Room for improvement even on a plant-based diet?

I used to think that being plant-based we as enough to promote a healthy environment inside of me. However, with the increasing availability of mock meats and processed vegan food, it is harder than it was a few years ago to actually Eat for Health.

Don’t get me wrong, it is great that there are more options other than meat in your standard grocery store when looking to fill your protein needs. But somehow along the way we have lost sight of the health promoting capabilities of plants. In the “hippy section” of the grocery store, where there used to just be tofu, it is now fully stocked with plant-based alternatives high in saturated fat. So yes, this is fine when you have it once a month as a special treat, but it’s not supposed to replace your daily meat consumption.

Plant based processed snack foods are everywhere too. Gone are the days where avoiding dairy just meant you had a lot less temptation. Now you can even have “100% plant-based” cheese crackers, so to keep eating healthy requires more commitment now than ever before.

Our Journey to Becoming Plant-based

We started reducing meat consumption in 2017, and stopped entirely by 2018. The cheese was hard for me to give up though. I was a “social cheese eater” till 2019, when I saw a greasy cheese pizza we had at an after work gathering. Part of me always thought that the grease came from the pepperoni or sausage, while the cheese was the major contributor all along.

I thought “what is that doing to my arteries?” What ever it was couldn’t be good.

We started smoothies around 2017 as well. Wanting to get our daily greens in as we had learned the importance from “Forks over Knives” Documentary (Watch it today on Netflix). We also started our long lasting routine of oatmeal for breakfast.

This transition period brought us both as little bit more pep in our step. Newbie gains are great, and hopefully by the time you reach your new normal, you have good habits in place.

Challenges of the real world

However, as our jobs got more stressful over the years, we became a little more relaxed. I’m not sure when out smoothie habit went away, but we were fully plant-based and had our list of recipes fully on lock. We figured that as long as we were getting our fruits and veggies it didn’t matter what form.

Most of our meals were cooked veggies, often with beans, and our favorite brown rice. We even would add in some sourdough bread (for me) or whole wheat (for my husband). Our routine was more like the standard three meals a day and maybe a fruit as a snack here or there. We were also determined to not be stick thin vegans, so we added in healthy fats like nut butters and avocado.

We both put on the weight that we wanted and have been going to the gym consistently for the last year. Some how though, we lost sight of our raw foods along the way…

Getting back into the habit

Back in October of last year, I released Level 1 Eat for Health tracker. My coach and client, Jess from The Fioneers, was working with me on ways to provide more value to my readers. We came up with the idea of a simple list of foods that anyone, no matter where they were at would be able to pick up and get started.

This got me thinking. Back to the basics, where did we start? Smoothies were an easy way to get 2-3 servings of fruit and veggies in a day. So of course this was high on the tracker. And since I wanted to practice what I preach, I did the tracker for the full month and had smoothies back on the menu.

The tracker includes fermented foods, hydration, and eating earlier in the day. These were habits I had never had before and wanted to form. I got really good at them during this month and was able to maintain them even after. See how my month went in “Reflections after one month of eating for health“.

Then in January, we released Level 2 of the Eat for Health tracker. This builds upon level one and gets more into specific plant-based foods including actual amounts for fruit/vegetable intake, beans, cruciferous vegetables and more. Beyond that, on custom trackers that I have made for my clients, I even added a quota for raw foods (2-3 per day).

Interested in getting a copy of Level 1 & 2 of the Eat for Health Tracker? Join our mailing list and you can get started with your first two months of Eating for Health today! This is a great way to get you in the habit of being intentional with your food choices. It’s also great practice if your interested in joining my 1:1 Evidence-Based Nutrition Coaching program.

So why isn’t that enough?

Well, for you it could be. If you are simply interested in living a healthier lifestyle, these changes could set you off on the right path. However, if you are predisposed to a chronic illness such as cancer, heart disease, or an autoimmune condition, you might need more.

Taking it a step further

As of January, I was reminded that your health needs you to show up EVERY DAY! I always knew this, but I didn’t realize that it meant in a full commitment. I had slipped into the 90/10.

Every day, at least 90% of my food was whole food and plant-based. So if I had something small that was processed that was OK because it was only 10%. The trouble is, we don’t know how much that 10% is actually impacting you or undoing the work of the 90%. Also, it can be hard to gauge what 10% truly is without it increasing to 20-30% without you realizing.

Now we are recommitted. Starting from scratch all over again.

My husband spent 4 hours reading a book about raw and living foods. Bought a Costco membership, and told me that he was all in. Ready to join me in doing whatever we needed to regain my health without more drastic measures.

For the first time since my food allergies, urticaria, and throat swelling started, I felt ready to take real action. Before never really knowing what would be the one thing to move the needle, I had only made small changes in an attempt to not to throw off our routine.

Now I felt that we were standing together. I feel like I really have my husband in it with me. That this is the time to make the next leap forward in our health. And the one thing that we had heard about before but never really embraced was raw foods.

Plant-based: Raw vs cooked foods

If you are looking to heal a chronic disease, you need all the help you can get. It turns out that by cooking our food, we were unknowingly deactivating many beneficial enzymes that make our veggies so health promoting. Raw foods come packaged with enzymes that help digest proteins (proteases), carbohydrates (amylases), and fats (lipases) just to name a few.

Incorporate raw foods when you can. Either as a snack or as a side to the rest of your meal. It’s easy to eat most of your fruits, nuts and seeds raw. Also, any vegetable that you would normally add to a salad (celery, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc).

When should we cook foods?

When the micronurtients stay intact:

With tomatoes, one of the most prominent micronutrients is lycopene, a powerful antioxidant. This nutrient is fairly heat stable and is fat-soluble (90% retained after 10 min simmer). Therefore, when you lightly cook tomatoes with olive oil your body can more efficiently absorb the lycopene. So tomatoes can go either way, raw or cooked based on your preferences.

When cooking makes it safer to eat:

Have you ever had raw potatoes or uncooked rice? Me neither, and in instances where they were undercooked, they led to an upset stomach. Boiling for both potatoes and rice maintains the highest proportion of micronutrients while making it easier on your digestion.

What about raw beans? Nope! The cooking process is critical in order to break down the otherwise poisonous lectins.

And what about mushrooms? Well, these can go either way if you trust the freshness of your mushrooms. We choose to cook them, but that’s mostly due to my mold allergy.

We by no means are suggesting a fully raw diet, but it’s safe to say that a mix of raw and cooked foods will give you the best of both worlds.

Listening to your body

When we shifted to all cooked foods, my body could tell it was missing something even though I was still plant-based. I thought it was strange, but there was a time a few months ago when I was craving carrots, celery, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes. My husband was like “You just want baby carrots? But we eat carrots all the time”. It seemed like every time we went into the store I was trying to sneak another fruit or raw veggie into our basket.

Now we are giving it a go. Friday night we showed up at Costco to get our veggies in bulk.

On our first trip, $150 later gave us 65 lbs of food and most of it was whole food plant-based: fruit, veggies, and greens. My wonderful husband pulled out his Chase card and bought it all! (Think of all those points).

Wow, that was a lot of money to spend for people on the path to Financial Independence, we even had to pick up an extra $35 worth of small items at other stores this weekend to round out our meal plan.

However, we have to remember that we aren’t going to eat all of that in one week.

Also that $185 is a lot cheaper than medications, treatment, and surgery a Doctor might prescribe. For using food as medicine, I think it’s well worth the investment.

Adapting to the changes

So our food plan has changed, 2 smoothies and 2 cold pressed juices per day. Raw fruits and veggies as snacks and meals. As much guacamole as we need, up to a pound a day as Dr. Brooke Goldner says. No more sourdough (for now at least), just Ezekiel bread and homemade protein Cornbread. One meal per day with a grain base and topping of cooked food. Liquid intake including lemon water, green tea, smoothies, and juices up to 128oz a day.

We made the shift three weeks ago and it’s crazy to say, but I’m feeling different already. When I have a plant-based raw foods meal, smoothie, or even juice, I feel energized. I feel we are getting back the newbie gains we had long ago, and hopefully this time they stick around.

We’ll see how this goes, but I believe that I am giving my body as much beneficial micronutrients (phytonutrients) as I can cram into it in a day. This will help my body to repair and heal. I am excited for this journey and will make sure to keep you updated along the way.

If you aren’t getting results, try something new!

Many of us tend to think that changing the way we eat is hard since it’s all we know. I agree with this, although I believe it is worth the effort. Making a shift to something new is a challenge. There will be ups and downs, but we need to persevere. If we want a fuller life, want to heal our bodies, and want to feel whole, we need to make that change. If your health is on the line, now is the time to take that next step and make it a priority because: Everyday is a new opportunity to contribute to your own health, so why not start today?

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