How to Lose Weight on a Plant-Based Diet

Are you ready to lose weight, feel energized and improve your health? If you answered yes, I have good news! You can eat your way to weight loss and better health.

A whole food, plant-based (WFPB) way of eating is the perfect way to lose weight, increase energy and feel better than ever.

Say goodbye to counting calories, endless cardio, cutting carbs, and fad diets for weight loss!

In this post, we are going to look at the following:

What WFPB eating is
What you can eat while eating WFPB
Benefits of WFPB eating
Six ways WFPB eating will help you lose weight
Five steps you can start today to transition to WFPB eating

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What is Whole-Food, Plant-Based Eating?

Let’s break down WFPB eating.

Whole Foods: Natural foods that are not highly processed. Highly processed foods have salt, sugar, preservatives, and fat added to them. Highly processed foods also have nutrients stripped from them.

Plant-Based: Food that comes from plant sources and does not contain animal ingredients.

It is a common misconception that vegan and WFPB are the same.

A vegan diet can contain highly processed foods such as store-bought chips and cookies. A WFPB way of eating does not include highly processed foods.

What Can I Eat while eating WFPB?

A WFPB way of eating includes the following food groups:

Beans and legumes
Vegetables
Fruits
Whole grains
Nuts and seeds

This may not sound too exciting, but these foods combined can make delicious recipes such as pizza, pasta, soup, plant-based cheese, ice cream, smoothies, and plant-based burgers. Pretty much anything you could think of!

When I first transitioned to WFPB eating, I tracked how many servings of each food group listed above I was eating using the Daily Dozen app to ensure that I was getting all my nutrients.

This was nothing like tracking calories! It was a lot easier and less time-consuming. And I only had to do it for a few weeks until I got the hang of how much of each food group I should be eating.

What Are Some of the Benefits of WFPB Eating?

WFPB eating is rich in antioxidants, micronutrients, plant-based protein, healthy fats, and unprocessed carbohydrates.

This means that there are many benefits you will see aside from weight loss and easier weight management when transitioning to WFPB eating.

These other benefits include:

Increased energy
Better sleep
Improved mood
Improved skin
Reduced risk for chronic diseases

How Does WFPB Eating Help You Lose Weight?

Research shows that people who adopt a WFPB way of eating are leaner than those who do not.

WFPB eating is an excellent way to lose weight and keep it off in the long term. Here’s how.

Animal products and highly processed foods tend to have more calories. This means that you can eat more volume of whole plant foods. This is why while eating WFPB, you can eat until you are satisfied. Calorie counting and portion control are not needed.
You need to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight. WFPB eating will make it easier to be in a calorie deficit since whole-plant foods are lower in calories.
Whole plant foods have plenty of fiber. This fiber keeps you fuller longer and will make you naturally eat less.
Animal and highly processed foods tend to be higher in fat. Highly processed foods are higher in sodium and sugar as well. All of this can lead to weight gain.
Whole plant foods are also rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, which can improve energy levels. Increased energy levels can help you be more active, which can help you lose even more weight.
WFPB eating helps with insulin resistance. When you become insulin resistant, weight gain is more likely to happen.

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Sounds Good, But Where Do I Start?

Okay, so WFPB eating sounds great, but how do you transition?

It’s not easy to cut out all the highly processed foods and animal products you have been eating your whole life all at once. I get it. I have been there. But you do not have to wake up all of a sudden one day and be 100% WFPB!

Five Ways to Transition to WFPB Eating

1) Stock up on Healthy Foods

Stock up on a variety of whole plant foods, such as beans, nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, spices, and herbs.

This will help you ensure that you always have something healthy to eat on hand!

As you stock up on the good stuff, give away or finish off the less healthy items in your kitchen. This will help you to consume them less often.

Grab your FREE vegan grocery list and meal planner below to make shopping for healthy, delicious meals quick and easy.

2) Take it One Step at a Time

It might seem overwhelming to start eating 100% WFPB overnight. It’s like a huge project!

Like any other project you would do at home, school, or work, it helps to break it down into small, manageable, achievable goals.

Here are a few ways that you can start gradually:

Cut one animal or highly processed food out at a time and replace it with a WFPB alternative. For example, you could replace cow’s milk with almond milk. Next, you could try cashew alfredo sauce instead of dairy alfredo sauce. You could try beans in your tacos instead of meat or sautéed tofu instead of ground beef!
Increase eating fruits and vegetables you already like. This will help crowd out the less healthy foods.
Make it a goal to try different whole plant foods each week.
Google WFPB versions of your favorite traditional recipe. If you Google “plant-based pizza,” for example, you will get several options to choose from!
Look at the ingredients in the foods you currently purchase to see if you can find healthier versions. For example, many varieties of nut butter contain added sugar and oil, adding unnecessary calories. But many options have only nuts as the ingredient.
Cooking at home can help you know what is in your food. The foods at many restaurants contain added fat, oil, and sugar that can cause weight gain. As a bonus, cooking at home will save money!
Don’t drink your calories. Try replacing soft drinks or iced tea with water.

Implementing one or two of these small changes at a time will significantly impact your health. It’s about replacing less healthy habits with healthier ones—one step at a time.

3) Meal Prep

Meal prep is helpful if you are busy. Planning your meals can help you always to be prepared.

You will be less likely to get into a situation where you have no healthy options and feel you have no other choice but to grab a less healthy option.

The best day to meal prep is on a day that is not too busy for you. For many people, that is on the weekend. When Monday comes and the busyness hits, you will be glad you have your meals prepared for the week!

The meals you prepare don’t have to be elaborate. It could be as easy as whole grain noodles, pasta sauce, veggies, and fruit for dessert!

Using meal prep containers can make meal prep even easier and more organized.

Related: Vegan Cashew Queso Recipe

4) Start with a WFPB Breakfast

If you want to commit to eating one WFPB meal a day, breakfast may be one of the easiest places to start.

There are so many options and varieties that are easy to prepare. These include oatmeal, toast, pancakes, smoothies, smoothie bowls, tofu scramble, and waffles.

Related: Easy Overnight Oats

5) Keep it Interesting

Don’t be afraid to try new things! There are so many incredible websites and cookbooks that cater to WFPB eating. So, you will never run out of ideas for new things to try!

WFPB eating also doesn’t have to be complicated. There are many simple recipes that are delicious and have less than ten ingredients!

You can also try several WFPB desserts, such as cookies, cakes, cheesecakes, smoothies, ice cream, and pies!

Chocolate Covered Katie is a good recipe website for desserts. Some of the recipes have sugar as an ingredient. You can replace the sugar with maple syrup, date syrup, or date sugar.

Related:

Vegan Chocolate Smoothie Recipe

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Wrapping Up

Whether you’re looking to lose weight, improve your quality of life, or just want to add more plants to your diet, WFPB eating can help you achieve your goals. You can also do many other things to lose weight without dieting.

To me, one of the best things about WFPB eating is that it’s not a diet. It’s a lifestyle.

Transitioning to WFPB eating means that I deleted my calorie-tracking app! I don’t have to worry about if I’m eating too many carbs. I don’t have to measure anything. I just eat! It’s so freeing.

And at 37, I have more energy, strength, and mental clarity than I did in my 20s. This is because I focus now on nourishing my body and improving my health instead of focusing on counting calories and losing weight.

If you’re ready to try WFPB eating, give the suggestions in this post a try! It can be much easier to transition to WFPB eating than you think.

The most important thing is to ease your way into it and not give up if things get tough.

It can be hard to start new eating habits, especially after eating a certain way for decades.

Be patient and compassionate with yourself. Remember that no one is perfect.

Give yourself time to adjust and enjoy the process. You’ll find that WFPB eating is more than worth it.