Plant-based vegan diet plan for weight loss

You may have heard about ‘plant-based’ and ‘vegan’ diets and that they are very healthy. But you may wonder what a vegan diet plan includes and how you could adopt such a plan.

In this article, we will tell you everything you need to know including:

• What does a plant-based diet mean?
• Is plant-based the same as vegan?
• What are the benefits of plant-based and vegan diets?
• Diet plan for weight loss that you can follow

We have also included a 7-day vegan diet plan for weight loss.

What does a plant-based diet mean?

There is no clear definition of what a plant-based diet is. It’s not even a diet in that sense, more a lifestyle.

A plant-based diet means exactly that: a diet that is mostly based on plants.

The main features of a plant-based diet are:

• Plants are the biggest part of the diet. Plants include vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, seeds and nuts, which should make up the majority of what you eat.
• Animal products are limited (but not completely eliminated).
• Focus on whole and minimally processed foods and excludes refined foods.

This sounds similar to a vegan diet but it is not the same as a vegan diet.

A vegan diet does not include any animal products whatsoever. This means the diet does not include any dairy (milk, curd, cheese), eggs, meat, seafood and honey.

In the plant-based diet, animal products are not excluded.

Benefits of a plant based diet for weight loss

Many studies have demonstrated that plant-based diets are effective for weight loss. They may also help you maintain weight loss in the long run.

The water, fiber and high nutritional value of vegetables helps make them filling, healthy and a low-calorie option to have as the base of your diet.

Following a plant-based diet may also reduce your risk of developing heart disease, certain cancers and diabetes.

This is true for plant-based diets irrespective of whether you choose to be a vegan or not.

We are not suggesting here that you need to adopt a vegan lifestyle. There is no proven benefit of a vegan diet over other diets and in fact there may be nutritional deficiencies from following a vegan diet in the long term. Therefore, it is a personal choice and you should make the choice after careful consideration.

Vegan diet plan for weight loss

We have written about a plant-based Indian diet plan for weight loss, a low carb Indian diet plan and how to eat more vegetables in your daily diet.

Let us look at a vegan diet plan for weight loss.

It can be tempting to focus on the ideal breakfast for weight loss, lunch for weight loss or best dinner for weight loss.

What is more important is a balanced overall food intake in a day.

Below is an easy to follow vegan diet plan for weight loss with an Indian diet that can be followed for a week (7 days). The portions are based on someone in the weight range of 70-80 kgs and should be used as a guide.

Please note the following points:

• Some foods are noted in cups. A cup = 240ml. This is a standard unit of measure and you can buy it from Amazon, see these options. The cup in red below is 1 cup.

• Some foods (like tofu) are noted in fist-sized quantities. A fist = your fist. Keep the food next to your first to estimate the quantity.
• You can modify this diet plan to swap one vegetable for another or to have one grain for another (rice instead of roti for example).

While we have provided a vegan Indian diet plan for weight loss below, please use this as a guide only. There is no single ideal diet chart, as a one-size-fits-all answer approach will not work when it comes to a weight loss diet plan. One’s nutritional requirements will vary based on a number of factors, including gender, height, weight, meal preferences, whether they have any medical conditions etc.

We have prepared the vegan Indian diet plan for weight loss focusing on mainly Indian foods. This diet plan is a sample, and we would recommend that you work with aDaily9 coachto customize it for your needs.

DAY 1

Breakfast:

• ½ fist tofu bhurji with ½ cup tomato, onion, capsicum
• ¼ cup sliced cucumber
• 1 slice toast

Lunch:

• 1 cup rice
• ¾ cup methi dal (½ cup lentils)
• 1 cup cauliflower
• ½ cup chayote squash (chow chow) salad or cabbage/ kachumber salad

Snacks:

• 1 scoop Vegan protein smoothie with 1 cup pomegranate

Dinner:

• 1 cup mixed veg stir fry
• ½ cup channa in ½ cup tomato/onion gravy
• ½ cup jeera rice

DAY 2

Breakfast:

• Vegan protein smoothie (1 scoop protein, ½ cup almond milk, 1 banana, ½ cup oats)

Lunch:

• ½ cup sasam Rice
• 1 cup cabbage poriyal (stir fry)
• 1 cup pumpkin kootu, i.e pumpkin and lentil stew (with ½ cup pumpkin, ½ cup dal)

Snacks:

• ½ cup cooked chickpeas with ½ cup tomato, onion
• 1 pear

Dinner:

• Veg+soy bean curry (½ cup each)
• 2 radish parathas
• 1 cup green salad

Vegan banana & oat smoothie

DAY 3

Breakfast:

• 2 medium adais (lentil dosas)
• 1 cup aviyal (vegetable and coconut stew)

Lunch:

• 1 cup Veg Pulao (with ¼ cup carrot, beans, peas)
• ¾ cup dal (½ cup lentils)
• 1 cup Green salad

Snacks:

• 1 Banana
• 1 green tea

Dinner:

• 1 cup mixed veg gravy
• 2 dosas with ¼ cup grated cabbage
• 1 fist salt and pepper tofu

Tofu stir fry

DAY 4

Breakfast:

• 1 cup boiled soy bean with ½ cup tomato, onion, cucumber
• 1 dosa
• 1 tbsp coconut chutney

Lunch:

• ½ cup rice
• ½ cup beans/carrot sambar (¼ cup veg+¼ cup dal)
• 1 cup bhindi sabzi
• ½ cup green salad

Snacks:

• 1 scoop Vegan protein+apple smoothie

Dinner:

• 1 cup Mix veg stir fry
• 1 cup rice
• ¼ cup grated carrot, beet
• ¼ cup steamed sprouts

DAY 5

Breakfast:

• ½ cup Overnight oats with
• ½ cup almond milk, 1 banana, 1 scoop Vegan protein

Lunch:

• ½ cup Jeera pulao
• ½ cup rajma in ½ cup tomato/ onion gravy

1 cup Ivy gourd (kundru) sabzi

Snacks:

• Broccoli tikki (½ cup broccoli+½ fist tofu+½ cup oats)

Dinner:

• Palak Tofu (1 cup palak, ½ fist tofu)
• 2 small rotis
• ½ cup Sautéed mixed veg

DAY 6

Breakfast:

• 2 besan ka cheela with ½ cup grated cabbage
• ½ cup tomato onion chutney
• 1 orange

Lunch:

• Stuffed bell pepper (½ cup potatoes, ½ cup veg)
• 1 cup salad
• ½ cup chickpeas

Snacks:

• 1 slice multigrain toast
• 1 cup papaya

Dinner: Eating out

• Sesame ginger baked tofu (1 cup broccoli/ bell peppers+1 fist tofu)
• 1 cup jasmine rice

Broccoli & tofu stir fry

DAY 7

Breakfast:

• 1 slice toast
• ½ cup spiced soy bean
• ½ cup sautéed mushroom, spinach

Lunch:

• 1 cup Veg pulao (½ cup veg/ 1 cup rice)
• 1 cup bottlegourd dal (½ cup lentils+½ cup lauki)
• ¾ cup green salad

Snacks:

• Coconut water
• ½ cup zucchini salad + ¾ cup chickpeas

Dinner: Eating out

• 1 cup clear vegetable soup
• 1 cup yellow dal (¾ cup lentils)
• ½ cup Veg Jalfrezi
• 1 cauliflower paratha

Conclusion

A plant-based diet is a way of eating that focuses on plant foods and limits unhealthy items like added sugars and highly-processed foods.

Plant-based diets have been linked to a number of health benefits, including reducing your risk of heart disease, certain cancers, obesity and diabetes.

Regardless of the type of diet you choose, having it plant-based is sure to boost your health in the long run and help you with weight loss. Use the 7-day vegan diet plan for weight loss in this article as a starting point to eat more plant-based foods.

Daily9’s weight loss program

If you’re reading this, we know that weight loss is a high priority for you. We also know that there are many programs out there offering you quick weight loss. Many of them require you to do extreme things like eat zero or very low carbs or give up on foods like grains or dairy. These are not sustainable and can even harm your health. And in almost all these cases, the weight that you lose comes right back. This is disappointing and frustrating. We want to help you break this cycle.

At Daily9 our focus is helping you achieve weight loss in a way that lasts. Without doing anything extreme and by sticking to the Indian way of eating. You will see that in the 7 day vegan diet plan for weight loss that we have provided above, we have provided a mix of Indian and multi-cuisine options, including possibilities of eating out occasionally. This is a more practical approach because many of us do eat out or order in. In our program we recognize this fact, and so aim to help you make better choices while also enjoying it. This makes Daily9 easy to follow in the long run and helps you with both weight loss and weight maintenance.

We’ve worked with thousands of Indian men and women and understand the unique challenges they face when trying to lose weight or find a weight loss diet plan. You can see some of our success stories here. TheDaily9 system is proven to work with weight loss and also many health conditions that Indian men and women face like digestive issues, diabetes, PCOS, thyroid, fatty liver and joint problems from excess weight.

Most importantly, the Daily9 weight loss diet plan is practical and suits an Indian family environment.

If you’re looking for a scientific and practical approach to weight loss, take a look at theDaily9 coaching program. It’s the only program that helps with weight loss and weight maintenance.

About the Author

Coach Shivani

Shivani is a Precision Nutrition-Certified Nutrition Coach with experience of coaching thousands of women. As a mom of two, Shivani knows what it takes for women to achieve weight loss & a healthy lifestyle through diet, exercise & sleep habits. She dislikes one-size-fits-all type advice.