How much would I need to walk to make up for my lazy ways?? It's very hilly around here (hence the bike abandonment) & the dog needs walking so I think that's something I could, & should do.

I LOVE walking.  I'm the Forest Gump of walking.  A pound is 3500 calories (approximately:  1/2 kg is 3,500 kcal).  Walking burns approximately 100 calories a mile.  So, if you want to lose a pound a week, you need to either not consume or use 500 calories.  If you walk two miles a day and cut 300 calories out of your diet, then you'll lose 500 calories a day.  It takes about 2,000 steps to walk a mile (1.6 km), so if you got a pedometer and didn't want to walk 2 miles (3.2 km) everyday, you could walk, say 1 1/2 miles (2.4 km) and add 500 steps to what you do throughout the day.

Another thing you could do is figure out how many carbs, proteins, and fats you eat.  Maybe someone has a better guideline, but I use 50% of calories from carbs (4 cal/g), 20% from protein (4 cal/g)  and 30% from fats (9 cal/g).  Your body may be more inclined to lose weight if you're eating a balanced diet.  I average 1,400 calories a day when I eat a lot of carbs and 1,200 calories when I eat the right amount of protein.  If you're the same, then there's 200 calories already and you're eating healthier and more balance, too.  I'm not saying you should only eat 1,400 calories, that's just my natural amount but I think it's low to what people are supposed to be getting.

Good advice, Quintess! I'm going to take your advice.

But, as far as exercise goes, I was just like you VeganVic. The thing that worked for me is that I had to find something I enjoyed doing. Walking ... boring. Running ... boring, ect. But I found martial arts to be fun and GREAT exercise! I've stuck with it for the past 6 years. Which, for me, is a MAJOR change. I'm not telling you to do it, but you have to find what works for you. Maybe hiking would be fun, or tennis, or swimming or .... you get the idea. Try different things.

I had been gradually gaining weight for a little over a year until I got about 20-30 lbs overweight (who's to say what the right weight is?)(that's about 10-14 kg I think). I'm in college and was warned about the freshman fifteen... well, looks like I think I'm two freshmen  :P  Anyways, I decided to finally change things after I went back to school this spring.

I had tried diets before, lemonade whatever, raw this, calorie restriction... I've come to the conclusion that a good diet for me is a diet, i.e. something I can actually live on, not a one-month stunt or something. I transferred to another school, so my diet changed from that alone, and I was stuck with campus food... I generally ate a little grain for breakfast (a bagel or toast or a clif bar), a big salad for one of my meals, and "regular food" for the other ("Chinese" fast food from the dining commons , black bean/brown rice/veggie burrito, or whatever kind of super-American food there was ), I let myself have a piece of chocolate a day (I will never leave chocolate out.  ::) ) and some sort of dessert-like thing after dinner (a cookie, some trail mix, etc). And nooooo snacking (unless I was monstrously hungry or got dizzy from low blood sugar or something)I didn't have much variety in food, thanks to a tiny school + being vegan.
But most importantly, I started being active. At home I'd walk every day or something like that, but never anything that would actually make me sweat. I started using the gym at school, and basically did the treadmill the whole semester. I worked up from a 5 minute fast walk (that's all I could handle! haha.) to 30 minutes of a moderate jog (5 mph) by the end of the semester (4 months), and did it every day (with the exception of a few lazy days  ::) ).

I've always had a low metabolism. At times I've made the determination to eat healthier, figuring out about how much I need to eat to get calcium, protein, the vitamins, etc, and what wound up happening is I'd gain weight! (and be reaaaally full). I just don't have enough room during my day to get all that stuff. It's like I'd have to choose between being a fat, healthy vegan and a not-fat vegan who may or may not be getting all she needs. Well, at a certain point I chose the latter. At the point that I was gaining weight, I wasn't even eating the estimated # of calories a gal my height and age should get. To make matters harder for losing weight, I found out after doing the treadmill for about a week that I have asthma (I never knew before 'cause I never did exercise!  ::) ).

I wasn't hungry all the time, but it did get hard to get motivated to exercise everyday. And by the end of the semester, I just barely got under the maximum for "healthy weight" for my gender/age/height/etc. I think a good, sweaty cardiovascular exercise is really important for those of us who have low metabolisms, and eating less but more often helps too.

Exercising was the last of many things I tried for losing weight, so I didn't expect it to actually work... and still eat my chocolate and fried tofu.

According to the treadmill, I "burned" about 200-300 calories per day from that thing, but it felt like waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more. After building up the stamina, I was glad I did it because it meant I didn't huff and puff as much after going up stairs  :P

Me:  I think it would be fun for us to get outdoors and post pictures of places we've walked or hiked...

TinTexas:  You do know that if you click on your vegweb profile there's a place to post your pictures, don't you?

:) Me:  I posted a couple of nature shots I took today on my regular walk.  Hopefully I can get more urban shots soon.

Yes, I know about the personal photo galley and I scanned my driver's license pic and put it in there.  I honestly don't like to have my picture taken so I don't have any more recent.  I look a little pissed in it but then that's how I look when a cop pulls me over!  My DH doesn't like for me to post pics that he's in, so that doesn't leave me many at all.  We had our picture taken for the church directory and when we get our set of prints, I'll scan that one and put it up.  I think I can scan just me in it. 

Fallen, you're gorgeous.  Don't fret 5 pounds!

I've also gained weight switching to vegan, but I'm going to keep plugging along anyway... I just need to go to the gym more often... I've been a slacker!

I see that no one has posted on here for months, but i just read it and would like to vent about the topic as well, even if its late.  I was a vegetarian for 6 years before becoming vegan, and actually gained weight when i made the switch.  I since then have lost about 10 pounds but these last 5-10 constantly go on and off.  This really pisses me off because i am such an anal eater; moderate carbs that are only whole grain, no sugar (use splenda), no fried food or fatty ones, a dessert once a month, rarely drink, high fiber, lean proteins, watch sodium and so on.  The fact that i a obsess and people around me chow down on burgers and fries kills me!!! I try to ride my bike at least ten miles a few days a week, and my job has me on my feet all day!! I break down in tears sometimes over the frustration. Reading all these posts has made me feel better.

Oh man do I feel your pain! I have been battling my weight for the last 10 years now! I literally doubled my weight 2 years out of high school (100 lbs to 200 lbs) I managed to lose 60 of those pounds but I have been stuck at being "chubby"for the last 3 years. All around me I see people pigging out on fast food and rich deserts while I painfully count my calories and and munch on raw veggies--hey their great too--but I would rather eat a pile of fried snacks and pizza!Anyways--if I even look at these foods I gain weight while those around me stay thin---*grr*

Since returning to vegetarianism 8 weeks ago I have been charting my weight and weighing in once a week (same day/time for accuracy) so far i have flucuated 3 pounds each week--one week I'll be 140 the next 143--I was hoping that I would actually lose a little bit going vegi since i have cut out most of the processed foods I ate as an omni--but so far the battle continues...

I would love to buddy up with anyone else who wants to try losing weight!

I gained weight when I went veg 9 years ago because I thought if I ate cheese on everything it would be ok.  NOT!  I gained alot of weight, I mean alot.  Due to that and a breakup, etc....Anyway, about 3 years ago I decided I was literally going to die if I didn't get healthy so I started drinking protein shakes for breakfast and lunch and then I eat anything I want for dinner, and most of what I eat - not all, but most, is fried in a cast iron skillet.  I went totally vegan 2 years ago, so the cheese and eggs and ice cream are out.  Most of what I eat is sauteed and fried or it's soup/chili casserole type things.  I do lots of things with beans and corn tortillas and polenta and salsa.  Since it's summer, there are lots of good veggies in season so I put those on pasta and I eat tons of salad on the side with home grown tomatoes. 

The secret is to count the calories and exercise.  That is truly all there is to it.  I try to stay at  1400 calories a day.  Some days I go way over and if so, I don't beat myself up about it.  I drink wine on the weekends (liquid calories don't count).  I eat dark chocolate and vegan pie when the cravings are too much to bear.  I don't always succeed in staying under the calorie limit I've imposed upon myself.  But I've stayed true enough to it to lose 110 lbs over the last 2 years.  I do the equivalent of 3 miles of aerobics with 5lb weights 5 mornings a week, I park about 1/2 a block from my office and walk.  I walk up and down 85 stairs twice a day instead of taking the elevator.  I try not to expose myself to foods that are dangerous to me because I truly am a compulsive over eater.  Food is my drug, I literally cannot control myself around certain foods.  I can't keep jars of peanut butter around or packages of cookies or anything that you can eat a bit of and go back for more later. 

Sometimes I can stay really focused and disciplined and I feel very in control.  Sometimes I have cravings that make me eat a whole can of mixed nuts and an entire bag of potato chips or a whole container of PUrely Decadent.  But I just try to do better the next day.  I cook food that is delicious and healthy and comforting and at the same time I can make it taste like it came from a greasy diner if that's what I'm in the mood for.  I love to cook and drink wine and make up new sauces for pasta and combinations of veggies to put in it. 

It's a process and it's something I'll struggle with all my life.  I have never been skinny, nor do I want to be.  I like my curves.  I just want to be healthy and have a healthy self image.

Shiraz i am totally with you on the peanut butter thing; I can't be around it either (I once ate 4lbs of it in two weeks). 
Just checked out sparkpeople.com seems to have a lot of great tips and motivations

Opera that's great! I have used sparkpeople for the past 2 or 3 weeks, just simply to use the nutritional tracker to track my protein/carb/fat intake.. and I have ended up losing about 3 pounds because I know exactly how many calories I need and how many cals are in each meal and snack I eat. It really helps to track all of that stuff, so you don't get too few (i used to undereat by accident frequently, being almost fruitarian, and that lowers metabolism) or too many calories.