I Tried a Whole-Food, Plant-Based Diet – Here’s How it Went: Week 4

2.5K

One month! It’s been one month since I started this whole-food, plant-based challenge.

Was it practical for a busy mom?

How did the food taste?

And, perhaps the question most want to be answered: Did I lose weight?

We’ll get to all of that and more in this post!

But first… 👇👇👇

I’m not a doctor. I’m not a nutritionist. And I’m definitely not a culinary expert. I’m a mom who wants to feed herself, her kids, and her husband healthy foods that minimally impact animals and the environment. This is not medical advice, but rather an account of our experience to be used for informational purposes only.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something, I may earn a commission at no cost to you. Thank you!

Remind me why the heck you’re doing this in the first place?

When we went vegan, we did so for health. And we followed a mostly whole-food, plant-based diet. And now (as we celebrate our 3rd veganniversary 🎉🎉🎉), we’re going back to our roots. 

Because being at home during the pandemic led to a lot of emotional eating (mostly of processed sweets) for me. And we dined out often to support our local vegan eateries during COVID.

So, surprise surprise, I gained weight. (Yes, it’s possible to gain weight on a vegan diet. Remember in Week 3 when I talked about Oreos being vegan? 😅)

And since we went vegan for lent three years ago, I thought going WFPB for lent this year was a perfect way to celebrate our big 3! 

What WFPB meals did you eat in Week 4?

After the flop that was week 3, and the unpredictability that comes with vacations, we got back to a routine of cooking at home during week 4. So, it was easier to cook the whole-food, plant-based meals I’d set out to eat a month ago. Here’s a look at our week.

WFPB Breakfast

We didn’t switch it up much this week and kept it to oatmeal again, just like week 1, 2, and 3. But my husband made a breakfast bowl for brunch one morning and I decided to make breakfast for dinner later in the week. Here are our WFPB breakfasts:

• Oatmeal with berries, maple syrup, walnuts, ground flaxseed, and almond milk
• Breakfast bowl of tofu scramble, spinach, onions, potatoes and topped with avocado
• Breakfast for dinner included pancakes, fresh fruit, and roasted potatoes

WFPB Lunch

I ate a lot of leftovers for lunch, bought lunch once, and made a new dish! Here’s what I ate for lunch this week:

• Pasta salad with vegetable pasta, chickpeas, spinach, black olives, grape tomatoes, cucumber, and Meditteranean dressing
• Vegetable sushi
• Leftovers

WFPB Dinner

After coming back from vacation, I knew I had to get back to cooking at home. So I stuck with some vegan dinner staples and sprinkled in a few new recipes. Here are the WFPB dinners we ate:

• Tacos with beans, rice, sauteed bell peppers and onions, lettuce, and tomatoes
• Broccoli cheddar casserole
• Bean and rice taquitos
• Leftover spinach soup from week 3

WFPB Snacks

It was super hot in Southern California during week 4 so I made smoothies when the kids got home from school on a couple of days. Here are our snacks for week 4:

• Bananas
• Cashews
• Salted popcorn
• Spinach, banana, mango, and pineapple smoothie

WFPB Drinks

Again, I stuck with tea at night, water during the day, and coffee with oatmilk in the mornings. 

WFPB Dessert

I made dessert one night this week. And although it didn’t turn out exactly as I planned, it was still a hit and we made enough for two nights. We did top it with some plant-based whipped cream we had in the fridge. 

• Chocolate banana nice cream

What were your results for this week? For the month?

Since this is the last week of the challenge, it’s hard to only look at one week’s worth of results. I can’t help but be included to look at where I started a month ago and where I’m at now. 

But I’ll try.

Week 4 brought a less stressful approach to meal prep and planning. By this time, I had a list of meals I felt comfortable preparing. I still had to set aside time to figure out recipes and grocery lists, but it didn’t seem as strenuous this week.

But honestly, I’m hoping the more I make these new recipes, the easier they become to prepare. Because I’m still taking longer than I’d like to cook dinner.

I’d also gotten used to passing on the processed goodies at the store. I still purchased granola bars and chips for the kiddos, but I usually came home with a stash of cookies and candy (all vegan). This week it seemed easier not having those items in my pantry.

Additionally, my emotional eating wasn’t happening as often. I’m not sure if that’s mainly because I didn’t have as many accessible sweets as I used to. Or if the accountability of having a blog and knowing I’m going to write about it played a part. But I’ll take it!

Like last week, dining out or at parties on WFPB foods is almost impossible. So I have to do the best I can in those situations. 

This week my weight loss slowed down again. But that’s not unusual for me. I’ve been a Weight Watchers Lifetime member several times and during most of my weight loss journeys, I lost weight faster in the first couple of weeks. After that, it was a slower process. So, this 4-week challenge closely mirrors that. 

I lost .6 pounds this week. 

But. 

I lost 5.2 pounds in one month of eating (mostly) whole-food, plant-based!

Pros

• Less emotional eating
• Less stress about meal prep
• Fewer cravings for processed sweets
• Lost .6 pounds this week; 5.2 pounds this month!

Cons

• Still getting used to new recipes
• Challenging to eat WFPB at parties and restaurants

Do you think you could have lost more weight?

Definitely. If I limited more calorie-dense foods like avocados, nuts, and tofu, I may have lost more weight. 

Plus, try as I might, I struggled to give up my oatmilk in the mornings with my coffee. Although there isn’t added sugar in oatmilk, the sugar is pretty high. So some doctors suggest avoiding it and choosing other plant-based milks for weight loss.

Is a WFPB diet practical and effective for a busy mom?

At first, it was a struggle. But now that I’ve made it more of a routine, I can see us sticking to this long term. 

I don’t think we can be 100% whole-food, plant-based, however. It’s not practical when we are at parties or out at a restaurant.

But I can definitely plan whole-food, plant-based meals for about 75% of the week. Especially as I become more confident making WFPB meals. 

I think the key to success is creating a list of meals first. Then during meal planning, scroll through that list and find which meal works on the day you’re looking at. Another tip is to double or triple the recipe. That way you have lunch or dinner for the next day. That saved me a lot of time in the kitchen.

Conclusion: Will you continue it?

Heck yes! I feel amazing. My sleep improved, I’m less bloated, I’m emotionally eating less, and I’ve lost weight. 

But I’m not done yet.

So I hope to continue cooking my family whole-food, plant-based meals while sprinkling in a few vegan treats.

And, who knows, maybe in a month or so, I’ll check back in and share our progress! But for now, with Lent ending, and week 4 coming to a close, I can say with confidence this challenge was worth it! 

Thanks so much for following along!

~Chelsea