A Healthy Lifestyle Starts With Balanced Nutrition: How to Get Started on a Plant-Based Diet

The road to a healthy life isn’t always easy, and committing to a lifestyle change that focuses on nutrition will yield better, more consistent results than yo-yo dieting. One way to lose weight while still feeling energized is to switch to a plant-based, or vegan, diet. A March 9 article on the online journal JAMA discussed a recent study that determined that people who stuck to a diet that was primarily plant-based were less likely to develop colon cancer. While the study authors made the disclaimer that their conclusion was not necessarily that there was a direct correlation between colon cancer and a primarily plant-based diet, the findings provide convincing reason to phase meat out of your diet and replace it with plant-based protein. After all,it makes sense that your colon will respond better to all natural plant based foods than to commercially processed animal products including meat.

The difference between “vegan” and “plant-based”

To begin, let’s talk about what we mean when we say “plant-based diet.” The phrase might have you envisioning yourself eating nothing but salads, but the truth is a plant-based diet is actually very versatile and offers you a wide variety of different types of foods to eat. And while some people equate “plant-based” with “vegan,” you can still decide to eat meat while you’re on a plant-based diet, unlike a vegan diet which completely eliminates all animal-based foods. The basic premise is that plants form the base of your meal (hence plant-based). So instead of having a cut of meat as the mainstay of your meal (think of a steak or chicken dinner), your main focus would be a plant. Many people find it easy to slowly transition from a meat-focused diet to veganism by taking the intermediary step of simply adding more plant-based foods to meals and slowly taking away meat and animal products.

How to cut meat out without going hungry

Probably the most common concern for people who are used to a meat diet is that going to a plant-based diet will leave them hungry all the time. The truth is that plant-based meals, while less heavy than meat and animal products, will still keep you satisfied. There’s a wide range of plant-based foods out there that you might not even be aware of. Foods like quinoa, tempeh, tofu, and brown rice will keep you full. Contrary to popular belief, eating a plant-based diet doesn’t mean you’ll be stuck eating a never-ending buffet of salad.

How do I start?

Getting intrigued? Good! It’s a good idea to slowly ease yourself into a plant-based diet instead of trying to make extreme changes all at once, which can mess with your digestive system and leave you feeling deprived. It’s important to remember that a plant-based diet isn’t a diet in the sense that it’s temporary. It’s a lifestyle change that will impact your health, weight, and world by reducing your carbon footprint.
Here’s a useful guide to get you started, and you can use your own pace to work through the steps depending on how quickly you want to switch from your current diet to a vegan lifestyle:

Slowly cut out meat: This step can be as fast or as gradual as you want. Start with going meatless once or twice a week and work your way up to completely cutting out meat. On your meatless nights, experiment with new recipes that include unfamiliar plant-based foods so you can start to get a feel for what it would be like to completely eliminate meat.
Cut out one meat at a time: You can start by cutting out red meat first, then pork, then poultry, then seafood. This way you gradually find replacements for some of your favorite meals so you don’t end up feeling deprived completely. In the meantime, your experimentation with new foods will likely lead to new discoveries on how delicious dinner can be, even without meat as the main ingredient.

Eliminate eggs and dairy: How quickly you can eliminate eggs and dairy products from your diet will depend on how much you rely on them as a source of food. You may find that your digestive system responds much better once you reduce your dairy intake, which could speed this step up considerably. Some people never give up eggs and dairy, and therefore are never truly vegans. We think that this is your choice based on how you feel when you eat these foods.

Once you’ve completed these steps you’ll be on a full-fledged plant-based diet. The great thing about a plant-based diet is that you can reap benefits at any level, whether or not you decide to completely eliminate animal products. Give it a try to start improving your health today. Combine your new plant-based diet with routine massage care, and you will start to notice a difference in how you feel. To schedule your massage or find out more about the services Castle Thai Spa offers, contact us today.