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Can we really assume that going vegan is enough to make anyone skinny? I had a friend who was vegan. She said she lost 50lbs right off the bat, and then gained it all back (presumably as fat, where did all the muscle go?).
Vegan doesn't mean immune to junk food. Soy pudding, soy ice cream, soy mayonnaise...
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As a vegan myself, I don't believe that veganism has any more inherent power to make you thin than any other way of eating. If you are going from eating tons of junk and fast food to a healthy, vegan diet, you're going to lose weight. But you'd probably also lose weight going on an omnivorous diet that was based around whole, healthy foods.
I kind of resent
Skinny Bitch because it turns a lot of impressionable women onto veganism for the wrong reasons, as well as promotes a bad image of veganism. While abstaining from animal products could be one path towards a healthier lifestyle, veganism is first and foremost a matter of personal ethics in which one believes it is wrong to harm or consume animals. While a lot of people who read
Skinny Bitch might find some of the factory farming/animal rights stuff interesting, I have a feeling the real reason they are eating vegan is simply to lose weight. But there is a lot more to veganism than just what one eats.
Plus, I wouldn't even call all of the food recommended in that book healthy. From skimming through it, I noticed there was a fairly heavy reliance on faux meat products, none of which are really that great for you. Sure, veggie bacon might have less calories than pork bacon, but you're also getting a lot of artificial junk.
Bottom line, I've been vegan for years and have still, at times, been unhappy with my weight. Its about the calories, and just because I might not be able to go to a traditional ice cream parlor or burger joint doesn't mean I can't gorge on high calorie, unhealthy food.