5 reasons you’re not losing weight on a plant-based diet

Are you, or your friends not losing weight on a whole food plant based diet? If this sounds like you, then it’s probably down to one, some, or all of these reasons.

Here are 5 Reasons You’re Not Losing Weight On A Plant-Based Diet:

1. Are you eating refined carbohydrates and other processed foods on a regular basis?

Refined carbs are white bread, white pasta, white crackers, sugary cereal, chocolate chip cookies etc. Eat whole fruit, wholemeal, rye or pumpernickel bread, rolled oats, brown rice, wholewheat pasta.

2. Are you using oil to cook your food or spread on it?

Remember that liquid calories in the form of olive oil, coconut oil etc are all very dense in calories so they can easily sabotage all of your weight loss efforts.

Cut out oil based salad dressings and stop using oil to cook with. Click here for some of my recipes for oil free salad dressings.

Water is a great alternative to oil when you’re sautéing your vegetables. Just put a couple of inches of water in the pot, add your veg and cook away. If the water evaporates too quickly, just add more.

Are you still using margarine or butter on your bread or toast? Skip it! Use jam instead.

As Dr Neal Barnard says: “If you’re thinking, But jam has sugar! – that’s true enough. But even in its most concentrated form, sugar has less than half the calories of any fat or oil.”

Skip the butter or margarine in your baked potato and try having your potato filled with chilli, hummus, salsa or adding some mustard.

Keen to read more about the amount of saturated fat in coconut oil (87%!) and olive oil (13%!)? Click here and scroll three quarters of the way down the page.

3. Are you drinking sports drinks, fizzy drinks / soda drinks, alcohol, fruit juice and other sweetened beverages?

You’ve probably heard by now about all the sugar that these drinks contain. They’re loaded with calories and just don’t fill you up.

Stick to water, herbal teas and eating the whole fruit.

If you don’t like the taste of plain water, fill a jug with water then: add a few slices of fresh lemon and lime, or quarter an orange or Satsuma and add them to the jug.

How about adding some fresh torn mint to the jug with a squeeze of lemon and lime?

You can also try a few slices of cucumber, this is lovely and refreshing, or a handful of frozen strawberries or raspberries. Not only will your jug of water look amazing, it tastes delicious!

4. Are you eating out at fast food places or restaurants?

Eating out at these places often means that you’re eating more calories as you don’t know what’s in the dishes you’re being served. It’s the same with take-aways. I’ve written a whole blog post on the best restaurants to choose if you’re eating out. Click here to read it.

5. Are you eating dried fruits, nuts, seeds, olives and avocados?

They may be natural plant based foods, but they’re calorie dense so either don’t eat as many or stop eating them altogether for a while.

Use them as a condiment or in sauces, not as a snack, and try limiting them to about an ounce or so – about one modest handful each day.

How to get natural oils

As pcrm.org says:

“A low-fat diet is not a no-fat diet. There are traces of natural oils in vegetables, beans, and fruits, and these fats are important for health.

Some people add additional sources of healthful omega-3 (“good”) fats, such as walnuts, flaxseeds or flax oil, or soy products. And some researchers have found health benefits to having a small serving of nuts each day, despite the fact that nuts are very fatty.

The idea is that nuts are heart-healthy and may even prevent arrhythmias—disorders of the heartbeat.”

As Dr Neal Barnard says:

“This is not a “no-fat” program. Typical fruits, vegetables and beans contain small amounts of natural fats – usually between about five and 10 percent of their calories. It is odd to think that there is a tiny bit of oil in a bean or a broccoli floret, but there is, and the body needs the traces of natural oils in plant foods.”

When you check food labels, choose products that have no more than two or three grams of fat per serving.

Skip the fatty foods and added oils, and the natural oils in vegetables, fruits and beans will take care of themselves and you!

For more information on essential fatty acids for your body, click here.

Following a whole food, plant-based diet is not a flash in the pan diet that promises instant weight loss. This is a long lasting lifestyle change for sustainable weight loss.

There’s no meal replacement drinks to take, weight-loss pills or supplements that promise quick weight loss.

This is all about eating whole plant based foods, as close to their natural state as possible with a minimum amount of processing. Cooking from scratch, rather than fast food.

It’s all about changing your eating habits permanently.

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