I wrote this post for the 2013 New Year, and I still think that my “tweaking” choices were excellent! Check them out…
Although I am not one to make resolutions for the New Year, this year I decided to examine my food choices. My health is usually my primary concern when deciding what to eat, but I have decided that there is a bit of room for improvement in my diet. Hence, I give you this list of dietary tweaks which I will be striving for this year.
This year I will try…
1. To eat “G-BOMBS” everyday and to have more salads as my main meal.
I was watching Dr. Joel Fuhrman speak on PBS last night. He is so charismatic and convincing. If you’ve read my post entitled “Kale Is The New Beef” you already know that I’m a big fan of Dr. Fuhrman and his Nutritarian diet plan. Dr. Fuhrman loves the idea of eating salads as a main meal and suggests putting a sign taped to your refrigerator door to remind you to eat accordingly. I plan to follow his advice and to eat more salads, especially for dinner.
Dr. Fuhrman also suggests eating “G-BOMBS” every single day for optimal health…
Greens
Beans
Onions
Mushrooms
Berries
Seeds
My diet is lacking in the berry department, so I will follow Dr. Fuhrman’s advice and try to eat some berries every single day. I am pretty good with the rest of the suggested daily foods.
2. To add many more raw foods into my diet.
Since conducting my interview with Dr. Brian Clement of the world-renowned Hippocrates Health Institute, I have been reading more about the benefits of following a raw vegan diet. Flooding your body with an abundance of nutrients from raw live foods seems to me like it could only be a good thing. A very good thing! I have no desire to go completely raw at this time, but I have decided to add many more raw foods into my diet for the New Year. This plan is consistent with having big salads for dinner, as per Dr. Fuhrman’s suggestion.
3. To use my Jack LaLanne Power Juicer more often.
My Jack LaLanne Power Juicer is so easy to use and clean, but I tend to get lazy causing me to skip the fresh pressed juices. This is not a good idea because juicing is a great way to supplement your diet. Your body easily absorbs the nutrients from juicing and it is easy on your digestive system. Oh yes, I am definitely going to juice more often this New Year! I love a simple vegetable juice, and my “Hot Beets” juice really packs a punch!
4. To add more of a variety of cruciferous vegetables into my diet.
Although I eat a lot of kale and raw red cabbage shreds in my salads, I think that I could use more of some other types of cruciferous vegetables in my daily diet. I am going to try to eat more broccoli, bok choy and brussel sprouts this year.
5. To add Spirulina to my juices and smoothies.
I have a jar of Spirulina sitting in my house, but I haven’t been supplementing with it enough. Apparently, it is a major superfood with many health benefits including supporting cardiovascular health, eye and brain health and boosting energy and immunity. Therefore, I plan to add Spirulina to my juices and smoothies on a more regular basis this year.
6. To eat more sea vegetables.
Sea vegetables provide a wealth of trace minerals and I have been told by some nutritionists that they also support thyroid health. I love to cook with kombu and my favorite use of kombu is in my recipe for Brown Rice Udon Noodles In A Bowl Of Hot Dashi. I will continue to cook with kombu, but I also plan to eat some more arame this year. Alicia Silverstone has a simple recipe for “Arame, Carrots and Onions” in her book The Kind Diet and I am going to start making it more often.
7. To limit my intake of vegetable oils.
In keeping with the recommendations of Drs. John McDougall and Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., I am going to further limit my intake of vegetable oils. The good doctors state that too much oil is unhealthy for the heart and that there are better ways to get healthier forms of fat, including walnuts, ground flaxseeds, soybeans, and green leafy vegetables.
8. To eat more raw naturally fermented foods.
Raw naturally fermented foods such as kimchi, pickles and sauerkraut containing live active cultures and enzymes are probiotic and good for the gut. My favorite snack is Toasted Sourdough Rye Bread With Avocado And Raw Sauerkraut. My favorite brands of raw naturally fermented pickles, kimchi and sauerkraut are Real Pickles and Bubbie’s.
9. To have more homemade miso soup.
Miso is also a healthy fermented food. Miso soup is simple to make and studies have shown that it is incredibly helpful in preventing breast cancer. I just ordered the South River brand of certified organic Three-Year Barley Miso from Goldmine Natural Foods which I will use to prepare my miso soup.
10. To add a greater variety of grains to my diet.
My current staple grains are brown rice and quinoa. I think it would be a great idea if I started eating other grains regularly such as amaranth and millet instead of just my old standbys. I’m gonna’ do it!
11. To cut down on my vegan snack foods.
Although I absolutely love my vegan snack foods such as Lucy’s Cookies, Rice Dream “Ice Cream” pies and pops and Sweet and Sara marshmallows and treats, I do not need to eat so many. Therefore, I will cut down on these snacks as part of my plan to tweak my dietary choices for the New Year. However, I will continue to make my homemade healthy “ice cream” with my Yonanas machine and to indulge in Vegan Divas baked goods every now and then. A girl has still gotta’ live!
12. To stop ordering white pasta and eating white bread at restaurants while dining with my non-vegan friends.
I would never dream of eating white pasta and white bread at home; but somehow, I find myself eating these empty foods when I am at non-vegan restaurants with friends. Negative comments always seem to be made by others when I order just a salad or steamed veggies, so I think I eat the white stuff out of peer pressure. I am going to stop! Are they cutting out meat for me? No, they are not! I will no longer compromise my health for anyone.
13. To drink a cup of matcha green tea every day.
The benefits of matcha green tea are numerous. Matcha is extremely high in antioxidants since the entire tea leaf is ingested, as opposed to other teas which are made by merely steeping the leaves. A traditional ceremony is often performed for the preparation and drinking of matcha tea. My goal to drink one cup a day is a good one!
This concludes my list of the ways that I will try to tweak my vegan diet for the upcoming year. I hope that I gave you some beneficial ideas. Please have a Happy New Year and many more!
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Love,
Debby
xoxo
