My last blog post about my favorite immune-boosting practices during the COVID-19 crisis got me thinking about how and where I learn about health. One place I learn about these things is through health documentaries. I know you’re looking for something to binge-watch while stuck at home. Why not fill up on some educational content that could inspire you to improve your health? Here are five of my favorite Health Documentaries. They can be found on Netflix or Amazon.

Forks Over Knives

This documentary follows the work of two doctors seeking to understand the health impacts of eating animal protein.  There are quite a few documentaries about vegan/ plant-based eating. What The Health is a popular documentary on Netflix. I prefer Forks Over Knives because I believe the movie presents more solid science and is less sensational than What the Health. In this documentary, Dr. T. Collin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn share their research into what they call a whole-food plant-based diet. They believe that a diet low in animal protein and processed foods can prevent and in some cases, reverse chronic diseases.

Forks Over Knives is more than just a documentary. You can subscribe to recipes on their website or pick up one of their magazines at stores like Sprouts or Whole Foods.

Watch on: Netflix

Heal

I came across Heal on Netflix after watching I am Not Your Guru and looking for something informational or inspirational.  This documentary explores the relationship between mind and body. At times it does get a little “woo-woo” but don’t let that scare you away. This documentary includes some powerful case studies of people who have been able to turn their health around by focussing on their inner selves. Think that’s BS? You’ve heard of the placebo effect, right? Doctors don’t understand how it works but it is a well-documented phenomenon. One story I found particularly compelling was when a woman shared about her research of people who made miraculous cancer recoveries. They all had a lot of things in common in terms of how they approached beating their illness. But many of those things were not diet-related, they were related to mental health and spirituality.

Watch on: Netflix

The Game Changers

This is one of the more recent documentaries about plant-based eating. A colleague of my husband reached out to me for advice on going vegan after watching this documentary. So, of course, I had to check it out. This movie is no joke. It’s produced by James Cameron, Arnold Schwartzenegger, Jackie Chan, and several other heavy hitters. The Game Changers tells the story of James Wilks – elite special forces trainer and Ultimate Fighting champion. After sustaining a terrible injury, Wilks started researching diet and nutrition in order to speed healing. What he found surprised him. There are MANY successful athletes eating a strictly plant-based diet. This documentary explores the impact of meat and busts a lot of the myths athletes have been taught about where protein needs to come from. Both educational and entertaining,

I highly recommend this documentary. Even if you have no intention of going vegan, this movie provides some inspiring stories of human strength and endurance.

Watch on: Netflix

The Science of Fasting

In The Science of Fasting, we learn about the idea of fasting for health. I’ve shared before about how I try to practice intermittent fasting. But, this documentary shares some pretty extreme fasting scenarios. We’re talking 20+ days! I admit that the idea of fasting that long scares me. But there were some compelling stories about people who fasted their way to better health. Toward the end of the documentary, one cancer researcher shares about the potential impact of fasting on chemotherapy side effects.

Watch on: Amazon Prime Video

The Gut: Our Second Brain

Have you heard about gut health? How about the micro-biome? In The Gut: Our Second Brain doctors discuss the idea that we have another “brain” within our bodies – our gut. To be honest, it’s been a while since I watched this one.  The basic premise of the film is that our gut is responsible for far more than just digestion. Our “second brain” includes billions of neurons and gut bacteria. Some say that the health of our gut can impact not only our physical health but our personalities and decision-making abilities. There are some truly fascinating ideas in this film. I encourage you to check it out.

Watch on: Amazon Prime Video

Do you have any other favorite health documentaries you’d like to recommend? Drop me a comment and let me know!

Of course, you need snacks while you’re watching. Below are some of my family’s favorites!

Blow your kids’s minds with some old school Jiffy Pop!

COVID-19 (aka Coronavirus) is all anyone seems to be able to talk or think about right now. Makes sense. I cannot recall a time of disruption of everyday living at this level….. for the ENTIRE PLANET! Many of us are control freaks and don’t like the idea of something else taking over our lives. What I find helpful during times like this is to focus on the things I can control. For me, that means doubling down on everyday healthy practices.

These practices are how am taking control of my health and my immune system to stay healthy during the pandemic crisis. So, here are my immune boosting practices that I am focussed on right now. 

Immue Boosting Practice #1 – Eat Fruits & Veggies

Yeah, yeah, yeah….we ALL know we should be eating fruits and veggies. But let’s face it, we are stressed and stuck at home, bored or binge watching….and what do we reach for? Junk food! Of course we do! They don’t call it comfort food for nothing. I am not going to lie to you, sweets are my comfort food. I may or may not have polished off half a bag of cookies over the weekend. But, I realized two things. First, sugar can actually inhibit your immune system from working. Second, I’m gonna put on 50 lbs. if I keep this up! Eating a diet full of plants (i.e. fruits, veggies, legumes, grains, etc.) is one of my favorite immune boosting practices. So, here is what I am eating these days!

Breakfast

I always start the day with a cup of green tea with lemon. When I do have breakfast, around 9:30-10:00 am, it is typically one of the following:

• Green smoothie with avocado, blueberries, cucumber, celery, spinach or other leafy green, vanilla plant-based protein powder and a couple of sprigs of mint.
• Oatmeal with blueberries, almond butter and chia seeds
• Ezekiel toast with avocado and Everything But the Bagel topping

Most days it’s the green smoothie but on a cold morning I sure do like a hot breakfast. So, I’ll switch things up with one of the other options above. If I am really in a rush, I’ll just have a handful of almonds and a Matcha Latte made with coconut milk.

Lunch

One of the following:

• Broccoli slaw salad
• Ezekiel toast with avocado and Everything But the Bagel topping
• Dinner leftovers (see dinner options below)

Dinner

(sample week’s menu):

• Monday: Beyond Meat burger with salad
• Tuesday: Lentil or chickpea pasta with meatless meatballs
• Wednesday: Vegetable soup (I have a new recipe that my kids love that I’ll be sharing soon)
• Thursday: Veggie stir fry with tofu (or jackfruit cuz TJ’s was out of tofu but there was plenty of jackfruit on the shelves)
• Friday: Veggie sausage with brussel sprouts and rice

Snacks

• Almonds
• Raw Pumpkin Seeds
• Plant-Based Protein Bar 

Immume Boosting Practice #2 – Supplements

I preface this by saying these are the supplements that I take, as recommended by a doctor. After my DCIS diagnosis, I went through traditional treatments. But, I also went to an integrative medicine doctor to make sure I was also preventing a relapse of any kind. The doctor ordered extensive bloodwork and nutritional evaluation. She was then able to use this information to recommend the right supplements for me. This is not everything that I take but I will share what I believe to be the most important for my health right now. I recommend talking with a doctor or nutritionist before taking any new supplements.

So, will these immune boosting practices keep me healthy? I think the chances are pretty good. Why so confident? Because, when I actually looked back to try and figure out the last time I was sick, it was a YEAR AGO! I have not been sick in a year! Ask yourself, when was the last time you were sick? Do you get sick often? Are your eating habits supporting your health or harming it. In my view, food can be poison or it can be medicine. It’s not about eating perfectly all the time (pretty close to impossible IMO).  But making good choices most of the time can have a significant impact on your health. What are your recommended immune boosting practices? Drop me a comment and share. I’d love to hear from you!

Also, if you’re game, stay tuned for more vegan recipes coming soon!

Growth Mindset

Have you heard of what it means to have a Growth Mindset? If you haven’t, stop immediately and get this book by Dr. Carol Dweck – “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.” For me, it was a game-changer in how I thought about myself and my abilities. It also had a major impact on how I talk to my children about their abilities. So, if you are a parent or just a human….this book is for you. If you haven’t read the book, the basic premise is this; people tend to fall into one of two categories, a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. People with a fixed mindset believe that abilities are fixed. Those with a growth mindset believe that abilities can be developed. I could go on and on about this and maybe I will in a future blog post. But, this is what came to mind for me when I thought about the topic I wanted to share in this week’s blog – 5 Habits I Never Thought I’d Do.

You see, I am someone who was raised with a fixed mindset. I was told and believed that there were certain things I “just couldn’t do.” For example, when I was very small I had bad asthma. One year in elementary school there was a Girl Scout Olympics event coming up. My dad, with all the best intentions, told me to make sure my leaders knew that I really couldn’t run or do anything athletic, because of this asthma. (Side note: Later doctors have told me I was likely misdiagnosed because no one has found a trace of it for as long as I can remember). 

The point is not whether or not the diagnosis was right, the point is that I believed there was something that I could not do. I carried around that and other notions of what was possible for me all through my childhood, adolescence, and adulthood…until I read about this idea of a growth mindset. It’s the idea of being able to embrace and change my mindset to that of a growth mindset, that allowed me to leave my corporate career after 25 years and become an entrepreneur. Once I embraced this idea of a growth mindset, I started changing all sorts of aspects of my life, including my habits.

So, this is what brings me to the topic of today’s post. Here are the 5 things I NEVER thought I would find myself doing as a regular habit. (BTW – If you want to read a great book about habits, I recommend James Clear’s “Atomic Habits”.

Habit 1: Meditation

Although I long considered myself kind of a health nut, this was one area that I just couldn’t wrap my head around for the longest time (pun intended)! The idea that I could sit still for any length of time and quiet myself long enough to be able to meditate. In my reading about different wellness practices meditation kept coming up as something people found incredibly beneficial. Even executives were touting that meditation helped them make better decisions and think more creatively at work. As a corporate lackey, I wanted any edge I could get. So, I started to consider it might actually be something useful and not totally wacky or “for other people” as I thought before.

It was at my husband’s encouragement that we both finally signed up for training on Transcendental Meditation at our local TM center. After my very first meditation session, I had an almost buzzed feeling, and I was IN! Not all my meditations have produced that result since then. In fact, very few have. But, I came to look forward to the opportunity to sit still for 20 minutes with just me and my mantra. Jerry Seinfeld (a long time TM-er) compared it to pulling over to a rest stop when you are on a long car trip. Sometimes you just need to pull over and rest. This is rest for your mind!

So, even though I thought I would NEVER be that person who meditates, I now do it every morning. Oh, and my kids meditate too. They don’t think it’s weird or anything. It’s just something they do after they brush their teeth! This is something James Clear refers to in his book as habit stacking. If you want a new behavior to take hold, tie it to an already established behavior. For me, it’s the thing I do after I journal each morning.

Even when I would work from home instead of the office, I would get up in the morning, shower and put on workout clothes and I would hit my garage gym right AFTER work. Once I became an entrepreneur and had a little more control over my schedule, I decided to change this afternoon/evening exercise habit. Last April, after I left my corporate job, I figured it was time to make the morning workout thing happen. At first, I would get up, put on my workout clothes, meditate, get the kids up and ready for school, drive them to school, come home, walk the dog, then workout at about 9:00 am. One day I had to interview a potential employee at 9 am, so I wanted to have my workout done and be showered and dressed in time. So, I set my alarm 30 minutes early – 5:15 am – and I workout out BEFORE the kids got up. I loved it! By the time I had to get the kids out of bed, I was awake and alert and ready to take on the day. I was especially ready for the battle to ensue getting the kids ready for school. Anyone who has ever had to get kids ready for school knows what hard work that is. It’s a mental game. You have to be prepared to go into battle. A battle against the clock, a battle of wits negotiating over breakfast, a battle getting them out of bed. Now, I am ready for that battle and their little shenanigans don’t get to me like they used to.

Habit 4: Going to Bed Early

Ask my mother what it was like to get me to go to bed on time as a kid and she’ll tell you I was a nightmare! I would always try to stay up past my bedtime and once I went to bed I wouldn’t stay in bed. I felt like I was missing something. Like everyone had a fun party and I was the only loser in bed. When I got old enough to stop having a bedtime I would stay up late. Not super late but later than was responsible. But, when you are young, functioning on less sleep seems like a minor inconvenience and not a major cause for concern.

Once I was an adult and had a job I had to be at early in the morning, I would try to go to bed at a reasonable time. What’s reasonable? 11:00 or 12:00. I don’t really remember but my husband says when we met I was staying up until almost midnight. Once I started having kids I was still staying up late. Maybe the baby needed another feeding or it was the only time to get anything done after the kids had gone to bed. It was also the only time I could watch TV that I wanted to watch and not Disney princess-whatever or Thomas the Train.

Bedtime

What time do I go to bed now? 9:00-9:15. But, I did not go from 11 pm to 9 pm in a day, or a month or even in a year. This was a gradual thing, over several years. I gradually started to go to bed earlier and earlier starting about 5 years ago maybe. The thing that helped the most? Getting the TV out of the bedroom. Right now my husband is reading this and saying, “Haha….told you so!”  Yeah okay, I admit it. Having a TV in the bedroom is not a good thing. Having a TV in my bedroom was a given since I was 11 years old. I loved to lay in bed and watch TV. I didn’t make the connection that it was keeping me from sleep until recently. You see, my husband HATED having a TV in the bedroom. When we moved into our new house 5 years ago, he begged me to leave the TV out of the bedroom. We compromised. I said we could ditch the TV in the bedroom if I could get an Xbox. Deal! With no TV to watch, I started actually going to bed when I felt tired. Over the course of several years, that bedtime got earlier and earlier. If this is a habit you are trying to establish, I don’t suggest moving back your bedtime in 15-minute increments. It won’t be as much of a shock to your system and therefore you’re more likely to make going to bed early a habit you enjoy. These days, if I am up past 9:15 I am super cranky about it. But, I also love to get to bed at a decent time because of #5!

My lemon water and journal (colored pens a must!)

I had a massive realization about the importance of sleep after my son was born. He was the third child and I had him when I was 40. Yes, all new mammas are tired and understandably so. But, I am here to tell you, and other older mammas I think would agree, there is a special kind of hell that is sleep deprivation in your forties.

My third and last child meant my last chance to try and get breastfeeding right. I didn’t feel “successful” with the other two and I really wanted to do the whole 12 months with him. So, the fact that he was not a good sleeper meant that I was getting up in the middle of the night to feed him until he was 9 months old. I went back to work when he was about 4.5 months old. I remember those first few months back at work being SO HARD! I felt it difficult to concentrate as well as keep up with understanding what I needed to do at my job. This had never been a problem before and I couldn’t understand why it was so hard now. Once my son started sleeping through the night, I also started to sleep through the night. Work got easier. EVERYTHING got easier! I was discounting the impact that the lack of sleep had on me. So, all this is to say that if you want to be that earlier riser with a killer morning routine, you’ve got to hit the sheets earlier too. It can be a gradual shift…maybe 15 minutes a week until you get where you want to be.

In the section where I talk about my morning workout routine, I mentioned that I used to get up at 5:45. I thought this was pretty darn early. But the one day that I had to get up at 5:15 instead I noticed something. It really wasn’t any harder to get up at 5:15 than it was a 5:45. So, now I regularly get up at 5:15. 

Current Morning Schedule

• Wake up
• Put on workout clothes
• Drink a cup of warm lemon water while I journal
• Meditate (either TM or Kundalini Yoga with Kirtan Kriya meditation)
• Drink coffee
• Workout
• Get kids up, fed, dressed (while drinking more coffee)
• Drive kids to school
• Come home & walk the dog
• Shower, get dressed, start work

I really enjoy getting up early and getting so much done before my kids get up. It really feels like the only real “me” time I get all day which is why I look forward to it. And that’s the secret, I think. You have to look forward to whatever you’re doing in the morning to make getting up early more palatable.

What does the weekend morning look like? Not much difference to be honest. Typically I still have to get at least one of the kids up on Saturday for something – soccer, theater rehearsal, cub scouts, girl scouts, etc. Sunday is the one morning I get to “sleep in” even though we typically go to church.  Sleeping in for me is getting up at 7:00!

So, here I stand in my late forties, totally shocked that I have adopted these habits and more. It is cliche to say but… it really is never too late to change.

What habits have adopted that you never thought you could? Or, what habits would you like to start but are struggling with? I’d love to hear from you.

 Let my start by saying that I have never been what I would call a “big drinker.”  My weight and height puts me in the permanent lightweight category when it comes to drinking alcohol. When I was in my twenties and early thirties I did my share of partying and some binge drinking. It was still pretty infrequent and I rarely bought alcohol to drink at home. Maybe wine from time to time. As I got older and started having babies, breastfeeding, etc. the drinking became less and less. So, it would really only take one drink for me to feel a buzz.  But, since I had started drinking I don’t think I had ever gone a whole year without alcohol. 

I should also tell you that my father was an alcoholic. I didn’t really understand this fully until I was an adult but in my memories of my childhood, I remember my dad always had a beer in his hand. I just thought he liked beer a lot! 

In November of 2018 we were invited by a colleague of my husband’s to go to a Recovery Yoga retreat in Costa Rica. Since the retreat was for people recovering from some sort of addiction, there would obviously be no drinking. I thought it would be weird. I am on vacation in an exotic place but no fancy drink in my hand with an umbrella!?!  But, no biggie because I am not a “big drinker” right? Then, one night of the retreat there was a dance party. It was designed to get us in touch with our chakras through dance. Now, I love to dance. I always have. But, at some point in my life I created the story that I needed alcohol to really cut loose and dance well.  So, I was kind of nervous and wasn’t sure how this would go. Well, let me tell you that this chakra dance party obliterated that for me. I never felt more free on the dance floor, and I had zero alcohol in my body. 

My husband came home from one of his weekend seminars (who can remember which one….there are soooo many) and he tells me about a guy who is into “body hacking” which seems to be the new term for trying to increase your performance and longevity through healthy living. Anyway, this guy says he got to where he is now but giving up one thing per year. One year he gave up coffee, the next year, sugar, the next year alcohol, etc.  I’ve always been a big believer in moderation so this all or nothing approach did not appeal to me much. But, I liked the idea on its merits. That seems like an easy way to get rid of one bad thing at a time until you adopt a very clean and healthy lifestyle. So, why did I decide to give up alcohol and not coffee or sugar? It was the Christmas holiday season of 2018. Over the course of those last days of December, I went to several get togethers, parties, holiday open houses, etc. And at every one there was alcohol. I drank at every one. Just a glass of wine or maybe two. Not really a lot. But, what I noticed was how absolutely AWFUL I felt the next day. Just one glass of wine left me with a hangover as if I’d drank a whole bottle of wine. After a few days of surviving through this, I thought, “Why am I doing this? I feel terrible!”  So, I decided that my new year’s resolution would be to give up alcohol. At first, I wasn’t necessarily planning to give it up forever. I just thought, “This is the year I stop drinking alcohol.”

So after a year of no drinking here’s what I have I learned: 

• There is a very heavy bias in our culture FOR drinking alcohol. Have you seen the studies that say alcohol is good for you?  Before you buy into it, take a look at who funds those studies. There is a good chance it is the alcohol industry.  But people like to post these and share them on facebook to justify their habits. I get it. If someone told me tomorrow that avocados are bad for us again, you bet I’d be looking for evidence to the contrary. That is confirmation bias. During my year of not drinking, I often found myself in a situation where alcohol was being served. When offered a drink I would simply say, “no thank you.” If pressed, I would say “I don’t drink.” 

  Funny things happen when you stop drinking. Or, maybe I should say, when you tell people that you don’t drink. The inevitable questions/comments come: “Why not?” “Oh I could never give up wine!” “Is it a problem if I have a drink in front of you?” “Why would you stop drinking, that’s crazy!”  The consumption of alcohol has become so ingrained in our culture that you have to explain why you DON’T consume a mind-altering substance! That is what is crazy! I don’t judge those who choose to drink. I am not saying I will never have another drink again. But, if I do choose to it will not be because I feel obligated or because I feel that I “need” it. It will be because maybe I want to enjoy a really good glass of wine on a special occasion. 

• The “mommy needs wine” culture is potentially dangerous.  I like a good meme as much as the next person. We moms need to be able to laugh about life with kids. It’s tough. So, it’s understandable that so many moms like to make jokes about needing wine to survive parenthood. But, one of the things that I have discovered over this last year is that this is a REAL problem for a lot more people than we realize. When a glass of wine “just to relax” turns into a bottle a night and more, this is not okay. I believe in healthy stress relieving mechanisms and real self care. Having a glass of wine to de-stress after your day is not self care. Going for a run is self care. Playing your favorite instrument is self care. Meditating is self care. Dancing to a great song is self care. Consuming alcohol of any kind is not self care.  Indulging now and then is fine. But, let’s not try to pretend that it is good for us. 
• I don’t miss drinking. When I retired from corporate life, I invited my friends to celebrate with my at a bar inside a nice restaurant. I thought well, “maybe I will have just one drink to fit in.”  After all, we were sitting at the bar! But, I didn’t even want one. I ordered a fancy mocktail instead and had a fabulous time hanging out with my friends. All with no hangover the next day. I can honestly say that I have not had even one drink, not even one sip, of alcohol in 2019. I am at a place in my life where there are plenty of things conspiring against my health and well-being. I want to stack the deck in my favor. If I don’t really want or crave alcohol, why would I keep drinking it? Now, when I am at an event where drinking alcohol is the norm, I’ll ask the bartender to make me a mocktail of their choice. Or, I’ll ask for a club soda with lime. It feels more grown up than ordering a soda, which I don’t typically drink anyway. It’s also slightly more fun than a plain glass of water. 

So, will I drink in 2020? I honestly don’t know. I don’t ever crave a drink enough to buy alcohol, that’s for sure. If offered at a party or get together will I imbibe? Maybe. The reason I gave it up still remains (i.e. I feel terrible after drinking). So, there’s not much incentive to indulge, in my mind. I know my husband is looking forward to drinking IPA again. So, I can at least be counted on as a designated driver. 

I enjoyed this little experiment of giving up one thing for an entire year. It’s not like any challenge I’ve taken on before. Will I be giving up something else in 2020? 

YES!

Stay tuned to find out what I chose to give up and how it’s going. 

Since going vegan over two years ago, I get a lot of questions about how I did it, what I eat, etc. So, I thought I’d share my top 5 tips for new vegans.  For the purposes of this post, I am using vegan as an umbrella term. I know there are those who eat vegan, meaning no animal products, for ethical and environmental reasons. Others follow a way of eating that is referred to as Whole Food Plant-Based (WFPB) that seeks to eat very little to no processed foods, as well as avoiding all animal products. This is done mainly for the health benefits. Although, I like to think they care about the ethical and environmental impacts as well. I don’t like to get hung up on labels. I tell people that I am vegan because that is the simplest way to communicate my eating preferences. I try to eat a Whole Food Plant-Based diet but I am definitely not perfect.

Disclaimer – I am not a nutritionist or health professional of any kind. In this post I am simply sharing my experience with you and the tips I have given my friends who have wanted to pursue a plant-based diet.

Without further adieu, here are my top 5 tips for going vegan.

1. Beware of vegan junk food

Upon informing one of my former colleagues that I eat vegan, he said something about how he felt a lot of vegan food was really just overly processed, and isn’t that unhealthy?  He’s right….in a sense. As I mentioned above, there are differnet ways of “being vegan.” Which leads to my first tip about being aware of vegan junk food. If you are going vegan for health reasons, you’ll want to be careful. There are lots of foods that are technically vegan, but are NOT good for you. A little quiz for you – What do these 3 things have in common?

Potato chips

Oreos

Red Vines

Yup, you guessed it….they are all considered vegan. Meaning, they do not contain any animal products. I think we can all agree however that these are obviously not healthy. But what about other less obvious foods?  When you go to your local grocery store, you may have noticed a lot more vegan products lately. This is great! But, to overindulge in some of these products might be a mistake. I remember when I first gave up all animal products, I found a yummy vegan cream cheese. It was so good! Then after a bit, I read the label. Trans fats!!! What??? I thought this sh*t was supposed to be good for me!

I get it. When first giving up animal products, we naturally seek replacements to our old favorites. Consuming processed vegan foods such as frozen meatless meatballs, vegan sausage, vegan cream cheese, etc. can be an effective way to transition to a plant-based way of eating. But, don’t get stuck there. Make sure you read labels and know what you are eating. Some people need to avoid soy and a lot of vegan foods are made with highly processed soy products. The goal is to transition to a way of eating that is based on REAL FOOD.  But, it’s not easy. After a week of salads, I myself might choose to indulge in a Beyond Burger. Remember, it’s not about being perfect, just being aware of what you’re putting in your body. So, remember just because it is technically vegan, does not mean it is healthy.

2. Don’t Overthink It

Getting started doesn’t have to be complicated. There are very basic things you can eat for each meal that won’t require you to do a lot of research or prep. For example

Breakfast – Oatmeal, blueberries, nuts

Lunch – Salad

Dinner – Rice & Beans with salsa

Now, of course, this is not the most exotic menu. But, it’s easy and gives you a variety of foods. If you have other dietary restrictions then you may have to get a little more creative. For example, if you’re trying to keep your carbs in check, you might replace the oatmeal with noatmeal.  If beans make you feel bloated you might have to opt for lentils or peas over a high lectin bean like kidney beans.  More on beans and lectins below.

3. Talk to Other Vegans

I realize this might seem super obvious. But, talk to your vegan friends or friends of friends. Everyone can get into a food rut, vegans especially since we have fewer ingredients to work with. It helps to see what others eat at an everyday practical level. For example, a good friend of mine recently decided to move to a plant-based diet, based on a recommendation from her doctor. She called me up for some advice. I invited her over. She checked out my pantry and fridge. We planned a meal and went shopping together. Then we made a super simple dinner. Vegan tacos!

I even got some ideas indirectly from my mother-in-law’s hairdresser. We planned to visit my in-laws for Thanksgiving. Knowing I am vegan, my MIL wanted to make sure there was food in the house I could eat. Which was super nice of her! Side note: as a vegan, I ALWAYS plan to bring some of my own food if I am staying at someone else’s house. Anyhoo, my MIL asked her vegan hairdresser for some advice on what to keep around the house. She bought dried fruit like dried figs and apricots and nuts. I always eat nuts but dried fruits not as much. So that was a nice treat. She also cooked up a batch of green beans, a batch of butternut squash, rice, lentils, etc. so I could mix up a quick lunch or meal whenever I was hungry. It was super tasty and filling. All were ingredients I, of course, had eaten before but never prepared as separate ready-to-eat dishes like that.

4. Pinterest is Your Best Friend

Have you created a vegan board yet on Pinterest? If not, what are you waiting for? Remember, Pinterest is a search engine and as such, a treasure trove of vegan recipes! I have several boards. 

Vegan/Vegetarian Recipes (for main dishes)

Vegan Breakfast

Vegan Dessert

Vegan Keto

Yes, vegan keto is a thing. It’s not an easy thing but it can be done. My favorite source for low carb vegan recipes is www.meatfreeketo.com. 

If you’re not sure what to make for dinner, just type in your ingredients and add the word “vegan” and you’ll get lots of inspiration. Seriously, going vegan would not have been nearly as easy if I didn’t have Pinterest to keep things organized. 

5. Eat a Variety of Foods

Once you go vegan, suddenly everyone is very concerned about your nutrition. Ugh! It really should be the other way around.. Someone why relies mainly on animal products for nutrition is someone I would worry about! But, because going vegan can feel drastic and even limiting, it is important to remember all the things you can and should eat.

One of my friends who chose to go vegan wasn’t sure what to eat so she ate a lot of bread. The result – 10 lbs weight gain. When my nutritionist suggested I avoid soy (bye tofu!) because of my history of breast cancer, I started eating beans every day. Let’s just say the digestive side effect was not pleasant. I learned I needed to mix things up a bit. So, one day I might make quinoa stuffed peppers, the next I would make taco “meat” out of lentils and red kidney beans. The day after that might be soup with farro and vegetables.

The important thing is to pay attention to how you feel when eating certain foods. Everybody is different so focus on the plants that give you energy and eat less of those that send you to the restroom every 5 minutes.

You might be wondering about supplementation. Yes, I do take supplements based on a nutritional evaluation done by my doctor. Check out my blog post on immune-boosting practices for more info. 

Oil Pulling

My latest foray into natural healing and general crunchy behavior is oil pulling. I only came across it on Pinterest while searching for who-knows-what. And I thought it was kinda crazy but yesterday’s crazy is sometimes today’s perfectly logical. What is oil pulling? Basically it is putting a tablespoon of coconut oil in your mouth and swishing it around for 20 minutes. It is supposed to kill bacteria and whiten teeth.

I finally decided to try this practice, which has its roots in Ayurvedic medicine, because I was having awful tooth sensitivity. And, if I’m being honest, I was procrastinating going to the dentist. So, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try.

The Result?

So, what did I notice?  My mouth definitely felt cleaner. But, even better was that the pain and sensitivity that I was having almost completely disappeared! I couldn’t really tell if my teeth got any whiter or not. I probably needed to stick with it longer to notice any real difference. Would I try it again? Yes, definitely!  I just need to find the right time in my morning routine. The recommendation is to do it right after waking. But, I don’t tend to have my coffee until about 45 minutes after I wake up. It seems counter productive to oil pull before drinking my coffee.  Give up coffee you say?  Hah! Blasphemy!  Actually, I did give up coffee for 21 days during a detox I was doing (more on that in another blog post). I missed my coffee terribly. Since I also do intermittent fasting (also another blog post topic) I don’t tend to eat until 10:00 or 11:00 am and I really count on the coffee to help power me through my morning workout. 

Here’s a quick cheat sheet if you want to give this a try!  Let me know what you think.