Before we talk about what a whole food plant-based diet is, let’s discuss what it’s not. It’s not a rigid philosophical or moral movement that forces you to choose whether you’re “in” or your “out”. There is no shame and there’s no judgment.

That’s more of a vegan ideal. No offense to my vegan friends. It’s simply true, though, that you can’t “kind of” be a vegan. You’re either in or your out! And if you’re out, there’s judgement. I often hear vegan friends say that they’ve “failed” or that they have to “start all over” because they “fell off the wagon.” They’re under a great deal of pressure to conform to the rigid constraints of their ideals (Check out this FREE course from best-selling author John Robbins if you want the secrets to plant-based health without the shaming and the guilt).

With whole food plant-based eating, on the other hand, there’s no judging, no shaming–no politics! It’s just a simple effort to replace less healthy animal-based and highly processed foods with more healthy plant-based and minimally processed foods. The focus is on delicious foods you’ll enjoy AND that help you look and feel your best–not on a list of things you are forbidden to enjoy. If you’re not sure what that means, have a quick look at this before moving on.

That’s important to understand because if you’re reading this you’re probably thinking that you’d like to have a more healthy diet.

• Maybe you’re overweight.
• Maybe you have health problems.
• Maybe you’re totally fine but came across a copy of The China Study.

Whatever the reasons, you’re interested in having a more healthy plant-based diet.

Making drastic changes to your diet, though, can be a very personal and scary thing. You might be thinking,

• Am I really NEVER going to eat meat again?
• Will anyone want to have dinner with me?
• Will people make fun of me?

All of that worry is unnecessary, though!

You can’t “lose” or “fail” at whole food plant-based eating, so you don’t have to stress out about the changes you’re making!

Why can’t you “fail” at whole food plant-based eating? Because any dietary changes you make that involve more whole, fresh, plant-based foods is great. You’re winning no matter how much more room you still have to improve!

That means you don’t have anything to feel stressed out about. Check out this guy’s take on the matter–he’s feeling chill about the whole thing, and you should be too!

As you can see, he’s not trying to change his entire life or redefine who he is as a person. He’s just making some simple changes to his diet — and you can do the same. Maybe you can follow his plan, or maybe you can do something else that suits you better.

Perhaps start eating a whole food plant-based breakfast, which is quite easy, as there are lots of quick and easy whole food plant-based breakfast dishes–even pancakes!

Or, maybe you can start with Taco Tuesdays —these tacos are delicious and easy to make!

Whatever you do, make sure you enjoy it. Try new foods. Improve your kitchen skills. Do whatever you like, as long as you’re adding more whole plant-based foods to your diet…and not stressing out about it!

• go slowly
• enjoy the process
• involve your family and friends

Feel like this is a big change for you? Look at the guy below. His name is John Robbins — Yes, from Baskin Robbins ice cream!

In fact, he was the heir to the Baskin Robbins fortune, but he ditched the dairy and went whole food plant-based instead. Now he dedicates his life to spreading the word about health and nutrition. He even has a free Food For Health Masterclass that’s great for beginners–you can check it out here if you like.

While eating more whole food plant-based foods does not have to be a huge, life-changing experience, some of you may be looking for just that. You may want to redefine who you are. You may be looking for a whole new way of life. Many people feel that way, and if you do to, you really should think about joining a program designed to help you transition into the new you! These are all great programs.

• This is a great “How to Become Vegan course” that is worth checking out (even if you don’t want to become fully vegan). The cooking courses are great. The host is very personable, and they provided a very detailed road map for you to follow on your journey to the new you.
• This whole food plant-based certificate from e-Cornell University is supposed to be the best you can get–but at $1260, it’s a bit out of most people’s budgets (including mine).
• This VegHealth Mastery Program is also pretty popular and much more reasonably priced.

Whole Food Plant-Based Quiz!

Do you enjoy having challenges–like taking that quiz? If so, you may be interested in something like the 30-day vegan challenge below!

What is Whole Food Plant-Based Eating?

So, what exactly is whole food plant-based eating? It’s simple…it’s just eating plant-based foods that are as minimally processed as possible. In this post, we’ll talk about those foods in 3 categories.

• foods to eat in abundance.
• foods to eat in moderation
• foods to eat sparingly (or not at all)

Eat in Abundance!

Whole Grains

What are whole grains? If you like videos, have a look at this.

If you skipped the video, whole grains are grains that have all three parts, the bran, the germ, and the endosperm, still present. Whole grain wheat flour, for example, still has all three components, while white flour has both the bran and germ separated out and removed (along with many of the nutrients and a lot of the fiber). Below is a good example using wheat, but remember that it applies to all grains, not just wheat.

As I mentioned above, there are many other types of whole grains in addition to wheat, the most common ones being, rice, oats, corn, and barley. Quinoa has been coming on strong in recent years, as well, and can be found in most grocery stores or on Amazon, although it tends to be a bit more expensive than rice. For other types of whole grains, have a look at the chart below.

If grains in that chart like “amaranth”, “Kaniwa”, or “triticale” are totally foreign to you, don’t worry about it–I don’t know what they are either! If you can cook rice, you’ve got all skills you need to master the whole grain game!

For everything else, just think of them as fun new foods you can try whenever you get time. there are entire books written on how to use whole grains, from bread-making to Thai Curry cooking! For now, though, just think of whole grains as a good base for things like stir-fries, oatmeal fruit bowls, and for flours used to make breads an wraps.

Why Eat Whole Grains?

I don’t want to tell you to eat whole grains and then not say why–but I also don’t want to bore you to death with with pages of medical information, so I’ll just give you quick summary. If you want more information, just follow some of the links below.

1. They are high in fiber.
   • A 2017 study published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine showed that only 5% of Americans get an adequate amount of fiber in their diets. Are you one of the special people in the 5%, or are you with the other 95% of us who get far less fiber than we need?
   • According to the Mayo Clinic, “Women should try to eat at least 21 to 25 grams of fiber a day, while men should aim for 30 to 38 grams a day.” Here is quick look at the fiber you get from common whole grains.
     • Whole wheat pasta: 6 grams / 1 cup / cooked
     • Quinoa: 5 grams / 1 cup / cooked
     • Oatmeal: 5 grams / 1 cup / cooked
     • Popcorn: 3.5 grams / 3 cups / air-popped
     • Brown rice: 3.5 grams / 1 cup / cooked
     • Whole wheat bread: 2 grams / 1 slice /
     • Barley: 6 grams / 1 cup / cooked
   • If you want learn more about fiber and your health, head over to nutritionfacts.org
2. Lowers Risk of Heart disease.
   • According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death in America. In fact, 1 in 5 deaths is are cause by the disease.
   • What does the CDC say about preventing heart disease? Eat a diet that is…
     • high in fiber
     • low in saturated fats
     • low in trans fats
     • low in cholesterol

Whole Grain Quiz

Legumes

What the heck is a “legume” and why don’t you just call a bean a bean? There are 2 kinds of legumes–beans and pulses. What’s the difference between beans and pulses?

A legume is a plant in the family Fabaceae, or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse.

Wikipedia

So, there you have it…legumes are the seeds or fruits of a particular kind of plant. When they are harvested as a dry grain they are called a pulse, otherwise they are called a bean. At the end of day, it really doesn’t matter. What does matter is the chart below, which has a fairly comprehensive list of all the delicious, natural, healthy legumes you can eat!

Just like the whole grains we talked about above, you don’t need to be familiar with all of them–I’ve never seen a Hyacinth bean either! I do make a delicious Mung Bean Soup, though, which I really recommend you try, as it’s super delicious and easy to make.

Legumes are super versatile and an important part of whole food plant-based eating! They can be the main part of a dish, like in soups and chilies. They can be stuffed into all kinds of wraps, burritos, tacos, and enchiladas, shepherd’s pies or they can be added to salads, where they add much needed nutrients, like protein and fiber.

They also add great texture and firmness to what could be an otherwise boring bowl of lettuce. With whole food plant-based eating, you don’t need to “learn” how to eat legumes–just start cooking. The whole food plant-based recipes you’ll find online will have the simple instructions you need to prepare them.

Vegetables

Leafy Greens

Leafy greens are super healthy, with loads of vitamins and fiber–and they have very few calories! The list below from https://www.vegetables.co.nz/ is a good start for seeing what’s out there, but it’s certainly not comprehensive–keep scrolling down! With whole food plant-based eating, you can have as much of these as you can eat–you’ll get full far before you overeat, assuming you haven’t poured a whole bottle of ranch dressing on them!

Again, don’t be worried if you’re not familiar with everything — you don’t need to know about frisee, mibuna, or mizuna to prepare food with whole leafy greens. If you know about lettuce, spinach, and maybe kale, you know plenty!

This is what you’ll most likely see in you local grocery store–lots of lovely lettuce! Lettuce is best used for salads and other raw dishes, like wraps, spring rolls, etc. If you’re looking for something to put in soups or other cooked dishes, kale will be your go-to leafy green! Here is a good example.

Root Vegetables

Root vegetables are, as the name suggests, the roots of leafy plants. They include things such as, potatoes, onions, leeks, carrots, radishes, beets, garlic, ginger, turnips, and daikon–anything that grows underground.

When we talk about root vegetables, we are usually talking about potatoes, carrots, onions, or garlic, and if that’s all you know right now–that’s great! There are tons of dishes you can make with just those vegetables. Check out this peanut butter, potato and kale soup! You can learn about leeks and daikons later!

Other Vegetables

Of course, there are lots of vegetables outside of leafy greens and root vegetables, including squash, celery, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, mushrooms, asparagus, all kinds of peppers, seaweed, etc. I can’t list them all here, and you don’t need to know them all to have a good whole food plant-based diet.

The best way to learn about all the delicious veggies you can eat is to find recipes you like and start cooking! You’ll find most of what you need in your local grocery store. If you don’t, no problem, just use what you’ve got access too!

Fruit

With whole food plant-based eating, you can chow down on all the sweet juicy fruit you like! Of course, we can’t list all the fruits of the world here, and, unlike some of the grains and leafy vegetables, you probably know all about fruits anyway.

The best thing to do with fruits is just eat them raw, but, of course, there are tons of granola recipes, desserts, and other dishes you can put them in. This quinoa mango salad is easy to make and a delicious treat that everyone loves! If you’ve got a few minutes, give it a try. Or, for now, just pick up a piece of fruit and enjoy it in its natural state!

Seeds High in Omega 3

Most nuts and seeds are in the “eat in moderation” section (coming up next), not this section, which is “eat in abundance.” Seeds rich in Omega 3, however, provide health benefits in such abundance that they are put into the “eat in abundance” category. Seeds that are high in omega 3 are flax seeds and chia seeds.

Flax Seeds

The health benefits of flax seeds are far too wide-ranging for me to list here, so instead of rambling on I’ll direct you to a couple good sources. This link to the Mayo Clinic has some good general information, and NutritionStudies.org has lots of good flax seed articles and videos if you’ve got a bit more time.

In terms of how to eat flax seeds, you can sprinkle them on salads, bake them into breads and muffins, add them to your morning bowl of cereal, or mix them into whatever plant-based milk or smoothies you like to drink.

Chia Seeds

Being rich in fiber, antioxidants, minerals, and omega-3 fatty acids, chia seeds have been scientifically linked to improving risks of heart disease and diabetes and for improving gut health and overall digestion. Here is some good information if you’d like to check for yourself–Healthline, and, if you’ve got some time, there are lots more articles at Nutritionfacts.org.

One of the most popular ways to eat chia seeds is to make chia seed pudding, as they have a super fun characteristic–they absorb water like crazy and blow up into little tapioca like spheres.

In addition to pudding, you can also add flax seeds to jams, muffins, juices, smoothies, oatmeal, salads, and yogurts.

Spices

What can I say about spices? They are beautifully delicious, wondrously healthy, and as wholesome as food can get. They’ll help you transform a bowl of boiled broccoli into a tropically inspired pink curry (pic below), or turn a chunk of boring tofu into a mouth watering Mexican delight!

They can be overwhelming, though. They seem mystical, even magical, and they are hyped up by foodies who say they can only be found the tiniest, most distant corners of the world! Luckily for today’s home cooks, the Internet brings all the flavors of all those far-away places right into your home through online shopping!

Okay, but what about using those spices? They can make your mouth go numb, make your heart start racing, or set your tongue on fire. They also either make your food taste great or send it on a one way trip to the garbage can.

Great news! You don’t have to be an expert to use those spices–just follow any of the millions of recipes you can find on whole food plant-based recipe sites just like the one you’re on now! Over time you’ll figure out what you like and don’t like. For now, just explore!

Beverages

Obviously, good ole water is the recommendation of the day for whole food plant-based eaters, which makes sense since it’s totally pure and 100% essential for human life.

Plant-Based Milks

Plant-based milks have become hugely popular, not just in whole food plant-based diets, but in all diets. In my opinion, they are best in cereals–like this granola recipe, but you can use them to replace dairy milk in all situations–just make sure you get the unsweetened ones, otherwise you’ll just be loading up on sugar!

Coffee and Tea

NutritionStudies.org puts decaf coffee, herbal teas, and green teas in the “eat/drink in abundance” section and caffeinated coffee and black tea in the “eat/drink sometimes” section (coming up next). Personally, I don’t think it really makes a difference, and I’m not giving up my morning coffee! You can proceed based on whatever you think is best for yourself.

Eat in Moderation

Up to this point, we’ve been talking about whole food plant-based food items that you can eat in abundance–essentially, all you’re heart desires! Those foods were whole grains, legumes, leafy greens, root plants, spices, and seeds with lots of omega 3–plus a few drinks like coffee, tea, and plant-based milk. Now we are going to talk about foods that are healthy but that you want to eat in moderation instead of in abundance.

Nuts & Seeds

Nuts and seeds are healthy, nutritious whole food plant-based foods. They taste great. They’re crunchy, and they’re usually roasted and salted–Yum! The reason they’re in the “eat in moderation” category is because they are very calorie dense, and they have quite a lot of fat.

Here is a good graphic from Delish that shows what 100 calories of your favorite nuts look like. As you can see, it doesn’t take much to get 100 calories. I could easily fit 300 calories worth in one handful! Still, though, eat them and enjoy them! They are natural, healthy snacks that provide lots of protein and other healthy nutrients–just mind the calories!

Coconut

Coconut flesh is a great ingredient for all kinds of desserts and smoothies, as well as other more savory dishes, like this Thai coconut curry! It’s sweet, has a great creamy texture, and it has that distinctive coconut flavor that just can’t be beat. And, of course, there is the dried, shredded variety that we see on cakes, doughnuts, and other desserts. In addition to all that, coconut cream is a great plant-based replacement for whipping cream.

So, why is it in the “eat in moderation” category and not the “eat in abundance” category. The reason we don’t want to eat coconut in abundance is because it’s quite high in saturated fat! 100 grams of coconut, which is about 1 cup, has 33 grams of fat, 30 of which are saturated. 30 grams of saturated fat is 150% of the average person’s daily allowance.

So, like your nuts, eat your coconuts and enjoy them! Make your coconut curries and savor the tropical “coconuty” flavor mixed with spicy Indian and Southeast Asian spices. Sprinkle some of the dried, shredded stuff on some no-bake chocolate oatmeal drops. Eat it all…and love it! Just don’t eat it every day! Pro Tip! Use “light” coconut milk instead of the heavy coconut cream–cuts way back on the saturated fat!

Avocados

Avocados, the tender, green fruit of wonder that brings back the rich, creamy, full-bodied flavor lost in dishes that we’re now making without, oil, meat, fat, lard or other delicious but not-so-healthy ingredients.

We can eat them plain. We can stuff them into our tacos, burritos, and wraps. We can mash them into that magical Mexican wonder, guacamole. We can toss them in our salads, stir-fry’s, and Buddha bowls, and we can puree them into succulent salad dressings! Is there anything we can’t do with this delectably delicious whole food plant-based gift from nature?

Actually, yes, there is one thing we can’t do with our beloved avocados! We can’t stuff our bellies full of them for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. Why not? Because one average-sized avocado has over 300 calories and 29 grams of fat! Toss a couple avocados in your Cobb salad and your in for 600 calories and 58 grams of fat before you even add your Ranch Dressing!

Of course, there’s also lots of fiber and vitamin C, among other healthy things. So, like your nuts and your coconuts, enjoy your avocados! Eat your wraps, salads, dips, and dressings–just don’t overdo it!

Dried Fruits

Dried fruits are wonderful! They taste great. They’re easy to carry, and they’re packed with healthy nutrients. We can eat them plain, mix them into things like granola, toss them in salads and other dishes, and we can ad them to our morning cereals. Is there any reason to avoid them?

There’s no reason to avoid dried fruits, but there are a few things to watch out for. First, a lot of packaged dried fruit is soaked in and coated with sugar, making them more of a candy than a fruit–you don’t want to eat too much of that, if any.

Also, fruits are naturally high in sugar, and when they are dehydrated (water removed), the sugar and calories remain and are served up in a small, dense, delicious little package, which means what you’re eating has a pretty high percentage of sugar. Here are some good examples.

• Dried Raisins–59% sugar
• Dried Dates — 65% sugar
• Dried Prunes–38% sugar
• Dried Apricots–53% sugar
• Dried Figs–48% sugar

Along with that high percentage of sugar comes quite a few calories, at least for the size of what you’re eating. All that being said, dried fruits are also packed with fiber and other nutrients that your body needs. So, along with your nuts, your coconuts, and your avocados, eat and enjoy your dried fruits, again, just be mindful of the sugar and calories that come packed into such a small package.

Sweeteners

People really like to argue about sweeteners! Many say it’s all sugar and whether you buy the most expensive maple syrup in the market or the cheapest tin of table sugar, the body, for all practical purposes, processes the glucose and/or fructose the same. I tend to agree with this argument–with one exception!

That exception is really the whole point of whole food plant-based eating, which is that whole foods have a whole lot more nutrients when compared to processed foods. For example, fruit has sugar but also a lot of much need fiber, plus a whole host of other vitamins and minerals that do a body good. A piece of fruit-flavored candy, on the other hand, not so much.

So, say a piece of fruit and a piece of candy both have 10 grams of sugar. The fiber and nutrients in the piece of fruit is going to have positive effects on the body, such as regulating digestion, slowing down the absorption of sugar, and making you feel full.

The processed sugar in the candy, on the other hand, will spike right into your system, providing energy but no health benefits at all–and if you don’t burn those quickly absorbed sugars, they get stored as fat, which is great if your a bear going into hibernation, not so great if your Bob from accounting!

In light of that, I try to use sweeteners that are as close to their natural state as possible, maple syrup, date past, molasses, and honey are all welcome in my kitchen. That being said, you will find some recipes on this site that use plain old cane sugar! Why…mostly just for convenience–the 7-11 next to my condo doesn’t have date paste or molasses!

Minimally Processed Plant Foods

I know, it’s a bit strange to be talking about eating processed food on a “whole food plant-based diet”…but hear me out. We are going to distinguish between minimally processed plant-based foods and highly processed plant-based foods, the former of which are fine in moderation, the latter of which should be avoided.

A good example of “minimally processed” and “highly processed” plant-based food is bread. Remember what I said about whole wheat in the whole grain section of this post? If not, here’s a reminder…

whole grains are grains that have all three parts, the bran, the germ, and the endosperm, still present. Whole grain wheat flour, for example, still has all three components, while white flour has both the bran and germ separated out and removed.

So, is wheat bread a processed food? It sure is!. The whole wheat grain is milled into a powder (flour), mixed with water and then turned into a loaf of bread. The reason it’s okay to eat, though, is because it’s still a whole food–because none of the parts of the grain were removed before milling, which means you still get the nutrients and fiber when you eat the bread.

White bread, on the other hand, is a different story because the bran and the germ are removed from the wheat, along with some of the nutrients and fiber, before the bread is made. This is “highly processed” food, and what you get with it is a big fluffy loaf of bread with lots of calories and few nutrients, which is exactly what we’re trying to avoid!

In fact, when people say to “avoid carbs” what they actually mean is avoid highly processed carbs that contain few nutrients. They usually just don’t know the difference between healthy whole food carbs (called complex carbs) and unhealthy highly processed carbs that are not whole foods (called simple carbs).

One more point–bare with me, I’m almost finished.

If whole wheat bread is healthy, why is in the “eat occasionally” section instead of in the “eat abundantly” section?

Like many other processed foods, bread is relatively high in calories. To understand why, have a look at the picture below. The whole wheat pieces on the left are not very dense. A small handful would have, let’s say, 50 little pieces.

That same sized handful of the flour on the right, on the other hand, would have several times more than that because when you turn the little kernels into a powder you can fit much more of it into the same amount of space, which means it’s much more dense and, of course, much higher in calories because you have ground down and packed much more food into the same amount of space.

Whole Grain Pasta

As you just saw in the video, whole grain pasta can be an very healthy part of a whole food plant-based diet. In fact, it is very much the same as whole grain bread–still a whole food, but minimally processed and relatively high in energy. Eat and enjoy…but watch the calories!

Whole Grain Cereals

Cereals are great for breakfast, but not if they’re fruit loops or lucky charms! Whole oats, especially granola, are my favorite. Add some fruits and a few nuts and it’s even better! Gordon agrees!

Be careful with commercial cereals, as many have the words “lightly sweetened” or “heart healthy” when, in fact, they are nothing more than big sugar bombs! Kelloggs was forced by the courts to pay out over 20 million dollars for making these kinds of untrue claims. Your best bet–make your own!

Tofu

Tofu is another minimally process product that is still quite healthy. It starts out as soy beans, which are blended with water to make soy milk. The soy milk is then turned into tofu in a process similar to making cheese. It’s relatively high in protein, contains essential amino acids we need, and provides a wide variety of vitamins and minerals–all without being too high in calories.

There are entire books written about all the delicious delicacies you can make with tofu, so I won’t carry on about it too much here. That being said, if you’re new to eating tofu, you should understand that there are many different kinds of it and many different ways to make each of the different types, so if you’ve had tofu and didn’t like it, don’t worry, you may have just had a dish you didn’t like–as opposed to you just not liking tofu.

I tried a ranch dressing made with silken tofu–hated it! One of my favorite recipes, on the other hand, is this Crispy Tofu Taco recipe. If you want to learn more about preparing tofu, this is a great (and free) starter course.

Nut-Based Dips and Dressings

Foods to Avoid

We started our whole food plant-based journey today with items that we should eat and enjoy in abundance, like leafy greens and other vegetables. Then we looked at foods we can enjoy, but that we should probably only eat in moderation, like nuts, avocados, and coconuts. Now were going to look at foods that we should avoid if possible, starting with highly processed plant-based foods.

Highly Processed Plant-Based Foods

Plant-based eating has is soaring in popularity…and why not? Eat whole food plant-based for a month–you’ll feel lighter, healthier, and better than ever, that I guarantee (not a legal statement, lol). It can be a bit difficult, though, as you’ll have to learn some new cooking and meal planning skills. After all, you can’t just stop by 7-11 and pick up a whole food plant-based meal…or can you?

Fake Meats

With the growing popularity of whole food plant-based eating, food companies have decided that they want a piece of the action, and they have come out with all sorts of highly processed, packaged items that you can pick up on the way home. In doing so, however, they’ve dropped the “whole” out of “whole food plant-based” eating.

These products are oftentimes marketed as miracles of the new food industry. A lot of them, however, are made with a whole bunch of not-so-whole items, like…

• Loads of salt
• Coconut oil
• Flavor enhancers
• Binders
• Stabilizers
• Texturizers
• Preservatives
• Fillers

Is it going to kill you to eat a “Beyond Burger” every once in a while? No, of course not. But it’s also not any better than picking up any other highly processed, pre-packaged food item at 7-11 either!

Don’t confuse those products with real whole food plant based items, like these Black Bean Burgers from Monkey and Me Adventures.

White Flour

We learned a lot about whole wheat flour VS white flour earlier when I explained the difference between whole wheat bread and white bread, so I won’t repeat myself here. Just remember that there are many common things made from white flour that you should try to avoid.

I’d really like to be clear about something at this point. You may be looking at that piece of cake and feeling depressed, like…”really, I can’t ever enjoy a piece of cake again? Is this whole food plant-based thing really worth it” If you’re feeling that way, have a look at these pictures from the Monkey and Me Dessert Section!

All of those desserts are whole food plant-based–none are made with refined white flour, oil, or refined sugars!

There is no need to ever feel deprived of delicious foods when eating a whole food plant-based diet.

My Mom

White Pasta

Breads and cakes are not the only things made from highly processed white flour. Pasta also joins the party.

I know what you’re thinking…”Do I really have to cut pasta out of my diet?” First of all, remember that we’re not talking about whole grain pasta, which is quite healthy and on our list of things to eat in moderation, so you absolutely do not have to stop eating pasta–just pasta made with highly refined white flour. And even then, I’ll be honest and tell you that I do eat some white pasta. Just be smart about it! For example, look at this plate of spaghetti.

Looks nice, right? Sure it does, but look at it from a nutritional point of view. If you eat this, about 99% of your meal is nothing but highly processed white flour, so you get a ton of calories and almost no nutrition! That’s no bueno! Now look at what I made for lunch the other day…

This dish has a ton of broccoli and mushrooms, which provide lots of fiber and nutrients. The pasta underneath it is Vietnamese rice pasta. It’s still a processed food, but I’m using it as a compliment to my vegetables–as opposed to just eating a big ole plate of pasta and sauce! That’s what I mean by “be smart about it”

White Rice

White rice is a lot like white bread–it tastes great but much of its nutrients have been stripped away, leaving you with a food that has a lot of calories but not a lot of benefits for your body!

That being said, if you’re eating out, a dish with white rice and vegetables is oftentimes the best option you’ll get. When I’m in those situations, I don’t worry about it! I just enjoy what’s available. Whether I get brown or white rice, I think of it the same way I think about pasta–I try to get the highest vegetable to rice ratio I can! For example, this is a dish I made the day after I made the pasta dish above. It’s the same dish…just made with rice instead of noodles. You can see that it’s loaded with broccoli…and has some rice to go along with it.

Bars

As I mentioned before, food companies are frothing to introduce “plant-based” products. Remember, though, that plant-based is different than whole food plant-based. Bars like the one below are not healthy at all…but look at all the labels on this thing!! “plant-based”, “no artificial sweeteners”, “vegan”, “no soy”, “gluten free”, “naturally flavored”, “non GMO”, and “high protein”. My goodness! It’s like a kid coming out of the kitchen and, out of nowhere, proclaiming, “I didn’t eat the cookies!” Trying so hard to argue this thing is healthy is a sure sign to me that it’s not! You don’t see all those labels on a banana!

Here are the actual ingredients: PROTEIN BLEND (PEA PROTEIN, BROWN RICE PROTEIN), MALTITOL SYRUP, VEGETABLE GLYCERIN, SUGAR, PEANUT BUTTER, PALM KERNEL OIL, WATER, NATURAL FLAVOR, COCOA POWDER, UNSWEETENED CHOCOLATE, SALT, SUNFLOWER LECITHIN, COCOA BUTTER, ORGANIC STEVIA LEAF EXTRACT, ALMOND BUTTER. source: https://shop.thinkproducts.com/think-high-protein-bars-peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-v/p/tkp-718361&c=thinkproducts@bars@vegan

It’s up to you if you want to eat these things. For me, if I’m going to cheat and enjoy a naughty snack, I’ll just grab a Snickers–at least they’re marketed as candy!

Meat

This one is pretty straight forward — beef, pork, poultry, fish, etc. are avoided in whole food plant-based diets.

Dairy

Dairy is anything that is made from milk — cheese, butter, sour cream, yogurt, whipping cream, half and half, and, of course, milk itself.

Research Paper Mentioned in Video

Eggs

Eggs of any type — chicken, duck, ostrich, quail — are avoided in whole food plant-based diets.

Refined Sugars

Refined sugars include, regular white sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, beet sugar, barley malt, and fructose. This is a category that people love to argue about! Many say that it really doesn’t matter if you eat white refined sugar or whole maple syrup, as the body processes it in the same way, so you really need to limit your intake of all sweeteners.

With whole food plant-based eating, we try to eat plant-based foods that are processed as little as possible.

To me, a small amount of refined sugar isn’t so bad. I just remember that anything processed is going to be very dense, which means there will be a lot of whatever it is crammed into a very small space! You can decide for yourself how strict you want to be!

Final Thoughts

As I said at the beginning of this post, there is no “winning” or “losing” at whole food plant-based eating–any changes you make that include eating more whole food plant-based items are going to make you feel lighter, healthier and more energetic.

That means there is no reason for you to feel pressured or stressed out at all about making some dietary changes. On the contrary, making healthier food choices is something that you really should be looking forward to. Every little change you make is going to…

• make you feel better
• make you look better
• make you more energetic

Plus,

• You’ll get to try lots of delicious new foods you never knew about.
• You’ll improve your cooking skills, which really makes you appreciate your food more.
• You’ll become part of a wonderful group of like-minded people who are making positive changes in their lives. You can start by joining our Facebook group.

Remember that, as exciting as these changes may be, you don’t have to jump straight into a 100% whole food plant-based diet. That is actually quite difficult to do, and it puts a lot of pressure on you, pressure that may frustrate you and make you feel like you’ve “failed” if you eat something that’s not 100% whole food plant-based.

• Focus on your positive dietary changes, no matter how small they may be.
• Go slow.
• Enjoy yourself.
• Explore new foods.
• Link up with other positive, healthy, like-minded people, like those in our Facebook group.

If you do want to dive right in the deep end and go 100% whole food plant-based, you may want to consider taking a course or two.

• This whole food plant-based certificate from e-Cornell University is supposed to be the best you can get–but at $1260, it’s a bit out of most people’s budgets (including mine).
• This VegHealth Mastery Program is also pretty popular and much more reasonably priced.

Or, maybe you are redefining who