If you are considering switching to a plant based diet, you may be wondering, “can I eat high carbs and still lose weight? The answer is yes you absolutely can.
If you have recently heard about how people are losing weight weight with a plant based diet, you may be excited to find out more about it. If you are like me, you want to know whether real people have had any success with it and also how and why it works.
As someone who lost over 20 pounds (twice) on a plant based diet, I am here to share with you how I used a plant based diet to lose weight and why it works so well. A whole foods plant-based diet can help you lose weight and keep you satisfied during the process. I
f you are looking for a diet that has been scientifically shown to have long-term health and weight loss benefits then a low-fat plant-based diet wins hands down. The studies show that a vegetarian diet is really good for long-term health and weight loss success. And, a low-fat whole foods vegan diet is even better. But the best part is that whichever plan you choose (vegetarian or vegan) the food is so delicious that it doesn’t even feel like a “diet” at all.
You are going to learn how I used a plant based diet to lose over 20 pounds effortlessly in my 40’s (even when I thought nothing would work) and why this diet works so well. After reading this, I think you will be excited to try a whole foods plant based diet for yourself.
This post is all about how a plant based diet helps with weight loss!
My Plant Based Diet Weight Loss Success Story
I went on my first diet when I was 15 years old. Knowing very little, my best friend and I decided that we would eat only Figurines – (which were basically cookies) and drink Diet Coke. Throughout high school, I switched from one fad diet to another. Although I really didn’t need to be on a diet it started training me into the diet mentality.
By the time I graduated high school I had no idea how to eat healthily and had already established a deprivation mindset. So, when I was suddenly out on my own in college, I had no idea how to eat properly or limit myself (if not on a diet). By the time I hit my 40’s, I felt like “I’ve been on a diet my entire life.” But, the truth is there were two times in my life that I really needed to lose a significant amount of weight. The first time was when I was in college and the second time was the most recent when I was in my 40’s.
The Freshmen 25
When I headed off to college, I heard all the warnings about the “Freshmen 15.” How girls went off to college and came back 15 pounds heavier after their first year. Well, I did not disappoint, and – ever the overachiever – I went ahead and put on the freshmen 25. Away from home, and left with a dorm kitchen that served three meals a day I repeatedly made poor choices – anything fried was always on my plate. Plus we had an all you can eat soft serve ice cream machine which I made sure to enjoy daily. Then, late at night, we’d order pizza in our dorm room. It’s really a wonder that I only put on 25 pounds.
The Turning Point
At the end of the school year, I knew that I had to make some changes but it all seemed so overwhelming and I didn’t know how to start. Luckily, on a visit to my grandparent’s house everything changed. My grandfather had a heart attack at a young age and continued to have heart problems. A few years prior to this visit he underwent a triple bypass surgery and my grandmother knew that they had to make some big changes because his life was at stake [note this was in the early 90’s and my grandfather just turned 101 this year!]
They had implemented lifestyle and diet changes and my grandfather and grandmother both lost weight. My grandmother gave me a copy of the book “Eat More Weigh Less” by Dr. Dean Ornish. I read it cover to cover and really took the principles to heart. This was a life-changing book for me.
Dr. Ornish had been using a low-fat vegan diet to treat his heart patients. He found that the diet was successful in reversing heart disease and as an added benefit, people were able to lose weight fairly easily. Initially, I followed the program eating a low-fat diet but continued to eat meat and I was able to fairly quickly take off ten pounds.
Eventually, however, I switched to a low-fat vegetarian diet. This is when I really saw changes. I not only lost the 15 pounds that I had left from my first year of college, I continued to lose weight and got to my leanest weight ever. By the time I graduated from law school I weighed less than when I graduated high school. Not only did I lose weight, but I continued to maintain a lean weight for the next decade – easily and without even “dieting.”
Well… what happened then?
You might be wondering well if a plant based diet works so great how did you end up gaining weight? Well, I blame it all on my husband. Kidding. Sort of. But actually, it was kind of all his fault. When we first started dating we loved to go out to dinner. Then we started eating out for all three meals a day. I put on a few pounds but nothing too terrible. Then I got pregnant and had my first child. The biggest change was that around the time that I got pregnant I started eating meat again. At first, it just seemed “easier” to eat the same as my family. Over the years, the weight just kept coming on.
Then when I turned 40, I thought I really need to do something about this. So, I started researching and everything recommended low carb – especially for women over 40. I went the full Keto route. I was drinking butter in my coffee and measuring the ketones in my breath. I would lose weight initially then completely stall. Then, I would go back to eating “regular” [meaning eat a carb or two] and immediately gain back any weight I had lost plus some. This began my yo-yo cycle over the next eight years until finally, I was at my highest weight that I had ever been (non-pregnant and frankly I was catching up to where I was when I was nine months pregnant).
I again started thinking I really need to do something. I sat down and thought about how I had taken the weight off in college. There were three things I implemented, low-fat diet, eating vegetarian, and moving more.
The Second Turning Point
I remembered how much Eat More Weigh Less had helped me and I started researching Dr. Ornish. I discovered that he is still practicing and still advocating the same diet – unlike most diets that fade with time – this was over 20 years old and still working for people!
September 7, 2019, I was out doing my grocery shopping when I decided today is the day. I’m going back to being a vegetarian. I bought myself all plant based food but initially was fine with dairy. I knew my family wouldn’t be on board so I decided to start with just me so there wouldn’t be any resistance.
I also read other leading doctors in the field. Two of my favorites were “The Starch Solution” by Dr. John McDougall and “Protein-aholic” by “Dr. Garth Davis. Both of these doctors are incredibly knowledgeable and their programs are easy to implement.
The reasons that I was attracted to a plant based diet were: I had lost weight with it in the past and kept it off – so I knew it worked.
Unlike with low carb or other popular diets, the experts who advocate a plant based diet are primarily medical doctors who have used this to successfully treat their patients for not only weight loss, but diabetes, heart disease, and a lot of other diseases that become more important the older we get. The doctors and leaders in the field have all followed this diet for decades and look youthful and healthy. Finally, the food is delicious and filling.
The Path To Success
For the first six months, I focused on switching to, and following, a plant based diet. Initially, I switched to a vegetarian diet which included eggs and dairy. However, based on the research, I fairly quickly switched to a primarily vegan diet. Now, I eat a 99% vegan diet but will very occasionally have dairy.
But, it turned out that just switching back to eating a plant based diet wasn’t magic. During the first six months, I only lost about 3 pounds. It wasn’t a huge change but what gave me hope was that I was feeling big changes. I had more energy, I was sleeping better, and saw inflammation – especially in my face – went down. This was all wonderful, but I wanted to see changes on the scale.
First, I needed to create a calorie deficit – and stick to it. I used my Fitbit to determine where to set my daily calorie goal And, I decided to stick to it. (To find out how to use your Fitbit to set your own personal daily calorie goal click here.) Second, I eliminated alcohol which helped me to meet my daily calorie goal easier. Third, I increased my daily movement which included my planned workouts but also just more movement, in general, to increase my daily calorie burn to allow me to easily create a calorie deficit.
I started to see results fairly quickly without a lot of effort. In six months, I lost 20 pounds, While this might not seem like a huge amount – it was to me. In the past 15 years, I haven’t been able to lose more than 5 pounds and was on an upward trajectory. Now, I am back to a healthy weight and back in a normal BMI (YAY!) The best thing was that it restored hope that I can accomplish my goals.
I still have a little way to go and I hope you will join me on this journey.
Why A Plant Based Diet Works Best For Weight Loss
It’s Easier To Create A Calorie Deficit On A Low Fat Whole Foods Plant-Based Diet
Let me start by saying when I talk about a plant based diet for weight loss, I am referring to eating Whole Foods in their natural state. Eating fruits, vegetables, rice, potatoes etc. vs processed vegan treats or processed foods.
There are so many delicious vegan treats now, that you can easily overindulge just the same as on the standard American diet. Also, there are a lot of vegan recipes with delicious “cheese” or “cream” sauces. These are usually made with nuts and so are packed with calories. While you are on your weight loss journey it is best to avoid these delicious recipes. There are plenty of delicious and filling Whole Foods plant based recipes that you can enjoy and save those higher calorie recipes for special occasions or after you achieve your weight loss goals.
By following a high carbohydrate low fat vegan diet it is easier to create a calorie deficit. This doesn’t mean the low-fat diet of the 80’s where you eat a bunch of processed “low fat” junk foods. Whole food plant-based foods are naturally lower in fat. Looking at the chart below helps to show why this works.
When you are setting up your diet, you can see that 1 gram of fat has over 2x the number of calories as 1 gram of carbohydrate or protein. Whole plant foods are primarily carbohydrates and some protein. As a result, you can eat over 2x in grams of carbohydrates as you can fat.
It Is More Filling
What I have found is that a lot of us who struggle with our weight really love food. We love to eat it, talk about it with our friends, and plan out what we are going to eat later. It brings us a lot of joy. There is a YouTube channel that I follow called Plant Based Gabriel who lost weight following the principles in Dr. McDougall’s “The Starch Solution.” In one of his videos he talked about how he really loved eating a lot of food and he referred to himself as growing up as a “buffet eater.” This really stood out to me because frankly it summed up my relationship with food – both literally and figuratively. I actually grew up in a casino town and one of our treats growing up was headed to the casino to the buffet. To me it was the best because I could eat lots of different foods. Go back for as much as I wanted and even make several trips to the desert bar. I don’t know if it was my buffet training or my Italian background but the fact is, I love food and I love a lot of it!
The hardest part about being on a diet for me was always feeling hungry. When I felt hungry, all I can think about is eating. And, when I am hungry, I am more likely to make poor food choices (grabbing some chips or crackers instead of taking a moment to cook a meal or snack).
I mentioned Dr. Ornish’s book at the beginning of this post “Eat More Weigh Less.” That book title really sums it up. When you eat this way, you truly do get to eat more food while losing weight. It sounds impossible but it is true.
When you focus on low fat plant based foods you are able to eat a larger quantity of food for a similar amount of calories. So looking at the example above, you could eat one tablespoon of oil or a whole pound of broccoli for just 13 calories more. Obviously, a whole pound of food in your stomach will be more filling than one tablespoon of oil. And the broccoli is filled with healthy nutrients. In addition, the broccoli is packed full of fiber where the oil has none. The fiber slows down digestion keeping you feeling full longer.
So, in summary, the reason this works is that you are able to eat a larger quantity of food which is more filling. Then, the food is packed with fiber which slows digestion which keeps you satisfied for a longer period of time and helps you to avoid overeating.
Best Plant Based Diet Books
If you are interested in learning more about whether a plant-based diet is right for you, I highly recommend the following resources:
Dr. McDougall
His book The Starch Solution is an amazing resource. You can find it here at amazon. I like to listen to educational books like this on audible – that way I can listen to the information while I do other tasks.
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You can also go to Dr. McDougall’s website where he has a lot of great information.
Dr. Garth Davis:
The second most frequent question I hear from people considering switching to a plant-based diet is “where do you get your protein from?” If you have this question, then there is a great book by Dr. Davis that is dedicated to this exact subject. You can find it here on Amazon:
Dr. Gregor:
Another great resource is Dr. Gregor. He has two books one is How Not to Die which is the first book I read on the health benefits of a plant-based diet. It is a great book. He also has a new book entitled “How not to Diet.” I personally liked The Starch Solution better but this is also an excellent book. You can find it here on Amazon:
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I also highly recommend Dr. Gregor’s website nutrition facts.org. He has a fantastic video library that answers so many questions that you might have about the benefits of a plant-based diet.
Also, on a side note, Dr. Gregor donates the profits of all his books to a charity which I think is pretty amazing.
Dr. Ornish:
And, the Book that Started it all. Click below to find Dr. Ornish’s “Eat More Weigh Less.”
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Have you tried switching to a plant-based diet? I would love to hear what you think in the comments below.
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You might also like this article about 11 Benefits of a Plant Based Diet
This post is all about how a plant based diet helps with weight loss.
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