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Comment by aurareturn | Hacker News Reader

I don't know if my experience is worth anything here.

But I lost a ton of weight doing cardio and going on a vegan diet. It was hard to put the weight off for long though. I also lost a lot of muscles and became "skinny fat". At some point, I hit a plateau and just couldn’t lose more fat despite a 500-1000 daily calorie deficit. It was unsustainable and probably unhealthy.

I did some research and switched to weight lifting and eating 20-30% of my calories in protein. Also, I increased my calorie intake to break even. The weight is staying off and I feel healthier and stronger.

Edit: I did go off my vegan diet when I switched my exercise strategy from cardio to weight lifting. I don’t have any diet restrictions. But I generally eat healthy food because the high protein diet generally makes me only eat whole foods such as chicken, vegetables, grains.

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Similar. Current evidence-based recommendation for daily protein intake is 1.6g protein per kg of target body weight. Not that any of that will solve the issue raised in the article: persistent up-regulated hunger signal sensitivity and down-regulated satiety signal sensitivity.

> Current evidence-based recommendation for daily protein intake is 1.6g protein per kg of target body weight

That measure is for when you are specifically looking to build muscle I believe, which might be a bit orthogonal to direction you want to go (if for weight loss).

It is also, IMO, a lot of protein to consume a day. I personally have never done that level of protein intake, ever, but I know a few who have, its an insane (to me) amount of protein powder, chicken, and broccoli (or alternatives) you have to consume, every day. If the goal was sustainability, it's definitely not possible for average people.

> It is also, IMO, a lot of protein to consume a day. I personally have never done that level of protein intake, ever, but I know a few who have, its an insane (to me) amount of protein powder, chicken, and broccoli (or alternatives) you have to consume, every day. If the goal was sustainability, it's definitely not possible for average people.

Yeah, I don't get it either.

If you exercise regularly and you're going on a cut, 1.6kg is a good target to maintain muscle mass. That said, in order for you to reach this point, you already have to be very good at regulating your food intake.

Otherwise, .9g per kg is a much more realistic target for the 90%+ of people who are simply trying to be fit.

0.9g/kg is considered by numerous sources to be insufficient for people in many different ages and stages:

https://examine.com/guides/protein-intake/

Research shows that 0.8g per kg of body weight is the absolute minimum recommended for individuals with minimal physical activity. If you are attempting to become fit, research suggests you want at least 1.3g per kg for moderate activity.

Honestly 1.6g per kg isn’t that much. It’s much more than most people are used to, but it’s not like you need protein shakes and chicken breast only. It just requires you to not consume all your calories in carbs and fat, which is a lot easier.

See: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26797090/#:~:text=To%20meet%....

I eat around 2g of protein per kg of weight. I lift weights 3x per week.

My fat % is slowly but gradually decreasing.

Did you stay vegan after switching? I.e., are you getting your protein calories via a vegan diet?

Also curious about this. I don't eat meat (but I do eat dairy when my stomach lets me) and it's very difficult for me to get enough protein... mostly because the protein-rich meat-free options mess me up in high quantities. But there's gotta be some good option out there that I'm missing!

Maybe try Soylent & Co. My favorite is Mana. Been drinking it for a while now, seems to be really good for you. Very convient too. Should be way more popular I think.

Ooh, thanks for the rec! I'd like to try something in that vein after my gut and I are on better terms, but it's hard to choose from all the brands out there. I've never heard of Mana till now but it looks less funky than some of the alternatives (Huel... lol).

No, I went off a vegan diet. Switched to eating a lot of egg whites, chicken and some fish. Occasionally red meat. Also drinking lactose free milk with my coffee and eating cheese sometimes.

It’s hard to get enough protein from a vegan diet and without enough protein, it’s harder to decrease fat %.

Also, I have a problem digesting beans so one of the main source of vegan protein is not practical for me.

I’m on a break even calorie diet right now and keeping the weight off. I’m also still breaking personal records at the gym despite maintaining the same weight which suggests my body is still getting lower in fat %.

It’s trivial to get plant protein. Extra firm tofu, tempeh, seitan, and TVP rival meat, though they tend to be novel for most people here. Certainly were for me.

I eat this tofu scramble almost daily: https://youtu.be/Vc5pZ-PY-H8

I agree that it’s possible to eat enough protein on a vegan diet.

But it’s easier to do it on a non vegan diet.

For example, chicken has higher protein per 100g than tempeh while having lower calories. In addition, I could also drink whey protein which is cheaper, and have higher protein per calorie than vegan protein powder.

My goal was to lose weight and get visible abs. It’s just easier to do it on a non vegan diet.

Bioavailability of protein from vegetables is significantly less than from animals.

That statement usually comes from a misinterpretation of PDCAAS which only measures the limiting amino acid in a food. If you put any weight behind PDCAAS, then you have to grant that plant proteins have perfect PDCAAS scores if you eat more than one plant.

But there's research on strength performance outcomes on plant protein, those eating enough plant protein in total don't have any different outcomes. I don't see why this would move the needle for you.

It's harder to do it on a vegan diet if you don't eat high protein foods, and those foods might be novel to you, sure. But you said "It’s hard to get enough protein from a vegan diet", not "I was unwilling to eat the food". So of course I'm going to step in.

Protein density isn't all that different, but seitan and tvp are even more dense per calorie.

- extra firm tofu 14g protein, 130 cal. 0.11g/cal

- tempeh 51g, 510 cal. 0.10g/cal

- chicken breast 27g, 184cal = 0.15g/cal

- chicken thigh 28g, 240cal = 0.12g/cal

- seitan 21g, 106cal -> 0.20g/cal

- tvp (soy chunks) 50g, 330cal = 0.15g/cal

TVP is cooler than it seems if you were to google it. You basically treat it like dried ground beef in a bag. It's also ultra-cheap. For example, you'd dump it into a bolognese pasta sauce instead of ground beef and it comes out the same.

Do you have any concerns about TVP being ultra-processed?

> For example, you'd dump it into a bolognese pasta sauce instead of ground beef and it comes out the same.

In my experience it comes out, kind of, edible but slight disgusting, with grassy, soy aftertaste and spongy texture.

Thanks for this list. In 2014, I switched to a vegan diet with a heavy emphasis on restricted oil consumption too, and the weight peeled off. I originally did it for dietary/health reasons, but over the years I've developed more of an ear for the ethical reasons too. I never have felt like I'm not getting enough protein, but occasionally when conversations like this come up, it's nice to know what's out there. I'd never heard of TVP.

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