Want to lose weight vegan or learn more about whether the plant-based diet is suitable for dropping a few pounds? Then you've come to the right place! In most cases, vegans are driven by ethical or ecological motives - but the Change of diet from meat eater to vegan can also have health reasons. Compared to other diets, the vegan diet, for example, is much lower in calories and therefore quite ideal for losing weight in a healthy way. Even the annoying calorie counting is usually omitted.
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'll also get effective weight loss tips that you can put into practice right away. Let's go!
Here you can find a short overview in advance:
Short definition: What is "vegan weight loss" and what does vegan diet mean at all?
For a better classification I would like to give you here at the beginning still briefly two definitions to the hand. Who eats vegan, feeds purely vegetable and consistently avoids meat, fish, eggs, milk, honey and all other products of animal origin or with animal additives in your own meals.
"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 balanced planned vegan diet healthy and nutritionally 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 own body weight to a specific 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 read in the linked article.
8 tips for losing weight through vegan diet
Does eating a purely plant-based diet actually make it easier to lose weight? This question can not be answered with a blanket YES, after all, are high-calorie foods like cola, chips and dark chocolate yes also vegan! But as already mentioned, the vegan diet is basically - and for example compared to the mixed diet - significantly lower in calories. As so often, weight loss success depends on the exact implementation. So what to look out for?
Here I'll first give you the most important tips, before I explain them all to you afterwards:
- Choose the right food
- Avoid sweet fatteners
- Ensure colorful variety on the plate
- Cook with fresh food
- Get inspired by low carb recipes
- Plan for 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 concluded that vegans lost more weight than meat eaters, even with exactly the same caloric intake. This "phenomenon" is to be due according to the Wissenschaftler*innen to the intestine health, since the purely vegetable nourishing way improves the microbiome in the intestine and increases the total quantity of healthy bacteria. The weight loss success through the vegan diet is therefore not exclusively due to the intake of a lower amount of calories.
1. choose the right food
If you want to lose weight vegan, you should not frantically try to eat as little as possible.
Rather focus on the right foods at your meals, then you don't have to starve yourself for weight loss success. For example, a diet that is conducive to weight loss is high proportion of whole grain products - from pasta to bread. Also be sure to build Fresh fruit and vegetables in your diet plan, because it is rich in nutrients and water, so you provide your body with important substances and you are full faster.
In general, plant-based vegetables in particular do 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.
Therefore, here again the most important foods for an effective, vegan diet at a glance:
- Fruit & Vegetables (e.g. apples, bananas, broccoli and carrots)
- Legumes (e.g. peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas)
- Whole grain products (e.g. oatmeal, whole grain pasta and quinoa)
- Nuts, Seeds & Kernels (e.g. walnuts, pumpkin seeds and flax seeds)
2. avoid sweet fatteners
There are vegan sweets, but not yet in abundance. As a convinced vegan, my snack range is therefore relatively sparse, which is a decisive advantage when losing weight vegan. But nut nougat cream and vegan cheese alternatives are also purely plant-based products. Unfortunately, they are extremely rich in fat and sugar and have already nipped some diets in the bud. So be sure to avoid these foods in your plans and stay strong!
You still lack the 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 fatteners like milk chocolate and the like out of old habit. Finally, you are then vegan in the long term and with full soul. For me, by the way, the decisive step came after I had the freely available "Documentation Dominion about the human treatment of animals.
Tip: Did you know that there is an essential Difference between veganism and vegan diet there? You can get to know him in the linked article.
3. ensure colorful diversity on the plate
Relapses and cravings are always possible - but you can 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 one or two essential nutrients as well as the excitement.
Internalize that plant-based cuisine is not just salad, but incredibly diverse. And make sure that you eat balanced and 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 acts. By definition, this is anything but fresh. Ready-made products - whether vegan or not - are of course also not fresh and 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 it's breakfast, lunch or dinner, take advantage of the variety of low-carb, vegan recipes available on the internet to prevent the boredom I 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.. Because the bottom line for weight loss success is that you take in less energy than you consume.
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. But if you follow the tips in this article, you'll tend to be able to do it without "bean counting".
6. plan three balanced meals and a high fluid intake every day
If you want to lose weight through vegan nutrition, it is advisable that three meals a day are the promising basic framework. An example? How about oatmeal muesli with some soy yogurt and strawberries for the Breakfast, a chickpea salad with pumpkin seeds to the Lunch and lentil bean dal with sweet potatoes to the Dinner? This division finally ensures that you get all the important nutrients and lose weight healthily.
And in between? As mentioned, refrain from 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 the imagination.
Also, please remember, drink a lot of water, to Sufficient liquid ingest. Unsweetened teas also lead to success. If you have your 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 vegan*s, right? But don't worry! For one thing, there are also thin and pale meat eaters. And for another, there are countless, vegan athletesThe nutritional value of a balanced, plant-based diet is proven by the likes of strongman Patrick Baboumian and MMA fighter Nate Diaz, who have shown that you can achieve peak athletic performance with a balanced, plant-based diet.
7. prepare your meals
Walking around the supermarket or the city hungry can make you fall off the wagon and crave gummy bears and a greasy kebab, for example. By preparing your meals (for example, by cooking more than you want to eat in the evening), you can eat more of them on the following days, and you'll be able to eat more than you want to. not only time, but also calories and Save money sustainably. For the so-called Meal-Prep there are also countless, delicious recipe ideas on the net.
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: 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 be within the next three weeks.
8. also consider the classic weight loss tips
There are some tips where it doesn't matter for weight loss success whether you eat vegan, vegetarian or mixed diet. These classic recommendations include the following in particular:
- 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 (attention to the potential critical nutrients in vegan diets)).
- Sufficient sleep (since poor sleep increases the feeling of hunger₂)
- Do not compare with others (e.g. do not take Instagram role models, as they are mostly posed and often edited pictures and every person consumes different amounts of energy and energy consumption depends, for example, on body weight, gender, age and other factors).
- …
Do you have any other tips for vegan weight loss? Then I'm eager to hear your advice and ideas in the comments column.
Vegan slimming made easy!
So can you lose weight on a vegan diet? Yes, according to experience, this actually works quite well. But there is no guaranteethat you will really reach your dream weight through a pure change in diet. On the one hand, because not all vegan foods are automatically healthy and low in calories - on the other hand, because the diet success also depends, for example, 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 really 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. What else you can do for it, you will learn now next 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.
