You can eat
- Plant protein at lunch and dinner, with pulses, tofu, tempeh, seitan and textured soy.
- Pulses at least four times a week, and ideally closer to daily [1].
- Eggs and dairy, if you eat them; up to three servings of dairy a day, preferably plain and unsweetened [1].
- Plant drink fortified with calcium and with no added sugar, and soy yoghurt.
- Vegetables, at least three servings a day [1]; half of the plate.
- Fruit, two or three pieces a day [1], whole rather than juiced.
- Whole grains and tubers, such as rice, pasta, bread, oats, quinoa, potatoes and sweet potatoes.
- Nuts and seeds, two or three walnuts a day and a teaspoon of ground flaxseed.
- Virgin olive oil at the main meals [1], and avocado.
- Water, between one and a half and two litres a day; coffee, tea and infusions, without sugar.
What to avoid
- Ultra-processed plant-based burgers, nuggets and cold cuts; being suitable for vegetarians does not make them healthy.
- Pastries, biscuits, salty snacks and crisps, including those from organic shops.
- Sugary drinks, packaged juices and alcohol, which add calories and do not satisfy.
- Sugar, jams, honey and syrups; in plant drinks, less than 5 g of sugar per 100 ml.
- Fried and breaded foods; better baked, grilled, steamed or cooked in parchment.
- Salt and very salty foods; add flavour with spices, herbs, garlic, lemon or vinegar.
- Seaweed as a main ingredient, because of the excess iodine; as a seasoning, no problem.
- Shake, sachet or single-food plans that promise a deadline.
Changes that help
Protein
Instead of solving dinner with bread and cheese, have a serving of pulses, tofu, tempeh or egg. It is the change that is most noticeable in a vegetarian weight-loss diet: dinner without protein is what leaves you hungry at eleven.
Plant drink
Instead of flavoured plant drink, choose one fortified with calcium and vitamin D with no added sugar. Look for less than 5 g of sugar per 100 ml on the label; soy drink also provides the most protein.
Ultra-processed vegetarian foods
Instead of a supermarket vegetarian burger or nuggets, have a homemade lentil-and-oat burger or marinated tofu. The same format, much less salt and fat, and without a three-line ingredient list.
Iron
Instead of coffee after lunch, have it mid-morning and have an orange or kiwi for dessert. Vitamin C helps absorb the iron in the meal and coffee hinders it [2].
Grains
Instead of white rice, pasta and bread, choose their wholegrain versions. They are more filling and, in a meat-free diet, are also part of the day’s protein. On the label, the first ingredient should be the whole grain or whole cereal.
Habits that help
- Move every day, 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity a week [5].
- Do strength training two or more days a week [5] [6]; it helps preserve muscle while you lose fat.
- Sleep as much as you need and manage stress; sleeping too little increases snacking the next day.
- Eat slowly and without screens; fullness takes a while to arrive.
“I eat healthily and I am not losing weight” is one of the phrases we hear most often in consultation from people who have not eaten meat for years. Almost always, the plate holds more bread, pasta and cheese than it seems, and fewer pulses and vegetables. That is where most of the work begins.
Can you lose weight with a vegetarian diet?
Yes, and for the same reason as with any other plan: by eating a little less than you burn. Removing meat does not create that deficit on its own. If its place is taken by bread, pasta and cheese, your weight does not move.
The starting point does help. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics reports that in adults with cardiovascular risk factors, especially overweight or obesity, vegetarian and vegan patterns probably reduce body mass index [2]. The comparison is with patterns that include meat, and the evidence is of moderate quality.
A good pace is half a kilo of fat per week. At Alimmenta we never recommend diets below 1,200 kilocalories a day. Below that figure, medical supervision is needed [3] and nutrient deficiencies can appear.
How the plate is divided
It is the same method as in the weight-loss diet guide, with one nuance that decides almost everything.
- Half a serving of vegetables, raw or cooked. They fill you up with very little energy.
- A quarter plant protein, whether pulses, tofu, tempeh, seitan or textured soy, and egg or dairy if you eat them.
- A quarter whole grains or tubers, in a smaller portion than you usually serve yourself.
The nuance is that protein goes at lunch and also at dinner. A dinner of soup and toast leaves you hungry at midnight, and that is where almost all plans break down.
An illustrative day: wholegrain toast with tomato and avocado, fortified soy drink and fruit. Nuts mid-morning. For lunch, salad and lentils with brown rice, and a yoghurt. For dinner, courgette soup and tofu scramble with spinach. There are more options in the nine breakfast ideas and the nine dinner ideas.
Where does protein come from if you do not eat meat?
From pulses, soy and its derivatives, seitan, nuts and whole grains. If you eat them, also from eggs and dairy. Plant proteins contain all essential amino acids, although they are digested a little less well.
You do not need to combine pulses and grains on the same plate. If you eat a varied and sufficient diet, it is enough to spread protein foods across the day [2]. Lentils with rice are still a great dish, but you do not have to balance every meal.
Soy is good-quality protein, well digested and with an amino-acid profile similar to animal protein [2]. That is why tofu, tempeh, textured soy and soy drink support this plan. A kitchen step that helps is soaking pulses before cooking them, because it reduces the phytates that hinder iron absorption.
Do you need a vitamin B12 supplement?
If you eat vegan, yes. If you eat eggs and dairy, almost always too. No unfortified plant food is a reliable source of B12. The B12 in seaweed, mushrooms or sprouts is scarce, irregular or not usable. Fortified foods do provide it, such as some plant drinks or nutritional yeast, if the label says so.
The European reference for an adult sets a daily requirement for B12 [4]. As a serving of dairy or egg, count half a cup of milk, one and a half yoghurts, 25 g of mature cheese, 100 g of fresh cheese or one egg. Even so, those servings can fall short of preventing deficiency [2]. That is why, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, a supplement is the simplest and most reliable way to maintain B12 in any vegetarian [2].
In consultation we recommend cyanocobalamin to cover B12. Your doctor or your registered dietitian-nutritionist prescribes the supplement according to your case.
Iron and calcium without meat
Iron. Plant iron is absorbed less well because of phytates, and people who do not eat meat need almost twice the recommended amount [2]. Eat pulses, whole grains, nuts, spinach or chard every day. Pair them with vitamin C, from orange, kiwi, tomato or pepper. If you still have periods, an iron supplement is only considered with a blood test [2]. Your doctor or your registered dietitian-nutritionist prescribes iron.
Calcium. From age 25, the EFSA reference is 950 mg a day. You need at least two or three servings a day of foods rich in well-absorbed calcium [2]. Fortified plant drink, soy yoghurt, calcium-set tofu, broccoli, cabbage, almonds and beans all work. Dairy can also help cover it; preferably plain and unsweetened.
What does a weekly vegetarian menu for weight loss look like?
Who it is for: a healthy adult who eats eggs and dairy and wants to lose weight. Who it is not for: it is not calculated for pregnancy or breastfeeding, or for people under 18. Nor for people with diabetes treated with insulin or with medicines that can lower blood sugar too far. Nor for people with chronic kidney disease, who need to gain weight, or who have or have had an eating disorder. If you have an illness with its own dietary plan, such as coeliac disease, a diagnosed allergy or heart or liver failure, follow that plan. If you eat vegan, replace eggs and dairy with tofu, tempeh, pulses and soy yoghurt.
| Day | Lunch | Dinner |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Tomato and lamb’s lettuce salad · lentil stew with brown rice and carrot · an orange | Courgette and leek soup · French omelette with wholegrain bread · yoghurt |
| Tuesday | Green beans with potato · grilled tofu with tomato sauce and wholewheat couscous | Spinach, walnut and fresh-cheese salad · mushroom scramble · a pear |
| Wednesday | Carrot and beetroot salad · chickpeas with spinach and hard-boiled egg | Vegetable noodle soup · hummus with crudités and wholegrain bread · soy yoghurt |
| Thursday | Steamed broccoli · seitan stir-fry with pepper, onion and brown rice | Tomato, sweetcorn and avocado salad · potato and onion omelette · two slices of pineapple |
| Friday | Green salad · wholewheat macaroni with textured soy and tomato | Pumpkin purée · baked tempeh with sweet potato · yoghurt with kiwi |
| Saturday | Baked artichokes · white beans stewed with vegetables · strawberries | Lamb’s lettuce and orange salad · homemade lentil-and-oat burger with wholegrain bread · yoghurt |
| Sunday | Spinach with chickpeas · baked eggs with potato and pepper · yoghurt | Vegetable soup · wholegrain toast with avocado and tofu scramble · a fruit |
Quantities depend on you; what stays the same are the plate proportions. The version with meat and fish is in the guide to losing 5 kilos. If you would like us to support you, we do it through the weight-loss dietitian consultation.
What changes in a vegan diet for weight loss?
Four things, and none prevents weight loss.
- B12 stops being optional. Without eggs or dairy, the supplement is compulsory [2].
- Dairy no longer covers calcium. Count the two or three servings a day of calcium-rich foods from the previous section.
- Iodine, with care. Deficiency is more common in vegans, and iodised salt helps cover it [2].
- Vitamin D, with a blood test first and not by guesswork [2].
The full picture of meat-free eating beyond weight is in the vegetarian diets guide.
What mistakes do we see in consultation?
Three slips come up almost every week when a vegetarian wants to lose weight. See “Vegetarian diet for weight loss”.
- Filling the gap left by meat with bread, pasta and cheese. The plate looks healthy, but it lacks pulses and vegetables.
- Skipping a meal to compensate for an excess. Hunger builds up and collects that same night.
- Improvising. With no menu or shopping done, dinner ends up as cheese on toast. Having cooked pulses, tofu and nuts at home changes that.
A well-built vegetarian plan helps you lose weight just like any other and starts with an advantage in fibre and vegetables. Improvisation is what makes it hardest to follow: without protein at dinner and without B12, what goes down is not just fat.
If you have been trying for months without results, or have just stopped eating meat, we can look at it with you. We do this at the vegetarian and vegan nutritionist consultation, in Barcelona and online, starting from what you already eat and your real week.
We explain it on video
More videos
So, what do I have for dinner today?
Tofu scramble with spinach
Crumble firm tofu into a frying pan with a tablespoon of oil, spinach and a pinch of turmeric and pepper. With a slice of wholegrain bread. Ten minutes.
Warm chickpea salad
Cooked chickpeas sautéed for one minute with tomato, onion and cumin, on lamb’s lettuce with avocado and a few drops of lemon. Lemon is not only flavour: it helps absorb iron.
Vegetable soup with hummus toast
Boil and blend courgette, leek and potato with a tablespoon of oil. For the second course, wholegrain bread with hummus and sesame seeds. If the soup is from the night before, it takes five minutes.
Your week of meals, ready for the fridge
- 7-day menu with the shopping list
- 8 recipes: cook once, eat twice
- What to do when the week goes off track
Where should we send it?
Free PDF, in your inbox in a moment.
Data controller: Alimmenta Tu Vida, S.L. Purpose: to send you the guide and, only if you tick the second box, tips by email on the topic. You can withdraw your consent and exercise your rights at [email protected]. Legal basis, recipients and retention periods are in our privacy policy.
When to see a doctor
When should you see a doctor?
With food and habit changes, we can help you lose fat while preserving muscle and sustain this over time. What we cannot do is find out why your weight is changing on its own: if you lose or gain weight without trying to, your doctor should assess this before you change your diet.
Make a medical appointment without waiting to change your diet if you notice any of these signs:
- You faint, feel dizzy when you stand up or notice palpitations while following a very-low-calorie diet [6].
- You lose weight without intending to: your clothes become loose and you have not changed anything you eat [7].
- You are very thirsty, urinate a lot and lose weight at the same time [8].
- Your period has stopped or become irregular since you lost weight [9].
- You feel you are losing control around food, or you compensate for what you eat with vomiting, laxatives or exercise [9].
If you faint, have chest pain or your heart races, go to urgent care today. If you lose weight without trying to, have intense thirst with frequent urination, or your period has stopped, make an appointment with your GP this week. If you feel dizzy when you stand up on a very-low-calorie diet, stop it and make an appointment with your GP this week. If your legs swell or you notice something new in your body that limits your day-to-day life, see a doctor as soon as possible. If what is happening concerns food rather than weight, there is specialist psychological support: that help is sought before starting a diet, not afterwards.
Losing weight slowly and without scares is normal. These signs are uncommon; knowing how to recognise them is what lets you stop monitoring them.
Start with a first appointment and make sure nothing is missing
Tell us how you eat now and what concerns you. We will tell you whether this consultation can help you now, with whom and in which format —in person or online—, and you can decide without pressure.---
Keep reading
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Recipes for this goal
Sources
- Agencia Española de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición (AESAN). Informe del Comité Científico sobre recomendaciones dietéticas sostenibles y recomendaciones de actividad física para la población española. Madrid: AESAN; 2022. Ref. AESAN-2022-007. Rev Com Cient AESAN. 2022;36:11-70.
- Raj S, Guest NS, Landry MJ, et al. Vegetarian Dietary Patterns for Adults: A Position Paper of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2025;125(6):831-846.e2. doi:10.1016/j.jand.2025.02.002
- World Health Organization. WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020.
- Sociedad Española para el Estudio de la Obesidad (SEEDO) y sociedades participantes. Guía española del manejo integral y multidisciplinar de la obesidad en personas adultas (GIRO). 2nd ed. Madrid: SEEDO; 2024. Available at seedo.es
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Overweight and obesity management. NICE guideline NG246. London: NICE; 2025.
- EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA). Scientific Opinion on Dietary Reference Values for cobalamin (vitamin B12). EFSA Journal. 2015;13(7):4150. doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2015.4150
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Suspected cancer: recognition and referral. NICE guideline NG12. London: NICE; 2015 (updated in 2026).
- American Diabetes Association Professional Practice Committee. Standards of Care in Diabetes—2026. Diabetes Care. 2026;49(Suppl 1).
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Eating disorders: recognition and treatment. NICE guideline NG69. London: NICE; 2017 (updated in 2020).
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