Do you want to lose weight vegan or find out more about whether a plant-based diet is suitable for shedding a few pounds? Then you've come to the right place! In most cases, vegans are driven by ethical or ecological motives - but the Changing your diet from meat-eater to vegan can also have health reasons. Compared to other diets, for example, the vegan diet is much lower in calories and is therefore ideal for healthy weight loss. Even the annoying calorie counting is usually eliminated.
In this article, I would like to give you everything you need to know about dieting with the help of a balanced, plant-based diet. You will also receive effective weight loss tips that you can put into practice straight away. Let's go!
You can find a brief overview here in advance:
Brief definition: What is "vegan weight loss" and what does a vegan diet actually mean?
I would like to start by giving you two definitions to help you better understand this. Who eats a vegan diet, feeds purely on plants and consistently avoids meat, fish, eggs, milk, honey and all other products of animal origin or containing animal additives.
"My body will not be a tomb for other creatures."
Leonardo da Vinci (more at Veganism Quotes)
How the American Dietetic Association confirmed, is a A balanced, planned, healthy vegan diet nutritionally and physiologically appropriate and serves to prevent nutrition-related widespread diseases for people at all stages of their lives.₁
The "vegan slimming" accordingly also describes the Controlled reduction of your own body weight to a certain target weight with the help of a purely plant-based diet.
Tip: To what extent the Veganism can improve your well-being and attitude to lifeyou can find out in the linked article.
8 tips for losing weight with a vegan diet
Does eating a purely plant-based diet really make it easier to lose weight? This question cannot be answered with a blanket YES, after all high-calorie foods like cola, chips and dark chocolate yes also vegan! However, as already mentioned, the vegan diet is generally - and in comparison to a mixed-food diet, for example - significantly lower in calories. As is so often the case, the success of weight loss depends on the exact implementation. So what to look out for?
Here I will first give you the most important tips before explaining them all to you:
- Choose the right foods
- Avoid sweet fattening foods
- Ensure colorful variety on the plate
- Cook with fresh food
- Get inspired by low carb recipes
- Plan three balanced meals a day and a high fluid intake
- Prepare your meals
- Also consider the classic weight loss tips
Notice: A scientific study of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) also found that vegans lost more weight compared to meat eaters, even with exactly the same calorie intake. According to the scientists, this "phenomenon" can be attributed to gut health, as the purely plant-based diet improves the microbiome in the gut and increases the total amount of healthy bacteria. The weight loss success of the vegan diet is therefore not exclusively due to the intake of fewer calories.
1. choose the right foods
If you want to lose weight vegan, you should do not try to eat as little as possible.
Focus on the right foods for your meals so that you don't have to starve yourself to lose weight. For example, the following are beneficial when dieting high proportion of whole grain products - from pasta to bread. Also be sure to build Fresh fruit and vegetables into your diet as it is rich in nutrients and water, so that you supply your body with important substances and feel full more quickly.
In general, plant-based vegetables in particular have a lower energy density and vegan foods are usually also rich in fiber, healthy fatty acids and essential micronutrients. But as already explained: vegan does not automatically mean healthy! So it's important to take a closer look when choosing your own food.
So here is an overview of the most important foods for an effective vegan diet:
- Fruit & vegetables (e.g. apples, bananas, broccoli and carrots)
- Pulses (e.g. peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas)
- Whole grain products (e.g. oatmeal, whole grain pasta and quinoa)
- Nuts, kernels & seeds (e.g. walnuts, pumpkin seeds and linseed)
2. avoid sweet fattening foods
There are vegan sweets, but not yet in abundance. As a convinced vegan, my range of snacks is relatively sparse, which is a decisive advantage when it comes to vegan weight loss. But nut nougat cream and vegan cheese alternatives are also purely plant-based products. Unfortunately, they are extremely high in fat and sugar and have already nipped several diets in the bud. So be sure to avoid these foods in your plans and stay strong!
Are you still lacking conviction? Then it's best to make yourself aware, Why people live vegan. If you do it for the animals, the environment and for yourself, you are most likely to stay on the ball and don't fall back on fattening foods such as milk chocolate and the like out of old habit. After all, you will then be vegan in the long term and with your whole soul. For me, by the way, the decisive step came after I discovered the freely available "Dominion documentation" about the human treatment of animals.
Tip: Did you know that there is an essential Difference between veganism and a vegan diet there? You can get to know him in the linked article.
3. ensure colorful variety on the plate
Relapses and food cravings are always possible - but you can specifically prevent them. For example, by keeping your meals looking colorful and delicious, and varied are. If you always eat the same thing, you're missing out on one or two essential nutrients as well as the excitement.
Internalize that plant-based cuisine is not just about salad, but is incredibly diverse. And make sure you eat a balanced and healthy diet. motley if you want your vegan diet to be successful.
4. cook with fresh food
"Fresh fish" or "Fresh veal" are classic Euphemisms from factory farming. They sound good, but disguise the fact that they are dead, preserved body parts and muscle tissue of dead animals trades. By definition, this is anything but fresh. Ready-made products - whether vegan or not - are of course also not fresh and are often sweetened with sugar, so that they shatter many weight loss dreams.
Therefore try Prefers unprocessed and therefore really fresh food (so-called clean eating) in your home-cooked meals. Here you have full control over the ingredients and can specifically promote your weight loss process.
5. get inspired by delicious low carb recipes
Whether for breakfast, lunch or dinner: use the variety of low-carb, vegan recipes on the internet to prevent the boredom just mentioned. With the so-called low carb diet Finally, reduce the amount of energy-rich carbohydrates to a maximum of 150 grams per day.. The bottom line is that it is important for weight loss success that you consume less energy than you use.
Nice to have: Of course, you can also use calorie counting apps (e.g. Cronometer) to better monitor and control your eating and drinking behavior. However, if you follow the tips in this article, you can generally do without "bean counting".
6. plan three balanced meals a day and a high fluid intake
If you want to lose weight on a vegan diet, it is advisable to eat three meals a day as a promising basis. An example? How about oatmeal muesli with some soy yogurt and strawberries for Breakfasta chickpea salad with pumpkin seeds to accompany the Lunch and lentil and bean dal with sweet potatoes for Dinner? This classification ultimately ensures that you get all the important nutrients and lose weight healthily.
And in between? As already mentioned, avoid sweet and high-fat snacks and, if necessary, switch to vegan alternatives. How about plant-based energy balls made from dates and cashews, for example? Of course, there are limits to the calories - but not to your imagination.
Please also remember this, drink a lot of water, to sufficient liquid to take in. Unsweetened teas also lead to success. If you want to Upgrade tap water a little I'll give you some more tips in the linked article.
Tip: Surely you know the cliché of the thin, pale vegansright? But don't worry! For one thing, there are also thin and pale meat eaters. And for another, there are countless, vegan athleteslike strongman Patrick Baboumian or MMA fighter Nate Diaz are proof that you can achieve top athletic performance with a balanced, plant-based diet.
7. prepare your meals
Walking through the supermarket or through the city hungry means you run the risk of falling off the wagon and craving gummy bears and a greasy kebab, for example. By preparing your meals in advance (and simply cooking more than you want to eat in the evening, for example), you can still feed on it the following days and give yourself the energy you need. not only time, but also calories and Save money sustainably. There are also countless delicious recipe ideas online for meal prep.
If you want to lose weight vegan and slim down in general, this tip will definitely help you not to fall into old habits and let your pounds tumble.
Tip: You can also use comprehensive plans from trained nutrition experts. Depending on what your defined goal is, this could be, for example, a nutrition plan with Tips for healthy weight loss within the next three weeks.
8. also consider the classic weight loss tips
There are some tips that make no difference to your weight loss success whether you eat a vegan, vegetarian or mixed diet. These classic recommendations include the following:
- Consciously move a lot (e.g. use stairs instead of elevator)
- Active sports (e.g., jogging, swimming, Cycling or Plogging)
- Set realistic (interim) goals (e.g. lose 10 kilograms in 8 weeks)
- Cover nutrient requirements (through a balanced diet and regular medical blood tests (taking into account the potentially critical nutrients in a vegan diet))
- Sufficient sleep (as poor sleep increases the feeling of hunger₂)
- Do not compare with others (e.g. do not use Instagram role models, as these are usually posed and often edited images and each person consumes different amounts of energy and energy consumption depends on body weight, gender, age and other factors, for example)
- …
Do you have any other tips for vegan weight loss? Then I look forward to your advice and ideas in the comments column.
Vegan slimming made easy!
So is it possible to lose weight on a vegan diet? Yes, experience has shown that it works quite well. But there is no guaranteethat you will really achieve your dream weight by simply changing your diet. Firstly, because not all vegan foods are automatically healthy and low in calories - and secondly, because the success of your diet also depends on how much you exercise, how much you sleep and how much you want it. Without willpower no one reaches his goals, it's always the same. No matter whether you fit back into your old pants or stop smoking want.
I very much hope that I can help you with this advice for controlled weight loss. Do you have any questions, suggestions or other helpful tips for losing weight on a purely plant-based diet? Then I look forward to your comment.
Stay healthy,
PS: Fighting excess body fat or even obesity will help you, grow old healthy. You can find out what else you can do in the linked article.
References:
₁ American Dietetic Association; W. J. Craig; A. R. Mangels: Position of the American Dietetic Association: vegetarian diets (as of July 2009), https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19562864. [05.09.2020].
₂ P. Leistenschneider, T. Kurscheid (2016): Nutrition and sleep, DOI: 10.1055/s-0037-1618317.
