Whole Plant-Based Food
If you don’t start to make changes your diabetes can and will get worse. Untreated (and sometimes treated) diabetes can lead to terrifying complications like limb amputations, blindness, kidney disease, nerve damage, etc. This is far scarier then changing your lifestyle! Many physicians and dietitians agree, we can stop this! We can change our society, change our habits, and change our health!
It's not about quick fixes or what works for the next 2 weeks. Think about your entire life! Think about what is sustainable. You can easily lose weight on any diet program, but odds are not usually in your favor for keeping the weight off...
Do the best you can. Some of us will be 100% all of the time. Some of us won't. Some of us shouldn't be 100% all of the time because that could lead to eating disorders or familial issues. Each person is different. Each story is different. Remember that life happens and life is meant to be lived.
Why only 3 days? Because while your already in the kitchen cooking one meal why not double the recipe and have a second meal ready to go for another day? This means less time buying groceries, less time cooking, less time cleaning...
...For this recipe use a crockpot so that you can turn it on and forget about it for a few hours. Mix up a quick salad with beans, seeds, and a tahini dressing and together you have a meal full of complex carbohydrates, protein, healthy fats, and a happy belly.
If you don’t like cooked carrots then it’s probably because you’ve never had them roasted. Maybe you’ve only had them boiled, mushy, and waterlogged. Roasting vegetables is one of the most delicious ways to get in more nutrients and fiber. Almost any vegetable you roast will caramelize into a soft and flavorful side dish. What’s the catch? There is no catch. The bottom line is that if you aren't eating a VARIETY of plant foods your body could suffer. Variety will insure that you are getting all the vitamins and minerals your body needs to thrive. Why not try different cooking methods to increase the variety of vegetables in your diet? Too much carrot juice will turn you orange. Too much of anything could be a bad thing, even kale or blueberries. So if there’s a vegetable you don’t like then try roasting it with a bit of oil, salt, and spices. You can roast broccoli, zucchini, carrots, bell peppers, onions, garlic, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, mushrooms, eggplant and so many other kinds of vegetables. You should try making your own french fries or kale chips. Eat moderately, use as little oil as possible, and always change things up by eating a variety of raw or cooked fruits and vegetables. Roasted vegetables can be a beautiful and tasty part of a balanced and healthy life! Get out the grill this summer and roast a few vegetables and plant-based burgers for a change. You can do it!
There is this fancy little hippy vegan chain here in southern California called Cafe Gratitude. I'm told that if you go to the Santa Monica location you will most likely run into some celebrities...
...Cold sweet potatoes. I eat cold baked sweet potatoes out of the refrigerator at 5 o'clock in the morning as a pre workout snack or as a post workout breakfast. I'll throw them in a ziplock bag and drag them around in my purse for a quick snack. I love them with peanut butter, raisins, apple sauce, and cinnamon. I like them with beans, creole spice, and tahini sauce. I love them with tofu, broccoli, and quinoa. I love them in soups or loaded like a baked russet potato. I pretty much love any form of sweet potatoes. Baked, boiled, steamed, microwaved or however it is prepared...
I love a good old sandwich. Ezekiel 4:9 bread, vegetarian protein (oat burgers, tempeh, or hummus), veggies, sauce, done. I also love sauerkraut and it made an extra pickle-y addition to a sandwich that already had pickles in it. Double the pickles double the fun.
Happy 4th! Celebrate with this maple syrup sweetened whole wheat cake covered in almond butter date frosting, coconut cream, and fresh juicy berries!
Celebrate the 4th of July this year grilling a hot dog that won't lead to colon cancer! Instead these carrot dogs could help PREVENT cancer, heart disease, infection, stroke, all the while improving your vision, skin, and teeth! I'm talking about Carrot dogs! To be clear, these do not taste like meat or veggie meat. These carrot dogs are their own thing and I love it! I feel like I'm eating a hot dog and I get that hot dog fix but instead of chewing down processed meat or processed fake meat I get more fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Eat more plants. Crap like a champ!
Another 5 minute dessert for the books! As you know I have a love/hate relationship with peaches... and sometimes peaches don't love me back. If that's the case then I freeze the subpar devils and try to figure what else to do with them! When I was about 8 or 9 years old my family spent 5 weeks traveling around Australia and New Zealand. We spent 1 whole week at a college while my dad was teaching a class (or something... it was a long time ago). We ate at the school cafeteria everyday and the one thing that sticks out the most to me about that whole trip (besides the beaches, koalas, and kangaroos) was that this cafeteria had peach soft serve ice cream. I had a delicious cone everyday and it was divine. I'd never heard of peach ice cream before! I'd tried plenty of varieties that included chocolate, but peach ice cream? What is this? Well, I don't eat normal ice cream anymore... but I still make my own version of peach ice cream. Easy and creamy the way ice cream should be!
If eating beans causes you stomach distress then it is because you aren’t eating enough beans! Your gut bacteria changes with the foods that you eat so if you regularly consume pizza and ice cream and you aren’t regularly eating beans and broccoli or kale then your gut will be lined with pizza and ice cream bacteria and it won’t like the new bacteria associated with beans and broccoli or kale. This will lead to stomach distress. If you’re having issues with stomach indigestion then it’s probably because you are not eating enough beans and broccoli or kale! Start changing your food slowly and your gut bacteria will transition over to being used to healthy foods and soon enough the beans won’t be the issue any more. Here are 3 tips to help your stomach adjust to beans...
It's just really good.
Who doesn't love a big old bowl of noodles? What if your noodles were actually vegetables in disguise? :O