I struggled with this in the beginning and sometimes still do. Lifetime ingrained habits are hard to change in a relatively short period of time. The short explanation is plant based whole food is fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, grain and legumes which haven’t been processed, refined and adulterated.
Eating food as grown…
- Corn on the cob not corn chips
- Potatoes not potato chips
- Whole fruit not fruit juice
- Bread, tortillas, spaghetti, cookies and crackers are not whole food
- Intact grain like brown rice is whole food
- Don’t eat processed food like TV dinners
- Oil like extra virgin olive oil (and, all others) is refined
- Vegetable soup you make from scratch is whole food
- My green smoothie is real food
- Green salads
I don’t do this, but soaking legumes and grain overnight and rinsing before cooking is a good thing. You can also sprout your nuts, seeds, grains and legumes. I use a ‘pressure cooker’ to make my soup, rice, beans and ‘sometimes’ potatoes.
‘Take more time chewing your food better. You will assimilate more of the nutrients from it’
Personally speaking, I only eat when hungry. By this, I mean that I could eat my first meal of the day anywhere from 11AM to after 1PM. I feel it’s OK to eat one meal a day. If I wait until the early afternoon, I usually eat a larger meal.
‘Try lettuce leaves instead of wheat bread’
It would be a huge green salad and oil-less fried potatoes and maybe a bowl of vegetable soup. I also have two large glasses of water I leave out in the open to aerate. In one glass I squeeze a lemon and drop them in. This I drink throughout the day and night.
‘Eat the whole food, not its parts. Vitamin supplements are not whole food and are known to be potentially poisonous to our system. I don’t take vitamin D, I sit in the sun. The only pill I take on a regular basis is B12’
They say to drink a certain amount of water everyday. I only drink when thirsty. I know coffee and tea are not whole food, but I drink a pot of Japanese green tea every day. I think it’s beneficial to my health and wellbeing. It gives me a ‘calm’ energy of sorts. Furthermore, unlike coffee if I skip a day I don’t get a headache withdrawing from caffeine.
Note- consult your doctor before you change your diet.
