We have now done one week of the plant based diet as seen on “Forks over Knives” !! To refresh your memory this is no meat, oils, refined sugar, eggs, or dairy. We definitely have adapted it to our needs and did not go into it 100%. After talking I dont know if we will ever do it 100%, we will probably be flexitarians! I read that flexitarians are people that most of the time do this diet, but if you are somewhere where you cant (ie: family Thanksgiving) that you still eat meat, etc. Being gluten/dairy free is already hard when going out or to family gatherings so we dont want to just add another layer of hassle if we dont have too. All that being said we are for sure limiting meat to only 1-2 days a week and only eating chicken, since beef was really the main cause for concern.
The reason I titled this “Wake up call to the body” is that simply enough, it was! Obviously I thought I was being “healthy” before but when you start really reading labels, and learning about what is good and not good it is eye opening. I learned that we do not eat enough fiber. Women should eat 21-25 grams and men should eat 35-38 grams per day. The average person only eats about 10 grams per day. Now, eating 25 grams of fiber after only eating about 5 is a little bit of a shocker to the digestive system. I am going to be honest here because that is the most helpful 🙂 So I am very sorry if this is TMI!
The first couple of days were definitely the worst. My stomach had sooo many bubbles in it and I had lots of gas and went to the bathroom alot more than I was before! After all of the really annoying and embarrassing side effects subsided it has been alot better and my system feels more regulated. It will take about a week or so to adjust. It’s funny because you would think doing the right thing for your body would make you feel great, but honestly the first couple of days I felt like crap! I also read alot of useful forums about this that said that you should ease into it and eat easier to digest foods like lentils and work your way up to black beans, etc. OOHHH….haha Well the first 3 days I ate probably 2 cans of black beans, that explains it 🙂 haha SO, my advice is to spread out the fiber into all 3 meals if you can that way you dont eat a can of beans at dinner and the next day have crazy stomach bubbles!! These were all things that unfortunately they did not address in the documentary but should have!
Now the most common question I have been getting: WHAT do you EAT?! People are like OMG you eat plants? no meat? It really freaks them out, especially here in the south where everything is meat covered in gravy! It really hasnt been that hard actually. I will say that it is a little of an upfront investment because some of the key ingrediants you need are a little expensive but you are cutting out one of the most expensive products, meat, so it all evens out. Here is what we ate for the week to give you an idea:
Friday: I still ate my GF Rice Chex for breakfast!
We just did PB&J since we still needed to go to the store.
Saturday: I had a chocolate/banana/soy smoothie at Starbucks for breakfast. Went to the store and got all of the goodies! I made myself GF pasta with lots of sauteed veggies & pinenuts and a little Earth Balance.
Sunday: Fruit for breakfast. Homemade GF flatbreads with DF cream cheese & veggies. Inspiration here: Cream Cheese with veggies Flatbread
Also made this tasty dessert adapted to GF: Cookie Sandwiches
Monday: Smoothie for breakfast.
Breakfast for dinner: GF oatmeal pancakes & fruit
Tuesday: Vegan Overnight Oats for breakfast (GF)
Salad with lots of veggies & fruits and homemade honey mustard dressing
Wednesday: Rice Chex & fruit for breakfast.
Our one meat meal of Chicken Tacos with rice & plantains
Make this little treat, you will not believe how good it tastes!: Raw Food “Brownies”
Thursday: Rice Chex and fruit for breakfast.
I was home alone so it was a quick sandwich!
Friday: Butternut Ravioli Stacks
Inspiration here: Ravioli Stacks
For snacks I ate dried fruit, larabars, and nuts. Surprisingly I didnt feel starved at all this week, my body was the perfect amount of full 🙂
Now onto the second week..stayed tuned as we continue on the journey & thanks for reading!!