My Key Principles to a Plant Over Processed Lifestyle
Enjoy this process! Be excited and focus on what you can have and forget about the things you cannot. This may be a new way of eating for many of us. It’s re-learning how to eat, shop and change your idea of what is a proper meal is. It takes time, effort and education to make it work! Its worth figuring out for oneself! I will help you (and so will my meal planner team!). If I did it, you can most definitely do it too.
Before you know it your taste buds will change and the foods you once thought you could never live without will be a thing of the past! Coca cola, and hot chocolate, cool whip and captain crunch used to be my breakfast of choice and I thought I would never even want to give this up. Now I look at it like, “what on earth was I on that I thought that was a good breakfast option!" These once loved foods seems stagnant to me now (and this is coming from a former chocoholic and meat eater). If you want health, if you want a lean, functioning, l body that serves you and a mind that is clear, balanced hormones and to enjoy the foods you are eating without regret, then this may be the lifestyle for you! I never believed I would be able to enjoy food and benefit from it as well. Long gone are the days of eating and enjoying and 10 minutes later regretting the whole thing feeling awful! No thank you, been there done that, time to move on!
1. Make it your own. Everyone has different circumstances and only you know the reality of that. Find a compromise that works for you with the goal of consuming more plant foods than processed foods long term. Do the best you can and remember change can happen over time. You may want to incorporate a veggie into each meal or introduce meatless Mondays into your family. A year from now you might find yourself fully plant based and living a completely different lifestyle! It’s a personal progressive journey, enjoy it and be gentle and kind to yourself along the way!
2. Fill up on volume based plant foods. Fruits and vegetables are what I call “volume based foods”. Filling up on these plant foods as opposed to grains, oils, nuts and seeds can help set you up for ultimate health, satisfaction and hydration. And personally how I maintain a lean strong body and maintain a clear mind and balanced energy.
3. Food combining can be a huge help if you have a sensitive system like me. The main objective is to eat faster digesting foods before slower digesting foods. Fruits after a cooked meal is not recommended and will cause bloat- fruits before cool meals not after is best. Water before meals not during helps. Fruits and leafy greens go together. Greens go with everything. Fruits and grains do not work. Melons alone and first thing in the morning. Proper food combining is best for aiding proper digestion and will keep your tummy happy and flat. There are many health benefits from practicing proper food combining.
4. Always eat enough. One of the biggest mistakes people make when going plant based is not eating enough. In order to get enough calories your portion sizes are likely needing to double or triple! For example, a side salad isn’t going to cut it. Aim for a pop corn bowl sized salad! If you are hungry, eat. One of the very freeing things about eating plant based is that you can eat abundantly without calorie counting!
4. Hydration is important! First thing in the morning and between each meal drink a tall glass of water.
5. Learn to cook with limited salt. You will achieve maximum health and leanness when your salt intake is low. When you eliminate processed foods, you will automatically cut out loads! Lemon, spices and herbs are great flavor boosters so rev those up! You will likely notice a difference in your body and face after a few days of limiting salt. It’s the fastest way to get rid of the “puff”
6. Learn to cook with limited oil- Food can taste so good without it! Controlling the amount you use in your cooking it is an easy way to automatically make a meal healthier!
7. Processed vegan junk food is fun but does not usually benefit you health-wise even tho some of the packaging will try to convince you otherwise. Keep processed foods to a minimum to achieve ultimate health benefits.
8. Wonderful food staples are you local in season fruits and veggie options. They are usually the most tasty and best priced. Check out my book, Plant Over Processed for pantry, fridge and freezer staples.
9. Get that body up and moving! My goal is to break a sweat each day of the week. I am a mom and therefore do not have the luxury of time always but I find this goal is doable! If I had the time I would do hot yoga and surf every day. A few examples of what I personally do for fitness are: running (on beach when I can), kicking (swimming with fins) or swimming, YouTube home videos, hiking with the kiddos, walking to the grocery store instead of driving, and of course running around with my kids! I do try to do something specific for myself and break a sweat for 30- 60 minutes each day of the week (usually works out to about 45 minutes). Currently, I run the beach to the nearest bay (about 5 minutes), kick across the bay twice with my fins, and run back home. All-in-all it takes 35-45 minutes. It definitely gets my heart going and always worth it!
10. Just as important as moving your body is rest and relaxation. This is a lifestyle which aims for balance in all things. Work hard, play hard, move, rest, meditate. Sunday is a day of rest for me and therefore I enjoy relaxing and taking it easy. Sometimes I like to say personal prayers and just reflect on the things I am thankful for. This focus really helps me to remember all the great things in my life and helps reevaluate my problems while putting things into prospective.
11. Taking a vitamin B 12 Supplement is recommended. I take one supplement containing at least 10 micrograms of vitamin B12 every day or take one supplement containing at least 2000 micrograms of vitamin B12 every week. I sometimes get a vitamin B12 shot from my doctor which you can do every few months. There are many symptoms that may come up from lack of B12, two main ones are chronic fatigue and depression. Vitamin B12 helps the body make healthy red blood cells and nerve cells, is involved in the body's process of converting food into energy (metabolism), and is needed to make the genetic material in all cells (DNA).
Lastly, enjoy this process and before you know it it will be your life and you will be stoked out of your mind on all the benefits it delivers! Be patient, your body is going to need some healing if it's coming from a place of dieting and poor health. Your body can heal, you just need to give it a chance! If you can have a doctor you trust, their support that can be a huge asset to you too to help with your specific needs. I have been monitored the entire time I have been on this lifestyle by professional health care. When I changed to a plant based diet, my health results began to sky rocket. Even my doctor was shocked at how fast I started to improve. One of the greatest moments for me was when I was sitting in my doctor's office and she had my health results back after being on this lifestyle after 3 months and said, “what can I say, you're thriving!” What a contrast! It's a liberating feeling and place to be and I wish it upon all of you, and I hope this Meal Planner is a source that can be a help to anyone looking to improve or maintain their quality of life.
Food to avoid if you have sensitive digestion at first to avoid bloat. Add gradually and pay attention to how your body reacts!
Vegetables that cause gas- broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, asparagus, mushrooms, brussel sprouts.
All fermented products such as pickles, sauerkraut, kefir, kombucha, etc.
Vinegar
Oils
Garlic
Onion (with the exception of scallions/green-onions or occasional sweet red onions)
Salt
Chili pepper products
Seaweed of certain kinds (kelp and kelp noodles, arame, dulse, irish moss, algae etc.)
Spirulina
Bragg's liquid aminos/Raw Coconut Aminos/Nama Shoyu/tamari
Psyllium husk (scratches the delicate lining of the digestive track)
Agave
Excessive use of nuts/seeds, badly combined fruits & fat combo's that lead to health challenges.
Gourmet raw dishes that we feel are not congruent with the low fat raw vegan lifestyle