Does a vegan diet make you fat? (Spoiler alert: no.)

August 8, 2017 Ashley 0 Comments

Ever see fitness clickbait like this?

Intriguing, isn’t it?

The answer’s yes. That’s tantalizing. Just like most lies are.

We hear how great veganism is – so, naturally – we wanna read the counterargument proving we can go back to D.Q. desserts and Heart Attack Grill dinners. But, for me, I already know it’s clickbait. I already know this is an article about a woman who went vegan, ate too many carbs, overindulged all the wrong, processed-full-of-sugar-and-trans-fat-and-salt foods, and (…duh…) gained weight. (You do that on any diet – vegan or not – and you’re gonna have a problem. One of great big blobby proportions.) Long story short, the chick finally woke TF up. She nixed the processed junk, balanced all her macros properly (protein, fats, and carbs), and started to eat only ‘til she was full. (Not until, as Louis C.K. puts it, she hated herself). She retained her plant based diet – but ingested to contentment only. And, guess what? After that, in her own words, the weight melted off, she felt energetic, and she never looked back from veganism again. Indeed, this I already knew. And, no, not ’cause I’m a know it all.

I knew it because I’d read this same clickbait adorned article in some form or another before.

From a ton of other vegan converts.


(And this is how the typical convert tale turns out IRL, BTW.)

But, what I unfortunately also knew, is that too many people viewing this post on social media would read only the misleading post caption. They’d assume the takeaway is what the article suggests – that veganism – not one’s own inability to moderate or eat clean or balance macros- was the problem. And this was painfully evident in the comment section, where users posted such inanity as, “This is why I don’t go vegan *insert bacon emoji*” or “I knew it! Hey *tags friend* we can go grab burgers now!” or, worse yet, “Yeah, I got fat too. Guess it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”

And it bums me out.

Not because it counters my own fitness system. (I don’t even know you. I’m just a rando trying to help another rando.) And not just because of the compassionate aspect. But also because it means that these people are missing out completely on a beautifully sustainable way to shave down both your weight and age (seemingly). All because a clickbait-y title that clearly failed to actually generate any clicks – also failed to so much as hint that the takeaway wasn’t what you’d think it was. So, for anyone who’s actually reading this article, that’s the takeaway. That’s the summary for all of these “Do you get fat by going vegan?” articles. Plain and simple, no. A plant based diet doesn’t make you fat. It also doesn’t make you skinny. (You make yourself either via the right choices within the diet itself.) What it does do, however, is make weight loss and increased health and energy far, far, far easier and more accessible – when you do it the right way.

You make you fit or not, by balancing macros, avoiding processed foods, and eating clean.

#plant based diet#vegan#weight loss diets#weight loss foods

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