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 adventures....​in veggieland

It's still January,  Time To Add One More Resolution to take the 2 week veggie challenge!

1/28/2015

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 If you didn't make it one of your resolutions, it's never too late to add "eat more plant-based" to your list. Yes, "be more patient with the kids," "work out more", and "take time to smell the roses" are important, but to do all of these things you must be ALIVE! The best way to stay that way is by eating a plant based diet. I read a new piece of research every day that confirms this is the way to go, yet, there are burger places packed on every corner and tons of people still on the diet du jour bandwagon. Paleo, cough... hack .. hack. People would rather pop a pill, go on a fad diet, or have surgery than change the way that they eat, but it is never too late to start. A new study just showed that people who start eating plant based even in their 60's can have huge benefits. I also see people killing it at the gym working out two hours a day for their New Year's resolution and not changing their diet. They lose no weight whatsoever and in my opinion waste a lot of their time. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the gym. But spending two hours a day there and not seeing results is a shame. 

I have people tell me every day that they wish they could go plant based, but they wouldn't even know where to start. My advice is either to go slow. Take baby steps. Or, swear off meat and hit the ground running. Cold tofurkey. Both work. You have to figure out your personality and what works best for you. If you are the type who sticks to anything you decide upon, then jump into it full force, if you like easing into the water, make a few changes now, revisit in a few weeks and add some more every couple of weeks. 

How about a 2 week challenge!!! Pick how many days a week you want to eat a plant based diet and stick with it for 2 weeks. Extra points for doing it everyday! Let me know how it goes! Ask questions. Ask in the comment sections here or go to Chrissy's plant based challenge on facebook and join the group. We can all share recipes and stories of our journeys.  A lot of you email me and I DO love that but we can help others if we do this together!

 2 week Veggie Challenge....suggestions....

1. Eat some fruit and healthy grains for breakfast. Try some fruit and some whole grain pancakes made with almond milk. Or try a greens and fruit smoothie, take some berries, banana, almond milk, a handful of spinach or kale, with 2 T ground flax or chia added to it. Or hot oats with apples and cinnamon are easy and delish. See breakfast recipes on my recipe link for more options. 

2. Snack on fruit or a fruit smoothie before lunch. Berries are a great antioxidant source and should be consumed daily. A smoothie is a great way to fit these in. If you didn't have flax or chia at breakfast, fit these in your smoothie. They are loaded with omegas at the perfect ratio for helping to prevent breast cancer and prostate issues.  

3. For 2 weeks have a salad or a sandwich (alternating days would be fine, or have salad more and a sandwich when you tire of salad.. is that even possible?) Make the salad with lots of different veggies, some type of nuts, or seeds, and 1/2 - 1 c beans on it daily. Stay away from dressing loaded with oil (most store bought brands) and have lemon juice, hummus, salt and pepper as dressing instead. Or experiment with making your own dressing and cut down the oil. I love 2 T lemon juice, 1 T of really good olive oil, 1 t maple syrup, pinch of sea salt, pepper, 1 t dijon mustard  and shake it up in a jar. You will get used to your salad not drowning in dressing. I promise. For the sandwich, I like super grainy bread toasted and loaded with roasted red peppers, lettuce tomato, sprouts, avocado, and veganaise, 

4. Try hummus and rice crackers and raw or steamed veggies as your afternoon snack. And don't go eating the whole tub of hummus. Measure out a couple of tablespoons and leave it at that. Also, steam some kale and have it in the afternoon with the hummus. Side note: I have had more people tell me that they were trying to lose weight on a vegan diet but couldn't do it, and when I quiz them it turns out that they were eating entire large tubs of hummus daily. Hello 3000 calories. A whole food plant-based diet needs to be diverse and colorful.  

5. Experiment with hot veggie and bean or tofu dishes for dinner. Stop being terrified of tofu already. Buy organic, sprouted and it will not be GMO. You can have 3-5 servings a day, so if you have it a couple times a week you are barely hitting the minimum of what is ok. If you have estrogen sensitive cancer, this is a different story and you know the deal with soy. Try a vegetable curry and add some organic sprouted tofu and garbanzos to it, try roasting some veggies and making veggie tacos with homemade guac, make a big veggie, bean and brown rice burrito, make a  bowl with quinoa, pomegranate seeds, and toasted pumpkin seeds (which have been doused in tamari then dried) and serve the bowl with a side of steamed kale or spinach, or make some pasta and instead of meat sauce serve it with lentils and spinach, or Beyond Meat beefy crumbles in your favorite red sauce . The possibilities are endless. Step out of your comfort zone and try something new. I am loving  bowls right, now because there are so easy and you can be so creative. Here are some pics of veggie bowls for a little mouth watering inspiration! There are lots of dinner recipes on my recipe page as well.

If you don't eat this way at all, you may feel a bit funky for the first week. Can you say DETOX??!!! Get through it, because the reward of how awesome you will feel once you get over that is AMAZING. 

Get creative. Step out of the "I'll just pick up a rotisserie chicken" comfort zone and try something new! It will take planning, so sit down and figure out your menu for the week. Part of eating better is meal planning every week anyway. Winging it usually equals takes out, or something out of a box, can or freezer and that equals too much oil, salt and/or meat. And enjoy the low grocery bill. Meat is $$. Veggies are cheap in comparison. 

Let me know how you are doing! Send me some pics of your dishes. Eat well, my friends. 





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One Year Down!!! What I Have Learned....

1/4/2015

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Happy New Year!!! It was a year ago that I began my journey from a house full-o-meat to a house full-o-veggies. 

This is kind of a long post... so bear with me:)

I have learned soooooo much on my journey this year! I have changed the eating habits of myself and of my family, and I would love to say it was all very simple and such an easy transition, but honestly it was very hard. Habits are tough to change, and I had to make some of the same dishes, or serve some of the same foods close to 15 times before the boys would develop a taste for it. My teen was super resistant, but now actually likes SO many new foods and now eats so many beautiful plant based healthy meals happily. The kids ask for red peppers, carrots, cucumbers, brussell sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, green beans and/or snap peas for a snack when they come home from school. Yes, you read that right, they ask for them. The flavor blasted goldfish are out, there are no chips around, so they ask for veggies. It was a slow wean off of the junk food and it wasn’t easy. It was a grind. Saying NO over and over, and getting the death stares and the eye rolls. Being told I was crazy and "why couldn't I just be a "normal" mom?" Having the boys try new things over and over until they would accept and even enjoy a food became my obsession. Very occasionally now, we are out shopping together and some goldfish end up in the cart, but I am fine with is now, because as my little guy says, "it is a treat, not an everyday thing." They don't even ask for Cheetos, or Doritos or other gross colored chips etc anymore, and I am actually surprised about this. Part of it is them knowing that they are loaded with crap (MSG, red dye, saturated fats...) and not wanting to put that in their bodies, and part is they just aren’t that into them anymore. I have seen them grab a bag at a party and eat one then put it down and forget about it. 

I have also learned that education pays off. It has been incredible seeing how even though most of the time I feel like all that my family hears is blah, blah, blah… they actually take a lot in, and take it to heart. All of them are making great choices 90% of the time. Occasionally, my husband's and teen's diets include organic chicken, fish or turkey, because my oldest son, and husband still do not love (or even like) beans, lentils, or tofu.  I am going to keep trying these, but the consistency throws them off and to date, they still can’t do it. I can blend tofu or beans into a smoothie or throw it in chili or use Beyond Meat and they will eat it, but not too often, so I will keep up with that and try to increase the frequency. I haven’t made red meat or pork in a year now, and they are cool with it. They don’t want to eat it anymore. Both for ethical and health reasons. That is, in my mind, one of the biggest victories this year. They used to live on bacon burgers and steak. My teen and husband would love to be vegetarians, but as a growing teenager, he needs enough protein (10-12% a day) and I just can't get it into him with an all plant diet. We do not have genetics that are going to have him top out at 6'. He is hoping to get to 5"8" like his dad. I am sure that some vegans would argue that he will grow just fine on a vegan diet, but until he eats a more well rounded vegan diet, I am not comfortable risking him not getting enough protein during the only years he is going to grow.  He, on any given day, will only get 30 gms of protein if I don't add a small portion of organic chicken or fish. I realize that it was not realistic to expect that he's going to eat mountains of edamame and peas, or beyond meat every night. He did for a while and was miserable. These are the only two higher sources of veggie protein that he really likes and he was getting so sick of them. He no longer eats an animal protein based diet like he used to, and eats tons of veggies and whole grains now. He wants to be whole food plant based some day and is well on his way. I just need to keep at it with the veggies and veggie protein sources as his tastes change. My little guy eats mostly vegetarian, because he loves beans, lentils etc. If the guys are having a bit of chicken, we have a bowl of beans. He does like a little cheese in his bean and cheese burrito, and if I buy the shredded organic cheddar he has less than 1/2 oz in there and he is happy. 

The second biggest victory is the amount of fruits and vegetables we are consuming. Another learning experience is "if it is there, they will eat it!" People see our fruit bowl and say, "oh my gosh, are you having an army over to eat fruit?" The bowl is empty within two to three days.  I'm at the grocery store 3 times a week buying fruit and vegetables, but that is a small price to pay for them actually eating and enjoying them! 

Another take home from this past year is that it is definitely more time consuming making dinner every night, and I need to plan better. The chopping of veggies totally gets on my nerves sometimes. My hands were cramping up, no joke. I am starting to use the food processor more for this now. I will definitely try to learn some new tricks this new year. The weeks I start out with a huge pot of quinoa and beans, and lots of washed veg in the fridge go a lot better. If I worked full time, I know I would have to plan much better, and have this all done in the beginning of the week. One of my New Year's Resolutions is to plan my weeks out. I definitely tend to wing it. 

I have had so many friends make the switch this year and have helped guide many through it, and it has been so fun helping them navigate and watching their bodies and attitudes change!!! They feel amazing, have had incredible, easy weight loss, their skin and hair look so healthy, they are sleeping better, and just seem happier. My athlete friends have seen incredible changes in their athletic performance, as they have so much more energy. One couple friend of mine has been sending me pictures of their meals and honestly have been putting me to shame!!! So delicious!!! 

Personally, it has taken a year for it to be easy to eat plant based. I don't miss animal protein and feel so good. My weight is the same as it was in high school and doesn't budge. If I fall off the wagon and have something a bit processed, I get right back into whole foods the next day. It just feels right to not eat meat. 

My New Year's goal is to inspire more people to make the switch. I want to help people to get their families off of processed foods and meats, and to eat a more plant based diet. As doctor Ornish says, there is an eating Spectrum with whole food plant based eating at the top. I hope to continue to inspire my family to get all the way there and to help lead other families in that direction as well. I will be hosting plant based education classes and seminars. All free. Stay tuned. 




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Chrissy Roth, Whole Food Plant Based Nutrition
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Disease Prevention
    • Getting Started
    • Plantrician Doctors
    • Eating Clean and Curbing Cravings
  • The plant based diet
  • My Journey
  • Contact
  • Lunch
  • Dinner
  • New Page