You thought eating a whole food plant-based diet was supposed to be healthy and you could eat all you want and still lose weight. You can, but there are different interpretations of a plant-based diet.
A vegetarian diet or a vegan diet is not the same as a plant-based diet. A vegan diet allows all kinds of vegan junk foods that can cause weight gain and. A healthy plant-based diet is, for the most part, a whole food plant-based oil-free diet.
Vegan fake hamburgers, fake sausages, and fake foods are not whole foods. They are made with protein isolates and refined oils that are not considered whole foods.
These vegan junk foods are too high in fat, refined oil, and sodium to be considered as a healthy part of a plant-based diet, especially when you are trying to lose weight. Maybe you can have one for a treat once in a while, but not when you’re trying to lose weight.
A vegetarian diet or a vegan diet is not the same as a plant-based diet. A vegan diet allows all kinds of vegan junk foods that can cause weight gain and. A healthy plant-based diet is, for the most part, a whole food plant-based oil-free diet.
Vegan fake hamburgers, fake sausages, and fake foods are not whole foods. They are made with protein isolates and refined oils that are not considered whole foods.
These vegan junk foods are too high in fat, refined oil, and sodium to be considered as a healthy part of a plant-based diet, especially when you are trying to lose weight. Maybe you can have one for a treat once in a while, but not when you’re trying to lose weight.
Why Can’t I lose Weight on a Plant-Based Diet?
A healthy whole food plant-based diet is naturally a high-carb low-fat diet since all plant foods are carbohydrates. But it can also be a high-fat diet if you’re not careful. A diet high in both carbs and fats do not mix, that will cause weight gain.
Your body is going to burn one and store the other. Those on a keto diet, which is a high-fat low-carb diet (Atkins or keto), burn primarily fat for their energy.
While those eating a high complex carb, low-fat diet (whole food plant-based) burn carbs for energy. This is why a diet high in both carbs and fat do not mix.
Lower the Fat to Break a Weight Loss Plateau
Many people cannot eat a lot of carbs and fats together and expect to lose weight. A whole food plant-based diet is of course high in carbs and vegetables, but many forget that some plant foods are also high in fat. High-fat plant foods include:
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Coconuts and coconut oil, which is almost all saturated fat
- Avocados
- Tofu
- All refined vegetable and seed oils including olive oil
If you eat too many of these plant foods, you could stop losing weight and might even start gaining weight again. You must avoid the higher fat plant foods that can hinder your weight loss.
In order to lose weight, you should keep your fat to no more than 10% of calories from fat. I like to use Cronometer.com to monitor the macronutrients. I set mine at 80% carbohydrates, 10% fat, and 10% protein.
To break a weight loss plateau, you could lower your fat from calories to as low as 7%. Instead of a percentage, you could lower your fat intake to 8-10 grams of fat per day. Some examples of low-fat plant foods to eat to break a weight loss plateau include:
- 1 medium baked potato has 0.2 grams of fat
- 1 medium sweet potato has 0.2g
- 1 cup of brown rice has 1.6g
- 2 cups of black beans have 1.9g
- 2 cups of pinto beans have 2.2g
- 2 cups of lentils have 1.5g
- 1 medium banana has 0.4g
Greens and vegetables like collard greens, Swiss chard, broccoli, carrots, etc are very low in fat. Eating from the list above for a week or longer should break a weight loss plateau, plus beans, brown rice and potatoes are filling.
Eliminate Refined Oils
All refined vegetable oils including coconut oil and olive oil should be avoided for two reasons. Oil and fat have 9 calories per gram while protein and carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram. These extra calories will certainly hinder weight loss and could cause you to gain weight.
These refined oils also damage the endothelial cells of your coronary arteries, which reduces the amount of nitric oxide your body can produce [1].
Nitric oxide is important to keep the arteries and blood vessels dilated and open so they function properly. Refined oils also contribute to the plaque buildup in the arteries which leads toheart disease.
Try the Potato Hack to Break the Weight Loss Plateau
I have found that one of the best ways to break that annoying weight loss plateau in a plant-based diet is the Potato Hack, which has been proven to help anyone lose weight.
The great thing about the potato hack is it proves that you cannot get fat eating white potatoes. It is the fatty butter and or sour cream that some put on baked potatoes that causes weight gain.
The potato hack is simple, you just eat white potatoes. I have done this for three days and for five days, while others have done it for much longer. But even the three days was enough to break a weight loss plateau.
You can have them baked, boiled or mashed. You cannot use anything on them or when cooking them. It is recommended you do not even use salt. For some, salt can hinder weight loss.
The potato hack is a great way to reset your taste buds, reverse insulin resistance, and break through a weight loss plateau.
When I did the potato hack for five days, I easily lost 4 pounds. I then went back to my regular way of eating, which is a plant-based oil-free diet and continued to lose weight until I got to my optimum weight.
Reduce Bread and Flour Products
Eating a whole food plant-based diet usually works fine for losing weight. For some people, it is flour products that hinder their weight loss.
You can break a weight loss plateau by eliminating bread and other more processed flour products like pasta, tortilla shells or desserts like banana bread. Even if these flour products are whole grain, they can still hinder weight loss.
Read All Ingredients
It could be a hidden ingredient that has caused your weight loss plateau.
Look at the ingredients in the foods you buy. So much of our packaged and processed foods have some kind of oil in them. One time I bought some pre-cut watermelon at the store. It tasted funny so I read the ingredients and was surprised to find olive oil had been added.
Also avoid vitamin A palmitate for example, which is made from palm oil and is added to many foods and nut milks.
And it is not only oil to look for. Many of the chemical food additives in packaged foods contain what are called obesogens or endocrine disruptors. These obesogens can cause weight gain and could be cause of a weight loss plateau.
Take a Walk to Break a Weight Loss Plateau
Sometimes all it takes to break through a weight loss plateau is to take a walk or add a little daily exercise like using an exercise bike.
Adding some weight lifting or using resistance bands is a great way to break a weight loss plateau.
You don’t have to become a gym rat or join a health club. Something as simple as using a dumbbell can do wonders for losing weight and breaking a stubborn weight loss plateau.
Exercises like walking, lifting light weights,core exercises, or using a treadmill or exercise bike, can boost your metabolism and get your body, digestive system, and weight loss moving again.
Maybe it’s Not a Weight Loss Plateau
If you are also exercising, especially lifting weights, you could be gaining muscle and losing weight at the same time.
Yes, a pound of fat is the same as a pound of muscle, but fat takes up more room than muscle does. How your clothes are fitting can many times be a better indicator than the scale is.
Measure your waist, keep a log of your waist measurements and see if you are losing inches, which might not show up on a scale.
Do not weigh yourself every day. Our body weight can fluctuate day to day by as much as 5 pounds. Weighing yourself once a week at most is a better indicator to monitor your weight loss.
Weight Loss Plateau Conclusion
A weight loss plateau can really deflate you when you are trying hard to lose weight. But you must realize they do happen to everyone.
As you can see a weight loss plateau can happen for different reasons. If one solution doesn’t work, try a different solution. Just don’t give up on your weight loss goal. You will reach it if you stick with your healthy eating.
About The Author
Sam Montana is a certified Food Over Medicine instructor from the Wellness Health Forum Center and certified in optimal nutrition from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
© 2019-2022 Sam Montana/Healthy Food and Life
