A lot of folks are looking at the ample health effects of the vegan diet and deciding that it is worth giving it a try. In a recent study of over sixty thousand men and women including thousands of vegans, only the vegan group had a BMI that was healthy. Even the vegetarians were found to be overweight. You can read that study here.
Now as I’ve reiterated, I believe the vegan lifestyle should be chosen for ethical reasons. Folks who choose a vegan diet for other reasons are more likely to return to omnivorous eating. I’m vegan for ethical reasons, and I urge you all to consider the violence associated in your diet and try to move to a non-violent vegan diet.
However, the less animals you eat, the better. So I want to help you lose weight as an omnivore on a vegan diet so that you can get a taste of the many benefits of the vegan diet and hopefully stick with it for the long haul.
Just to recap, a vegan diet is a diet that is devoid of all animal products and animal excretions. Vegans DO NOT eat meat, chicken, fish, seafood, dairy, eggs and honey.
Alright, so how can meat eaters lose weight on a vegan diet? Easy. My best suggestion is not to venture far. I would start by changing out the meat in your diet with vegan options. And this is super easy nowadays.
How about an example. If you eat steak with green beans, and a baked potato then swap out the steak for a vegan chicken breast like this one.
These vegan chicken breasts contain 180 calories per 100 grams, 0 mg cholesterol, 19 grams of protein, and 7 grams of fat with 0 grams of that fat coming from trans fats or saturated fat. A regular roasted chicken breast has 197 calories per 100 grams, 84 mg of cholesterol, 30 grams of protein, and 8 grams of fat including 2 grams of saturated fat. And that’s without any seasoning, which the vegan chicken breast already has.
You’ll find that if you continue to do this, you will end up eating less calories, less fat especially saturated fat and you’ll be eliminating all cholesterol from your diet.
Other examples include using vegan meatballs for your pasta, or using vegan ground meat. You can make your same stir fries by using vegan chicken strips like these instead of real chicken, and you’ll be saving a bunch of calories and fat.
In its most simplest terms, losing weight is a matter of eating fewer calories than you burn. By making just one small change in your diet as it stands now, will decrease your calorie consumption by at least 5% and perhaps a lot more.
That vegan chicken breast we discussed above, has over 10% less calories than real chicken.
If you want to get hardcore about your weight loss, take a stern look at your diet and start to minimize the junk food you’re eating. Get rid of chocolate bars, french fries, ice cream and other junk. Replacing your 2% milk with soy milk is roughly equivalent in calories, but without the hormones, antibiotics, puss and cholesterol and saturated fat.
If you get rid of cheese and cheese is a weakness of yours, you’ll likely see huge gains. I’d start off slow for the first couple of weeks. Just replace animals foods with their vegan counterparts and see how you do.
Soy milk for regular milk. Vegan cheese for regular cheese, vegan mock meats for animal flesh, and if you must, vegan ice cream for regular ice cream. This is the soy milk I like, this is the vegan cheese I enjoy on occasion and this is the vegan ice cream I eat for an occasional indulgence.
If the weight is not coming off as quick as you’d like, then eliminate the vegan cheese, and desserts. Drink water or tea/coffee but eliminate pop, juice. Don’t drink your calories. Try and remember to eat until you’re satisfied but not stuffed and see if you can’t exercise a little more.
Losing weight is not rocket science. Just eat less than you need. A vegan diet is a great help in that regard. But also try and eat healthy. You know what that is. Whole grains, wholewheat bread, veggies and fruits, nuts in moderation and beans a plenty.
I make allowances for white rice and white pasta if that’ll give you more enjoyment from your meal. But why not try quinoa instead of rice for a flavorful protein packed bed for your veggies and tofu or mock meats.
Let me know how it goes. Your body will thank you for having to carry less of itself around, and the animals will thank you for sparing them from torturous violent deaths and misery.
PS. If you’re going to give this a collegiate try, make sure you take 2,500 mcg of vitamin B12 once a week. I like this brand. This is non negotiable. Even omnivores could benefit from B12.