Ever have a defining moment in your life? Yep, me too. Mine involved my husband’s double bypass surgery. I learned that it’s highly possible to have another bypass after 10 or 15 years. This is due to more clogging in the arteries. That’s what fueled me (and my family) to adopt a plant-based lifestyle and I found 6 insanely easy plant-based meals that changed my life.
I learned that if your arteries are clear you don’t need surgery and to get your arteries clear you’ve gotta stop eating foods that clog them!
This is why a whole food plant-based (WFPB) lifestyle can help to keep you out of the operating room.
Life Changing Meals
- Steel Cut Oatmeal– It might sound boring but eating steel cut oats in the morning sets you up for a nutrient dense meal and it’s all about the nutrients. Good nutrition is super important to good health.
Compared to old fashioned oats, steel cut oats are better for you because of the way they’re processed. Steel cut oats are more dense and chewy because they’ve been passed through steel blades that thinly cut them helping toretain more fiber and protein. This makes them healthier for you.
What also helps is to put fresh fruits like blueberries, strawberries and for an added punch of goodness add chia seeds, cacao nibs or flax seeds. You can also cook them in a pressure cooker for speedier results.
2.Leafy Green Salads– It’s pretty obvious that plant-based eaters include leafy green salads in their diets. That’s because these types of salads are nutrient rich and provide the body a way to be fueled without clogging arteries. That’s only to say if the salad doesn’t include the likes of poultry, meat, seafood and oily dressing.
Salads rich in cruciferous vegetables (veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and brussel sprouts just to name a few) add nutritionalbenefits and offer anti-inflammatory properties. Learn more about cruciferous vegetables and how they can be life changing.
A Meal in Itself
3. Baked Potato Bar -An easy and powerful, life changing meal can be found in a baked potato bar. That’s right, a baked potato! You might be thinking that a baked potato could never be filling enough for a meal cause it’s always a side dish but you’d be mistaken. Abaked potato is both nutrient rich and filling.
A potato contains 10 percent protein as well as fiber with properties that can help lower cholesterol. If you add the likes of steamedveggies (fresh or frozen) you’ve upped the nutritional value as well. The thing about potatoes is that they’re filling and don’t leave youcraving like high fatty foods do. Like the salad, don’t load your spud with processed items like butter, sour cream, cheese or other dairy or bacon-these things clog your arteries among other things. Take a look at more info on potatoes from the McDougall Newsletter.
More Life Changing Meals
4. Pasta Puttanesca –This simple, yet life-changing meal is easy to make and can satisfy a crowd. What makes it life-changing? It doesn’tinclude meat, oil, diary, seafood or other processed food. Eliminating these things and including whole foods makes a difference! Download the recipe to this easy meal and receive four other bonus recipes as well.
5. Black Bean Soup– Easy and healthy is a winning combination. What’s even better is if the meal can be prepared in 30 minutes which is the case with this black bean soup recipe adapted from the Happy Herbivore. This soup is packed with nutrients and flavor and canbe put on the table in 30 minutes. How’s that for insanely easy?!
6. One Pan Mexican Quinoa– This tasty dish is another insanely easy and life changing meal. The fact that it can be quickly made and it only takes one pan to do so is pretty great. What’s even better are the nutrients packed into one meal and the flavor that it provides.Quinoa is a high protein, gluten free, fiber filled whole grain. It’s been around for 5,000 years originating from South America. It’s agreat addition to a healthy menu. Find a quick video and the recipe here.
Food Shapes Our Lives
Food certainly shapes our lives be it for better or worse. The fact that it can change our health is powerful. What’s better is that we can choose what foods to eat. If you are in the process of changing the way you eat and adopting a whole food plant-based lifestyle you already know that the above mentioned meals can have life changing effects. If you are just starting out, check out our tips to making the changes.
Enjoy taking charge of your health and utilizing the life changing meal ideas-you’ve got a lot to gain by doing so.
5 Day Plant-Based Starter Plan
You may know that you want to ditch your current diet and switch to the plant-based lifestyle, but aren’t sure where to start or if you’re really up for the change. I’m dedicated to your success, so start by downloading theFREE5 Day Plant-Based Starter Plan
Check out what’s included in theFREE 5 Day Plant-Based Starter Plan
- Menu plan and recipes for each day
- Healthy Habits Tracker tool
- Daily email including a video message
- Suggestions for support
ClickHEREto get started on the road to better health. By spending the next five days getting started with whole foods that are plant-based you’ll jump start into a healthier way of living. Your body will thank you for it!
Congratulations to you no matter where you are in your journey. The fact that you are seeking information and looking to make improvements in your health is worthy of praise and encouragement.
Happy eating!
P.S. If you’re new to the plant-based lifestyle and are looking for a place to learn and gain some support and encouragement, join our free private Facebook group called She Builds Healthier Habits. Learn to take charge of your health and stay the course with the whole food plant-based lifestyle. Join She Builds Healthier Habits today!
