What is a Whole Foods Plant-based Diet?
These days, everyone seems to be on some kind of 'diet'. Most of these are centered around restriction, strict rules and deprivation, with the aims of losing weight and having the perfect body. I've been there too, big time.
Finding veganism opened a whole new door for me and completely changed my relationship with food and my body. Going vegan helped me begin recovery from a severe eating disorder and change my beliefs and mindset towards food, to start seeing food as nourishment for the body, mind and soul. There is so much more to life than restriction and deprivation, having no energy and feeling weak all the time because of a lack of food. Food is fuel, that's it. The real focus should be health!
Fuelling and nourishing your body with the nutrients and energy it very much needs and deserves in order to thrive and live life is so important. By focusing on health and nourishment, this allows everything else to fall in to place.
I believe that eating a whole foods plant based diet is a form of self love. By providing all the cells of your body with the nutrients they need and eating what makes you feel, function, and in turn, look, your best!
A whole foods plant based diet focuses on foods as they come from the earth as nature intended for us. This means eating mainly fruit, vegetables, grains and starches, beans and legumes, nuts and seeds. These foods are packed with everything our bodies need to thrive and are rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fibre and a huge variety of health-promoting phytochemicals, a number of which haven't even really been discovered yet! They also contain the perfect balance of macronutrients - carbohydrates, fats and proteins - that we need for optimal health. Yep, that's right, you'll get plenty of protein!! And best of all, when you eat wholesome plant foods, there is no need to focus on or count calories.
Plant foods offer so much variety and versatility, the're among the cheapest foods on the planet and are packed with vibrant taste and colour! Eating these natural, nutrient-dense and fibre rich foods, that we were designed to eat, allow us to eat until complete satisfaction and satiation. Not only that, but whole plant food entered diets have proven to prevent and even reverse almost all chronic diseases that are rising at alarming rates, such as obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and many cancers, just to name a few. A plant based diet is also the kindest and most sustainable way of eating for our planet and all those who we share it with.
Many people may at first glance think this sounds like a boring way to eat, but that couldn't be further from the truth! And even if it does take your taste buds a little while to adjust, I can guarantee you will quickly begin to love the taste of simple, fresh and wholesome food. And all the benefits you will feel by nourishing your body will make you never even look back!
