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Eating Healthy
Eating a vegetarian diet comes with many benefits:
It reduces harm to the environment, cuts down on animal cruelty, and promotes health in the body, to name a few.
However, while many people think that going vegetarian will automatically help them lose weight and live healthier, the vegetarian diet is much more than simply not eating meat.
In order to lose weight safely and maintain your health, you have to make sure you are still getting the nutrition your body needs.
Here are some essential tips for those who are considering the vegetarian lifestyle.
Cut Calories Wisely
No matter what kind of diet you do, eating fewer calories than you burn is how you lose weight.
While it can be tempting to want to lose weight as fast as possible, it’s important that you do it gradually.
Otherwise, you’ll be starving your body of the nutrition it needs; not only is this unhealthy, but it will make it more difficult to manage your weight once it’s down.
Set a goal of losing no more than two pounds a week, which generally requires a deficit of 1,000 calories a day.
You can also aid your weight loss by adding exercise to your routine.
Be sure to consult your doctor to make sure your diet plan is safe for you to take on.
During your diet, there may be times when you feel hungrier than usual.
Plexus offers Slim Drinks that are great as meal supplements or snacks, such as the Slim Hunger Control and Slim Microbiome Activating.
These drinks are completely vegetarian, and they can help you feel more full while fostering your weight-loss goals and supporting your glucose metabolism.
Choose Healthy Carbs
Many who are trying to lose weight on a vegetarian diet often get tripped up by carbohydrates.
If you simply eat more pasta, cereals, chips, and other processed carbs in the absence of meat, however, you won’t lose weight; actually, you’ll probably gain weight.
Your calories should consist of no more than 40 percent carbs each day.
Limit the amount of bread and pasta you eat and opt for whole-grain when possible.
Try to get the bulk of your carbs from vegetables and fruits like kale, spinach, bananas, apples, and carrots.
Get Your Protein
When you live a vegetarian lifestyle, you have to make sure you eat enough protein in your diet.
In fact, 30 to 40 percent of your daily caloric intake should be protein.
While meat is a primary source of protein, there are more than enough vegetarian sources.
For instance, chickpeas, quinoa, beans, lentils, tofu, and tempeh are common vegetarian foods that provide protein — and they can be included in a wide variety of dishes.
Choose Healthy Fats
Finally, it’s essential to make healthy fats a part of your diet.
As with protein and carbs, how much fat you should eat depends on your body size and type.
As a general rule of thumb, about 20 to 35 percent of your calories should consist of fats each day.
Whatever kind of diet you follow, good fats are preferred over bad ones, and there are many ways to get good fats on a vegetarian diet.
Avocado is one of the best sources, and it’s also one of the most popular among vegetarians. Other sources of healthy fats are oils, seeds, olives, flaxseed, and cheese.
If you’re going vegetarian, it’s important to ensure you’re getting the proper nutrition you need to remain healthy.
Remember to cut your daily caloric intake gradually so that you can stay healthy and maintain your weight once you reach your goal.
Look into all the good sources of protein, carbs, and fats so that you can form your meals and snacks around them.
The vegetarian lifestyle can be very beneficial if you approach it mindfully.
Photo Credit: Pexels
