We all know that the holiday season can be difficult if we are trying to stick to a healthy diet. Between the candies, cookies, and traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, it may seem as though temptation lurks around every corner. If you feel as though November and December were lost causes for you in terms of weight loss goals, you are not alone in your worries. However, research has shown that people only gain up to two pounds during the holidays. Despite this, a gain of one to two pounds over decades can have a detrimental effect on health and wellness.

What can you do to not only keep yourself on track for your weight-loss goals over the winter holidays, and how can you get a jump-start after the first of the year? A change in eating habits might be just what you need to give your metabolism a boost, thereby allowing you to burn off more calories, which leads to more weight loss. This shift in eating habits can be accomplished by changing your diet, by adopting one that is based on plants, rather than animals. Dr. Nathen Horst has done extensive research into plant-based diets and can guide you toward finding the right one for you.

What Is a Plant-based Diet?

At its most basic definition, a plant-based diet is one that focuses either exclusively or mainly on vegetables and fruits within the diet. There is a wide range of plant-based diets, depending on how strict you wish to be. The three main categories of plant-based diets are:

• Vegan: This diet includes vegetables, fruit, grains, beans, nuts and seeds, but no animal-based foods.
• Vegetarian: This diet is similar to vegan diet, but may include dairy (including eggs), but no meat.
• Semi-vegetarian: This diet is mainly vegetarian, with limited amounts of poultry or meat.

Health Benefits of a Plant-based Diet

There has been extensive research into the various ways in which a diet that is heavily based on fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes can improve the quality of health for a variety of conditions. Perhaps the most important is that it lowers the risk for cardiovascular disease, which is the number one cause of death in the United States. Research has found that patients who ate approximately eight servings of fruits and vegetables per day dramatically lowered their risk for cardiovascular disease compared to those who only ate 1.5 servings per day.

A plant-based diet may also help with weight loss. If you consider that fruits and vegetables are lower in calories than animal protein, it should only make sense that eating more fruits and vegetables will reduce your caloric intake, leading to greater weight loss. Some researchers even think that the closer we eat to plants, the better off we are.

Certain fruits and vegetables, such as apples and leafy greens, contain high amounts of fiber, which help regulate the digestive system. This helps prevent constipation. One study found that just one cup of raspberries or cooked green peas was equal to at least eight grams of fiber.

Once the holidays are through, you may be ready to greet the New Year by being determined to get your wellness routine back on track. A plant-based diet may be just what you need to motivate yourself in the right direction.