2011-05-29

Vegan Diet Plan


You can get all of the nutrients you need with a 1500 calorie vegan diet plan. Going vegan can help maintain colon health and can provide you with very healthy foods. It’s important to plan carefully, however, and try new things you might not otherwise consider. The following represents a modification of the traditional food pyramid that works better with a vegan diet (and is more ecological for the body). The diet outlined is especially good if you want to improve your immunity and lose belly fat.

Choose grains such as quinoa, buckwheat, brown rice or amaranth. Even if you’re not allergic to wheat, you may find that you feel much lighter and have more energy without it. Plus, these grains also have protein and other valuable nutrients. You’ll also want to choose vegetables that are rich in calcium, vitamins, minerals, and ones that have some protein. In this plan, fruit will be limited to 2 – 3 servings a day, and the goal will be to eat whole fruits versus juice. This will help the body stay balanced from the standpoint of friendly bacteria and yeast.

The diet below includes 2 servings a day of legumes, including beans and meat substitutes such as tempeh and tofu. You also want 2 servings of healthy fats in raw nuts and seeds or avocado to help you get valuable omega 3 nutrition and fatty acids.

Breakfast

Breakfast is a good time to re-hydrate your body and get the colon moving. You can make a lovely smoothie with a medium-sized banana, one cup of unsweetened soy milk, and 1 tablespoon of raw almonds, walnuts, or flax seeds. Thicken it up with a quarter cup of silken tofu and throw it all in a blender.

Mid-Morning Snack

Eating throughout the day helps regulate blood sugar and keeps your energy up so that you can stay active as much as possible throughout the day. Cut up an apple and add a tablespoon of raw almond butter or natural peanut butter. Raw nut butter contains less free radicals and is healthier for you than cooked. Definitely avoid peanut butter that has added sugar or hydrogenated oils.

Lunch

You can make this at home the night before and then microwave it at work or just eat it cold. Take 1 -2 servings of quinoa and cook it according to the instructions. (If you do one serving, supplement with 5-6 small crackers, and the dish can be like a dip.) Put 2 cups of raw dino kale and half a purple onion in water and organic vegetable broth in a sautee pan. Cover the pan and let simmer until the kale is soft. Add sea salt and pepper to taste. Add one cup of lentils, and you have an excellent and comforting lunch!

Mid-Afternoon Snack

Try to find whole grain crackers, wheat free if possible. Have 6 of those with one serving of a vegetable puree made from one serving of vegetables pureed with one quarter cup of silken tofu.

Dinner

Using water, stir fry 2 servings of tempeh with a half cup of raw red pepper. Supplement it with a salad that includes red or green leaf lettuce, carrots, and 2 servings of garbanzo beans. Add one tablespoon of a low-fat dressing.

Reduce Food Cravings

As austere as veganism may sound to meat-eaters and to those who regularly include dairy and egg products in their diet, it may be easier than other weight-loss diets to follow. In one recent study, persons diagnosed with type 2 diabetes were given either a traditional diabetic diet or a vegan diet to follow. Those on the vegan diet had an easier time sticking with the plan and reported fewer food cravings, according to researchers from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the University of Toronto and Georgetown University who published their findings in a 2009 issue of the "Journal of the American Dietetic Association." Participants on the low-fat vegan diet lost more weight than those on the conventional diet. The vegan diet also helped lower their cholesterol and their blood sugar, reducing their need for insulin.

Maintain Weight Loss

Dieters often find it easier to shed pounds than maintain weight loss. A vegan diet may improve the odds of staying slim. In a study led by M. Rosell at the University of Oxford, England, researchers found that vegans were less likely to gain weight than vegetarians, fish-eaters and meat-eaters. The study, published in 2006 in the "International Journal of Obesity," followed the eating habits and weight measurements of 22,000 people for five years. Vegans gained an average of 1.25 pounds over five years, about one-fourth the average weight gain of all participants in the study.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/244006-vegan-weight-loss-core-plan/#ixzz1Nm0gJxph