Well, you may not like the answer, but....
the first 20ish lbs took 2 years. But I wasn't consistent with my food. I was also under some life stress, which didn't help me. I'd loose 3 lbs one month, gain 2 the next. That kind of thing. But I kept trying and exercising. I wasn't logging my food. I was just eating too much. My serving sizes were way off.

What really turned it around for me was the Okinawa diet The food is really good, it heavily relies on soy, and it tastes great. In the last 8 weeks I've lost 16 lbs. But I'm logging my food and exercising. But I'm really satisfied for the first time in ages. I can turn down things that aren't healthy for me because I feel so much better.

Hope this helps.

HI..........
I am not really sure what to call myself...I just do not eat---beef,pork,chicken or fish..
I eat veggies,fruits,nuts,milk and cheese...and of course grains...and I like the fake meat meals........LOL........I decided to go meatless and fishless.....ha ha..after thinking of me eating baby animals to make me feel good...
It is not worth the nightmare of hearing their crys....
I am new here..........so if you all can help me get around...I would be so thankful..
I have a start weight of 364 and down 352 so far..
Thanks for letting me be me............Barb........Delmar,Maryland... :-)

I am vegan. This means I *never* eat animal products. No honey, beef, chicken, pork, sea foods, fish etc. no gelatin and so on.

For the record, a person who eats fish is a "pescatarian" in most vegetarian circles.

I'd say that's pretty darn far away from a vegan diet or lifestyle! Looks like "selective omnivore" is a good term to describe how you choose to eat or not eat animals.

I'm actually re-committing to veganism after reverting to ovo-lacto for a few years due to health concerns.

I'm vegan, don't eat anything with animal products in it but I am new and occasionally make mistakes with hidden products or when I don't realise what something is on the label. I'm getting a lot better, I just can't face the idea of something suffering so that I can eat. I can't even pick apples off a tree myself incase it hurts the tree...I think I'm getting neurotic!!!

Vegan

I am semi-vegetarian (have been since I was about 13) in that over the course of a month I might have one meal with fish or chicken. But, I am looking to end that all together.

I am a Ovo-Lacto vegetarian. I have been for about 4 months now. I slipped when I started the South Beach Diet, because I was afraid that I would fail if I didnt eat at least some meat to keep my diet varied (phase 1). Since I started Phase 2 I am back on the wagon and feeling fine about it. I havent eaten red meat or pork since I was about 10 (22 now) and I find chicken is the hardest thing to give up. But I really enjoy meat replacement things like burgers and crumbles. I also really like Tofu, I made my first recipe about 2 weeks ago and really really liked it. I havent tried Tempeh yet but I bought some I just cant find it!

Darlingchick how are you doing on South Beach? I have lost 25 pounds since January 1st and am feeling great. When did you start?

Pescatarian

I am a vegetarian (ovo-lacto) and have been off and on for about 10 years, I find I feel much better if I don't eat meat, I had been eating veggie and my doc asked me to go on a lo carb diet to help control my blood sugar and I quickly found out that red meat gives me heart burn and chicken makes me gain weight :-/
finally I just gave it up again, WOW what a difference! and my blood sugar stays normal as long as I work out :-) my weight quit jumping around, my next project is to really reduce processed foods especially bread, I already eat alot of brown rice ( rather than white rice) the thing I really have a tough time with is Bagels so I allow myself one a week if I do all my work outs. Also I am working on cutting back on my fat intake and hopefully the 2 things together will kick start my weight loss again :-)

Mary

I've found my diet becoming more and more vegetarian over the past year or so to the point where I only eat chicken or tuna once or twice a week. This hasn't been a deliberate decision as such, it just seemed to happen. (I also eat dairy products, and very occasionally eggs). I've decided to see if I can cut out the meat (although I may retain the fish at first) and work towards becoming fully vegetarian. This is still a bit of a learning process, and I wouldn't claim to be there yet, but I thought I'd pop in over here and look at some of the resources.

I now eat fish, eggs and dairy. But as of tomorrow I'm going back to vegan which I used to be for 6 months. I don't really like fakemeats, but am a fan of nutloaf, beans and lentils. I like veg as well, especially tomatoes. Don't really know how much protein I should have if I'm being vegan and dieting at the same time. I have an excel program that calculates all the ratios in percentages. Also is anyone here counting calories? Or is it too old fashioned? I thought I'd aim for 1400 a day as I don't really exercise much. My real vice is, believe it or not... juice. I drink 2-3 litres a day. Thought I'd swap it for sparkling mineral water, but I don't know how my body will react to the sudden shock of not getting massive amounts of sugar. I hope someone replies Thank you.

I am a Ovo-Lacto. I started this when I was twelve. The site of lobsters in the supermarket tank was distributing. I decided from that moment on I would not eat meat anymore . I definitely "see animal faces" when I look at cheeseburgers, chicken wings, etc. Flash forward thirteen years: I've attempted to eat fish due to all the associated health benefits. I just can't get used to the taste. I found common ground through fish oil supplements.

i'm an ovo-lacto vegetarian. i'm 20 years old and i was born& raised veggie, so it's not an ethical or helath thing really, just lifestyle. i'm not a big fan of milk& cheese, except in cereal& tea and italian food, respectively. soo this diet thing is perplexing me a little on where to go after portion control and not eating crap.

<mini-rant> i really hate people who carry their vegetarianism/veganism like some banner.. it doesn't make you the most special person ever.. it's not that hard. stop being an attention whore and shut the up!! </mini-rant>