Weight Loss for Vegans
The vegan diet excludes all animal products, including eggs, dairy and sometimes even honey. It is one of the most restrictive diets common today. How then can you be vegan and overweight? The answer is simple: too many calories in; too few calories out. Additionally, an imbalanced vegan diet may lead you to consume more fuel than your body needs.
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Misconceptions
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Vegans don't just eat "rabbit food." Some vegans will feast on fried falafel with tahini sauce after lunching on cashew butter and banana sandwiches. They may dunk Italian bread in olive oil just for an appetizer and eat hemp milk ice cream for dessert. They sometimes even munch on potato chips while drinking a beer. Even "cruelty-free" sweets are easy to find, as cafes and coffee shops tap into a market niche created by the hungry vegan. There may be many reasons those jeans no longer fit.
Carbohydrates and Hunger
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USA Today reports that high-carbohydrate, low-protein meals are less satisfying than high-protein meals, especially when consumed for breakfast. If breakfast and lunch consist of something like a bagel, toaster pastry or vegetable sandwich, you're likely to consume more calories over the course of a day. Instead, make sandwiches with tempeh or nut butter and try a tofu scramble or high-protein smoothie for breakfast.
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Vitamin Deficiencies
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If you're not eating a varied vegan diet, you may not be getting enough calcium, vitamin D, zinc, iron or vitamin B12. Prepared Foods magazine reports that cravings and overeating are often triggered by nutritional deficiencies. Craving salt, for example, may indicate that you're not eating enough protein. Try putting the potato chips down in favor of some hummus or lentil soup. You may also want to take a multivitamin.
Plan Ahead
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This common dieting advice may be more important for vegans simply because there are fewer options for dining in and take-out. Stock your fridge with a variety of healthy, whole foods and make a plan or menu for the week. Experiment with spices to encourage greater consumption of these foods--and to keep yourself away from too much bread, high-calorie restaurant fare or processed vegan snacks and substitutes such as nondairy ice cream, cheeses and lunch meats. Depending on where you live, you might want to make sure you regularly pack a lunch.
Keep a Food Diary
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A food log may help you learn more about your eating habits. Are you filling up on bread? Do you really eat as many different foods as you thought? Are you really getting the protein or zinc or fiber that you need? A food diary can also help you to recognize your traps and binge triggers. It may also help you discover where and when you tend to make healthy choices, so that you can begin to build on that.
Other Diet Advice Applies
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Vegan calories are as fattening as any other calories, even if they are low in saturated fat, high in good fat and carry with them all the benefits associated with this diet. Try eating frequently throughout the day so you don't get hungry enough to lose control. Keep nuts and high-protein cereals handy for a quick snack to ward off binges. Exercise regularly and control portion size.
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