Coping With the Holidays

Eating a whole food plant based diet during this time of year just got that much harder.

The holidays are a hard time of year to stick to a plant based diet, or any diet for that matter. The temptation to make exceptions is so easy, especially when everyone else at the table is eating all the things you’re trying not to. My 10% rule: eating a plant based 90% of the time and making exceptions for the foods I can’t give up 10% of the time, definitely turned into more of a 30% to 70% ratio.

While I was aware the foods I was consuming were not even close to a whole food plant based diet, I couldn’t help myself but sample a bit of each type food I wouldn’t typically eat. Don’t get me wrong, there were still plenty of veggies on my plate come dinner time, but I also splurged a bit and went for the foods I typically don’t eat like meat, cheese, and things with other types of dairy. These foods did not disappoint. They tasted just as good as I remembered!

At first I didn’t notice a change in the way I felt or looked, but after a few days of splurging I started to crave processed foods. I no longer went straight for the banana on the counter. Instead I thought about the huge box of cookies and chocolates sitting next to the bananas and went back and forth on which I should eat. I eventually chose the banana, but I was surprised how my way of thinking about food had been altered based on what I had been eating over the holidays.

I thought it was really interesting how quick this change in thinking took. Over a few weekends of eating family meals, it was harder to get back to the whole food plant based diet. But it actually turned into something I craved. I wanted to see the diversity of veggies, grains, and fruit on my plate. I wanted to nourish my body with unprocessed foods and not feel heavy or gross when I worked out.

It made me appreciate the change I made in my diet back in June. It almost reinforced why I made the change in the first place. I don’t feel tired after meals, my stomach doesn’t hurt, and I am way more motivated to workout and keep my body healthy and strong. It gave me the motivation I needed to start 2021 off on the right foot: being motivated to workout and to eat healthy meals.

6th Month Reflection

It’s been about 6 months since I started the whole food plant based diet and I love it! I feel so much better physically. I’m not as bloated as I used to be, I don’t need to worry about how much I’m eating, and I still get to enjoy the foods I loved before starting this diet by using substitutes.

I’ve finally found my core 5 meals that are my go to when the week gets busy and I don’t have time to meal prep. I’ve read a few books about being on a plant based diet, and I’ve started keeping my own recipe book with all the meals I’ve tried and loved! I finally feel comfortable with this way of eating.

When I walk into the grocery store I know exactly what I need and where to find it. I know what substitutes to use, what foods to avoid, and how to plan my meals for the week without either making too much or too little of a certain dish. To put it simply, I feel confident about eating a whole food plant based diet!

With all this being said, I have also come up with a motto when it comes to eating this way. My motto is: eat a whole food plant based diet 90% of the time and enjoy my guilty food pleasures 10% of the time. These are the foods that are processed, not vegan, or even may contain dairy. The important thing is keeping everything in moderation.

I didn’t want this diet to be one of those “oh I can’t eat that, but I really want it” diets. I wanted it to be flexible and realistic. With this approach I was able to find what foods didn’t agree with my stomach: highly processed foods and diary. These are still things I try to avoid, but let’s be real I definitely use my 10% guilty food pleasures pass.

With the 10% pass it allows me to go out to dinner with my friends and order what I want, even though I often tend to opt for the healthier options that are vegan or plant based. It also allows me to eat with my family and not have them worry about what I can and can’t eat. Like I said, I didn’t want this diet to be a burden on me or those in my life and I’ve found that this 10% rule alleviates this.

Overall I am really happy with where I am at with not only this diet, but my overall health. I feel healthier, I look healthier, and I have motivation to workout and give my body the fuel it needs. This change in my diet was hard at first, but the longer I stick with it the easier it gets. I’ve actually started craving fruits and veggies over chips. I really like this change I am starting to see with myself. I am really glad I took on this challenge of healthier eating because some of the recipes I’ve been finding lately have not disappointed me!

My Initial Thoughts

To make a change in my eating habits or not… This is the question I have been contemplating lately and doing A LOT of research on.

I’ve been doing a lot of research lately on the possible benefits from eating a whole food plant based diet. This includes everything from feeling more energized, building muscle faster, a healthier gut microbiome, and lower likelihood of getting certain cancers and diseases. As mentioned in my July post, I have already been trying to get away from eating processed foods and turn to plant based options instead.

Although I have been trying to stick to a clean eating diet by avoiding processed foods, I have the urge to push myself further and try cutting out meat and dairy as well. I think some of this push stems from being content with my workouts and my body. I feel like I am starting to achieve my goals related to my physical strength and how I envisioned my body to look from working out. To say the least I feel confident in my body! This is something I didn’t realize I was missing, but once I found this confidence I didn’t want to stop improving it, hence the urge to change my diet.

What I thought was called a vegan diet actually turns out to be a whole food plant based diet. I order a couple cook books of Amazon and am excited to try this new eating style. The main difference, to my understanding, between the two is as follows as well as outlining my reason for going plant based vs. vegan.

Plant Based Whole Foods Diet	Vegan Diet
– Food from plants, avoiding processed foods	– Not necessarily focused on cutting out processed foods
– Animal products are not off limits, but often not a huge part of the diet	– No animal products, avoid anything to do with them. This includes food, clothes, accessories, etc.
– My purpose: To get away from processed foods and improve what I put in my body to fuel it.	– Not my choice: I personally am not interested in cutting out meat to protect animals, but to better my own personal health.

I officially started this new way of eating on Monday June 29th, 2020. This included creating a week long meal plan and some grocery shopping. I am not foreign to shopping in the produce section, but I can admit I spent way more time here as most of my list revolved around fruits and veggies!

I am excited to start this journey and reflect on both the positive changes as well as the challenges I face with this new eating style!

Almost Two Months In!

I’m a little over a month and a half into my new way of eating and so far things are going well! I have gotten used to shopping for mainly fruits and veggies, meal planning and prepping, and spending a little extra time in the kitchen to cook meals from scratch.

While at first this shift in cooking was super fun and I really liked taking an hour or so to make a meal, I slowly started to realize how much of a commitment this way of eating would be. Not going to lie, but there were some cheat days because I was just way too lazy to cook another meal from scratch or didn’t have the motivation to meal plan the weekend before and was throwing stuff together to make it work.

I’ve gotten back on track when it comes to meal planing and prepping. I even have the motivation to stay on track! I would say this part of a plant based diet is my favorite and least favorite part at the same time. I really like having an idea each night what I’m going to make for lunch and dinner, but I also dislike being tied down to those 5 options for the week. It’s something I’ve been working on this past month and trying to still figure out what works well and what isn’t.

I would say one of the hardest parts of this way of eating, and something I still haven’t quite figured out is when it comes to eating out or spending time with friends and family. Oftentimes when we get together for dinner I end up doing my best to stick to the veggies and avoid dairy/ meat but this doesn’t always happen. I still haven’t figured out how to navigate around this and usually end up eating what everyone else has – while this isn’t necessarily bad, it does mean I have more cheat days. This is something I want to cut down on and I’m hoping it’s something I figure out with time.

Overall I am really happy with how I feel after eating and working out. I don’t feel bloated or super full, which used to be an issue in the past when it came to eating dinner. I also feel a lot better when I workout. I have more energy and motivation to push myself harder. I am excited to see how I change over the course of this new of eating and the ways I learn to navigate this new way of eating. I know I have a lot to learn still, but I am super happy I have been able to stick with this for the past month and a half!