Vegan Meal Plan to Lose Weight

Although I am not a full vegan, there have been periods of my life where I was. When studying nutrition, it is hard to ignore the health benefits of going vegan, especially regarding weight loss.

Whether you want to lose weight, get healthier, or have animal concerns, implementing a vegan meal plan to lose weight can have a lot of benefits.

With that being said, let’s talk about an excellent Vegan Meal Plan to lose weight and feel great.

Disclaimer

Always consult your physician before starting any new diet, health, or nutrition protocol. This is for informational purposes and should not be taken as medical advice.

Celebrity Transformations

Recently, going vegan has gained popularity in the media due to two celebrity transformations. These two celebrities are Penn Jillette of the Magician duo Penn & Teller and director/actor Kevin Smith.

Penn before and after

Penn went in for a check-up and the doctors found he has a 90% blockage in his heart. Penn was told that he needed to change his ways or he was going to die. That was enough to change his ways.

Kevin on the other hand needed a more eye-opening event to change his bad eating and lifestyle habits. He had a massive heart attack. Similar to Penn Jillette, Kevin had an even worse 100% blockage.

Both Penn and Kevin followed a protocol called the mono diet where they would only eat potatoes for 14 days. After the body adjusts, they can add other foods and follow a more traditional vegan diet. While I don’t recommend this for everyone, it worked for them in the short term.

Ironically, Penn Jillette introduced the “Mono Diet” to Kevin Smith, which is why I am using them both as examples.

So because of this drastic change, they both lost a ton of weight and are doing much better health-wise.

Remember that a Vegan lifestyle is not for everyone, but it did work great for these two gentlemen at losing weight and more importantly, keeping it off.

Benefits of going Vegan

• More vitamins and minerals in your diet
• Weight Loss
• May lower blood sugar levels
• May lower risk of heart disease

Fruit does not make you fat

Because of the high sugar and carbohydrate content of fruit, many people believe that too much will make you fat.

Fructose is processed differently than traditional sugars, so it has a much different effect on the body.

Fruit is very healthy for most people, and I do not believe it will make you fat.

If you do have blood sugar issues, you should consult your doctor about what types of fruit you should eat. Generally speaking, lower glycemic fruits would be best such as berries.

Meat replacements

One of the ways to make the transition easier to a vegan way of eating is through meat replacements. Vegan sausages, cheeses, and even beef (impossible burger anyone?) have truly come a long way.

Try to find meat replacements that are minimally processed and only eat them when you’re having meat cravings.

Remember the goal of this way of eating is to be healthier and feel better.

I believe it is best to treat meat replacements as a cheat meal and only have it occasionally. Stick to minimally processed whole foods whenever possible to maximize the effectiveness of a vegan nutrition plan.

Vegan Meal Plan to Lose Weight

Breakfast – Vegan Protein Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 Frozen Banana
• 1 scoop vegan protein powder
• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• ½ cup of frozen strawberries
• 1 tbsp Ground flax seed powder

Instructions

• Blend until smooth and enjoy

Lunch – Vegan Chipotle Bowl

Ingredients

• 1 cup Romaine Lettuce
• 1 can Black Beans
• 1 can Pinto Beans
• 1 cup Brown Rice
• 1 can of corn
• 1 jar of salsa of choice
• 1 avocado

Instructions

• Cook rice beforehand while you’re prepping everything else. Rinse and chop lettuce. Open can of both types of beans and corn and rinse off beans
• Measure ¼ cup of brown rice, black beans, pinto beans, and corn. Peel and slice avocado. Place everything in a big bowl, mix, and enjoy
• Store leftovers in the fridge for tomorrow and next day

Afternoon snack – 1 Handful of Pita Chips and Hummus

Dinner -Crock Pot Coconut Curry with Quinoa and Lentils

Ingredients

• 2 cups Quinoa
• 2 cups Brown Lentils
• 1 Sweet Potato
• 2 Carrots
• 1 white Onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 tbsp Curry powder
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 can light coconut milk

Instructions

• Cook Quinoa beforehand and have it ready when the crockpot is done looking.
• Dice and chop onion, Mince garlic. Peel and chop sweet potatoes and carrot, Add vegetables and all other ingredients into the crockpot, and stir to combine. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
• This should make a decent batch so you should have leftovers for the next few days. This is a great meal that also freezes and reheats well if you want to meal prep.

Getting enough protein

It is a common complaint that it can be difficult to get enough protein as a vegan. However, there are many foods that are packed with protein.

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These foods combined with a high-quality vegan protein powder should meet all of your daily protein requirements

• Tofu – 1 cup has 20 grams of protein
• Black Beans- 1 cup has 14 grams of protein
• Lentils- 1 cup has 18 grams of protein
• Quinoa- 1 cup has 9 grams of protein
• Chickpeas- 1 cup has 15 grams of protein
• Nutritional Yeast= 28 grams has about 14 grams of protein
• Hempseed- 28 grams has about 10 grams of protein
• Split Peas- 1 cup has 16 grams of protein
• Sprouted Bread (Ezekiel bread)- 2 slices has 8 grams of protein
• Nuts/Nut Butters- 28 grams has about 7 grams of protein
• Soy Milk- 1 cup has 7 grams of protein

Supplementation

Because you will be getting considerably less protein than you’re used to when switching to a vegan diet, we recommend supplementing with some type of protein powder. Vegan protein powders have come a long way in terms of flavor and protein content.

We recommend Green Beret Vegan Protein Powder by RedCon1 as one of the better Vegan Protein Powders.

You can check current prices on My Supplement Store here