Tips to Lose Weight Healthily

Are you wondering how to lose weight or maintain your current weight? Our registered dietitians have assembled these tips to help you develop healthy eating habits as part of a balanced, healthy plant-based lifestyle.

At Challenge 22, we don’t believe in counting calories or measuring serving sizes. You won’t find any crash diets here. Read on to get our dietitians’ tips on how to lose weight.

A balanced, plant-based diet can help you lose or maintain weight. Additionally, many studies show that a vegan diet can be beneficial in preventing heart disease and diabetes, as vegans have a tendency to weigh less.

Eat your veggies! Try to make raw or cooked vegetables at least 50% of each of your main meals. Snack on raw or cooked vegetables – as many as you like! We recommend having at least one veggie snack each day. (Keep reading for more ideas for healthy snacking.)

The golden ratio: Generally, there is no need to count calories or measure serving sizes – but here’s a healthy guideline for putting together a balanced meal. It’s a good idea to fill half of your plate with vegetables, 25% with legumes and 25% with (whole) grains.

If you like, you can make the vegetable and legume proportions larger, in place of the grains.

Still hungry? Fill up another plate! Just keep the same ratio.

Eat more legumes! Beans and other legumes are one of the healthiest things in a vegan diet. Chock-full of fiber and other nutrients, they are also low-calorie. They’re beneficial in balancing blood glucose levels and they can keep you feeling full for longer.

You’ll find lots of tasty legume dishes here and in our Challenge groups!

Legumes are easier to cook than you may think – but if you don’t have the time, you can always use frozen, pre-cooked ones. At a push, canned beans are always an option, but it’s a good idea to rinse them well, to get rid of the sodium in the brine.

Can you eat fruit when trying to lose weight? You can – and you should! Have no fear of nature’s sweet and healthy treat.

Aim to eat at least 2-3 pieces of fruit a day to supply your body with a plethora of nutrients, vitamins and minerals that you can’t get any other way. You can have 1-2 pieces of fruit in one meal. Enjoy with your salad, as dessert, or as a healthy snack in between meals.

Looking for healthy snack ideas?

• Raw veggies are always a good choice. If you’re looking for a no-prep snack, pre-packaged “baby” vegetables could be ideal.
• Legumes: Try some edamame, or cooked chickpeas/beans/peas seasoned with cumin and black pepper, or lemon juice and garlic.
• Microwave some frozen veggies, such as broccoli, green beans, string beans, or cauliflower. Enjoy them with lemon juice and garlic or a sprinkle of sea salt.
• Treat yourself to a bowl of oatmeal made with water and soy milk, with cinnamon and a teaspoon of sugar if needed.

Give salad the spotlight. We recommend making a large salad one of your daily meals. Your salad meal should include a cup of cooked legumes or tofu. Get lots of satisfying vegan salad ideas here.

Add nuts! While nuts are quite nutritious, it can be easy to overeat them. If this is a problem for you, adding them to your salad, smoothie, or breakfast oatmeal can be a good way to keep the quantity under control. Approximately 10 nuts each day is generally recommended.

What should I spread on my bread to lose weight? Standard weight-loss diets often include slices of bread with low-fat cheese or other low-fat spreads. When switching to a plant-based diet, some people like to replace these with commercial vegan cheeses, nut butters, or other spreads with a high fat content. As most available vegan spreads tend to be high in fat and low in nutrients, we recommend cutting down on bread in general.

If you enjoy cooking, you can make your own healthy spreads, based on legumes and vegetables as the main ingredient. Here are a couple of yummy homemade vegan cream cheese and bean spread recipes to get you started!

How can I adjust to new flavours and learn to like vegetables? “I don’t like vegetables”… “I can’t stand lentils”… “Eww, eggplant!” How many times have we heard ourselves say we don’t like a certain food, only to be surprised later? The good news is you can adjust your taste buds and learn to like new ingredients. Keep an open mind and allow yourself to taste the same foods again, in different combinations and variations.

You can try keeping up a weekly challenge of your own: every week, try a vegetable, fruit or legume you haven’t tasted in the past year. You just might surprise yourself! Not sure what to do with your new ingredient? Vegan recipe websites can provide tons of ideas!

Keep processed and ‘junk’ foods to a minimum: In the past, vegan junk food options were quite limited. Today, as the vegan population grows, so does the variety of more processed vegan foods.

Whenever you can, base as much of your diet as possible on whole, unprocessed, plant-based foods. Choose whole grains, which are rich in fiber, lower in calories, more nutritious, and more filling. Keep processed sweets and snacks to a minimum.

Don’t be hungry! Eat regular meals at a slow pace: Don’t start a meal when you’re very hungry. It’s better to have a couple of raw veggies beforehand, so you can enjoy your meal calmly, without feeling like you’re starving.

Remember that digestion is typically faster for vegans. Healthy snacks between meals can keep you feeling full throughout the day.

Eat at the table, not at your computer or in front of the TV. Studies have shown that eating while working or watching TV can easily lead to overeating.

Try to eat mindfully and consciously. If you feel the need to snack on something while working at your computer of watching TV, choose fresh vegetables or fruit.

Get support: Trying to lose weight can be a difficult process, and getting the proper support can make things much easier – whether that’s a support group or your own personal doctor or dietitian. You need to find out what works best for you, and who can provide you with specific solutions for your own personal concerns.

The right support framework could prove to be more beneficial than any specific menu or random weight loss tips found online. Of course, our mentors and dietitians are also always here for you in your vegan support group.

Get active: Beyond the obvious positive influence exercise can have on your weight loss process, exercise also has plenty of other benefits, such as reduced risk for heart disease, diabetes, cancer, anxiety, depression, and more.

What kind of exercise should you do? Anything you like! Choose a type of exercise you feel that you can keep up with in the long term. For some people, groups and classes work well, as they provide you with a framework. Others prefer to fly solo and exercise on their own. It can still be helpful to find an exercise buddy who can join you on your daily walk.

We recommend this 10-minute video about the benefits of exercise, and how even just 30 minutes of movement each day can change your life for the better.