I have been on a journey of discovering what is the best lifestyle for me: including exercise, diet, sleep, water, and mental health. My needs for these aspects of lifestyle and habit change as I enter new phases of my life. Trying to get my lifestyle together for college has been a roller coaster: just when I think I have it figured out I fail and realize my expectations were unrealistic. Even more often, I do really well for a few days then set stressed and turn to Panda Express and staying up all night to temporarily make me feel better, but leads to feeling horrible the next day. Because of, what I feel, has been a lot of inconsistency and lack of follow through on my part in living a healthy lifestyle, I want to get back to what first got me on to a plant-based diet and active lifestyle. The dietician who first introduced me to plant-based living was Doctor Michael Greger.
Dr. Greger is a physician, author, and internationally recognized speaker on public health issues, especially nutrition and healthy dieting and runs a non-commercial website called nutritionfacts.org that is a non-profit informative source for people to see uncorrupted nutritional advice without the BS yoyo diets or miracle products. The main takeaway from Dr. Greger’s message and his bestselling book, ‘How Not to Die’, is that the best way to live a longer, healthier life is to base your diet in whole foods, fruits and vegetables in majority. I know that the days I wake up and have an omelet, grab a spinach salad for lunch and grilled vegetables for dinner, I am satisfied, feel amazing, am energized, and know my body is happy with what I am putting into it. Running low on money last semester, eating whole foods was difficult and I got into a habit of eating cheap, processed carbs as the staple of my diet. Starting today, I am going to try to fill my diet with whole, natural, nutritious fruits, nuts, vegetables, and legumes. Since having my boyfriend’s kitchen to cook in, I have really enjoyed cooking vegetables again, but also now have more freedom to eat more, more often, and worse foods lying around the apartment. I have started getting him to buy more fruits and vegetables, and I want to get back to the healthy, whole-food-, plant-based diet I had in high school.
Along with eating less processed foods and more whole foods, I want to start incorporating Dr. Greger’s daily dozen into my day. I know buying healthy, organic food is sooo explensive (I ran out of money real quick last semester), but I have found ways to get those good foods in not-so-fancy and much less expensive options.
So, Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen:
1/2 cups of beans/legumes: beans are full of protein and fiber and have no fat (they are also really filling and satisfying, making them a great alternative to carbs)
1/2 cup of berries: berries are actually really low in sugar, but full of micronutrients not found elsewhere and tons of fiber, they also are amazing for killing that craving for sweets (buying frozen is a ton cheaper)
1 medium fruit: this can be a banana, apple, orange, etc. fruits, while generally high in sugar, are full of fiber and vitamins and nutrients, like potassium, vitamin C, etc. (best eaten in the morning)
1/2 cup chopped cruciferous vegetables: these are your broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, and more are found to prevent cancer, reduce inflammation, enhance heart health, and way more. They are really good for your digestion, are filling, are extremely nutritious and low in calories but satisfying
To get more detail on the rest of these, go to nutritionfacts.org and watch the Daily Dozen video to see how amazing your body will feel when eating these foods and the power they have!
1 tbsp. ground flaxseed
1/4 cup of nuts
1/2 cup of whole grains (not white rice!!)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric (and other spices like ginger, garlic and cayenne pepper)
90 minutes of moderate or 40 minutes of vigorous exercise (seriously, watch videos like ‘Your Body on Exercise’ – they really give me motivation to go run or go to the gym, its crazy how your body needs exercise to function properly and you’ll really see huge changes)
60 oz water based beverages (teas and water): that’s close to 2000ml or 2 l. Honestly, I can drink 4 or 5 liters per day sometimes, that’s good if you’re exercising but you can drink too much water (your cells become hypotonic and you can have nutrient deficiencies) so I need to chill with that haha
I am going to challenge myself to eat mostly fruits, vegetables and whole foods and follow the daily dozen (at least a few times a week!). I would love if you want to join me, comment what changes you make and your progress/results!
Thanks for reading
<3 davina
