By: Kardena Pauza
easyveggiemealplans.com
Naturally, when most people think of vegetarian foods and weight
loss, they think of men and women eating healthy meals with plenty
of energy to spare.
But, what most people don’t realize is there are a number
of these so-called “health foods” that vegetarians are
regularly consuming that aren’t just unhealthy, but
lead to weight gain, and I’m not talking muscle.
Over the years I’ve made many mistakes when it comes to eating
healthy on a vegetarian diet and so I thought I would share with
you some of the lessons I’ve learned. This way, only one of us has
to make the vegetarian blunders.
With that being said, here are the 5 biggest weight loss dieting
mistakes people make when switching to vegetarian meal plans:
1. Eating “health food bars” and protein bars as a healthy
snack alternative or as a meal replacement.
This one is a biggie. These bars are loaded with junk binders and
fillers with very little nutritional value. Unfortunately, many
people believe the advertising and so think they are eating a
healthy substitute. My advice, read the labels before you eat
them. If nothing else, skip the bars altogether and have fresh
fruit instead.
2. Falling for the convincing advertising that energy
pills, energy drinks, or anything labelling itself as
“thermogenic” will lead to fat loss.
While you’ll get a two hour burst of “mania”, the incredibly large
dosage of caffeine in these products will bring your “high” to a
crashing halt that often lingers for two to four hours.
Tip: avoid these ingredients: taurine, guarana, caffeine
Truth be told, energy products do NOT accelerate fat loss and
none of them even work to curb your appetite.
So, do yourself a favour; skip the energy roller coaster and
avoid every energy product that contains either sugar or
caffeine.
3. Thinking there is a magic cereal diet.
There isn’t one. In fact, most recently a popular women’s magazine
was glorifying a particular cereal as the breakfast of choice for those
wanting to lose fat. Shame on them!
What they don’t tell you is that many of these cereals contain way
too much sugar and refined carbs, little-to-no protein, a small
amount of fibre, and worst of all, fat derived from hydrogenated
oils.
With that being said, if you really want to lose fat, then whatever
you do, avoid processed grains and do NOT eat cereal in place of
real food.
4. Wasting money on bodybuilding supplements
Why spend your hard-earned money on a product that is really
just processed milk? Simply put, you don’t need the junk that is
advertised in bodybuilding supplement magazines. You can
avoid them and still lose fat and build a better body.
5. The misconception that low-fat products are your
best bet for fat loss
Again, those advertisers are real sneaky I tell you! But here is
something they don’t tell you; the only way to make these low-
fat foods taste worthwhile is by pumping them full of sugar.
Sugar causes a number of potentially damaging side effects to
your body, but the most visible nasty side effect is the fat that
is stored right on your belly and thighs.
Tip: I recommend consuming no more than 6-9 grams of sugar
per sitting. Just be careful of the nutritional label as it might
indicate 6 grams/1 cup serving, while you’re eating 2 cups and
oops, you just consumed 12-18 grams of sugar!
So, those are 5 of the biggest mistakes made by those switching
over to the vegetarian lifestyle. If you follow those guidelines
you’ll be well on your way to a healthy vegetarian fat loss diet.