So it’s probably not much of a secret but it works for me. And it’s healthy!

I thought for the longest time that I was 146 lbs which is only about 25 lbs more than where I was 2 years ago. But I came to find out that I was really 163 and my dad didn’t know what he was talking about when he said that the scale was only a couple pounds off. So I freaked out and asked my boyfriend what I should do. He said we should go for a run. Well we did and I cried and that was the end of that.

Well, later that night at dinner he asked if I’d be willing to go semi-vegetarian for a month. And I thought about it and I asked what would the conditions be. Here is what we agreed on:

You can’t have:
Beef, pork, lamb, duck, turkey, chicken, eggs

You can have:
Foods that have had meat in them but the meat was not eaten (mainly because my dad makes some really bangin food and I don’t want to not eat it)
Chicken broth
Any kind of fish

So when I got home I took my father’s debit card and went to the store and bought a cart full of fresh veggies and fruits and a Brita water juggy thing.

I also started counting my calories. I eat around 1,400 a day now and it doesn’t bother me at all.

The best part about this was that I lost a whopping 7 lbs in the first week. It was exciting and shocking at the same time. And I worried a little bit but after that it seemed to drop to something a little more normal.

I have been on this diet for 2 weeks now and I have lost 10 lbs all together, 2 inches off my waist and 1 inch off my hips!

If you want me to explain in detail what I did I’ll be happy to!

Avoiding meats isn't what led to your success.

The caloric control is.

I was counting while eating meat too but it did nothing so I gave up for a while.

Oh, this statement is what threw me for a loop:

So are you suggesting that meats were hindering your weight loss?

How many calories were you consuming before you went veggie?

If it worked for you that's totally awesome though.

Yes I am aware the I said I started counting but that was after I stopped for a while. Maybe should I add "again" in my original post?

I would say that I wasn't eating much more than I am now. When I was counting with meat I was going for around 1,400 as well but nothing ever happened.

From a psychological point there is a possibility that saying that I'm on a semi-veg diet has allowed me to cut back on something else that may have been causing me to not lose weight and i just not realize it. Maybe it was bread or cheese or fatty meats. Who knows?

If you're eating the same exact calories as before, I don't see how anything beyond that can make such a big difference.

If anything, your protein intake went down more than likely. Protein has the highest thermic effect out of the macronutrients, meaning it is the most energy-intensive in terms of digestion.

I like to think of it like this:

Calories control weight, for the most part.

Macronutrients control body composition, for the most part.

Granted, just eating the right macros without eating the right amount of calories won't work, so they go hand in hand, but hopefully everyone gets my point.

This said, however, I am not one to shoot down your efforts. I'm happy that you found something that works. I'm just not so sure why it's working in the context of what you were doing in the past, assuming your calories really were equal.

Doesn't meat stay in your body longer?

Define longer? Do you mean that it lingers like that old wives' tale about black pepper? Or do you mean that it takes longer to digest?

Food doesn't hang out for any length of time. Quality of digestion has to do with your level of chewing, and your G.I. makeup (every has a different body). If something doesn't get a good digestion then tough, better luck next time.

Let us know how it's working in 6 months. When I started losing weight I lost 20 pounds in 20 days. 20 pounds of what you say? Good question.

Long term is what matters as you can't lose 5 pounds of water weight every week.

Chicken is high in protien. I just don't see the benefit of cutting it out of your diet.

I try to eat lean proteins every day. Chicken breast for instance is very low in calories for the amount you get, and meat I find is much more filling than anything else, and the mornings I eat a lot of protein, I have energy all the day long.

I don't think it's possible that cutting meat is the reason you're not losing weight. Perhaps it's that you weren't properly measuring your meat out before if you were eating the same calories and weren't losing.

I agree with calories being what really counts in weight loss. But, I've had a similar experience at the OP. I decided increased my fruits and veggie intake a couple of weeks ago and I seem to be lossing weight a bit faster now. I was calorie counting before and after that deicision. It might be the shock that I've given my body from the sudden change in my diet or it might be that I was overestimating my calories before/underestimating them now, but I'm happy with the results.

Eating more veggies tends to fill you up with less calorically dense foods, thus auto-adjusting intake downward...

February and March I gave up meat for lent. I wasn't dieting or anything, just didn't eat meat. In the six weeks I gained about 5 lbs. I wasn't dieting or working out or anything. I just gave up meat and still ate what I wanted. I substituted things that were worse then meat.

Now I'm not eating much meat, but it's not cut out completely and I'm dropping at a good rate.

Oh, and eggs. I'm a firm believer that egg whites is one of the best things for you. Three egg white veggie omelet (made with pam spray), low cal, high protein, and delicious. Skip the yokes and it's like perfect protein.