Can I Lose Weight on a Plant Based Diet?

Reviewed by Dr Mitra Dutt

While many people find a vegan diet helps them lose weight, others struggle to get their weight down – just like everyone else. Take a look at these key tips for healthy and sustainable weight loss.

Take care with protein

Did you know that protein plays a key role in weight loss? Protein in your meals helps keep cravings at bay and boosts fat burning. On a vegan diet, it can be tricky to eat more protein because common plant protein foods such as beans and grains are high in starch too. This means you have to eat more energy (calories!) to get the same amount of protein from a food.

You can get around this issue with the following tips:

• Eat a little less starchy food such as pasta, rice, potatoes, pastry and bread. These foods are broken down into sugar in your body.
• Include plant based protein foods in every meal - this could be tofu, tempeh, beans, lentils, nuts or quinoa.

Don't shy away from healthy fats

Instead of filling up on starchy foods like bread and pasta, which add to your sugar intake and make weight-loss harder, supplement your protein foods with vegan foods containing natural fats:

• Olives
• Nuts & seeds
• Avocado
• Coconut
• Hempseed oil
• Sesame seed oil

Limit processed foods

Processed foods often have hidden additives, unhealthy fats and refined carbohydrates that interfere with weight loss:

• Plan ahead so you don't need to reach for ready meals, packaged snacks or takeaways at the end of a busy day.
• If possible, set aside some time at the weekend to make a slow-cooked stew - for example, with vegetables and beans or lentils. This can be re-heated quickly during the week.
• You could also make some bean or mushroom-based burgers in batches for the freezer - your very own ready meal but 100 times better for weight loss than factory-made!

Reach for savoury snacks first

Have nuts, seeds, olives, oat cakes or chopped vegetables with hummus as your go-to snacks when hunger strikes. These snacks help keep your blood sugar stable so that you can avoid sweet cravings. Make them interesting by toasting your own nuts, adding fresh lemon juice to your olives and mixing up different kinds of seeds.

Plan your treats

Make a list of your favourite low-sugar treats such as dark chocolate, coconut yoghurt and berries. Make your own protein or fat-based treats using dates and nut butters to avoid eating processed cakes and chocolate bars full of refined sugar and sweeteners.

Keep moving but don't over-exercise

Everyday movement is important for many aspects of your health, not least weight loss. Avoid long periods of sitting and add in more frequent walks, even if they are not long.

Beware though! An exercise regime that is vigorous and prolonged can often work against weight-loss efforts as you can end up eating more!

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