Are you looking to create a vegan weight loss meal plan to help you lose weight? We’ve got you all covered in this blog!
Maybe you feel like it’s time to trim down and get healthier – and a vegan meal plan can be the way to go. Having more plant foods in your diet does a lot for your body. It helps you cut out harmful fats and sugars, along with a lot of the detriments of processed foods, and it gives you raw nutrients that can really be good for overall wellness. However, from a weight loss and fitness perspective, it also helps you to balance those things that food scientists call ‘macros’ – proteins, carbs and fats.
Day One of Your Vegan Weight Loss Meal Plan
The first day of starting something new, especially a diet, can be hard. That is why have laid out a 5-day vegan weight loss meal plan that can get you started and feeling better with the power of a plant-based diet. We have structured this meal plan so it is easy for you to follow and prepare at home. You will eat 3 light meals a day and you should see some results after the completing five days already. It is also important that you regularly exercise during this time and drink plenty of water. The rule of thumb in any weight loss journey is to stay aways from sodas, sugary liquids, and processed foods. Most vegan alternatives are highly processed. But if you cook with only fresh ingredients it won’t be difficult to sustain this type of diet.
- Breakfast: Quinoa bowl
Try a bowl of quinoa with a moderate amount of fruit, like raspberries or blueberries, and a bit of almond milk added in.
Quinoa is a low glycemic high protein grain that can be substituted for pasta and other high carb menu items
That, plus the fruit, is going to help you kickstart your day.
- Lunch: Vegan pasta with kale and dried tomatoes
Use a vegan based pasta recipe, and add a healthy serving of cooked kale and dried tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil and shake on some Vegan Parmesan.
Here the antioxidants in the green vegetables are an important component of your overall healthy diet.
- Dinner: Tempeh and sides
For your first vegan weight loss meal plan dinner, tempeh can be the centerpiece. This low-carb vegan food can be tastily fried and crisped into something with a great texture, that also has the nutrients you want for your fitness diet. For sides, add a variety of healthy vegetables stir-fried or sautéed or diced into a neat salad.
Day Two
- Breakfast: Strawberry vegan yogurt smoothie
Yogurt is another vegan substitute that people often use in place of animal-based ingredients, like mayonnaise, or different kinds of dairy products.
Vegan yogurt can also go well with your morning fruit, whatever you choose.
- Lunch: Vegan stuffed peppers
Try stuffing bell peppers with a mixture of vegan foods. Some top choices are diced mushroom, onion, different kinds of nut butters, and/or well-seasoned cooked cabbage. People love the presentation of this dish, and it helps you to introduce a variety of veggies all at one sitting.
- Dinner: Broccoli stir fry
This one is sort of a take on American Chinese food, but with the health kick of having more whole foods built-in.
A bowl roasted or sautéed broccoli and garlic, carrots, onions, corns, and some leaf veggies, and olive oil can be an amazingly complex dish with simple ingredients that conforms to what you want in your vegan weight loss meal plan.
Day Three
- Breakfast: Vegan breakfast tacos
Take some vegan tortillas and fill them with diced and baked tofu. Add guacamole, some caramelized onion, coriander, and pomegranate seeds, and you’ve got a tasty breakfast treat that has a lot of that nutrition you want for your fitness diet.
- Lunch: Arugula salad with avocados and vegan feta crumble
Take your arugula salad, add some diced tomatoes, avocadoes, and black olives. For your protein, you can make your own vegan feta crumble or buy it at Wholefoods, and toss it in your salad. Drizzle with one fresh lemon and add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Mix well! You can add a small slice of rye bread on the side.
- Dinner: Vegan broccoli soup
Here, you can use some broccoli heads with garlic, celery, carrots and simmer for a bit. Use a vegetable broth base for a vegan result and bled it all in a food processor. Top with seeds or nuts and spices, such as cumin, basil, parsley and oregano, and some extra virgin olive or pumpkin seed oil on top. This can be a great way to warm up on a cold night!
Day Four
- Breakfast: Oatmeal and cinnamon apples
Take a generous amount of dry oats, and half of an apple, chopped fine. Add almond butter, oat milk, rolled oats, and cook until the mixture starts looking thick. In a separate pan add the peeled and diced apples to a spoon off olive oil, add some cinnamon and a few spoons of water. Cook until apples are soft and brown. Add them on top of your oatmeal, and you’ve got a vegan meal plan breakfast to be proud of!
- Lunch: Tofu scramble on whole grain toast with cooked spinach
Take some firm tofu, a tablespoon of olive oil, and some nutritional yeast, and mix well. You can use this attractive mixture to top whole grain toast, and add your favorite baked veggies on the side. We recommend some leafy green like spinach and kale.
- Dinner: Butternut squash and sides
When it comes to creating vegan food with taste and flair, there’s nothing like butternut squash. Hearty, rich and warm, this main ingredient has your antioxidants and natural plant nutrients without a lot of the hazards of red meat.
Put anything you like on the side, including items flavored with ginger and garlic.
Day Five
- Breakfast: Cinnamon and dates oatmeal
Here, you’re doing oatmeal again, but with toppings of cinnamon, dates, and almonds. The cinnamon in particular is part of a flavor enhancer that will give you a fondly nostalgic taste. And you’ll still be enjoying a breakfast that sticks to your vegan weight loss meal plan criteria.
- Lunch: Quinoa salad
Take any leftover quinoa, or make a new portion, and add diced bell peppers, cucumbers, broccoli, celery, cherry tomatoes, carrots, or whatever is in your refrigerator on the fifth day. That’s part of the beauty of quinoa – its versatility. It’s easy to add in small amounts of oil or other ingredients to change the texture, too. It is high in protein too!
- Dinner: Asian stir-fry with konjac noodles
This recipe centers around the use of konjac noodles with diced vegetables added. Konjac noodles are zero calorie noodles, and are a perfect way to fill you up without the fear of going into a carb coma afterwards. A Vietnamese take is to add sliced daikon, carrot and lettuce, or you can throw in some edamame.
Tips for Your Vegan Weight Loss Meal Plan
Here are some other key things to think about as you put your vegan weight loss meal plan together. Remember, you want foods that are low on the glycemic index, and free of processed ingredients, as much as possible.
Track Your Macros
We talked earlier about measuring three core types of nutrients in your diet – protein, carbs and fats.
Some scientists are recommending putting less focus on raw calories, and more focus on tracking these three meal components. That’s partly because calorie counts don’t really tell you much about nutrients that you’re getting. They only tell you how much you’re intaking, versus how much you burn off in exercise. The macro analysis gives you a much better picture of how you are advancing toward your health goals, and that’s why a lot of dieters, including vegans, are including it in their daily tracking.
Mix it Up
A vegan weight loss meal plan can fail because of mundane choices that just don’t excite you. Make sure to keep things interesting by adding new ingredients and experimenting with new flavors over time!
Make Time for Meal Prep
Let’s face it, using these whole ingredients takes work! You’re going to want to have a good set of knives, and maybe a spiralizer, a food processor, etc. But you also have to make time to make your food good! Prep can take an hour or two for many of these dishes. The good news is: you can work ahead!
With all of this in mind, you can be confident that you’re going about your vegan weight loss meal plan in a way that is setting you up for success.
