In its most simple terms, in order to lose weight, we need to be consuming less calories than we use up over the course of the day. However, when we are trying to lose weight we need to consider that we want to lose body fat and to help, as far as possible, to protect muscle tissue. Protecting our muscle, which can be put at risk in an energy deficit and especially without adequate protein in the diet, is essential as keeping muscle helps maintain metabolic rate making fat loss easier, and also the fact that maintaining lean muscle is an important factor for general health.
The biggest problem vegan’s face when dieting, is ensuring that they get enough adequate protein to protect muscle and ensuring the protein they do eat is put to good use to help protect muscle. This is particularly challenging for vegans as many of the best protein sources, (nuts and seeds) are also high in fat and therefore energy, so eating enough protein from these sources can mean, by default, that creating an energy deficit to cause weight loss, whilst still hitting required protein allowances (which need to actually be increased) becomes challenging.
Putting the protein to good use comes down to creating a stimulus for it to be taken up into muscle; most forms of exercise encourage this but weight training especially will help protect muscle tissue when dieting. Exercise becomes very important for vegans to create an energy deficit, it can be challenging to create this deficit by using foods alone whilst hitting recommended protein requirements.
However, there are also a few ‘tricks’ nutritionally that we can use to help reduce overall calorie intake to aid in fat loss. Firstly, if we are going to be using nuts, or other foods that are high in fat, as a primary high protein source then we can reduce overall energy intake by reducing the amount of carbohydrate in the diet to compensate instead. Fortunately, both protein and fat-rich foods are very filling, so even though you may have to cut back on some of your favourite carb sources, you will still feel well-fed and you will be providing the body with essential fats and protein to promote healthy fat loss, whilst keeping hunger at bay.
As you may be aware, we also need to combine different protein sources to provide all the essential amino acids required for health, so limiting the amount of grains and carb sources in the diet might be challenging. If keeping calorie content of the diet down is difficult whilst still hitting your required protein amounts, then vegan protein powders such as Garden of Life Vegan Protein are a great way to increase protein intake whilst keeping a check on calorie intake.
Weight loss for vegans follows the same principles of any structured and effective plan, you need to eat a bit less and move a bit more. However as with the typical vegan diet, this needs a little more consideration to make sure that you meet the required essential nutrients in the diet to preserve muscle and stay healthy, so using supplements and exercise to cause an energy deficit whilst allowing enough food to provide essential nutrients are important tools for vegans looking to lose weight in the healthiest way possible.
Paul Rimmer Bsc
