Since I switched to plant based diet last year, most of my days start with a healthy juice, smoothie or both. Our bodies run on natural sugars from fruit, so consuming it as a first meal gives your abundance of energy throughout the day.
Pomegranates and citruses are in season currently so I like making this simple and powerful combination. For the juice you press seeds from ripe pomegranates and equal amount of tangerines or oranges. You can add fresh ginger to spice it up even more.
Btw, do you know you can use spatula to quickly extract seeds from pomegranates? Simply remove the top and bottom, then make few superficial cuts along the sides and smash it with spatula all around until all the seeds are out.
When done juicing you can choose to drink it straight or use it as an ingredient to make smoothies. For approximately 1L, which is my usual measure, you'll need 4-5 ripe bananas, a cup of the juice, tablespoon of peanut butter and a plant based milk or water to get the desired thickness. Vanilla powder/extract is optional. Pomegranate juice will last you for few days, and of course, you want to drink the smoothies fresh. Let me know if you try it.
Oh, that bowl of pomegranate seeds, mouthwatering photos!
I also thrive and feel younger and happier nurturing my body with plants, seeds, fruit and veggies. I consume starchy vegetables as the energy-calorie base (mostly potatoes, plantain (plátano macho), chick-peas (garbanzo) and... salted pop-corn :)) And México has a whole universe to offer to the vegans. Although, on festive occasions and at social gatherings I do indulge in some foods, that are neither healthy nor nutritious, but the celebration of tastes and aromas nourishes the mind (addicted to gastronomic pleasures :)) and thus keeps my nervous system happy :)
Nice to meet like-minded people by following beautiful photographs!
Nice to meet you, Laura! :) You have a nice eating routine going on - I also still eat potatoes and other cooked/baked veggies and on the sweet side bananas are my caloric staple (usually in smoothies and fruit salads). Nothing wrong with making occasional exceptions and indulging in something to satisfy other senses haha. As long as it's under control. :)
Well, the control part during the festive seasons sometimes turns into a serious spiritual practice hahaha especially when Christmas comes with the fondest childhood food and taste memories that call and seduce you with the whole force of one's subconscious mind ahhahhaha
But on the other hand, observant conscious surrendering to the gastronomic indulgence also can be categorized as a "mindfulness practice" :))
So, with this mindset I'm safe hahah
How do you feel after switching to a plant based diet?
I feel good and satisfied, no looking back. Realized that it's more about keeping the body clean and consuming easy to digest, fresh water rich food, than about trying to fill all these nutritional columns each day. It helped with some of my health issues. Are you plant based or thinking about it?
Yes I excluded meat from my diet, it has been a couple of months. I tried to do this on and off. I had a raw vegan time, I had a veggie time, a smoothie only time etc
I asked you this question because I have noticed some things since going meat free. I sleep better and I feel more focused, I also lost weight and no longer feel the need to eat that much.
Oh definitely, once you stop eating hard to digest food you feel lighter and lose much of the cravings. It's same with me. And the mental clarity is the main win. It just feels right. It was even more emphasized while I was juice fasting - energy through the roof and was fully rested after only 5 hours of sleep.
Juice fasting? It is like drinking only juice made out of fruits/veggies? I suppose one can't keep this for long, maybe for several days per month
I have heard about the benefits of fasting, for how long did you try?
You would be surprised. :D Yes, it's one of the most beneficial things one can do for his health. It's a next level of detox where the goal is to remove old blockages and waste that we accumulated over the years and decades. Once eliminated, the body can much more easily absorb new nutrients. It's easier than water fasting as you actually consume calories from the juices so the cravings usually disappear after about 3 days. I've posted couple of articles about it recently if you want to read about my experience. Been on it for 22 days but know some who've done it for 4 months or even a full year. I will likely do it again next summer.
If you want to learn more about it, definitely check out John Rose on youtube. He's got tons of videos about "solid food vacation" as he calls it.
I have found him and subscribed, I will watch for sure! Thanks so much!
How about water fasting? I have heard people saying it is quite a healing experience for the body to go through such a thing
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Hey alcibiades — nice post, I love the beautiful photos and appreciate the tip about liberating pomegranate seeds from all those weird membranes. I planted three pomegranates around my gardens. They haven't born fruit yet, but here's hoping.
I've been eating plant based for many years, and appreciate both the health and environmental benefits. If I go back to sample animal foods I often find them not nearly as appetizing as they once were.
I think legumes are a super food that isn't broadly recognized... I've been getting good crops of Tepary beans, which were developed here in the desert southwest by the ancients. Very drought tolerant!
I look forward to reading more of you posts!
It's really good and powerful and the fruit is just now in season.