Why did I become Vegan is the question I am asked by all my friends recently. Well, the answer to that question is two-fold: 1). I started as a vegetarian when I saw a nutritionist. She explained I can still eat meat if I crave it but, it is healthier not to eat meat. Personally, I eliminate food quicker by cutting out the meat.So, I started flirting with the idea and looked for meat substitutes like Gardein burgers, veggie burgers, tofu, and I still ate fish. 2). I bought the book The Kind Diet, by Alicia Silverstone and it got me thinking maybe I should eliminate all animal products and try it for 30 days. So my 30 day challenge began and now I am on day 22. I feel great, I lost weight, and my skin is glowing! If you approach the diet the right way, it can be a world of adventure. Don’t label yourself instead just celebrate being healthy and adopting a healthier lifestyle. We need to re-train ourselves on how to eat right for our body and how to avoid overly processed food and meat that contains antibiotics. Diversify you diet and take the leap. Look at it like I am eating veggies and then pick a protein like fish, tofu, veggie burgers, gardein burgers, beans, and meatless patties. Go small and soon you will want healthier food and grains.
Enough about me! Lets, get down to how you can be a healthy vegetarian. There’s no question that a mainly plant-based diet is better for us and for the planet. But it presents so many herbivore’s dilemmas: Am I getting enough protein? Plenty of nutrients? And what do I make for dinner? Here are the strategies, recipes, and cookbooks that will help you eat right.
1. Switch from milk to Almond Milk, Soy, or Rice Milk
2. Stop eating cheese- replace with veggie cheese. When it is melted tastes the same. You can eat soy yogurt. Cheese is fattening and makes you break out. Goodbye allergies and lose weight!
3. Cut out anything White: Buy whole grain bread, rye bread, Ezekiel bread, gluten-free bread, brown rice, and Quinoa.
4. Eat more veggies & fruit- Buy a cheap juicer and start juicing. You will feel great trust me!
5. TRY IT: Try something new and pick up vegetables you’ve never tried before: ivory eggplants, Tuscan kale, Jerusalem artichoke.
6. Don’t be radical: Do it in baby steps try by doing steps 1-4 that I suggested and then slowly start eliminating
7. Build your meals: Start by building around vegetable and give grains equal real-estate on your plate.
8. Eat out at Ethnic Restaurants: Mexican, Thai, Chinese, Indian where vegetarian dishes are standard.
9.Consider transitioning with meat substitutes: Look for products made without additives, like Gardein. Ronnen, worked on the development of Gardein products, says, ” You are more likely to succeed with your family if you replicate flavours like chicken pot pie instead of just springing a quinoa pilaf on them out fo the blue.”
10. Make sure you have meals that are well-rounded: Make hearty foods using beans, grains, and other ingredients that will keep you full and nourished.
11. Use strong flavours: Buy smoky paprika, turmeric, carmelized onions, and garlic.
Did you know?
1. The price of meat: Cows expel methane, a greenhouse gas that is 23 more potent than CO2.
2. 77% of U.S. soy beans and 46% percent of U.S. corn feed farm animals. That is a lot of land.
3. Going Vegan saves 1 1/2 tone of CO2 eq, compared to the average American Diet.
4. Raising livestock for food is one of the largest contributors to global warming, accounting for 20% of man-made greenhouse gases emitted each year.
5. 16 times more fossil fuels are needed to create one steak than to produce a plate of broccoli, eggplant, cauliflower, and rice
6. 28% of the world’s assessed fishery stocks are ” overexploited or depleted,” according to a 2008 estimate from the Food and Agriculture Organization.
7. About 98 pounds of beef, 67 pounds of pork, and 102 pounds of chicken are produced for each American Annually.
8.*** “People don’t know that you can get all of your proteins from a good mix of grains, legumes, fruits, and veggies,” says T. Collin Campbell, professor of nutritional biochemistry at Cornell University. We require about half a gram of protein for each pound of body weight.
For Vegetarians who eat eggs & dairy: ( lacto-ovo vegetarians)
Note: Eggs increase inflammation
PROTEIN:
1 percent milk ( 1 c) ………8g
Yogurt ( 6 oz)……………..6g
Large boiled egg…………..7.5g
Cheddar Cheese ( 1 oz)………. 7g
For Strict Vegans: Do not eat animal products.
Lentils ( 1 c cooked)……………………18g
Black Beans ( 1 c cooked)……………..15g
Veggie Burger…………………….approx 13g
Chickpeas ( 1 c. cooked)………………12g
Quinoa ( 1 c cooked)………………….8g
Peanut Butter ( 2 tbsp)……………….8g
Almonds ( 1 oz) ……………………6g
Soy Milk ( 1 c.)………………..8g
Bulgur ( 1c cooked)……………5.5g
Wheat bread (2 slices)…………7g
Cooked Spinach ( 1c)………….5g
Cooked Broccoli ( 1c)…………4g
Tempeh ( 4oz)………………..41g
Seitan ( 3oz)……………………..31g
Veggie Bookshelf:
1. THE KIND DIET, by Alicia Silverstone
2. Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison
3. World Vegetarian by Madhur Jaffrey
4. Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson
5. Vegan Soul Kitchen by Bryant Terry
6. The Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen
7. The Conscious Cook by Tal Ronnen
8. Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen
9. Licking you Chops by Kim O’donnel
10. Hot Sour Salty Sweet by Jeffey Alford and Naomi Duguid
11. Chez Panisse Vegetables by Alice Waters
TRY MEATLESS MONDAY’S:
The Meatless Monday movement, an intiative in association with the Bloomberg John Hopkins School of Public Health, states that if Americans skipped their daily eight ounces of meat one day per week, we could save more emissions over the course of a year than if we gave up travelling by cars, trains, planes, and ships combined!
Health Benefits of giving up meat- HUGE!
People who consume a plant-based diet weigh less, have lower incidence of heart disease, diabetes, and many cancers, on average live longer than meat eaters.
Note: Check with your Doc before making any big dietary changes or check out the blood type diet!
GO VEG! SAVE THE PLANET & YOURSELF LOVE, NICOLE xoxo
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