of fibre and will help fill you up so you won't eat as many calories. You can read my other tips for healthy weight loss at:
http://www.getfitwithkaren.com/WL-Tips.htm

You may also want to do a quick overall review of your diet - I would highly recommend reading (or re-reading, if you've already read it) _Becoming Vegetarian_  by Vesanto Melina and Brenda Davis just to make sure you are including everything you need to in your diet.

Finally, make sure you are being physically active enough - lack of activity is another big reason for gradual weight gain over the years. If you are not active at all right now, I would highly recommend getting a pedometer and gradually working up to walking 10,000 steps per day (this has been shown to be very effective for both weight loss and overall health). Ideally, you should also be doing some strength training. Without strength training, you will lose 5-7 lbs per decade of (metabolically active)lean body mass after age 30 (this gets replaced with fat, which is not metabolically active, i.e. doesn't burn any calories)- this is the major reason why metabolism slows as we age. As little as 30 minutes of strength training twice a week can be very beneficial. You can do a simple routine at home with dumbbells and a stability ball.

Hope that helps!

Karen
www.getfitwithkaren.com

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