Can You Lose Weight By Vegan Diet

Going vegan is the best decision I ever made. But did I immediately start shedding pounds to reveal my strong, toned (plant-powered) Wonder Woman physique underneath? Nope.

Living in London and working in a fast-paced job meant that I never really took the time to notice that my clothes were getting a little tighter, the number on the scale was creeping up, and more importantly, I just didn't feel healthy. I had assumed that being vegan would answer all my ethical and physical conundrums. It wasn't until I developed severe back pain that I began reflecting. Why was I putting on weight as a vegan? It wasn't fair!

While on holiday last year, I saw myself in the mirror and realised I wasn't happy with who was looking back. In that moment, I accepted that I wasn't the strong, healthy vegan woman I knew I was inside and began a journey to change that. Nine months later, I've dropped 10 pounds, my legs no longer rub together when I walk (hallelujah!), and my back pain has almost completely disappeared.

Not Losing Weight As A Vegan? Do These 3 Things Now!

Eating vegan is a great way to get healthy, eat well and be kind to the planet. Just don't make the same mistakes as I did. Here are some of the lessons I learned along the way.

My meals are based on plants; I can eat as much as I want. I know that's not how it works, and yet I'd been telling myself this for years. I had already made the decision to cut out cheese, so surely I must have earned the right to eat whatever I wanted for the rest of my life? But here's the thing. Vegan food still adds up. Sugary cereal for breakfast, a huge bowl of creamy avocado pasta for lunch, sampling London's food scene for dinner, and throwing myself with wild abandon into my pot-a-day hummus habit eventually caught up with me.

Here's my advice: think about controlling your portion sizes. Eat when you are hungry (actually hungry, not just wanting to eat) and consider using a food-tracking app like MyFitnessPal. Doing all this really opened my eyes to how much food I was really eating in a day. Who knew hummus was so calorific?!

Is The Vegan Diet Good For Weight Loss?

Macronutrients sounds like another foodie term to read about once and then forget. But learning what macros are and using this knowledge to guide my choices of what I put in my body every day completely changed the way I think about food. The aim is to fuel myself, not just fill myself. To be healthy, you need to make sure you are balancing your meals with the right amounts of three things:

When I first went vegan six years ago, getting hold of a brownie, a slice of cake, or a dessert which didn't contain eggs, butter, or milk was pretty difficult. That meant that when I did visit a café or restaurant where it was possible to indulge a little, I did. A lot. Gradually, vegan cakes began popping up everywhere, but my old mindset remained: Quick — a rare vegan strawberry sponge cake has been spotted! I must eat it now before it disappears into the undergrowth!

But if you're eating cake every day because you continue to believe it is difficult to find cake to eat, your waistline is going to suffer. Not to mention your sense of logic. Try this instead: don't swear off cake forever. That would be too cruel and to be honest — for me, at least — it's not sustainable. Instead, choose to eat dessert once a week instead of every day, and when baking for yourself, choose some delicious, nutritious desserts like these vegan cookie recipes.

Vegan Diet Plan For Weight Loss

After quitting meat, eggs, and dairy, I didn't really feel like giving anything else up. Surely it was OK to have one vice you can turn to for a treat? After all, it's just a drink. How could liquid cause you to put on fat, anyway? It wasn't until I started logging everything I consumed using MyFitnessPal that I realised how many calories and how much sugar I would routinely drink with each meal. Even if I had made a healthy, macro-balanced, delicious salad for lunch, that bottle of cola was about to completely ruin my careful meal prep. It was then I decided to switch to drinking more water instead. And you know what? I don't miss it anymore.

Here's how to make the switch. Start by cutting your soda consumption in half. Opt instead for water flavoured with fruit, fresh fruit juice (although be careful of the sugar here, too), or green tea. Make sure you are hydrated throughout the day by keeping a water bottle with you at all times and filling it up as soon as you hit the bottom. Eventually, I encourage you to cut soda out completely and free up your body to enjoy other treats that actually have nutritional value.

As of today, I am healthier, leaner, and stronger than at any point in my life as either a meat-eater, vegetarian, or a vegan. Switching to a plant-based diet can give you the tools to change your life for the better. Just use them wisely.

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Animal products, like dairy and eggs, vegans pass on them all—even honey (which is produced by bees) and gelatin (a common thickener used in packaged foods, which is made from the bones and skin of farm animals).

That leaves vegans to eat nutrient-rich fruits and veggies, protein-packed beans and legumes, hearty whole grains, and healthy fats like olive oil and avocado. But it also allows them to load up on not-so-healthy but still-technically-vegan foods, like sugary snacks, white bread and pasta, and junk foods like potato chips and French fries.

This begs the question: Does a vegan diet for weight loss really work? Here’s what you should know about going vegan if shedding pounds is your ultimate goal.

How Can A Vegan Diet Help You Lose Weight?

When you fill your plate with healthy foods, going vegan can serve up some serious health benefits, according to a review of research and position statement from the American Dietetic Association. People who follow plant-based diets have lower cholesterol, body mass index, and blood pressure, along with decreased rates of type 2 diabetes and several types of cancer.

What makes a vegan diet so healthy? Cutting red meat and dairy from your diet is one way to decrease your intake of saturated fat, which is known to raise your risk of heart disease and stroke, according to the American Heart Association. Plus, plant-based diets tend to emphasize satisfying fiber, essential vitamins and minerals, and a vast variety of plant compounds (including antioxidants) that have disease-fighting properties.

But switching to a vegan diet won’t automatically make you healthier. “Probably the most common mistake people make on the vegan diet is thinking everything vegan is healthy, ” says Julie Devinsky, RD, a clinical nutritionist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. After all, French fries and Skittles are both vegan and no one is going to tell you to start making a meal out of candy and carbs.

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If a vegan diet helps you swap out empty calories for nutrient-dense foods, then absolutely. “For many, weight loss on a vegan diet results from the combination of avoiding unhealthy foods and replacing those options with healthier ones, ” Devinsky says.

In other words, if you’re accustomed to grabbing take-out every night, making your own vegan tofu and brown rice bowl at home can help you lose weight because you are totally in control of the cooking method and what goes in it.

Still, certain vegan trade-offs can actually make you gain weight. To lose weight on any type of diet, you need to cut the number of calories you’re consuming. One of the easiest ways to do that is eat fewer refined carbs and more lean protein, which will keep you fuller for longer between meals.

Day Vegan Weight Loss Meal Plan Ideas: Recipes & Prep

When you don’t eat any meat, though, eating more protein can be tough, because your options are more limited, explains Nancy Rahnama, MD, a board-certified bariatric surgeon in California. So a vegan eater might end up downing a bowl of carb-rich pasta instead of a plate with protein-packed chicken breast.

Both Dr. Rahnama and Devinsky recommend filling half your plate with veggies before you add anything else. That way, you have built-in portion control for the rest of your plate: fats, proteins, or whole grains.

“For most carnivores, the meal centers around proteins—vegans

Vegan Diet Tips To Lose Weight Faster