What We Eat In A Week!

photo via Time.com from the book Hungry Planet

*No, the above picture is not us! Thank goodness! However the right side of the picture looks good. But just look at the left side! That was us (more or less) not too long ago...before last September.*

The most frequently asked question from people when talking about how I changed my (our) eating habits is, what do you eat? Usually people want to eat healthier but are intimidated by the amount of time they think it will take them to develop new recipes and new eating habits. I know that when I first changed my eating habits it was very helpful to visit vegan and plant-strong blogs where the people would post recipes and even pictures of what they eat on a day to day basis. While I don't have pictures of my own, I have included links to recipes that sometimes do have a picture.

Most days we eat oatmeal for breakfast. Like, 6 out of 7 days! But in the interest of variety I have included some of our non-oatmeal breakfasts. (We just love it so much!) Snacks for myself and the kids include fruit, nuts, seeds (Brandon LOVES sunflower seeds which are a nutrition powerhouse in so many ways!), and granola bars.

Vitamins and Supplements

We take the same supplements every day. Eating a near-vegan diet I want to make sure we get our B12, D, and cover all our bases with a good multi. Additionally, in times of illness or stress we take vitamin C.

Daily Menus

Upon Waking: Drink 2 large glasses of water. Take B complex supplement.

Breakfast: About 1 hour later...large bowl of oatmeal. See below for my oatmeal recipe! Take multivitamin.

Snack: apple or pear

Lunch: veggie sandwich (whole wheat bread with no-oil hummus, avocado, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, sprouts, and cucumber slices.)

Snack: Fruit or nuts

Dinner: Bean and brown rice burritos with avocado, salsa, vegan cheese and sour cream. Salad with no calorie ranch dressing. Take D supplement.

Snack: 1/2 cup homemade granola (I sub the butter for Earth Balance margarine and agave syrup instead of honey)

Day 2: (Same snacks, same supplements. The kids take a 2 a day multi and vitamin C each day.)

Breakfast: Whole wheat blueberry pancakes with organic agave syrup

Lunch: refried bean, brown rice and salsa quesadillas with vegan cheese, carrots and broccoli with hummus dip

Dinner: Asian Noodle Stir-Fry

Dessert: Vegan ice cream...Coconut Bliss Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (Hey, you gotta live sometimes! This is SOOO good!)

Day 3:

Breakfast: Avocado toast (toast with smashed avo and a sprinkle of salt), fruit.

Lunch: Leftover asian noodle stir-fry!

Dinner: Whole Wheat Spaghetti Marinara with (or without) vegan meatless balls, whole wheat flatbread with marinara sauce, spinach, and a sprinkle of vegan mozzerella. Salad.

Day 4:

Breakfast: Oatmeal with homemade granola on top.

Lunch: Leftover spaghetti, flatbreads, and veggies with hummus dip.

Dinner: Triple Bean Indian Spiced Chili over brown rice with crumbled organic corn chips, vegan cheese and sour cream to taste.

Day 5:

Breakfast: Whole Wheat Waffles with blueberries on top.

Lunch: Leftover Chili! Fruit.

Dinner: Veggie Enchiladas (Zuchini, mushrooms, green peppers, brown rice, beans, topped with red sauce and vegan cheese), salad.

Oatmeal Recipe

Aly's Favorite Oatmeal

2 cups oatmeal

3 cups water

1 cup vanilla or unsweetened almond milk (use any non-dairy milk)

2 TBS chia seeds

1/3 cup chopped dates (I buy them already chopped)

Toppings!

dried cranberries, raisins, etc.

fruit

walnuts, sunflower seeds, etc.

Directions

Combine first 5 ingredients in saucepan over high heat. When oats start to boil, whisk with a fork and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I always eat mine with dried cranberries and walnuts, and sometimes sunflower seeds if I have them. I look forward to my breakfast every day!

Full Disclosure

This menu is an example of what we eat...not reality! In reality, my husband may go out to lunch with coworkers and order a burger and fries (GAH!). In reality, I may give pretzels as a snack instead of a healthier option. In reality, we actually had take out mexican (veggie burrito for me, quesadilla with guac for the kids, and carne asada for Chris- double GAH!) because the dinner I was cooking tasted so bad it was unreal. Stuff happens. But I figure if we aspire to eat healthier, hopefully we will eat healthier! So, this is our aspiration menu. :)

What healthy meals do you make on a regular basis? Please share! I am always looking for new ideas.

4 Easy Steps Towards Healthier Living (Phase 1)

image via health.com

Most people want to eat healthier. Almost everyone has a few (or more) pounds to lose. Who couldn't use more energy in a day? The bottom line is that knowing you need to change how you eat doesn't always lead into knowing how to make the change. With that in mind, I put together a few things I think anyone can do to be healthier, lose weight, have more energy, and feel better all around.

1) Get a good multivitamin and TAKE IT DAILY. Give on to your kids as well.

2) Eat oatmeal for breakfast. Every day. Put any combination of fruits/nuts/seeds, and non-dairy milk on it you want. Just do oatmeal. Every day. If you don't like it, try it with dates, walnuts and almond milk.

3) Only snack on fresh fruit or vegetables. Have at least 2-3 snacks per day. Even if you don't *think* you are hungry, carry an apple or banana with you and eat it between meals.

4) Eat a salad or platter of raw vegetables every day, either before lunch or before dinner (or both!).

There it is. If you only change these 4 things in your life you will have added so many nutrients (fruit and veggies), fiber (fruit, veggies, and oatmeal), and essential vitamins (multi) that you will be amazed at how good you feel. You will most likely lose weight without having added any extra hours of exercise and without trying to cut calories. In fact, you have probably added food to your daily regime! The trick is that the food I asked you to add is high nutrient density and low calorie. These changes are simple, affordable, and will yield results that will hopefully leave you wanting to make more small changes.

Is this the full list of changes I would recommend someone making if they are transitioning from the SAD (Standard American Diet) to a plant-based diet? No! But it really is about baby steps when you are attempting a complete lifestyle overhaul. The key is that these are 4 very easy (and cheap!) steps that anyone can make in one day. Anyone can go to the store and get a multivitamin and stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables and some oats. I didn't ask you to change anything else about your diet or lifestyle!

Next time I will have more steps and include a week of meal plans and a grocery list. Let me know how these steps work for you!

Will Children Starve Themselves Instead of Eating Healthy Food?

image via naturemoms.com

A friend recently asked me what do you do if your kids just won't eat the healthy food. I thought about this for a while. I thought about how it has taken time for my tastes to change and truly appreciate and desire a nutrient-rich plant-based diet instead of the highly processed nutritionally bankrupt food I used to eat. If it took time for my tastes to change then most likely it will take time for kids as well (duh, right?). If they used to eat the "standard" SAD diet for kids of chicken nuggets, fruit snacks (how they can even call these fruit is beyond me), fishy crackers, etc. then giving them healthy, nutrient dense food is a big change. An apple cannot compare to the gratification a person's brain gets from salt, fat, and sugar (fruit snacks!! Potato chips!! Granola bars!!) Processed foods usually contain lots of these "anti-nutrients" and they become highly rewarding to the brain when you eat them. For more information on this phenomenon read The End of Overeating by David Kessler.

The solution I came up with? Complete and total elimination of these unhealthy foods. After all, they are not contributing any meaningful nutrition just empty calories and harmful (salt, fat, and sugar) "anti-nutrients." If you quit cold-turkey and don't even have them as an option for your kids then eventually their tastes will change. BUT. If you offer healthy food and also "bad" food then guess which one your kid will pick (which one would you pick if you had no idea of the nutrition content?) You have to get those "foods" out of the house altogether and have them not even be an option.

But what if my kid doesn't eat the healthy food at all? I highly doubt the ability of anyone (especially a small child) to starve themself if there is ample food around. Have lots of fruits, veggies, healthy dips, nuts, seeds, whole wheat breads and tortillas, veggie pizzas, PB&J, applesauce, pearsauce, smoothies, brown rice, burritos, "quesadillas" (vegan cheese and beans on whole wheat tortillas), avocado toast, etc. to offer them and they will begin to eat it. If they see you eating it and that is all that is there then they will eat it.

Furthermore, they did studies on mice and they found that if they offered a low-calorie, highly nutrient dense diet that the mice actually lived longer then mice eating the same nutrient density but more calorie heavy diet. Basically, the only difference was the number of calories the mice ate each day. Guess which group of mice lived longer? The mice eating less calories! So, by my estimate, if your child is eating less calories but those calories are more nutritious (one stalk of broccoli instead of a plate of white refined pasta covered with butter and cheese) then they are actually better off! This is assuming all the nutrient and mineral needs are covered either through the diet or with a good multivitamin. If they eat half an orange instead of a cup of fruit loops they are way better off!

Your child might not eat as much whole wheat pizza as they used to eat of the refined, high fat kind....GOOD! That is the point! And if they are getting a healthy tomato sauce, whole wheat in the dough, and some fresh veggies on top then they are actually coming out way ahead of the kid that eats the pizza with refined dough, high fat sauce, and cheese. One child is consuming way more calories with far less nutrients. The other is getting less calories overall but those calories count big-time! Which child should have a healthier and longer life, according to the mouse study?

I think it is Chef AJ that coined one of my favorite new phrases, "If you aren't hungry enough to eat an apple then you aren't hungry!" The kids will eat. It is true that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink, but if that horse is thirsty and all he has to drink is water then you can bet he will! However, if you offer the horse apple juice or water which one do you think he will drink? And who would ever give apple juice to a horse! How unhealthy! ;0P

Please let me know your thoughts on how to best get kids to eat a healthy diet. I am always looking for tips.

By the way, doesn't that bento box look delicious? Do you really think your child wouldn't eat something in there? What a delight for all the senses!

Aging...Something to Look Forward To!

I saw this book was recommended by one of my favorite bloggers: Debbie over at Happyhealthylonglife.com. If she recommends it you can bet it is worth reading-she does her homework!

(When Chris saw what I was reading he had to tell me, "But Aly, you're not 100...yet!" Uh, yeah thanks Chris. I realize that! The plan is to get to 100- in good health!)

Before I started reading this book I hadn't really thought that much about how we age in this society. The answer seems to be "not well." John Robbins talks about how in this culture older people are devalued and the end of life often doesn't hold the joy that it does in other cultures where the older generation is respected and people look forward to being old because of their increased status! He profiles 3 different cultures that are world-renowned not only for the longevity of their people but for the amazing quality of life these older people have. I am talking about 90-100 year olds here!! These people are still walking, exercising, working, gardening, participating in society...

The most amazing thing these 3 cultures have to teach us is how to live a joyful and DISEASE-FREE life. Yes, these populations of people have no cancer, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and alzheimers. They need no reading glasses. They don't get osteoporosis. The list goes on!

I haven't finished reading the book yet (I just got it yesterday!) but the commonality between the 3 cultures and the key to their longevity seems to be linked to a few things:

1. Diet

2. Exercise

3. Social connections

DIET

Each of these 3 cultures eats a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. Like, pick it off the tree before eating fresh. They also eat very little animal products, if at all. They eat very little salt and no sugar. Fresh fruit is their main source of sweetness. Processed food is never eaten.

EXERCISE

Many of the people from these cultures were exercising quite a bit in their natural everyday routines. Such exercise included traversing steep terrains, swimming in ice cold mountain streams, and mountain climbing. There was no water-aerobics for these old people- they were just as active and fit as their younger counterparts!

SOCIAL CONNECTIONS

In each society getting older was seen as something to look forward to. With age came increased respect. Relatives loved the opportunity to have an elder live in their house-it was an honor. In fact, in these societies people often lie about their age just as we do here- except they add years to their age instead of subtracting them!

Older people dance, laugh , sing, participate in their cultures celebrations. They are an integral part of the society and enjoy a special and revered place in it. How different from things in America!

MY THOUGHTS SO FAR

In this society it is easy to see why people don't look forward to getting older. For us it usually means facing heart disease, cancer, alzheimers, diabetes, and a host of other health problems. Not only that but older people tend to be devalued by this culture that is focused on youth and beauty. I think the first step towards change would be to take a lesson from the 3 cultures in the book and to change your diet, exercise more, and make sure you have some strong familial and friends bonds to see you into your old age.

This crappy American diet is killing us! Our sedentary lifestyle is killing us! Our addiction to technology at the expense of real relationships with family and friends is killing us! Being focused on earning money instead of spending our valuable time with precious friends and family is killing us!

I, for one, intend to look forward to getting older by treating my body with respect and eating healthy, exercising, and maintaining my ideals about the importance of family and friends. Thank you for this book, John Robbins. This is a great read for people of any age. After all, we are all getting older every day!

Meals for a Week Plus a Grocery List and Recipe Links! (You're Welcome, Mom!)

Since my mom is probably the only one who really reads this blog and I am sure she does so just to make me happy (hi, Mom!) I decided to post a few of my favorite and easy recipes that are super-delicious, nutritious, and you can make them all on Sunday in a few hours and be set for the rest of the week! Think of all the free time! I even made a corresponding grocery list! Mom, I hope you like these!

Whole Wheat Orzo Pasta Salad

Quinoa and Black Beans

Asian Noodle Stir Fry with Whole Wheat Linguini or Japanese Buckwheat Noodles (make extra noodles for spaghetti and meatless balls later in the week)

Homemade Almond-Walnut-Date (or whatever you want!) Granola

Pizza/Flatbread Dough (to use for veggie pizzas, flatbreads for spaghetti, etc.) Note: I have used whole wheat flour with this recipe and it works fine.

The beauty of these meals is that they all taste good hot or cold so you can easily bring them to work or eat hot for dinner.

Also, chop some veggies like cucumbers, carrots, celery for easy snacking and salads. Have canned beans or prepare some beans to use in veggies (and in the quinoa recipe).

There, a week of delicious and nutritious vegan food to last you all week for both lunches and dinners! What about breakfast, you ask? Start with fruit and oatmeal and you can't go wrong! In fact, I swear by oatmeal especially for people watching their weight (and cholesterol). Add some chia seeds or flaxmeal for important Omega-3's and you are golden! Don't forget your multivitamin, B-12, and D3 supplements!

Grocery List:

Veggies: **buy as much organic as possible.

Spinach

Lettuce

Tomatoes AND grape tomatoes

Carrots

Celery

Broccoli

Basil

Cilantro

Onion

Fruits:

apples

bananas

oranges

any other fruit you like!

Grains/Bulk:

Whole Wheat Flour

Quinoa

Whole Wheat Orzo

Whole Oats

Pine Nuts

Almonds

Walnuts

Dates (pieces)

chia seeds or flax meal

Frozen:

Organic Corn

Refrigerated Section:
Extra Firm Non GMO Tofu

Other:

Healthy Teriyaki Sauce (or make your own sauce!)

yeast

Lecture: How to Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind

I watched an amazing video called "How to Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind," which effectively blew my mind (in a good way). Dr. Doug Lisle (PhD) gave an amazing talk regarding the weight epidemic in this country and what we can do to combat it and his advice was startlingly simple. I will share more later. First, some background .

There are many "causes" of obesity, according to many experts. For example, some people think that childhood trauma can contribute to that. Dr. Lisle argues, then there must be some great parents over in Asia- they have few weight problems! Kidding aside, what he is saying is that Americans face the same stressors as people in other countries but we are clearly heavier.

There are only 3 species that are found to be overweight on Earth: dogs, cats, and humans. What do those 3 species have in common? They are all fed "human food." The funny thing is that most people in the USA eat about the same amount of food regardless of whether they are fat or slender (excluding vegans and raw foodists who are clearly slender because they eat better than the rest of us). So, why are some people (the majority of the population, sadly) overweight while others are slim? Is it because they exercise more? Actually, no! This is one of the greatest myths out there! Slim people exercise and eat about as much as the rest of us. Slim people have no reason to feel superior just because they look good in a pair of jeans...just like obese people shouldn't feel bad or feel like they just don't exercise enough.

It turns out that the difference between the skinny person and the fat person is in the normal variation between human individuals: slim people have more fat receptors and fat people have less. Fat people don't get the "message" that they are full as fast as slim people do. We are talking about a difference here of maybe 100 calories per meal, for example. Not a lot but over time it adds up.

So, does this mean you are destined to be overweight because it is in your genes? No! Lisle says the answer is simply to change how and what you eat.

1) Eat lots of low calorie-concentrated foods (plants, beans, legumes, whole grains, etc.)

2) Eat none or few high calorie foods (fats, oils, meats, dairy, etc.)

3) Eat salad first, then veggies, then carbs

If you eat this way you will fill up your stomach with high fiber, high nutrient foods that are low in calorie and activate your receptors to signal your brain that you are full. Sounds simple but change can be hard.

Lisle says to try starting with one simple change for 30-60 days. His example was a woman he was counseling that had initially wanted stomach bypass surgery. He talked her into eating oatmeal for 60 days for breakfast. He told her she could put anything on the oatmeal she wanted but just eat the oatmeal every day. No other changed were encouraged. She lost 78 lbs., if memory serves (I have to go back and watch this movie again. Priceless stuff).

I for one think the oatmeal challenge is a great place to start. I am at my lowest weight in ...ever?? And I eat oatmeal for breakfast nearly every day. Usually, I add walnuts, berries, dried cranberries, chia seeds, banana and almond milk. You can see that I eat a lot of volume of food but the key is that it is all low calorie dense and high fiber. Perfect. Try this change for 60 days and see how much weight you can drop!

Amazing Salad for Lunch and Movie Review: Dying to Have Known

I had such an amazing salad for lunch to day that I had to share...I simply mixed some leftover orzo pasta salad (orzo pasta with corn, black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and cilantro) with some chopped spinach, baby carrots, tomatoes, and chickpeas. The dressing from the orzo salad was made with a good balsamic vinegar, about 1 TBS agave syrup, and salt and pepper (no oil!!). I didn't need to add any extra dressing! This was without a doubt one of the best salads I have ever eaten.

And don't even get me started on the nutrient load in this baby. It is loaded with healthy veggies chocked full of antioxidants and the chickpeas add fiber and protein. This is definitely a "superlunch!" I believe that when what you are eating is in line with the vitamins, nutrients that your body needs without all the additives, chemicals, etc. that processed foodmakers use then weight loss as well as disease-recovery is easy!

It goes like this: when you eat high-nutrient foods your body gets satisfied as far as its nutrient and vitamin needs so doesn't it make sense that the hunger signal would get turned off? Needs are met=no hunger signal.

On the other side if all you are eating is nutrient-poor foods that lack the necessary vitamins, minerals, then wouldn't it make sense that your body would keep that hunger signal active in order to keep trying to get these needs met? Needs are not met(even if "food" has been consumed)=hunger signal stays on.

These are just my own opinions based on what I have been learning as well as my own experience. See, ever since I switched to a whole foods, plant-based diet and excluded (to a large extent) processed foods, meat, dairy, and eggs I have reached the lowest weight since high school! Without even trying. And I work out 3/days per week for approximately 12 minutes per day. That equates to less than 40 minutes/week. And I am stronger, healthier, have more energy, happier, my skin is clearer, etc.

I thank the Higher Powers every day that I happened across the book, The China Study, as it has truly changed my life and the lives of my family for the better in so many ways. Thank you to the people like T. Colin Campbell who speak out for what is right no matter who opposes you. Thank you to Dr. Gerson who published his phenomenal cure for cancer and for giving the world a 2nd chance at life. Thank you to everyone else who is a part of the solution to the problems facing our world today- people that are willing to dig and find out the truth and share it with other's at great personal cost. These people give me hope that we really will be able to work towards a sustainable future for the human race on planet Earth.