1500 Calorie winter meal plan for a budget friendly plant based diet. This weight loss meal plan is filled with delicious vegan weight loss winter meals.
There are many weight loss diet plans to choose from and most plans promise quick weight loss. Truth is, the only real factor to consider when trying to lose weight quickly is burning more calories than you eat. Here is the general rule:
Eating 500 calories less than you burn per day will generally result in a loss of 1 pound per week.
If you are an average woman that burns 2,000 calories per day you should consume 1,500 calories per day to lose 1 pound per week. As an alternative, you can also create a caloric deficit by exercising more. Let’s say you exercise daily and burn 300 calories (or you have a very active job where you naturally burn 2,300 calories per day. This means you can eat 1,800 calories per day and lose 1 pound per week. The diet you choose does not matter as much if you are only looking to lose weight.
If you are creating a caloric deficit only by trying to eat less, you most likely will not get all your nutrients. When creating meal plans, I often see a person’s nutrient intake begin to drop below the recommended dietary allowance once the meal plan is below 1,700 calories.
Therefore, I do not recommend trying to lose weight fast on any diet. I typically don’t recommend eating less than 1,700 calories per day unless it is only followed for a short period of time.
Low carb diets are usually 1200 calories per day and you lose weight quickly, but in reality you lose water weight first and muscle mass as well. While this might feel like a success, you run the risk of nutrient deficiency, hit weight loss plateaus, feel sluggish, and gain weight back after your diet ends.
You can find an example of a Keto diet meal plan and the complete overview of the nutrient intake here.
Another way to create a larger caloric deficit is to exercise more. But for healthy, long term weight loss it is best to find a lifestyle that includes exercise and adequate nutrition with balanced meals based on your needs and daily routines. If you are unsure how to calculate the exact amount of caloric intake, check out this video tutorial>>
Plant Based Winter Weight Loss Meal Plan
Today’s meal plan is a 1500 calorie winter weight loss meal plan. You can increase the caloric intake of this meal plan by adding more snacks or increasing the serving size of each meal.This weight loss meal plan is also budget friendly.
Breakfast: Chocolate PB overnight oats
Prep this breakfast the night before and leave in fridge. If it comes out too dry add more milk!
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 cup oats
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 T peanut butter
- 1 T ground flax seeds
- 1 banana
- 1 Brazil nut
- 2 T cocoa powder
- maple syrup (optional)
INSTRUCTION:
Combine everything in a bowl and mix thoroughly. You can heat this mix up for 2-3 minutes and it will thicken, or leave in the fridge overnight. You can add more milk in the morning if the oats are too thick. Note that this is not sweetened. If you like you can add some maple syrup.
Lunch
Each dinner recipe serves 4 people. If 2 people follow this meal plan, each person would consume one serving for dinner and one serving for lunch next day. All recipes are one pot type recipes. They are great to take to work or school for next day. You can store them in meal prep containers and heat up at work, or heat them up at home in the morning and store the meal in a large thermos food container to keep them warm until lunch time.
Dinner
Each serving size is around 2.5-3 cups.
Dinner 1: Vegan Sweet Potato Chili
Dinner 2: Thai Noodle Soup
Dinner 3: Pinto Bean Soup
Dinner 4: Creamy Tofu Tomato Pasta
Dinner 5: Instant Pot Vegan Sloppy Joe’s
Dinner 6: One Pot Creamy Coconut Potato Stew
Shopping List
This shopping list contains all ingredients to serve 2 people for 6 days:
12 cups oats, 12 cups almond milk, peanut butter, ground flax seed, 12 bananas, Brazil nuts, maple syrup (optional), cocoa powder, 4 green bell pepper, 3 red or orange bell peppers, 2 cans (28 oz) crushed or diced tomatoes, 3 cups / 2 sweet potatoes, 2 cans kidney beans, 2 onions, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin powder, paprika powder, dried oregano, chili,(optional: avocado, cilantro turmeric powder, vegetable stock powder), 2 cans coconut milk, 1 lime, 4 boxes sliced mushrooms, 2 cups frozen peas, rice noodles, fresh ginger, 1 can great northern beans, soy sauce, 3 cans pinto beans, bag baby spinach(fresh), 4 medium potatoes, 4 stalks celery, 1 bundle spring onion, 2 cup carrots, Dijon mustard, cashews, 8 oz. firm tofu, 16 oz tomato sauce, dried basil, 8 oz dry whole wheat spaghetti, 1 pint cherry tomatoes, 2 cans red lentils, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, Burger buns, apple cider vinegar (or any other), 4 medium potatoes, 2 cans chickpeas, paprika powder.
Meal Prep
Some of the recipes mentioned are easily done in one pot or in the instant pot/pressure cooker. You can make them ahead of time and store on the fridge or in the freezer.
All recipes except the tofu pasta are freezer friendly meals. You can also prep the breakfast ahead of time for easy mornings.
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