“Vegan To Lose Weight” is the most important article you must read before you start any type of weight loss program. Because if you’re like most people looking to lose weight, you want to make sure you don’t sabotage your weight loss efforts by choosing a vegan diet that is going to leave you deficient in essential vitamins and minerals. And it can be very easy to do this on a vegan diet.
Diet For Vegan To Lose Weight
A vegan diet can be healthy for overweight people. In fact, a vegan diet may actually prove to be more optimal for someone who is overweight since a typical vegan diet tends to be higher in fiber, lower in unhealthy fats and generally easier to digest. A well-planned vegan diet includes all of the essential vitamins, minerals, unsaturated fats and other nutrients that every vegetarian needs, yet it also excludes high-calorie, low nutritional-value foods such as fried foods, sweets and most animal products.
The Secrets To Losing Weight On A Vegan Diet
Many people turn to a vegan diet for weight loss and health reasons but not all vegans lose weight. If you’ve been trying to eat a vegan diet for weight loss and not seeing much success, read on for the best strategies to get that scale moving downward!
Why You’re Not Losing Weight On A Vegan Diet
There’s a common misconception that vegan = healthy. In reality, vegans can fall on the broad range of healthy to unhealthy diets just like any omnivore diet.
A lot of that boils down to processed vegan foods. Vegans can eat chips, cake, cookies, soda, mock meats and cheeses. Just because it’s vegan doesn’t mean it is healthy.
The plus side is that a vegan diet can absolutely aid in weight loss if done in a healthy and sustainable way. After all, you want to keep the weight off don’t you?
Now, everyone knows the basics like to cut out processed foods, drink more water, etc. But actually putting advice into action is the hard part.
We’re going to dive into the best tips and strategies for weight loss on a vegan diet so you can lose weight, feel great, and stop yo-yo dieting.
Disclaimer: Make sure to check with your primary care physician before starting a new diet, especially if you are currently taking medications.
How To Lose Weight On A Vegan Diet
If you are seeking a vegan diet plan to lose weight, the solution will make a lot of sense to you. Many people have lost weight on a vegan diet, but they quit because it was a challenge. Often, people who lose weight on vegan diets quit because they do not see results or because they need to stay motivated. If you truly would like to learn how to lose weight on a vegan diet in 24 hours or less, please read through this piece slowly and carefully.
Maintain A Calorie Deficit
Weight loss as a concept is really quite simple. If you burn more calories than you consume (food and drinks), you’ll lose weight. Easier said than done.
Let’s start with ways we burn calories: resting metabolic rate (the calories we burn just to stay alive like pumping blood or growing new cells), non-exercise physical activity (standing, walking around the house, doing laundry, cleaning, etc.), exercise, and diet-induced thermogenesis (the energy it takes to digest the food we eat).
The Secrets To Losing Weight On A Vegan Diet
Many people turn to a vegan diet for weight loss and health reasons but not all vegans lose weight. If you’ve been trying to eat a vegan diet for weight loss and not seeing much success, read on for the best strategies to get that scale moving downward!
Why you’re not losing weight on a vegan diet
There’s a common misconception that vegan = healthy. In reality, vegans can fall on the broad range of healthy to unhealthy diets just like any omnivore diet.
A lot of that boils down to processed vegan foods. Vegans can eat chips, cake, cookies, soda, mock meats and cheeses. Just because it’s vegan doesn’t mean it is healthy.
The plus side is that a vegan diet can absolutely aid in weight loss if done in a healthy and sustainable way. After all, you want to keep the weight off don’t you?
Now, everyone knows the basics like to cut out processed foods, drink more water, etc. But actually putting advice into action is the hard part.
We’re going to dive into the best tips and strategies for weight loss on a vegan diet so you can lose weight, feel great, and stop yo-yo dieting.
Disclaimer: Make sure to check with your primary care physician before starting a new diet, especially if you are currently taking medications.
How to lose weight on a vegan diet
MAINTAIN A CALORIE DEFICIT
Weight loss as a concept is really quite simple. If you burn more calories than you consume (food and drinks), you’ll lose weight. Easier said than done.
Let’s start with ways we burn calories: resting metabolic rate (the calories we burn just to stay alive like pumping blood or growing new cells), non-exercise physical activity (standing, walking around the house, doing laundry, cleaning, etc.), exercise, and diet-induced thermogenesis (the energy it takes to digest the food we eat).
Exercise accounts for only 5% of the calories we burn. This is why we can’t outrun a bad diet.
To burn off one donut you’d have to walk for close to an hour or run for 23 minutes. Plus, exercise, especially high intensity ones, rev up our appetite and can actually cause us to eat more and unintentionally move less over the following few days. There’s no need for intense exercise, but a little daily movement is good for health in general.
The good news is you can lose weight without exercise or spending hours in the gym. Move more, but don’t make it your main source of calories out for weight loss.
Take a 30 minute brisk walk a few times a week or do some light weight resistance training.
And the best time to workout? In the morning before a meal if possible, tends to burn the most fat.
If you can’t, the next best time is 6 hours after a meal like before a late lunch or before dinner time if you had an early lunch.
Why? Carbohydrates are the preferred fuel for our bodies which means after a meal they get broken down and converted into blood sugars.
Our muscles then use them for fuel without needing to rely much on our energy stores of fat. However, when exercising fasted, our muscles dip into our energy stores so we burn more fat while exercising.
The Secrets to Losing Weight on a Vegan Diet
Many people turn to a vegan diet for weight loss and health reasons but not all vegans lose weight. If you’ve been trying to eat a vegan diet for weight loss and not seeing much success, read on for the best strategies to get that scale moving downward!
Jump To
Why you’re not losing weight on a vegan diet
How to lose weight on a vegan diet:
-Maintain a calorie deficit
-Focus on fiber
-Choose whole grains
-Drink more water
-Eliminate oils
-Avoid added sugar
-Time your meals
-Eat slower
-Have healthy meals prepared
Why you’re not losing weight on a vegan diet
There’s a common misconception that vegan = healthy. In reality, vegans can fall on the broad range of healthy to unhealthy diets just like any omnivore diet.
A lot of that boils down to processed vegan foods. Vegans can eat chips, cake, cookies, soda, mock meats and cheeses. Just because it’s vegan doesn’t mean it is healthy.
The plus side is that a vegan diet can absolutely aid in weight loss if done in a healthy and sustainable way. After all, you want to keep the weight off don’t you?
Now, everyone knows the basics like to cut out processed foods, drink more water, etc. But actually putting advice into action is the hard part.
We’re going to dive into the best tips and strategies for weight loss on a vegan diet so you can lose weight, feel great, and stop yo-yo dieting.
Disclaimer: Make sure to check with your primary care physician before starting a new diet, especially if you are currently taking medications.
How to lose weight on a vegan diet
MAINTAIN A CALORIE DEFICIT
Weight loss as a concept is really quite simple. If you burn more calories than you consume (food and drinks), you’ll lose weight. Easier said than done.
Let’s start with ways we burn calories: resting metabolic rate (the calories we burn just to stay alive like pumping blood or growing new cells), non-exercise physical activity (standing, walking around the house, doing laundry, cleaning, etc.), exercise, and diet-induced thermogenesis (the energy it takes to digest the food we eat).
Exercise accounts for only 5% of the calories we burn. This is why we can’t outrun a bad diet.
To burn off one donut you’d have to walk for close to an hour or run for 23 minutes. Plus, exercise, especially high intensity ones, rev up our appetite and can actually cause us to eat more and unintentionally move less over the following few days. There’s no need for intense exercise, but a little daily movement is good for health in general.
The good news is you can lose weight without exercise or spending hours in the gym. Move more, but don’t make it your main source of calories out for weight loss.
Take a 30 minute brisk walk a few times a week or do some light weight resistance training.
And the best time to workout? In the morning before a meal if possible, tends to burn the most fat.
If you can’t, the next best time is 6 hours after a meal like before a late lunch or before dinner time if you had an early lunch.
Why? Carbohydrates are the preferred fuel for our bodies which means after a meal they get broken down and converted into blood sugars.
Our muscles then use them for fuel without needing to rely much on our energy stores of fat. However, when exercising fasted, our muscles dip into our energy stores so we burn more fat while exercising.
So how do we maintain a calorie deficit without focusing on exercise? Focus on the calories in side of the equation. Eat less than you burn. Not sure how many calories you need a day? Check out this calorie calculator to get an estimate.
Read on for the best tips to help you maintain a calorie deficit more easily on a vegan diet.
FOCUS ON FIBER
Fiber is zero calories but filling and nutritious. Fiber is indigestible meaning our body can’t absorb it and is often just thought of helping us with regular bowel movements. However, we have billions of little helpers in our colon in the form of bacteria that can digest fiber.
When our good gut bacteria break down fiber, they turn it into short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that can be absorbed into our bloodstreams and bodies. These SCFAs play an important role in regulating our appetite, metabolism and body fat.
When we increase our fiber intake it also leads to a decrease in daily caloric intake. Why, you ask? The fiber adds bulk to food, but not calories, so we fill up on less calories per volume.
For example, one study showed that a high-fiber whole wheat pasta with pureed fruits and vegetables left the stomach 45 minutes later than a meal with the same volume and same calories but made with white pasta and fruit and vegetable juices (with fiber removed).
This slower emptying of the stomach leads to a longer feeling of fullness and less calorie consumption at later meals.
Additionally, fiber can act as a natural fat- and starch-blocker. When you eat apple slices with peanut butter, some of the peanut oil calories get trapped in the fiber from the apples and make it all the way through the intestine without getting absorbed.
A Standard American Diet loses about 5% of the calories in waste but a diet higher in fiber can double that. This means you can lose more weight eating a high-fiber diet with the same number of calories.
On a Standard American Diet, people get less than half the recommended daily fiber. If you increase fiber intake to the minimum recommended amount of about 30 grams a day, it could potentially decrease daily calorie absorption by one hundred calories!
Additionally, choosing higher fiber foods also helps to crowd out the less filling, processed foods. It’s a win-win!
HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT ON A VEGAN DIET
This post contains affiliate links for which I may earn a commission (at no extra cost to you) should you make a purchase. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please see my disclaimer for more information.
Have you been vegan for awhile, but haven’t dropped a pound? If you are struggling to lose weight while vegan, read on for some possible reasons why!
DON’T ALL VEGANS LOSE WEIGHT?
Many people assume that it is super easy to lose weight on a vegan diet. They think that going vegan will make them lose weight no matter what they eat, as long as there are no animal products. This is a fairly wide-spread misconception.
This idea that “veganism = weight loss” is untrue, and many people figure that out when they go vegan. In fact, it’s quite easy to gain weight on a vegan diet if you are not doing it in a healthy way. There are plenty of processed foods available to vegans, such as chips, cookies, cakes, “cheese” etc. There is a vegan version for everything!
This is great for the animals and the planet (and cheat days!), but if you are health-conscious and want to lose weight on a vegan diet, you need to be eating the RIGHT foods most of the time.
Tips To Help You Lose Weight On A Vegan Diet
Losing weight on a vegan diet can be a challenge. There are lots of myths surrounding the vegan diet including “it’s too hard to lose weight on a vegan diet,” or “you can’t have your favorite foods if you go vegan.” Thankfully, I have some weight loss tips for you which include my personal recommendations and “insider knowledge” that will help you shed the pounds on a vegan diet.
Check out these tips if you are struggling to lose weight on a vegan diet!
Don’t Eat Processed Vegan Alternatives
Vegan butter, vegan cheese, Beyond Burgers… So delicious, yet so unhealthy! Treat yourself from time to time but eating this type of food regularly will make weight loss a LOT more difficult for you.
There are some healthy vegan cheese recipes online that would be a great alternative to the processed store-bought stuff. There are plenty of delicious healthy vegan burger recipes out there too!
Fiber is only found in plants. Here are some high fiber options:
- Beans and legumes (kidney beans, chickpeas, black beans, lentils, etc.)
- Whole grains (quinoa, oats, whole wheat, etc.)
- Nuts and seeds (almonds, walnuts, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, etc.)
- Fruits (avocados, pears, apples, etc.)
- Greens (kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, etc.)
- Root vegetables (sweet potatoes, onions, beets, carrots, etc.)
Choose Whole Grains
Ditch the white bread and opt for whole grain bread. My favorite is Ezekiel which is a sprouted grain bread. No add oil or sugar and full of high fiber grains!
Same goes for pasta. Choose pastas made from 100% whole wheat or other whole grains.
These easy swaps make increasing fiber intake a breeze!
Drink (And Eat) More Water
Avoid liquid calories by drinking more water. Liquid calories like sodas, juices, energy/sports drinks, and alcohol can be high in empty calories and sugars which throws off your metabolism.
Don’t like plain water? Try adding a squeeze of lemon or lime like this Lime Agua Fresca. Add fresh mint or berries to flavor water naturally.
Eating foods high in water content also adds bulk much like fiber does. Apples and oranges, for example, are about 85% water. Since they are low calorie but bulky, you can fill up on them quickly without consuming a lot of calories.
High-water foods also tend to take longer to chew and eat, which sends signals to our body that we’re getting full and in response regulates our appetite.
Eliminate Oils
Oil is essentially pure fat. It’s stripped of fiber (and most of the nutrients that are attached to fiber). One tablespoon of olive oil contains 120 calories of mostly empty calories.
Eliminating oil is an easy way to reduce calorie intake. When cooking, simply replace oil by sautéing with water, vegetable broth, balsamic vinegar, or soy sauce. The latter three also provide great flavoring without as many calories as oil!
All the recipes at Health My Lifestyle are designed oil-free. You’ll be surprised how much you don’t miss oil when you stop cooking with it.
Eliminating added oils also applies toward packaged foods. If you see oil on the label, skip it. Most likely it’s highly processed, low in nutrients, and high in calories anyways. That’s a recipe for disaster if you’re trying to lose weight.
Stick with the source of oil: the whole olive, peanut, avocado, etc. Eating the whole food provides the healthy fat we need along with the fiber and nutrients for a healthy diet.
Make sure that you always have healthy food on hand so that you don’t go for something quick and processed when you’re hungry!