# Are there any fat vegetarians? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 17, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-fat-vegetarians/331561 "2005-11-17T22:36:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-fat-vegetarians/331561/1 "2005-11-17T22:36:01Z")
Every vegetarian I’ve met was on the skinny side. I’ve never met a fat one. Just curious. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-fat-vegetarians/331561/2 "2005-11-17T22:41:42Z")
I know a few. They all have a startling affinity for cheese. Vegans, on the other hand, are pretty much uniformly rail-thin. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-fat-vegetarians/331561/3 "2005-11-17T22:44:21Z")
Well, I’ve met a lot of people who _don’t eat meat_ that are pretty chubby. Actual vegetarians - that is, those that follow a specific diet all tend to be pretty smallish. And every vegan I’ve every met has been very trim. (And pale, for some reason). ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-fat-vegetarians/331561/4 "2005-11-17T22:44:24Z")
I knew one fat vegetarian. Fat annoying egotistical highly-strung self-important vegetarian, to be specific. But she certainly was fat. ---
**Author:** ![GirlyGurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/22d042/32.png) [@GirlyGurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GirlyGurl)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-fat-vegetarians/331561/5 "2005-11-17T22:44:39Z")
I know a few as well–but maybe they were just big-boned ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-fat-vegetarians/331561/6 "2005-11-17T22:48:08Z")
Well, anecdotally, yes, I’ve met a couple obese ones. M&Ms, chocolate cake and cheese pizza are vegetarian too, y’know. As a side note, I know a lifetime vegetarian who needed a triple bypass in his early 50s. He wasn’t obese, but he wasn’t thin either. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-fat-vegetarians/331561/7 "2005-11-17T22:54:30Z")
I know a pair of fat vegetarians. (A couple.) Lots of cheese and carbs. Lasagna every other day. 😃 I also know a strict vegan woman with a lovely fat bum. ---
**Author:** ![Cillasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@Cillasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cillasi)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-fat-vegetarians/331561/8 "2005-11-17T23:04:34Z")
It seems that vegetarians should be a little stouter since they have to consume more volume in order to get adequate nutrition (especially protein). I suspect that a lot of today’s vegetarians make up for the lack with store-bought vitamin-type stuff, so that may account for some of the thinness. Then again, there are probably some naive vegetarians who are actually undernourished. > [@Larry Mudd](#): > > I know a pair of fat vegetarians. (A couple.) Lots of cheese and carbs. Lasagna every other day. 😃 > > I also know a strict vegan woman with a lovely fat bum. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-fat-vegetarians/331561/9 "2005-11-17T23:17:13Z")
> [@Cillasi](#): > > It seems that vegetarians should be a little stouter since they have to consume more volume in order to get adequate nutrition (especially protein). I suspect that a lot of today’s vegetarians make up for the lack with store-bought vitamin-type stuff, so that may account for some of the thinness. Then again, there are probably some naive vegetarians who are actually undernourished. Actually that’s a good point, if a person’s appetite is only going to satisfied with X number of calories per day the expectation would be that a lacto-vegetarian might well be fatter for a given daily calorie load than an omnivore who has access to lean, high quality protein. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-fat-vegetarians/331561/10 "2005-11-17T23:19:48Z")
All desserts are vegetarian. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-fat-vegetarians/331561/11 "2005-11-17T23:23:15Z")
Most of the vegetarians I know are either willowy or just normal slim build, and this is hardly surprising because meat is where the lard lives. But I do know one portly vegan; I wouldn’t call her ‘fat’, but she’s probably a little above the top recommended weight for her height. Nuts; that’s what made that happen, lots and lots of nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-fat-vegetarians/331561/12 "2005-11-17T23:24:20Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > All desserts are vegetarian. :eek: Not in my home town. (seriously) ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-fat-vegetarians/331561/13 "2005-11-17T23:25:03Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > All desserts are vegetarian. :eek: Not all. Plenty of people still use lard in baking, for example. I understand that it makes incredible crusts. ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-fat-vegetarians/331561/14 "2005-11-17T23:53:58Z")
If I met a fat vegetarian I’d wonder if he or she drinks. A six-pack of beer and a bag of chips is a vegetarian “meal”, and alcoholic beverages are notoriously fattening. Plant-derived foods (other than nuts and seeds, and a few odd items like olives and avocadoes) are lower in fat and so less calorically dense than meat and dairy products. A very physically filling vegetarian meal can contain a lot fewer calories than a fairly skimpy meat-and-cheese-based one. This makes it harder to be a fat vegetarian than it is to be a fat omnivore–but it’s not impossible. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-fat-vegetarians/331561/15 "2005-11-17T23:57:30Z")
In some parts of the world, rice is a major staple, people eat tons of it, and many are quite heavy. It’s not from the rare protein they consume, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![Hoodoo\_Ulove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/58956e/32.png) [@Hoodoo\_Ulove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoodoo_Ulove)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-fat-vegetarians/331561/16 "2005-11-18T00:09:18Z")
> [@CC](#): > > It’s not from the rare protein they consume, I’m sure. Rice has protein. ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-fat-vegetarians/331561/17 "2005-11-18T00:20:14Z")
The OP’s never been to India, I gather. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-fat-vegetarians/331561/18 "2005-11-18T00:22:55Z")
Sumo wrestlers eat primarily [chankonabe](http://www.slate.com/id/2110026/) which doesn’t seem to contain any meat. Not necessarily the picture of leanness. They also skip breakfast (slows metabolism), excercise while hungry (slows metabolism even more), nap after eating (so as to conserve fats & calories), eat late at night (same), and often eat with other (to encourage eating more). They’re definately doing something right. If by right, I mean getting real portly. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-fat-vegetarians/331561/19 "2005-11-18T00:25:48Z")
It turns out I’m a moron. There’s meat in the sumo stew. But that other stuff’s still interesting, in case anyone’s planning on aggressively gaining weight. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-fat-vegetarians/331561/20 "2005-11-18T00:28:23Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > All desserts are vegetarian. :eek: Not the ones that contain gelatin. And I know at least two fat vegetarians. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-fat-vegetarians/331561.md?page=2)