WFPB Resources
Happy Friday, Unicorns!
I am a Vegan. A Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) Vegan. That means I avoid animal products (meat, dairy, eggs), but I also avoid oils, added sugars, and overly processed foods. Sometimes, I’ll eat an occasional food with oil or sugar, but it’s rare. One of the biggest things that is assumed about my lifestyle is that I’m missing out. It’s boring. And a lot of people assume I only eat salad. I eat salad, but I eat so much more than that. It doesn’t make me mad when people make that assumption. I get it. It’s out of the ordinary, and if the Standard American Diet (SAD) is all you know, WFPB can seem super weird. And when I first went WFPB, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to eat either. At first, it felt like a huge sacrifice. And in 2013, when my journey started, plant based eating wasn’t as popular as it is now. Now, there are so many great resources out there for recipes and support to connect with others living the same way! And I love it!
I can promise I am not missing out. Nope. Not even a little. As a matter of fact, I still eat things I did before, just a different version of it. Pizza, burgers, pasta, soups, tacos, and even dessert! And the best part: I never feel sluggish, tired, bloated, or miserable after I eat anymore. My mood is better, I eat out less, and I feel amazing! Plus my health has never been better. If I would’ve known how good I would feel eating like this, I would’ve done it years before I did.
I used to be a cheese lover. Like any kind of cheese. The more the better! And anything and everything I could put it on, I did. Not gonna lie, cheese was the hardest thing for me to get over. Meat was pretty easy. Eggs, no that big of deal. Cheese… cheese took some time. Now, the thought of eating actual dairy cheese does not sound like a good time to me. It’s
the thickness I feel in my throat after I eat it. It’s the bloating, digestive issues, and nausea that comes with it. I didn’t even know how much cheese affected me until I stopped eating it. But I still look for that flavor and creaminess, and I’ve learned there are ways to get that with plants! And they’re delicious and they don’t make me feel like garbage :)
And delicious substitutions are why this has become so much easier for me. I love food, delicious food. And most of the things I cook and eat are so good that my family and I never feel deprived or hungry. But it’s all about the resources and having a good foundation of knowledge on how to eat this way and continue eating this way longterm. But also being forgiving to yourself when things aren’t “perfect.”
So let me sing some praises to Clean Food Dirty Girl (CFDG). This website is, by far, my favorite resource for delicious plant based goodies! I get most of my meals from here, and I’ve learned so much from the dirty wizards! So when I want to create my own recipes, I’ve learned some little tricks to implement when I go rogue :) CFDG is a WFPB resource with a blog, free recipes, and a subscription service. I subscribe to the meal plans which means every week I get 5 meals with a grocery list, prep/batch list, and instructions for meal night. I also get to see any individual recipes that I want from past and present meal plans. I’ve been a subscriber for about a year, and I have no intention to quit. Check them out if you’re looking to have your food world rocked! ***Full disclosure: I also blog for this website. I started blogging for them not long after I subscribed because I love them so much! I do not get paid for referring subscribers, but they pay me to write for them :)
But there are other resources I enjoy as well. Websites, plenty of YouTube channels, books, blogs, and documentaries. Of course, there is so much more out there than just this list, but these are a good place to start! Here’s a list of resources to check out:
Websites:
Books:
Documentaries:
Doctors:
YouTube:
Hopefully, my blog and all these other amazing resources will, at the very least, show you that being WFPB is anything but boring! I can’t sing its praises enough. In fact, I give a lot of credit to eating this way as the reason I am breast cancer free, 8 years after being diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. If you have questions or just need to talk to someone that has been doing this for awhile, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me! If you click the “Get in Touch” tab, I will respond to you personally! Enjoy your weekend, lovelies!
xoxo
Your Fellow Badass, Beautiful Unicorn,
Brit