We all know that one of the vegan stereotypes is the idea that all vegans are very thin and sickly. The last one is obviously not true but that first one is based on some truth. It’s based on some truth because vegan foods are naturally lower in calories so unless you eat a lot of vegan junk foods or empty carbs such as white pasta or rice then it shouldn’t be too difficult to lose weight. In theory.
Just like with any diet, eating too many calories leads to weight gain regardless of where those calories come from. Eating lots of high calorie vegetables can still lead to weight gain. If you’re looking to lower your body fat percentage then obviously you need to watch that calorie intake even if you’re vegan.
TDEE
If you’re experienced in the fitness lifestyle then you already know what your TDEE is which will tell you how many calories you can eat before you start to enter maintenance or weight gain. Eating at a maintenance level means that you are keeping your weight the same, this is something you’ll spend most of your time doing once you get towards a weight you want to keep. However, if you’re looking to recoup to lose fat but replace it with muscle then you will also want to eat at maintenance but at a higher protein level to build the muscle. It means you become leaner overall but don’t lose weight.
If you’re aim is to get visible abs then you will most likely need to be eating at a calorie deficit to reach a low enough body fat percentage for them to show. This percentage changes between individuals and genders but you should aim for 6-17% as a man and 14-24% as a woman.
Food Tips
You need to focus on eating as man nutrients as possible to stay healthy while also staying within your calorie limits. This can be very tricky if you don’t know the right foods to eat. In general eating lots of different coloured vegetables is a great thing to do. As a vegan you also want to combine your proteins to get complete ones to help your muscles grow and recover. However, you also want to eat some other healthy carbs to give your muscles the fuel they need for workouts.
Food prepping for the week or for a few days can also be extremely helpful. Preparing in advance gives you more time to check the nutrient and calorie levels as you make the food when you’re not already hungry. It means that when you do get hungry, you can just re-heat the meal and have healthy food to eat without spending more time cooking. One of the issues that we can have when we’re hungry is that we don’t want to wait for food to cook so food prepping means you don’t have to cook and you still eat healthy!
Protein Shakes
The issue that veganism can have when a calorie limit is added is that, getting enough protein can become difficult especially if you’re a small woman. With that in mind, you can consume protein shakes to help boost your protein levels and they can also be a good way to get extra fruit and vegetables into your body. There are different vegan ones created from different plant proteins to select from so make sure you try a variety of them instead of just dismissing them because you didn’t like the first one. They all taste different and adding a banana to a shake can help improve the taste also.
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