Meal Planning on a Vegan Diet

When you follow a vegan diet, you no longer eat any animal products. Not only does 
this mean no more meat, poultry, and fish, but you don’t have eggs, milk, dairy, butter, 
or even foods like honey. 

On a vegan diet, you will eat foods like grains, legumes, beans, fruits and vegetables, 
and other food items that you can make when you combine them. There are also 
familiar food items that are made with meat substitute products such as hot dog, 
cheese, ice cream, non-dairy yogurt, mayonnaise, and burgers. Food items such as 
non-dairy milk substitutes, tofu, and soy milk are also associated with veganism. 
However, this does not mean that their diet is only limited to the food items mentioned 
above. Vegans also eat everyday food items like spaghetti, green salad, peanut butter, 
and chips and salsa.

The vegan diet poses a lot of health benefits and helps you to lose weight at the same 
time. Whenever you switch to a new eating lifestyle, it is best to prepare ahead of time 
and ensure you have everything you need to get started. That is the beauty of meal 
planning.

The following information will give you what you need to get started with meal planning 
on a vegan diet, from helping you to understand what foods create well-balanced meals, 
to giving you some easy meal ideas to start with. 

1. Benefits of a Vegan Lifestyle

Following a vegan diet is one of the healthiest lifestyles you can live. Before looking at 
some meal planning options, let’s take a look at the benefits of following this type of 
diet. Since vegans only eat healthy staples, they are more likely to be high in vitamins 
(B1, C, magnesium, folic acid, and iron), minerals, phytochemicals, and fiber while 
being low in saturated fats and cholesterol.

You will be able to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, ischemic 
heart disease, hypertension, stroke, obesity, and prostate and colon cancer.
A vegan diet is also suitable for anyone of all ages, including pregnant and lactating 
women. Vegan diets should be planned, and therefore, it is advisable if you seek the 
professional help of a nutritionist.

Effects on the environment and resources

By following a vegan lifestyle, you will be able to help in reducing air pollution as well as 
put less stress on natural resources since we would require less fossil fuel, water, and 
land. The world’s population is expected to reach nine billion by 2050, so a pervasive 
movement towards following a vegan lifestyle is encouraged since this is the most 
efficient way to help with our environment and for our survival.

2. Getting Started with Meal Planning

Meal planning is the process of planning out what meals you will eat for the coming 
days or weeks, grocery shopping, and making sure you have everything ready. Some 
people also add in meal prepping, but that is optional. The most important thing is that 
you know what you will be eating for all meals and snacks, so that you are fully 
prepared. Here are some tips for getting started with meal planning:

Start with Foods You Already Enjoy

If you are new to a vegan way of eating, it helps to think of foods you already enjoy that 
are vegan friendly. This helps to make an easier transition into following this type of diet. 
This might be making fruit smoothies in the morning with almond milk and skipping the 
yogurt, or still enjoying your favorite vegan-friendly bread as avocado toast. Sometimes, 
it will be a full meal, other times a snack or a side dish.

Make a Detailed Meal Plan

Once you have started adding some foods to your meal plan that you enjoy, you can 
make it more detailed. Try to list every meal and snack for the first week. Keep in mind 
how many people you are feeding, and any days when you might not be home to cook 
so you can prepare for those situations as well.

Write down what meals might work as leftovers, and don’t forget to use ingredients you 
already have at home.

Work on Your Grocery List

Once the meal plan is done, it is easy to go down the list and add anything you don’t 
have to a grocery list. This is imperative before going to the store so you don’t forget 
anything. Be as detailed as you can, including quantities of certain ingredients. If you 
forget or run out of something in a few days, it is harder to avoid those non-vegan foods 
you might still have around the house.

3. Guidelines for Vegan Weight Loss

Now that you understand what is involved with meal planning, you can learn about how 
to eat a vegan diet with these tips and lose weight.

Schedule Your Meals

Eating your meals at the same time each day is essential in improving your metabolism 
and promoting healthy eating habits. You should have a large meal for breakfast, 
medium for lunch, and small meals during dinner. Try exercising forty-five minutes 
before you eat to help feed and repair your used muscles.

Don’t eat two hours before bedtime. Eating calories close to bedtime can increase your 
weight, and you will probably have trouble sleeping.

Portion Your Meals

Portioning your meals will also help with your diet. Below are examples of single 
servings of different foods in each group for vegans

Grains
1 slice bread
1 cup cold cereal
½ cup cooked rice, cereal, or pasta

Vegetables
1 cup vegetables
½ cup cooked or raw vegetables
¾ cup vegetable juice

Fruits
1 medium piece whole fruit
½ cup canned, chopped, or cooked fruit
¾ cup no-sugar-added fruit juice

Dairy
1 cup non-dairy milk

Meat and beans
½ cup cooked dry beans
½ cup tofu
2 ½ ounces soy burger
2 Tbs peanut butter
1/3 cup nuts

Fats
1 Tbs oil
1 Tbs butter
1 ounce nuts
2 Tbs nut butter

Add Your Protein

The recommended intake of protein is 5.5 ounces per day or 0.41g per pound of body 
weight. For examples, a 150lbs woman should consume 61 grams of protein each day. 
Likewise, a 175lbs man should consume 72g each day. Since there are around 4 
calories per gram of protein, the woman would need 244 calories of protein and the man 
288 calories of protein daily.

You can refer to the list of food below for serving size and grams of protein.

1 cup of tempeh – 31g
1 cup of soybeans – 29g
3 ounces seitan – 21g
1 cup lentils – 18g
1 cup beans (chickpeas, black and kidney beans) – 15g
4 ounces tofu – 11g
1 cup quinoa – 8g
½ textured vegetable protein – 8g
2Tbs peanut butter – 8g

Healthy Drinks Have Calories Too

Before you dive into your usual smoothie or freshly squeezed juice, read the labels 
carefully or know how many calories it has. Merely drinking plain water is a safe bet. It’s 
hydrating and has zero calories. You can add squeezed lemon, lime, or both if you want 
some flavor. You can also try herbal teas and sparkling waters.

Avoid Binging

A vegan diet also urges you to eat in moderation. The average American consumes 
22.2 tsp of sugar per day. If you’re looking for a healthy vegan dessert that is low in 
calories without sugar and fats, try fresh fruits or eating a small piece of vegan dessert. 
You can save the rest to eat in the following days.

4. Vegan Meal Ideas

One of the difficult things for you to do when you start your vegan diet is probably 
shifting from your usual diet of meat and sweets to a lifestyle full of limited or zero 
processed food, and fresh and organic food. It may seem tiresome at first when you 
start planning your meals, but this is important when you want to lose the extra weight 
you’re carrying.

Planning your meals is not only healthy, but it can also make your life easier. When 
you’re shifting to a vegan diet, you don’t have to dive into it immediately. You can just 
start easing your way into the diet and letting go of the food that you won’t need. 
Beginners should start with their favorite food and build their meal plan from there.

Hummus

You can skip wasting money and make your own hummus at home. A basic hummus 
would include chickpeas, lemon juice, tahini, garlic, and olive oil. You can add your 
favorite spices as well as a variety of veggies. The hummus can last up to five days in 
the refrigerator, and you can eat it with any meal like on a sandwich, toast, or dips for 
veggies and chips.

You can try experimenting with different types of combinations each week to see which 
recipe works for you.

Steam or Roast Your Vegetables

You can buy your vegetables frozen especially if you’re saving money. Vegetables are 
going to be an everyday staple in your vegan meals. Roast and steam large quantities 
of cauliflower, broccoli, sweet and rustic potato, and zucchini. This will make it easier 
and less time-consuming. Make sure to rinse the vegetables before you roast or steam 
them.

Kale Burgers

Kale patties are being used as a substitute meat for the burgers. So if you’re craving a 
burger, this is the healthy alternative. Just sauté together the olive oil, garlic, red pepper 
flakes, salt, and kale for seven minutes. After sautéing, mix this with the mashed white 
beans and oats. When it holds, you can form these into four patties.

Bake these patties for thirty minutes but flip it only once. You can serve this immediately 
or refrigerate in an airtight container. The kale patties can last up to five days or six 
months if you freeze it.

Vegetarian Chili

As a beginner, you can start with the basic three-been bowl. You can move on to other 
vegetarian chili combinations once you get the hang of it. You can make a batch of 
vegetarian chili with eight servings.

You will need one can of kidney and pinto beans, two cans of black beans, vegetable 
broth, two cans of diced tomatoes, red onions. Season this with salt and chili powder to 
taste. You can reheat your vegetarian chili for dinner, or you can pair this with corn 
chips.

Baked Oatmeal Muffins

If you’re in a hurry and you don’t have time for a lavish breakfast meal, then these 
oatmeal muffins will be able to satisfy your taste buds. There are six recipes that you 
can choose from such as peanut butter banana, apple cinnamon, and sweet carrot 
potato. This will only take you about 20 to 25 minutes to bake and you can either eat 
this for meals or snacks.

There are still a variety of ways for you to plan your meal and achieve weight loss. Make 
sure you are serious about going through with the vegan diet before you go through with 
it. Consult a professional so you can go about it correctly.

There are people who go on the vegan diet for weight loss. Although there are people 
who opt for the vegan lifestyle because of ethical reasons towards animals, other 
people choose the vegan lifestyle for the diet itself and its various health benefits. Going 
on the vegan diet will help reduce your calorie intake, and you may end up with 
replacing the usual food you eat with high-fiber alternatives that have low calories.

Since vegans avoid any food items that are derived from animals, it is important to 
supplement their diet with vitamin-fortified cereals, vitamins, and fortified soy products to 
avoid deficiencies.

Some individuals have trouble sticking to the vegan diet and gain all that weight that 
they lost during the diet. This could be dangerous for the health since it could lead to 
heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Before you start with the vegan diet, make sure that 
you will be fully committed to it, and you should focus on food items rich in nutrients 
instead of empty calories.
