If I wanted to drop 10 pounds or more as a vegan, these would be the 10 strategies I’d use.

But first, a quick story.

I always wanted to be lean and strong.

Having a strong, lean physique was my goal for years.

And for many years, I failed.

I remember when I first started my workout journey.

I had recently invested in my first home workout program from Beachbody.

In the past, Beachbody lacked a complete online portal. Instead, they sent DVDs and workout sets straight to your mailbox.

This was pretty cool, so I invested in their Insanity program and dove in.

I got leaner after 90 days of daily HIIT workouts lasting over 60 minutes.

But I didn’t feel as toned or strong as I wanted.

I didn't change my diet or eating habits. So, after finishing my first Insanity round, I began to regain some weight.

I cycled using the Insanity program for about 18 months before I got fed up with my results.

I guess it’s ironic that they call their program Insanity… I certainly felt insane doing the same thing over and over again yet still feeling frustrated.

But there is an important lesson that I learned from my early workout days:

If you persist long enough, you’ll move in the right direction.

The right direction was to start using weights. I began regular gym and home training, focusing on progressive overload.

I’ve loved fitness since a young age.

I still remember my first push-ups as a young, scrawny 10-year-old.

I remember feeling so proud when my chest could touch the ground, and I could come back up.

I went to a week-long summer camp for cadets (I think it was called Camp Cadet) when I lived in Pennsylvania.

During the camp, we did a bunch of fitness activities, like running, marching, and, oh yes, push-ups.

By this time, I was 13-14, and one night, a camp counselor showed off how many push-ups he could do.

I remember he did a ton of push-ups, and we were all impressed.

But then I gave it a shot and did 40+ pushups in a row myself.

I had been quietly training at home for the past few years and finally got to show off my progress, too.

For most of my youth, I was the skinniest and smallest kid in my classes. Still, I was proud of my push-up efforts.

I also had a crush on a girl at this camp. She liked me, but my low self-confidence stopped me from getting her phone number.

Ah, the trials of young love and low self-esteem.

I digress.

After years of trial and learning from numerous mentors, I finally developed a system that supports my success.

Here are ten fat loss cheat codes I've learned over the past decade.

Take them and make them yours, too.

#1 Use a smart caloric deficit

This is FOUNDATIONAL if you’re serious about dropping fat consistently and sustainably.

Without this principle in place, fat loss can NOT be guaranteed.

I wouldn't think about the other principles until I've mastered this one.

They won't matter in the long term without this one in place.

A caloric deficit means eating less food than your daily maintenance calories.

It’s a term thrown around often, but most people don’t truly understand.

Here’s how to make smart calculations: A good baseline ensures you’re at least in a negative ~500 k/cal daily deficit.

A caloric deficit is the main driver of fat loss behind every successful diet on earth.

If you aren’t using a caloric deficit, dropping body fat will be difficult.

A simple way to create a deficit without tracking your calories is to start eating to 80% fullness.

Aim to eat less at each meal.

(Here's a quick video on how to not screw up your vegan nutrition).

I’d suggest tracking your food for at least 4 weeks. This will help you establish a clear baseline for what eating in a deficit looks like.

Focus on negative energy balance to lose your next 10 pounds as a vegan or aspiring vegan. This means you need a caloric deficit.

Over the years, studies have shown this is the quickest and best way to get lean.

Maybe they’re onto something…

#2 Aim for 1-2 pounds of fat loss per week

A pound of fat has about 3,500 calories.

So, if you create a deficit of 500 calories each day, you can lose about 1 pound of fat each week.

Focus on weekly progress, not daily perfection.

Most clients we help lose about 1 to 2 pounds each week. This varies based on where they start and what they want to achieve.

If you have a high body fat percentage, be careful about how quickly you lose fat.

The rebound effect is real.

The more body fat (weight) you have to lose, the easier it is to regain it.

To mitigate the risks involved, take things a bit slower.

Not dramatically slower, but strategically slower.

If you care about permanent results, heed this warning.

The body always strives to maintain homeostasis.

Be mindful of this as you drop body fat and focus on the longevity of your results.

The goal is to create a lasting change.

We want to avoid settling for quick results.

#3 Focus on consistency over perfection

Above all, focus on consistency.

In a world full of shiny object syndrome, sticking to your standards. Track your food, hit your workouts, get your sleep, and stay active with your steps.

At its basics, fat loss is about eating less.

Easier said than done, huh.

I’ve recently adopted the mantra of completion over perfection.

Can I complete my workout? (imperfectly)

Can I track my food? (imperfectly)

A few years ago, I had a client who believed that tracking her macros and workouts perfectly was essential. She felt it wasn't worth it if she didn’t do it right.

That’s not true.

Even if you only did 50% of your workout, that’s certainly better than not doing any exercise at all.

Even if you only tracked 40% of your meals, that’s better than not tracking anything.

The perfectionist and all-or-nothing mindset will only derail and destroy you.

I know firsthand.

It plagued me most of my life.

It’s also what blocks your creative functions and higher mental faculties.

Making mistakes and getting messy is part of achieving real success and longevity.

#4 Track your actions

What you measure can be improved.

What you don't, can't.

Tracking your nutrition, meals, body measurements, photos, and weight in a database is key for lasting change.

To achieve results, you need to track your behaviors and outcomes.

You can use a tracking log in many ways. I recommend including:

• A nutrition tracker.
• A physique tracker for body composition changes.
• A workout tracker.

Ideally, have all 3 of these metrics tracked on one app, and it's even more accessible.

Tracking makes things real.

If you're feeling stuck, try tracking. It can boost your self-awareness, which is the primary goal of tracking.

After tracking for a while, you can stop. Your self-awareness will increase, and you'll have the skills to go without it.

But most people don’t have this.

So, track your progress until your skills catch up to your current level.

#5 Stay full for longer

Satiety or fullness is often overlooked during fitness journeys.

But it's massively important.

Ever get days when you feel HANGRY as heck?

It's easy to slip back when your belly is growling at you all day.

Enter the fullness food factor (FFF).

Aim to eat foods HIGH in fullness but low in calories.

Choose foods that are high in bulk. Good options include non-starchy vegetables, salads without dressing, and high-fiber foods.

The key here is to ‘bulk’ your foods to make you feel full even though they may be low in calories.

Another good example is a kale salad with sweet potatoes, tomatoes, onions, and chickpeas, served with LIGHT hummus.

Normally, most people stack up on high-fat foods (which is the next point).

Instead, focus on eating whole foods, fruits, and vegetables.

Lean, minimally processed plant protein also works nicely here.

A high-protein, whole-food vegan diet is the key to high performance and to creating a lean, strong vegan body.

It’s worked for countless vegan athletes and top performers.

It’ll work for you too.

#6 Reduce high-fat foods & alcohol

One gram of fat has nine calories.

High-fat foods can make you question your progress. Protein and carbs have four calories per gram, but fats are different.

High-fat foods and alcohol are two big levers to pull for a quick fat-loss cheat code.

Alcohol adds unwanted calories fast, especially when cutting.

So, be mindful of these choices.

Does it mean you need to go dry and fat-free?

Not necessarily.

(although I'd add that alcohol has no benefit for our health or well-being).

It just means being more strategic.

High-fat foods are easier to overeat due to their palatability.

Which means they are very tasty.

To circumvent these two pitfalls, reduce your fat intake.

Reduce fatty foods.

Drop your alcohol intake.

And stay focused on your goal.

I’ll contradict myself for a second quickly, too.

You can still enjoy vegan pizza and Häagen-Dazs vegan ice cream while losing body fat. Just be more strategic with your macros.

I remember as I was shredding fat as I prepared for my 1st bodybuilding show back in 2021.

I wanted to have my weekly Friday ice cream.

So, I would save my fat macros until the end of the day to allow room in my diet for a few scoops of ice cream.

So it’s possible with a bit of nutrition organization.

These days, my favorite ice cream is homemade banana ice cream. It’s just frozen bananas mixed with carob powder.

I also haven’t drunk alcohol in nearly 6 years.

But whenever you are on your journey, you can be flexible and still get lean.

It just takes smart planning.

#7 Cook home-cooked meals

Eat less processed foods.

Cook from home more often.

Eat out less.

Simple cheat codes are often overlooked.

Progress is made by making small tweaks.

Slight adjustments.

Not about going 0 to 100 overnight.

Eating home-cooked meals may also change how you view food.

And your relationship with food as well.

Whole foods from the soil have the highest nutrient quality compared to other foods.

Fruits, vegetables, yams, potatoes, and soil-grown food are the most nutritious on the planet.

Combine this with smart plant proteins like tofu, tempeh, TVP, or seitan.

This is your path to getting lean and strong while enjoying high-quality meals.

During fat loss, aiming for 1.0 - 1.2 grams of protein per ideal body weight can be optimal.

Combining the right plant proteins helps create complete amino acid profiles. For instance, mix rice and beans to cover your protein needs.

I used to hate shopping and cooking my meals.

This one area of my life triggered me the most and led to countless arguments with my wife.

One day, it hit me: if I wanted to heal from the chronic autoimmune disease I battled since I was 10, I needed to take control of my nutrition. Doing this could change my life.

The more I embraced this idea and saw food as medicine, the more my life changed.

Interestingly, I had been vegan for several years when this realization hit me.

It’s been a health compounding effect of recognizing that if something is meant to be, it’s up to me.

It’s up to me to change my life.

It’s up to me to heal.

It’s up to me to lead my life by example and be a positive role model for my family.

No one else can do this for me (as much as I loved to blame others).

So I started to enjoy cooking.

I started to look forward to shopping.

I started to learn about recipes.

And I started to heal.

That’s a story for another day, but I’ll say this:

Food is medicine.

That’s not philosophy. It's physics. You are what you eat. If you choose the right foods, you can heal from anything you've faced.

Cooking and eating at home have helped me appreciate my food sources more.

And there's no greater meal than one made from your own hands.

It's a truly satisfying feeling.

#8 Use fruits, veg, and whole foods

Stack up your fruits and veggies.

Eat more foods that come directly from the soil.

During fat loss phases, your body gets less food because of a lower caloric intake. So, it's crucial to maintain essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

Eating fruits, vegetables, and whole foods has another benefit. It keeps your calories low and helps you eat healthier.

Two for one benefit.

It’s hard to be hungry after eating two apples.

Mix high-protein vegan foods with nutrient-packed fruits and veggies. This combo helps build a solid fitness and health plan.

You could even combine both in the same meal, such as a vegan protein smoothie or a kale salad with tofu.

Moms were always right.

Eating your fruits and vegetables makes a positive difference.

#9 Eat slowly and be present

Many people underestimate how much they eat and overestimate how much they move daily.

Eat slowly and chew your food.

Slow down.

Be present with each meal.

So much of our society is based upon doing more.

Do less.

And be more present.

As a side note, 30-40% of digestion happens when we chew our food.

It's like our body wants us to slow down.

Some cool things can happen internally when you slow down and chew your food.

I get the struggle. I’ve eaten fast food most of my life due to misconceptions from my childhood.

Making this shift is challenging if you’ve eaten fast your whole life.

But it’s possible when you decide to change your eating habits.

So give yourself some grace to fall, fail, and keep trying.

Eventually, you’ll get used to this because it's our natural way of eating.

#10 Adjust for metabolic adaptation

There will come a time when change slows down.

And you hit a plateau.

That's expected.

When that time comes, make the necessary adjustments.

On average, you can typically maintain your caloric intake for 4-6 months before your body adjusts.

Sometimes, it's faster; in others, it's later.

Eventually, your body will adapt to your current calories and workouts.

If you've been consistent (this is KEY), it may be time to revisit your current goals.

Make the necessary adjustments.

And move forward.

95% of us need to be more consistent before making new changes.

Begin with consistency. Improve what’s necessary. If you don't see changes for 2 to 4 weeks, consider adding something new.

A helpful tip for fat loss is to spend one month at your maintenance calories after dieting for four to six months.

This is called a metabolic reset.

This helps your body adapt to a new weight and composition and allows you to get used to living at that level.

Once you do this for a month or so, you can prepare for your next fat loss phase since you’ll be rejuvenated and refreshed.

This is the exact method I used to drop 30+ pounds of body fat and get down to 5% body fat while standing on stage as a vegan.

As a quick recap, here are the 10 fat-loss cheat codes to get lean on plants:

1. Use a smart caloric deficit
2. Aim for 1-2 pounds of fat loss per week
3. Focus on consistency over perfection
4. Track your actions
5. Stay full for longer
6. Reduce high-fat foods and alcohol
7. Cook home-cooked meals
8. Use fruits, veg, and whole foods
9. Eat slowly and be present
10. Adjust for metabolic adaptation

Use these cheat codes for your success.

Feel free to share how your progress goes, too.

Let me know if there are other topics you’d like me to cover.

Believe in health.

It’s always possible.

Whenever you're ready, there's 3 ways I can help you:

1. Connect with me on Facebook and Instagram and let's be friends.
2. ​Join our free Facebook Group. Get free trainings on how to get lean and strong with plants.
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