Vegetarian Weight Loss: Easy Tips to Guarantee Success!

Weight loss tips for vegetarians are surprisingly similar to tips for any other kind of weight loss journey. There are three main types of vegetarians. "Vegans" eat no animal products at all. Vegan diets consist mainly of fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, seeds, and nuts. "Lacto-vegetarians" add dairy products to their diets and "lacto-ovo vegetarians" include both dairy products and eggs.

Consider these facts about a vegetarian diet:

• A typical vegetarian consumes 500 less calories a day than their meat-eating peers, while consuming more food.
• Vegetarians tend to be slimmer with less medical problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.
• Evidence indicates that a vegetarian diet causes calories to burn long after meals, which means that foods from plants are being used as fuel instead of being stored as fat.
• 6% of the vegetarian population is considered "obese" compared to 45% of the meat-eating population.


Before you decide you want to become a vegetarian and throw out all the meat in your house, understand that becoming a vegetarian doesn't automatically mean that you will lose weight! You can just imagine the calories packed into cheese, nuts, peanut butter, oils, creamy salad dressings, and sweets that can create havoc when you jump on the scale. Some vegetarian meals can be way too high in both fat and sugar. It's all about making healthy choices.

As in all diets, you must be diligent about reading nutrition fact labels and knowing exactly what you are putting into your mouth.

There are many easy tips to help you lose weight on a vegetarian diet. First of all, eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Eat nutrient-dense foods that will provide the vitamins and minerals that you need daily. Broil, steam, roast, or sauté your foods and avoid all fried foods. Beware of vegetarian "convenience food." Plan your meals and snacks carefully and reduce your consumption of high-fat products such as mayonnaise, butter, and creamy salad dressings.

Use the vegetarian food pyramid guidelines to determine the proper portions that you should be eating. As with any diet, success is all about portion control! Generally, each day vegetarians should have 5-8 servings of grains, 3-5 servings of vegetables, 2-4 servings of fruits, 2-3 servings of dairy products, and 5-7 ounces total of beans, nuts, eggs, etc.

Eliminate or reduce "recreational eating." Don't fill up on empty calories. Instead, eat with intention! Making careless choices can cause your metabolism to slow down. Keep a food journal to help you stay motivated on your weight loss journey. As always, you must add exercise for weight loss, so add a minimum of thirty minutes of activity a day. The more intense the activity, the more calories you will burn. If you follow these easy steps, you will reduce your weight and improve your overall health.