eat more plants for weight loss

May 18, 2021

Eating plants is amazing!

Really! I do get very excited when talking and thinking about eating plants, the abundance of plants available to eat, and all of the colors of whole plant foods that we can put on our plates.

There are endless ways of combining fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, whole grains, beans and legumes, and nuts and seeds to make recipes that have lots of variety and vibrant tastes.

Focusing on eating more whole plant foods, meaning foods that come from the earth without being modified or processed in any way, is one of the best things you can do for your health.

Variety is also very important when including more whole plant foods in your life. The more variety you can get in each day or each week, the better!

Think about what plants you ate today.

How about what plants you ate yesterday?

Can you count how many you had?

Some experts say that if you are including 40 or more different whole plant foods per week, you are achieving a great amount of variety, and could be doing wonders for your health.

Plus, eating more plants in general, can lead to…..that’s right: weight loss!

I know that a lot of people want an easy fix, like a diet pill, or weight loss bars or shakes that they can eat and magically lose the weight they have been trying to lose for a long time..but NO!

That stuff doesn’t exist! Sorry guys, it just doesn’t.

If you are someone who has been on every “diet” known to man, but you are still not having the success you want… have you have finally realized that they just don’t work long term?

Yes, you may lose some weight up front if you are super strict with your food intake for a period of time, but in the long term, these types of “diets” are just not sustainable.

You end up being starving! You end up wanting “bad foods” that you are not supposed to have on these specific “diets”, and end up falling off the wagon that you were only teetering on to being with.

This is when you gain the weight right back, and end up “yo-yo dieting” which is terrible for you and your body.

Increasing your intake of whole plant foods could be the answer to your weight loss that you have long been searching for.

Now, of course, I am not making any promises, but it is a common pattern that when people start to incorporate more whole plant foods into their lifestyle, their weight starts to drop off.

And, of course, of course, consistency is key, and eating the whole form of the plant is necessary. Processed foods, as I mentioned above, no not do you any favors, and can put the weight right back on.

Here are some explanations of why eating more whole plant foods can help you to potentially lose weight and keep it off, making eating this way a sustainable way of life..

1.      When you eat more whole plant foods, you are consuming all of the nutrients the plant food has to offer. Your body needs vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc, that are naturally in the whole form of the plant food, and when you give your body what it needs, you can decrease the amount of cravings you have for unhealthy foods, because your body is happy. It is satisfied, and it has what it needs to function optimally. It has the proper resources to pull from in its’ storage, and you have the clean energy you need in order to go through your day with the physical energy, and mental clarity and focus.

Processing foods (even cooking foods) decreases, and often times completely wipes out, all of the whole food’s nutrient value, so your body is still left hungry and unsatisfied shortly after eating the processed form of the food. This causes you to eat more unhealthy foods because you are hungry after all! You are also in the pattern of making unhealthy food choices and being in a vicious cycle of not meeting the demands of your body, leaving yourself lacking in nutrients and your body starving for what it actually needs. You are hungry, then you eat unhealthy foods, your body is left starving for nutrients…and you cycle, again and again…

2.      Whole plant foods contain lots of fiber! Fiber is soooooo good for you, and very important in the function of the body. We largely don’t get enough fiber, as a society. The more fiber you eat the fuller you can feel, causing you to potentially eat less, and as a result, lose weight.

Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and legumes, and nuts and seeds all have fiber! Fiber is very important when it comes to digestion and your gut. The more fiber you eat, the better you can move the food through your system, and reduce your chances for constipation and lots of other digestive issues. Did you know that animal products such as meat, eggs, and dairy do not contain any fiber at all?

Something to remember is that when you are transitioning to eating more whole plant foods (and more fiber), a sudden increase can potentially cause some discomfort with digestion since your body is not used to it. You have been depriving your body of the fiber that it needs! Going slow is a good idea at first with increasing your fiber intake, but your body adapts, and is thankful in the long run.

3.      When you choose to eat more whole plant foods, you are choosing to NOT eat all of the processed, unhealthy foods that can cause weight gain, low energy, and many of our modern day diseases. Simple as that. You are replacing unhealthy foods that you body does not appreciate, with healthy, abundant whole plant foods that your body loves and needs to function optimally.

When you feed your body what it needs, it can balance out to be the weight that you are meant to be, naturally. When you adopt this way of eating more whole plant foods, you can enter into a good cycle that benefits you instead of the opposite. You feel good, and make good choices because you know you are doing good things for your body, and you want to continue to treat yourself right.

Going back to the old way of eating unhealthy foods seems so unappealing, and just doesn’t make any sense when you think about it.

Why would you want to do harm to your body, when there is better way that brings health, joy and peace to your life?

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If you are interested in virtual health coaching, please contact me to set up a free 15 minute consultation to see if we would be a good fit to work together. reneelocher@gmail.com

You can find me on Instagram: @reneelocherwellness @easyplantbasedlife