I'm kind of curious about your plan to keep the weight off, if as you say, you don't plan to stay on the diet long term. Isn't that a setup for the classic yo-yo diet where the weight comes back after you return to your regular way of eating?

I plan to implement vegan cooking on a more regular basis; maybe have it make up 25-50% of my evening meals. As a vegetarian, that won't seem like much of a change to me. Not having the ability to ever have certain items again like cheese or yogurt or ice cream is what would keep me from being vegan permanently.

I generally don't have issues maintaining my weight once I reach a certain goal, so long as I'm smart about what I eat. I have other issues when it comes to weight gain -- eating a lot of junk that I know I shouldn't, full of sugar, etc. If I can refrain from doing that, I don't gain weight. But once I do put the weight on, by being a stupid-head and binging on candy and junk food, it's very hard for me to get off. So far, this diet is the only thing that's worked for me :) If I do manage to get it off, I'm gonna be good...limited sugar for me from now on!

Have you tried more exercise? I'd ditch the sugar before the dairy. Going vegan long term is not healthy, IMO.

Uh, I believe I mentioned in my original post that I wasn't planning on going vegan long-term. And, sorry, not to be rude, but you're displaying a common misconception. There's nothing fundamentally unhealthy about being vegan, so long as you eat a proper mix of carbs, proteins, etc., and take a multivitamin to get your B12.

I exercise every day. In past diets I have ditched sugar, and gotten nowhere. Thank you for your input.

If you're not interested in going vegan, that's your choice, but I started this thread to discuss this diet with other people who might be interested. There are tons of other people who discuss other "interesting" or non-mainstream diets in this forum -- why is it the vegan one that gets picked to shreds, hmm?

I'm sorry. I don't think I "picked you to shreds". I'm sorry if my response was a little abrupt but I didn't have much time at that moment. I just asked a question and gave my opinion. And while you said you didn't want to be rude I do think your tone is rather rude.

Personally, I'm pretty much a vegetarian and have been vegan in the past. It is difficult to maintain and in my experience is not a sustainable diet (in the sense of diet being daily intake of food, not diet to lose weight). I've not gone vegan to lose weight, so I don't know, although the lack of fats would probably be effective in that way.

Since you said that eating junk and sugar is what made you put on weight in the past, I said that getting rid of the sugar would be my suggestion rather than the eggs and dairy. I am of the opinion that eggs and dairy are good for a person (barring allergy issues) and should be incorporated in a healthy diet.

When I started to diet I cut out a majority of meat, eggs, cheese, etc. but I have not gone vegan in many years. Most of the people I know who have been, or are, vegans are not the healthiest bunch and I don't think it is a good idea long term, as I have said. As for becoming vegan to lose weight I think it is more sustainable to reduce those foods rather than omit them. But that's just my opinion.

I'd like to discuss veganism, but do not want to go vegan. Am I still welcome here, or are you only interested in speaking with those who wish to go vegan?