A plant based diet is obviously far healthier than a meat based diet. And it’s easy to get absolutely ripped while following a plant based diet. Unless, of course, you eat like a lot of uneducated vegetarians. Just removing meat and dairy from your diet doesn’t make you any healthier if you are still eating excessive amounts of junk food. Eating more fruits and vegetables does. My colleague, John Alvino has just created an entire set of plant based meal plans (that are only available until Midnight, tonight) that will get you shredded in no time. I asked John what he thought were the top three foods that most vegetarians eat but need to avoid if they want to lose fat fast. Here are his answers:
#1 Food to avoid on a plant based fat loss diet:
Excessive soy products
Most vegetarians consume copious amounts of soy. Heck, it is not uncommon to see soy milk for breakfast, soy burgers for lunch and soy ice cream for a late night snack.
These foods can stop your fat loss dead in its tracks. In addition to all of the sugar and salt these products contain, soy has an estrogenic effect in the body.
Excess estrogen binds to the fat cells and causes an increase in the size of estrogen-sensitive fatty tissue such as belly fat.
#2 Food to avoid on a plant based fat loss diet:
Flour products
This list of fat loss no-nos includes: breads, pasta, muffins, cereals and just about all other baked goods.
These foods increase a hormone named insulin in the body which directly promotes the storage of fat.
Flour also has an inflammatory effect in the body. The last thing you want is inflammation in your joints which can cause pain and prevent you from being active.
#3 Food to avoid on a plant based fat loss diet:
Cheese
Cheese contains animal based saturated fat which has a negative effect on your carbohydrate metabolism.
In the presence of saturated fat, ingested carbohydrates are directed to your fat cells for storage instead of being diverted to your muscle cells for energy.
Vegetarian diets are typically higher in carbohydrates and anything that interferes with their utilization should be minimized or completely avoided.
