3 – 3 Day Meal Plans – Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan and Vegan on the Road
Here is a three day meal plan to inspire a Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) diet. This is great for loosing weight, reversing, halting or preventing most of the diseases that are affecting westerners today. Adjust this to your tastes and repeat as necessary to take better control of your health. The key to adopting a WFPB diet is finding a set 6-8 meals that you REALLY LIKE and repeating them. For example, I eat oatmeal with ground flax seed, ground chia seed, walnuts or hemp seeds, 1 tablespoon maple syrup and a banana every morning with slight variations such as blueberries instead of banana. Then for lunch, I typically have left overs. But my husband, who committed to WFPB January of 2017 hates leftovers for lunch (lucky me) and insists on ordering vegan tacos on Tuesday, Chipotle vegan burrito bowl on Wed, a salad from wherever on Thursday, Thai on Friday and so on while at work. Then at home I keep meals as clean as possible, including a smoothie for breakfast. We just got test results back and his cholesterol has dropped as well as his HgbA1C’s (measures average glucose/indicator for Diabetes). We know the weight will come off even quicker if he would allow me to pack him a lunch, but this is where he is comfortable. Everyone is different, but if you are not working from home like me, I suggest you pack a lunch because homemade food is just better. You have control over added fat, sugar and salt. But do what you know will work and improve where you can at your own pace. I also have a smoothie mid morning. I like the chocolate vegan Shakeology with blueberries or add your favorite vegan pea powder, berries, chia/flax seeds, maca, spirulina, etc., or skip the smoothie all together. Just be careful because these can pack a lot of calories.
You don’t have to make everything from scratch. Certainly buy some items from the store to make things easier, such as Dr. McDougall’s soup. Pour his chili over a baked sweet potato and you are set. TIP: I bake a large batch of sweet potatoes at one time, then add them to salads or heat them up and enjoy them with a veggie and cashew cheese or chili type topping.
For snacks, I tend to add a small amount of protein like almond butter or hummus to help feel full. That is where I get my fat, along with nuts and seeds. I don’t add oil while cooking or to dressings. See the recipe section for cashew cheese and dressing ideas.
In the beginning I was tracking my intake on the app MyFitnessPal. This way you can see the fat, carb, protein ratios. I tend to stick to roughly 15% fat, 15% protein, and the 70% carbs. Carbs give energy, make you feel full and also contain protein, so it’s a little misleading. We tend to obsess over protein, which is completely unnecessary. Read the book by M.D. Davis Garth called Proteinaholic. He is a weight-loss Physician that debunks the protein myth. Also check out Dr. McDougall’s new book called The Healthiest Diet on the Planet and my favorite book of all times by M.D. Michael Greger called How Not to Die.
*These recipes are posted under the recipe tab or under Instagram posts.
This meal plan is for straight forward vegans not super interested in fighting disease. Ethical vegans are more interested in saving the animals, planet and stopping world hunger. All very noble causes. You can mix and match ideas from all 3 meal plans. This is intended to make it clear that just following a vegan diet will not have the same affect on your health as a WFPB diet will. Sometimes you want to splurge or entertain regular vegan food might work better. I will keep adding fun ideas to the recipe tab, or follow my Instagram. Or this could be a good transition for the Standard American Diet (SAD) to vegan to eventually WFPB or mainly WFPB. Once again, everyone’s journey is different, no judging here.
Finally, what the heck can you eat on the road? Here are some ideas, but the options are endless. You can even buy some travel worthy items from the grocery store such as Dr. McDougall’s oatmeal, or some items by Amy’s. Once again, this is just to inspire. We tend to eat at restaurants with a chef that can adjust a meal. They will make a great vegan dish according to what they have in the kitchen and to your taste. I ask them to limit oil, salt and sugar as much as possible. Depending upon the area, you can find places like Kreation or other juice bars, that make smoothies, grab and go meals and great smoothie bowls. Download the HappyCow app, or Google vegan friendly restaurants. Sometimes you may end up at a restaurant where the only option is a baked potato. That’s great, just add salsa and you are good to go!