Eyeopeners and Things I learn Along the Way to a Healthier Lifestyle

 I started the day with rolled oats, blueberries, cherries and almond milk combined and my cuppa home-brewed cuppa java of course which I always have drunk without milk and sugar, no changes necessary here.

There is so much to learn if you change your diet to a whole plant based nutrition like I did. Don't get encouraged and learn from mistakes. Like every rookie, I went out and thought I knew exactly what to buy. There is a whole industry of vegan processed food we should stay away from because we don't want to substitute one bad eating habit with another. Reading labels is mandatory, do not trust anything it is written in big letters on food packets. Whole needs to be on the pasta packets and, think twice, if you see a non dairy Swiss cheese for vegans, see photo below - sounds right at first glance but once I read the ingredient list, I realized how much saturated fat was in this processed kind of wannabe cheese, 45 out of 70 total calories are fat, and decided to stay away from it.

Instead I bought tofu, cashews and nutritional yeast to replace cheese in whole plant based recipes. It is also cheaper to stay away from the ready and processed vegan food choices and make your own whole recipes. I learned to make oatmeal breakfast jars which can be stored in the fridge for five days. Beans are my friends and there is a variety out there to mix into my salad or meals.

 Another eye opener was the fact that I cannot use oils, not even the good ones in my pantry such as extra virgin cold pressed olive oil or avocado oil. Oil is still fat and highly processed. In order to re-discover the taste of fresh salads and to stay away from extra loads of fat, we do not use oils in a plant based diet. We fry in non-stick pans and substitute cooking oil and butter with vegetable broth for taste. I can start any stir-fry with onions and mushrooms and get enough liquid in the pan to not burn anything. The vegetable broth adds flavor.


Here a few more things I learned along the way to a healthier lifestyle:

Shocker: chicken contains just as much colesterol than meat. Did you know that?

Nutritional yeast gives every salad a nice body and tastes like  feta cheese in it

Leave the seed in the bowl with the mashed avocado - it prevents it from discoloration

Go for whole and be careful when the label says instant.