Secrets to Making Whole Foods Plant-Based Eating Easier

An easy ‘secret’ is to learn some tips and ideas on how can you add more fruits and vegetables daily to your intake. Whether you are looking for recommendations for a Heart Healthy, Anti-inflammatory, Mediterranean, Cancer preventing or Weight Control diet or meal plan, they all have one thing in common. All recommend eating more Vegetables and Fruits aka eating more Plant-based. If you could pick one thing to begin doing  to increase your physical wellness, it would be to include more of these daily. Fruits & Vegetables provide your body with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phyto-chemicals to help protect your body from illness. Sounds good, right?

I have been working on increasing my intake of fruits and vegetables daily since the beginning of December when I had my big wake up call. If you haven’t read about it yet, you can catch up by reading here. The next article you may find interesting is ‘Plant-Based Whole Food Eating is the New Black’. You can read that here. I’m hoping by sequencing these for you, it may make it easier if you are trying to follow the path to  better physical wellness.

How Much Should You Have Per Day?

This is probably the number #1 question people ask about.   The recommended number of servings daily for fruits and vegetables is—

•  3 or more FRUIT servings per day. A serving is = 1/2 cup sliced or chopped fruit, and a whole fruit= approx. the size of a tennis ball
•  4-5 plus VEGETABLE servings per day. A serving is = 1/2 cup cooked and 1cup raw

Easy Places to Add More Vegetables Daily

• Bowls
• Burritos
• Casseroles
• Chili
• Pastas
• Salads
• Sandwiches
• Smoothies
• Soups
• Stews
• Stir frys
• Wraps

Examples on How to

• Build a Bowl— Start with a Grain, approximately 1/2 cup  as your base. Examples of grains such as brown rice, quinoa, farro (an ancient grain), whole wheat or legume based pasta, etc.. Then you can add two layers or more of vegetables. Use a combination of raw and cooked vegetables in different colors, and with different textures.  Feel free to also add some sliced or diced fresh fruit as well. Add some spices and herbs, a source of protein and finish it off with  a tasty healthy sauce—think a dash of hot sauce, citrus juice, etc. Top off the bowl with a sprinkling of nuts and seeds to add some nice crunch and crisp.
• Build a Salad
• Build a Sandwich
• Build a Soup

Easy Places to Add More Fruits Daily

• Breakfast
• Bowls
• Salads
• Smoothies
• Desserts

How to Be Prepared

Make ahead—prepare grains in big batches to always have on hand,

One of the steps to help make this easier is to be prepared and supported. Information from here can begin to help you become prepared, and you may want to hop over and join our facebook group for some community support,

Remember it’s all about your progress and not perfection, every time you eat more plants you take a positive step towards improving your health and performance.

YOUR APPROACH MAKES THE DIFFERENCE

First and Foremost, approach this new way of eating for you as an adventure, opening yourself up to new foods. That’s what I’n enjoying so much about it.

It’s not necessarily best to make a sudden, abrupt change in the way you eat. Rather, incorporate new habits at your own pace. Deprivation diets never last long, but eating patterns that taste good, feel good, and yield tangible results (improved energy, fitness, appearance, health, etc.) create a positive feedback loop that get stronger and stronger over time. You will likely also be surprised by just how varied plant-based eating actually can be, with literally thousands of new flavors, textures and combinations to try.

CLEAN OUT

1. Get rid of the ‘junk’ in your pantry, refrigerator and freezer. Slowly do a full clean out. If you only buy vegan food and only have vegan food in the house then that is what you will eat and what you will make when you are at home.

MAKEOVER

Surround yourself with plant-based foods, so that when your hunger/craving kicks in, you have lots of options.

In addition to having a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, beans, grains, nuts, seeds, and spices on hand, also make sure you stock your fridge, freezer and cupboards with plant-based milks, burgers, burritos, pizza, nut butters, dark chocolate, and so on. The foods you get started on should taste good and fill you up, even if they aren’t perfectly healthy. It’s much more important to enjoy your new way of eating than drudge through bland meals and snacks that leave you unsatisfied.

WELL STOCKED PANTRY

2. Well stocked pantry, refrigerator and freezer. What I’ve learned through my research, and now through experience, is that in order to make plant based eating easy and fun, you need to have a well stocked pantry, refrigerator and freezer. I did say fun because that’s what I’n having, I do love to cook so that definitely helps. But if you don’t, no need to worry. There are numerous home delivery Food Services that will meet your needs. The stores also carry a variety of foods suited to eating this way.

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My Initial Shopping List

First spoke to my family and friends who were more plant based oriented. My original shopping list included—

• an assortment of fresh fruits  to eat and frozen (no sugar added) for smoothies
• an assortment of vegetables to eat and for smoothies
• hummus
• an assortment of legumes-beans and peas …
• quinoa, brown rice, and an assortment of healthy grains including black bean pasta
• oatmeal
• almond milk, soy based coffee creamer
• a vegan spread in place of butter
• grape-seed oil, avocado oil, large bottle of extra virgin olive oil
• whole wheat flour

I already had chia seeds and flax seeds

My Shopping  Checklist has become a lot more detailed now

Salads are the first place most people begin adding more veggies to their intake. An Easy Plant-Based Lunch for Me, full of nutrients, fiber, anti-oxidants and phyto-chemicals is A Chopped Salad of—

• Romaine
• Tomatoes
• Carrots
• Mushrooms
• Cucumbers
• Onions
• Artichoke hearts
• Banana ringS
• Apples
• Chia seeds
• Flax seeds
• Quinoa

I enjoy the salad chopped into small pieces. You can make it any way you enjoy it.

Tool to Help You

To make eating healthier easy for you, I’ve developed a Master Shopping list to help you. You can see and purchase it here. You can upload it into a digital planner or print and use every time you go shopping.