Vegetarian Chicks - Calories ugh

Im putting this post here because its basically about my diet. I am on a whole foods vegetarian diet (I slip and fall with dairy more often then not). But, either way. I know alot of people follow calorie restricted diets. I go back and forth with partly due to my love of food. I get very hungry therefore have to eat. So you could say I eat alot anyways. I have a hard time restricting myself to the 1,500-1,700 cal. diets that are around.
I happened to have what alot of people call a "bad day" yesterday. I ate way to much. Of course all heathy foods. Just really overdid it. This is what hte list included: 5 cups of fruit, 1 cup of nuts, huge sweet potato w/ alot of honey, cinnamon, nutmeg., about 6 cups of pocorn or more, lentil/couscous (whole wheat) salad for lunch. All this being said I was scared of the scale today. Not my weigh in day but wanted to see what damage I did. I went on the scale and I was down 8oz from the day before. How did I loose weight instead of putting it on? I mean ive noticed this before just not in such a large amount in one day.
So I get to wondering is it really the quantity of the food we consume or the type of food (healthy,natural) that matters?

the basics of fatloss is calories in versus calories out. the 8oz you lost could be water, or you might have digested the food faster than the previous day etc. its probably wasnt a full 8oz of fat.

in saying that, good healthy food tends to have alot less calories than the not so good stuff, so while you feel like you ate alot, the calorie content could have been lower than you thought. the only way to know is by counting every calorie.
on the plus side, healthy food will make us feel better. it gives our bodies the fuel it needs in a form it can easily absorb. so while you might not lose weight, your body will function better.
well done on making all those healthy choices!!!!

What shows on the scale today isn't just a measure of the day before. The scale weighs a lot of things including water.

If you are having a hard time feeling satisfied on 1500-1700 calories, I'd look at incorporating more beans and veggies into your diet. Honestly a 1500-1700 calorie diet can be very satisfying.

I'm a vegetarian who has lived off 1300 or so calories for the last 8 months to lose almost 40 pounds. I'm about to reach my final goal this Thursday.

1) Vegetarian:
I am on my own terms a "vegetarian". Occassionally, I will eat a serving of meat (usually a serving of goat curry or bacon). I will likely always eat cheese and eggs because I was raised in a Scandinavian dairy home. I gave up meat because of my environmental concerns about impacts of raising meat. Also, I just love sauce way too much to recognize what's underneath-- which translates for me to the fact that I don't give enough respect to the animal which gave up its life. Pour sauce on a chewable shoe and I'm quite content.

I use the term vegetarian only to basically prevent others from serving me meat or fish. I am about 99% vegetarian in a year (never beef, almost never anything else, occassional fish and milk, weekly cheese, and frequent eggwhites. If I eat meat, it's because I want to, I respect the animal that gave up its life, and it's on my own terms.

Make your food consumption make sense to you and don't worry if the label fits. I use the label to assist others who may wish to serve or share food with me. It is not my declaration. I have the goal to eat with conscientiousness and consciousness.

2) Calories:
From the list of foods you ate, it looks like you ate about 2,000 cals. Check out the calorie counters section here for people's suggestions on how they count calories. I think I've been much more successful with weight loss this year because I was really informed on two things: 1) calories in all the food I ate, 2) calories burned in every activity I did.

3) Filling Up:
I am a fanatic fan of Volumetrics and food density. To learn more, check out the book by Barbara Rolls to start. A few of us fans have started a thread about volumetrics (called summertime and volumetrics). The basic concept is to have low calorie but higher filling foods and eat four or more times a day.

well yeah im trying to incorporate more beans into my diet. Im also aware of the water part. My scale actually says the amount of water in my body. I went back and looked and it was actually less today than yesterday. Thats to say if it is completely accurate.
Im aware of the calorie in and out scenorio which is my question. Ive seen myself loose more weight (on scale) when eating more. Thats why I dont know if the calorie theme makes sense to me.

Heather - I meant to say that your actions a week prior will show up on the scale today. So often what we do the day before may affect our weight today but it also may be something that happened 3 days ago that affects our weight today.

One thing that I've read is before our fat cells empty completely, they actually fill up with water. So for example 2 days in a row, you could have the same weight on the scale but you can actually have less fat because now your body is holding onto excess water for a short period of time.

Ohok, I gotcha. Before the fat flushes the water can build up. I'll let the water build for a couple of days as long as all this fat flushes!

Hi Heather - I was having a lot of the same problems that you were having, especially in regards to the nuts and more calorie-dense grains (popcorn, and cold breakfast cereal in particular are my "I can't stop eating!!!" foods).
I have been eating a low fat vegan diet for about 1-1/2 years but have gained and lost the same 10 lbs a ridiculous amount of times, especially when I let more refined foods (again breads, cereals) back into my diet. And I HATE being hungry. I like to eat...:) I have been doing a low-fat raw vegan plan for about 3 weeks and have lost 13 pounds, and I'm never hungry. I'm kind of shocked how easy it has been - Dr. Doug Graham has a great book called 80-10-10. Basically eating tons of raw veggies and some tender greens and non-sweet fruits (tomato, cucumber, ect), its almost impossible to overeat.

that was all high fiber stuff. It also does not take a long time to "burn off" carbs. You probably ended up loosing the weight down the toilet to be blunt. Probably in the morning when you got up.