Hi,

I started eating in line with Dr Esselstyn's diet (vegan) back in early May. In all, I've lost around 20 pounds. I haven't lost a single pound, however, for the last 4-5 weeks. Here are a couple facts about myself.

a) 40 y/o male.
b) 6'1" tall.
c) Weigh 234.
d) Eat a lot of vegetables, whole grains (wheat), fruit.
e) Restrict my oil intake. (vegetable, olive, etc). (I cook my onions with water and not any oil for example)
f) Eat very little nuts.
g) Eat very little refined sugar, white flour, etc
e) Drink a lot of diet soda (with caffeine)
f) Do not exercise much and work in a sedentary job.


All in all, I've been very good on this diet. I haven't cheated at all. I went from a meat eating, carb junkie to a strict vegan diet and I am actually enjoying it. I am a bit concerned, though because I am no longer losing any weight.

What are your thoughts based upon the above? I am enjoying my new healthier eating habits but would like to continue to lose weight. My goal is 200. My doctor told me that diet is 80% of sustained weight loss. Exercise is good but eating healthy is better.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

My husband is also vegan and exercises all the time. He also follows Dr. E's plan after watching "Forks Over Knives" and reading the China Study. He is very fit in addition to eating well. I am also vegan when I am not on the diet I currently am on, which is a medically supervised very low calorie diet. I needed to lose 50lbs and didn't have the attention span to lose 1.5 lbs a week. I am on a keytongenic diet until I lose what I need to lose.

One thing they have stressed is knowing your metabolism, which means knowing how many calories you burn in a resting state. Your doctor is right in that what you eat (the calories you consume) has a big impact on your weight loss - pretty much a numbers game. If you eat as many calories as you burn you won't lose weight. Exercise helps you burn more calories so you can eat more calories and it also helps you build muscle so that you can raise your ability to burn calories in a resting state. So, exercise and see where that gets you, find out what your basic metabolic rate is, or both.

Sallyk