How to Lose Weight on a Plant Based Vegan Diet

Quarantine has been rough on everyone. We’ve all spent too many hours watching television, playing games and simply sitting around the house. Many confess to having eaten excessively and we’ve all indulged our cravings. While this may have helped us get through the quarantine, it left many of us out of shape and overweight.

What can we do about this now?

Many are ready to kick those extra pounds. Personal trainer and vegan nutritionist, Steve Pilot will impart the secrets of how it’s done.

His story is thought provoking. He says that he was eating a normal diet, but not really giving much thought to the foods he allowed in his body. He was careless about when he would eat as well. He would eat on the run and consume all the wrong foods. A friend said something to him about this and they began talking about how important it is to be careful what you put in your body. 

Steve Pilot is now a successful personal trainer and vegan nutritionist who owns his own business, but he was not always so disciplined. He believes that many people are in that same category. They aren’t mindful of what they’re eating each day. Maybe they eat a hamburger or a hot dog. Later, they might eat chips, cookies or ice cream. The western diet is full of foods like pizza, burgers and junk food.
When Steve began to realize how harmful some of that was, it was shocking to him. His research showed that eating the wrong foods for years can lead to heart disease or stroke. The body simply can’t operate on highly processed foods for the long term. A friend of his was a vegan. This friend began explaining how animals release quite a bit of hormones at the moment they are slaughtered. This taints the meat. These facts made Steve Pilot rethink whether he wanted to consume those foods anymore. Eventually, he found his way onto a path of living the vegan lifestyle. Though he admits that it was a major lifestyle shift, he believes it was completely worth it.

Before we get into the fat loss details, let’s take a quick look at the benefits of a plant-based diet. These advantages of veganism do not come from Pilot’s personal preferences. They are backed by scientific research.

Once an individual changes the way they eat, they begin to go down a road to better health. They often start exercising. With the changes in diet and exercise, most people will notice that their endurance goes through the roof. Their body will perform better in everything. When your diet is plant-based, you experience less fatigue and your recovery times get reduced significantly.
One more thing that was very important for Steve Pilot is that when he finally went vegan, he became super conscious of everything he put inside his body. Vegans all over the world report positive changes in body odor, elimination of acne and improvements in mood swings.

Now let’s go ahead and answer the eternal question: How can you achieve weight loss quickly? And furthermore, can it be done while on a plant-based diet?

Firstly, let’s clarify what vegan means. Vegan is not short for vegetarian. Simply put, vegans do not eat meat and they do not eat products that come from animals like milk, eggs or honey. Vegetarians do not eat meat, but they do eat products which are derived from animals like dairy products or eggs. 
The first step to success is preparing your own meals. Vegan nutritionist Steve Pilot says that though we should all eat healthy, we never plan for it. Most of the time, people look for a quick fix when they’re hungry and often that meal takes the form of fast food. By eating stuff like that, you can never know what kind of fats they use to prepare that food and how much sodium and sugar they include.
Steve particularly points out that we all need to avoid saturated fats because they can cause clogging of the arteries, thus leading to heart disease. Exercise cannot balance out a poor diet.
Diets are typically not successful in the long run. The vegan lifestyle is not a diet. A plant-based diet is a lifestyle decision and not a diet which you follow for a short period of time so you can lose weight.

Are you secretly asking where vegans get their protein? Steve answers that questions as well. He says that plant-based diets offer all the macros. Vegans get many complex carbs, which are good for your health as opposed to simple carbs. Vegans also get enough protein intake and low fats intake. Veganism is based on consumption of real food. Use protein supplements if you want to build muscle or if you are a professional athlete. 

The third step to success is to move away from expecting miracles. The basic rules still apply. Avoid eating unhealthy stuff even if it falls under the vegan category. That means no sugary drinks or French fries. Do the best you can to avoid processed foods. Processed foods give you insulin spikes which are harmful to the human body. Instead, eat unprocessed food like fruits and vegetables. This will help you stay full for longer periods of time.

To lose weight, you have to be in a caloric deficit. Even on a plant-based diet, if you consume more calories than your total daily energy expenditure, you will gain weight. That’s a simple fact of life.

The final step to success is to make your new lifestyle sustainable. Surround yourself with positive people, prepare yourself mentally, be dedicated and strong.

A word of warning. The first days you find yourself on a plant-based vegan diet you might experience some headaches. Don’t worry, it’s completely normal as your body starts detoxing and adjusting to your new eating habits. 
If you’re afraid that a vegan lifestyle can be boring, don’t be because it’s not. Steve Pilot’s book, Vegan For Beginners contains a number of great recipes that are healthy and delicious. To find out more about Steve Pilot’s products and training services visit his website www.stevepilotfitness.com.