Plant-Based Strategies and How to Implement Them

Jul 25

If you’ve watched the many plant-based focused documentaries listed on my Resources page, seen or heard success stories of others, or you’ve experienced a whole food plant-based diet without meat and dairy, you know the power that this lifestyle brings. Increased vitality, weight loss, along with bringing your overall health back within a normal range so that you can avoid the many medications and diseases that plague society today.

There are many people right now who are plant-curious. How do you do it? How do you stay the course? How do you not cheat or give yourself a treat? How do you know you’re getting enough protein? What about calcium for strong bones and teeth?

Let me start first by suggesting that you throw out everything you have been told about nutrition. And when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING!

The marketing strategies designed by the food industry are making them profitable and making you sick. They’re marketing geniuses, aren’t they? Well, we all have fallen for their strategic campaigns and now 6 in 10 adult Americans suffer from chronic disease and 4 in 10 adults have two or more chronic diseases. Every one of these diseases can be avoided with a proper diet. Will we ever see a single television advertisement promoting broccoli? Kale? Carrots or potatoes? Black beans or chickpeas? Brown rice or quinoa? Why not? The food industry doesn’t make money when you’re consuming healthy, unprocessed food. But they do make huge profits from food that is so highly processed and addictive BY DESIGN, that you keep buying it over and over and over. And while you make these large food processing companies richer, you make yourself sick, really sick. So sick you may even die. Take a look at the list of leading diseases below. Many, if not all, are preventable and perhaps even reversible with the proper diet. A diet void of foods that caused you to get sick in the first place.

Let’s take a look at a couple of Myths created to scare you into eating meat and dairy.

Myth #1 Are you getting enough protein when you’re no longer consuming animal protein? Here’s what Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, leading physician at the Cleveland Clinic specializing in cardio-vascular disease, has to say about protein. “The protein available in a diet of whole grains, legumes, fruit and beans, and red, yellow and green vegetables is adequate to nourish even professional champion athletes such as those who compete in the iron man races, professional football, mixed martial arts, track and field. Avoid protein drinks. The extra protein is truly unnecessary and has the potential for harm if it contains animal protein.”

Myth #2 Where will I get calcium to protect my bones from becoming brittle if I’m no longer drinking milk? Calcium supplementation is unnecessary. There is more than adequate calcium in a diet rich in whole grains, legumes and grains and especially the green leafy vegetables.

Now that we have the two great myths cleared up, let’s move on to the good stuff.

How to make following a plant-based lifestyle easy.

Easy, because meal planning and meal preparation doesn’t have to be time-consuming and difficult. And just like anything, you will get better at plant-based meal planning, shopping, and preparing the more you do it. It WILL take less time and effort. Plus, learning a new skill is very good for your brain!

Remember your WHY On a 3 x 5″ card, write the reasons you want to stick with a plant-based diet. Keep them handy in your pocket, your purse, or on your mirror, and read them often. (Ideas: be able to hike 4 miles, look better in my clothes, walk without pain, live to see my grandkids, get off my meds, for overall good health.)
Give Your Favorite Recipes a Makeover One of the easiest ways to start is to take the recipes you already love and give them a makeover. Create a list of the favorite meals you’re already preparing, then go to Pinterest and search plant-based versions. So perhaps Beef Stew is a family favorite. Use the search tool on Pinterest and search “easy plant-based beef stew”. Or “easy vegan beef stew”. Print the recipes you find and keep them in a folder or 3-ring binder in your kitchen somewhere.
Make a Weekly Meal Plan What do you already eat that is easy to switch over to plant-based? Casseroles, pasta, soup, burgers? You’ll be preparing the same thing except now they’ll be a meatless version. You’ll be swapping out meat, fish, and poultry with grains and beans. See, isn’t that easy? Don’t overthink this!

Here’s an example of one day to get you started:

· Breakfast: oatmeal, cinnamon, blueberries, walnuts, ground flax, chia seeds, nut milk

· Lunch: variety of greens, sliced cucumber, shredded carrots, red onion, sprouts, black beans, brown rice, pepita or sunflower seeds, and dressing.

· Snack: fresh fruit, carrots sticks and hummus

· Dinner: Sauteed or steamed broccoli and cauliflower, green salad topped with sliced avocado and fresh salsa and One-Pan Mexican Quinoa.

Clean out Your Refrigerator and Pantry Go to your frig or pantry right now and take 15 minutes and remove the following items: sugary cereal, canned soup, soft drinks and yes, that includes diet soda, packaged chips, crackers, cheese, milk, yogurt, sour cream, mayonnaise, meat including sliced deli meat, fish, seafood, chicken, turkey, white bread, white rice, white pasta, white sugar, lard, and all bottles of oil. Let’s be practical, recycle the unopened items to a nearby food shelf. As much as I hate passing along unhealthy food, it makes more sense than throwing it away. You may resist getting rid of all this stuff but if you leave it in the house you’re going to eat it in a weak moment and then you’re going to feel like crap. Trust me on this. Once you begin cheating and conning yourself on why you deserve to eat it, you’ll be back at square one. Yes, there is a mantra in the plant-based world and it goes like this: Progress not Perfection. Well, I’m a rip the bandage off kind of girl, so are you doing this or not? If you’re going to be successful you need to get onboard. If you don’t, this will just be another diet or lifestyle you’re going to do “your way” and you will once again fail. Come on, we’re all winners here, let’s not set ourselves up to fail!
Discover New Foods Look for new items at the grocery store to replace what you removed. Brown rice pastas, quinoa, brown basmati rice, chickpeas, tofu, tempeh and nut milk that is unsweetened and unflavored. Introduce yourself to unfamiliar vegetables such as parsnips, Japanese sweet potatoes, ramps, and cabbage varietals. Try new greens such as collards, Swiss chard, and the many types of kale.
Food Prep and Visibility The key to your success if having food ready to go. Let’s face it, we’re all busy and when we’re hungry, we want meals that don’t require a lot of preparation. That’s why preparing food ahead of time is so important. Clean, peel, slice, and dice your vegetables and store them in clear containers. When you can easily view the fresh items in your refrigerator, you’re going to use them. The same for fruit such as strawberries, melons, and pineapple. Store cooked rice and legumes, and grains in the refrigerator and the freezer. Have canned low-sodium beans on hand for convenience. If you have family members who are not following your new, healthy lifestyle, store their food in the refrigerator drawers where you can’t see it and be tempted to cheat. Yes, we’re going to call it cheating, nothing that contains animal products or processed food should ever be considered a “treat”! Do you really want to keep treating yourself to poor health and lifestyle?
Go Meatless on Mondays Meatless Mondays have been around now for over 20 years and it’s a great way to begin your transition if you are unable to go all in. Whole grain pasta with oil-free marinara sauce and a side of grilled zucchini slices. It can’t get any easier than that! Or, start by going meatless for breakfast and lunch before you’re ready to go the entire day.
Front Load Every Meal with Greens A green salad or sauteed spinach before every meal! You’ll not only get the nutrients you need, this will do wonders for reversing and preventing heart disease. Served with some balsamic vinegar you are protecting your endothelial cells. You can hear Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn explain why eating and specifically chewing greens is so important in preventing heart attacks.
Throw Out ALL Oil Olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, grapeseed oil, soybean oil, canola oil, oil, oil and ALL oil. There is nothing healthy about a single processed oil. Oil injures endothelial cells. And if you listened to the video link suggested above in the previous bullet, you would have learned how oil injures your endothelial lining every single time you consume it. The fact you think oil is healthy is just another marketing myth you fell for. So how do you saute, braise, bake, etc, without oil? There are simple substitutions depending on what you’re preparing. You have plenty of options; replace it with vegetable broth, water, applesauce, banana. It all depends on what you’re preparing. Here’s a great article on Ingredient Swaps in Plant-Based Cooking.
Find A Few Good Salad Dressings You Enjoy Salad dressings are the key to enjoying a salad. I have one piece of advice. Make your own! Discover my favorite salad dressings or Jane Esselstyn’s 3-2-1 Dressing.
Try Meat Substitutes It actually caused me great pain to even include this as a suggestion. These are not healthy choices. Let me say that again. These are not healthy choices. I don’t care that the name begins with Impossible or Beyond, they are highly processed and not at all healthy. These are once again a marketing myth labeled as “plant-based” to make you believe they are healthy. They are not. Why? Because they contain oil and are loaded with additives. If you feel plant-based meat substitutes will help you make the transition, give them a try. But keep in mind, you will eventually need to say goodbye to them if you want to be following a healthy plant-based lifestyle. These meat substitutes are nothing but vegan junk food designed by those food processing companies I talked about earlier who are just protecting their interests.

12. Stay Motivated - Focus on What You’re Adding, NOT What You’re Giving Up

Just think about all the colorful foods you’ll be eating, think of it like you’re eating all colors of the rainbow every single day. It’s that easy!
Use your Resources to read books from reliable sources, watch many documentaries available, stop looking for podcasts to debunk what science has already proven.
Collect delicious Recipes.
Find like-minded individuals to hang-out with, there are lots of plant-based and vegan groups to join through MeetUps.
And MOST IMPORTANT, review your Why list every single day, it will empower you to stay the course!