Losing Weight on a Whole-Food Plant-Based Diet
Throughout my years I’ve tried a lot of diets. I don’t mean a way of eating here. I mean a means of losing weight.
Go to any store and you’ll be bombarded with ideas. Check out the magazines at the checkout counter. The front of the magazine will have the latest, greatest, guaranteed-to-lose-weight diet. The book section of the store will have numerous books on the most recent weight loss craze.
I’ve read the magazine articles. I’ve bought the books. Some gave me a bit of success, but the results weren’t sustainable.
You may be beating yourself up for past failures. I know I used to do that. Well, I hate to tell you, but you aren’t alone in those past failures. Don’t believe me? Go to any used bookstore or on eBay and search for used diet books. The stock of them seems unlimited.
Among the weight-loss diets I tried were the Atkins Diet, the South Beach Diet, the cabbage soup diet, the Mayo Clinic Diet (don’t know if that one even had anything to do with the clinic), the look up 1001 foods and calculate each and every calorie diet, the Richard Simmon’s diet… shall I go on? The thing I learned from all these attempts is what doesn’t work and what made me feel weak and horrible.
When I was facing my sixty-fifth birthday I found myself raising two teenage granddaughters. Both are very athletic and it was hard to keep up with them. I knew that a large part of my lack of energy was carrying around 40 extra pounds. It’s like putting a 40 pound backpack on your back and trying to walk around with it on all day. It definitely doesn’t work, nor does it make any sense.
My search started on the internet. I put in “Healthy way to lose weight fast”. I came across a lady named Chef AJ. I watched some of her videos. The most recent one was on her new book The Secrets to Ultimate Weight Loss. Her way of presenting things, her knowledge, and her enthusiasm were contagious. Four weeks before the big 65 I ordered her book on Audible. I began listening to it and couldn’t seem to stop listening and playing it over again. It was SO different from anything I’d tried before for weight loss.
This was just the beginning of my whole-food plant-based adventure. I began checking out the doctors to whom Chef AJ referred. I watched videos, I bought Kindle books, bought more audible books, and visited a huge number of websites. My weight-loss, healthy-eating adventure had begun!
I began by totally eliminating all animal products. Whole foods were the ones I turned to. Junk food was no longer an option for me.
I redefined my definitions of breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Breakfast didn’t have to be eggs and bacon or cereal and toast. Breakfast could be vegetables. My favorite became air-fried zucchini and chick peas.
Lunch no longer had to be a sandwich and chips. Lunch could be a huge salad with oil-free dressing, or a vegetable soup, or a baked potato. The vegetable sky was the limit!
Dinner was an anything veggie goes meal. Our dinners were family dinners where we all sat around the dining room table. And yes, I cooked a WFPB dinner for myself and a “normal” dinner for the rest of the family. Actually, that “normal” dinner quickly turned to healthier ways of preparing foods.
Extremely important in the weight-loss adventure is knowing what the calorie density of individual foods is. An easy way to understand the calorie density is to watch this short video by Jeff Novick. He explains it well. It is important that you get a calorie density chart ingrained in your mind. To lose weight you’ll need to stick to foods with a low-calorie density.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gTLpTq1nQk&t=42s
You’ll notice that oil has the highest calorie density. For years you’ve been told you have to saute in oil, or you have to have oil in your salad dressing, or you have to add some sort of fat to homemade bread or muffins, but these things aren’t true. Yes, I used to think that the first step in cooking something was to saute the vegetables in oil. I now saute the vegetables in water. And, no, they don’t dry out or lack in taste.
To lose weight on a whole-food plant-based diet you need to stick with foods that have a low calorie density. That means you will eliminate seeds, nuts, avocados, and oil. Those are all high calorie density foods. If you want to stop wearing the fat you have to stop eating the fat.
By eating low-calorie-density foods I was able to lose almost 40 pounds. Local charities benefited from the stacks of clothes that were too big for me. A quick suggestion here is that while you are on your weight-loss adventure shop resale and thrift stores for clothes to wear. These clothes will be your temporary wardrobe and will be replaced with smaller sizes from time to time.
My weight loss brought with it a surge in energy and numerous health benefits. I just felt better and felt better about myself.
You too can lose weight by going whole-food plant-based. One thing I want to caution you about is that you need to listen to your body. If you are on medications you need to make certain that your doctor is aware of your new way of eating. There are certain medications such as blood pressure medications and diabetes medications that you may need to reduce or eliminate along the way. Make sure you are consulting with your doctor(s) before continuing or discontinuing medications.
I will not lie to you. There will be challenges along the way. There will be people who simply don’t understand your new way of eating. Order from or eating at restaurants will be a bit more challenging, but it can be done. You’ll find that most of your challenges will be a result of eating foods that you yourself have not prepared.
Perhaps my best advice as you start this WOE to lose weight is to go by the KISS system. Keep It Simple Stupid. A simple baked potato topped with salsa and a salad and some fruit makes for a great low-calorie-density meal. You can buy frozen foods when the fruits and vegetables are not in season in your area. You can buy pre-cut vegetables and fruits. Just KISS.
I hope you will take time to share with me your experience of weight loss on a whole-food plant-based diet. I will continue to share with you more details on how this way of eating has changed my life.
