How To Eat Properly If You Are A Vegan Or Vegetarian For Long-Term Fat Loss

Afro Ndiritu
Sep 7, 2018 · 6 min read

I have written for meat eaters now it is time to clear up the confusion about how to eat for fat loss as a vegan/vegetarian. Like I said in my last blog, I am a practitioner and work with vegans/vegetarians and have seen the common mistakes and myths that are made on a daily basis.

From this you will have a better understanding of the types of foods to eat, why and delivered in an easy to understand format, no jargon here.

I am not going to give you a bunch of recipes or a food or diet plan.

What I am going to give you is the knowledge which will then, in turn, empower you to make smarter choices and discover what works for you.

I am going to start with the most common mistakes that vegans/vegetarians make and how to avoid them:

1. Legumes are a good source of protein

You will see this plastered everywhere, vegan and vegetarian websites, blogs, recipe cards, articles, newspapers etc. I have a counter-argument to this.

For example:

– Tesco Red Kidney Beans In Water 400G contains per 100g, 17.8g of carbs and 6.9g of protein
– Napolina Chick Peas In Water 400G contains per 100g, 19g of carbs and 7.4g of protein
– TRS Red Split Lentils 500g contains per 100g, 56.3g of carbs and 23.8g of protein

The list goes on, go check it out yourself and comment below and tell me what you find.

The NHS recommended 50g of protein per day, the DRI (Dietary Reference Intake) is 0.8g of protein per kilo of body weight so if you weigh 65kg that is 52g of protein. In the world of fitness, it can be anywhere between 0.8g-2g per kilo of body weight, this is between 52g-130g of protein.

Let’s use 50g of protein as a low estimation (I would recommend you base it on body weight unless you are looking to build muscle but that is another blog for another day).

If we divided the 50g into 3 meals that would make it approx 17g of protein per meal. That would mean you would have to eat 246g of kidney beans to get 17g of protein which would increase your calorie intake from 116 to 286 which is a huge difference if you are looking to lose weight.

On average you are talking about a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio of carbs to protein for legumes. Most people look at the protein content and think ‘Oh, that’s good’ and forget about the carbs intake.

This is before you have added in your rice or any vegetables.

2. Nuts are a good source of protein.

This is another one you will see plastered everywhere, don’t get me wrong there is protein in nuts but there are way more healthy fats, let me give you another example:

– Tesco Cashew Nuts 250G contains per 100g, 43.85g of healthy fats and 18.22g of protein
– East End Almonds 300g contains per 100g, 55.8g of healthy fats and 21.2g of protein

You think seeds are better, here is an example,

– Waitrose Pumpkin Seeds 200g contains per 100g, 49.1g of healthy fats and 30.2g of protein

Using the same example of 17g of protein per meal that would mean you would have to eat 83g of cashews which would be 40.8g of healthy fats and 484 calories, it is just not worth the huge calorie intake for that much protein. If you were to compare it to 100g of chicken it would 24g of protein, 0g carbs, 1g of fat and a total of 106 calories.

To put it bluntly, it is hard being a vegan/vegetarian and trying to get enough protein in without breaking the calorie bank (with carbs). There is hope, I created this method of eating which has worked for my clients and I want to share it with you.

The reason I created this is that we did not have anything together for non-meat eaters when we first started out as a Certified Personal Trainer. We had a proven method for meat eaters but absolutely nothing to support vegan/vegetarians.

Let me tell you a little bit of the background behind this, a client was 4 weeks into her 8-week program and we were into week 5 where we sit down and discuss their progress so far. During this sit down she told me she did not feel supported as we did not really cater for vegans. I took this feedback on board and spent the next few days tweaking, refining and finally came up with this addition to our Ultimate Fat Loss Pack.

How to eat for fat loss

The two biggest factors are portion size, how much to eat and balance, what to eat.

Portion size + Balance

There are 5 sections to the above plate if you are a female who wears a large top for less you should have 3 of these a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you are a female with a large top or more then it should be having 4 of these a day, the same goes if you are a male with a large t-shirt or less. If you are a male wearing an extra large t-shirt or more then it should be 5 plates a day.

The portion size for the protein-based carb, meat substitute + starch-based carb should all be the same size as your fist. The protein veg is specified below. This includes the depth too. For the veg, it should be the rest of the plate and for the healthy fat, it should be thumb-sized but again including the depth of the thumb.

Protein Veg

After extensive searching online for the best vegetables that contain protein without having to eat an unreasonable amount per sitting, I came up with these 4 sources:

  • Spinach (2 cups)
  • Kale (2 cups)
  • Green Peas (1 cup)
  • Corn (1 cup)

One of the above must be added to each meal to maximise protein intake. These work out to be approximately 4g-6g of protein.

Protein-Based Carbs

Like I said earlier these work out to be approximately a 2:1 ratio, carbs to protein. Therefore you must decide between a fist full of these carbs or a meat substitute (fist-sized) with a starched based carb or fruit (fist sized).

The best sources of protein-based carbs are:

  • Pinto beans (1 cup)
  • „Kidney beans (1 cup)
  • „Black beans (1 cup)
  • Lima beans (1 cup)
  • Soybeans (1 cup)
  • Mung Bean (1 cup)
  • Chickpeas (1 cup)„
  • Black-eyed peas (1 cup)
  • Lentils (1 cup)
  • Quinoa (100g)
  • Tempeh (100g cooked)
  • Tofu (100g)
  • Explore Organic Edamame Spaghetti (70g)
  • Explore Organic Black Bean Spaghetti (70g)

All the above contain beans and peas contain anywhere between 7g to 18g of protein per serving but the spaghettis blew me away as it contains approximately 32g of protein and the ratio is 1:2 for carbs vs protein so a perfect compliment to any meal.

Meat substitute (vegan)

  • „Quorn (100g)
  • Protein shake (plant based)„
  • Hemp powder

These substitutes contain anywhere between 15g-25g of protein

Other substitutes (vegetarian)

  • Eggs (2 for females, 3 for males)
  • Total zero greek yoghurt fat-free

These contain between 12g-18g of protein

Starch-based carbs

  • Butternut squash„
  • Acorn squash
  • „Yam
  • Brown rice
  • Sweet potato
  • Potato
  • Brown wrap
  • Brown bread
  • Oats, check the packaging to ensure it’s just oats

Healthy Fats

  • Nuts
  • Seeds
  • Avocado
  • Oils (Coconut, Olive, Rapeseed)

These lists are not exhaustive and will continue to grow as I learn more but it is a fantastic way to start and will help you on your fat loss journey.

With the combination of foods you should easily hit your 50g per day of protein and if you need more, you know where to find it.

If you would like your very own copy of the Ultimate Fat Loss Pack please click here or if you feel that I have missed anything out I would love to hear from you at afro@bigcoachlittlecoach.com.

Thank you for reading today’s blog.

If you feel that it has given you any value please give it a share.

Big Coach Afro

Co-founder of Big Coach Little Coach

www.bigcoachlittlecoach.com

Afro Ndiritu

Written by

I have created a platform for men to break through their limiting beliefs, improving their overall health, wealth and relationships.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade