What are Plant-Based Diets?

To help understand our website, what we offer, and why we've offered some information we have created this post to help make sense of it all!

Our website is designed to be as inclusive as possible, so we have included information on recipes and meal plans for the most common types of Plant-Based Diets and many different flavor profiles.

We love empowering people! Our goal isn't to sway readers one way or the other, but simply to provide information we feel is important to be able make an informed decision. This is not meant to replace or undermine the advice of doctors and nutritionists. If a medical health professional has recommended a specific dietary recommendation for you, please consult with them and always before making any major decisions regarding changes to your diet.

There are a number of things to consider when changing your diet and what kind of diet is right for you. Not eating animal meat is the common denominator in all of these options, so we will start there. For our purposes, a 'Diet' does not simply refer to the crash-course of changing your eating habits temporarily, in order to meet a goal like losing weight, getting your blood pressure down, or managing a condition of any kind...but what you choose to eat most of the time over the long-term.

Any short-term changes will only be temporary. That said, major changes done too quickly and without adequate preparation are not only difficult but often times not entirely realistic. Assume the longer-term you plan for this change to be, the more time you should expect to transition into it. We started with cutting out most processed foods while we were still consuming meat and went plant-based about six months later. While that wasn't initially the plan, sometimes plans change...especially when gallbladders start requiring your attention. On the up side, that six months helped us to get into the habit of prepping food each week.

This routine became a vital key for the change we would make in going plant-based. Once we made the switch, we transitioned to vegan within only a few weeks. We still call ourselves vegans to people that ask us about what it is...but caveat with 'technically....' and explain the difference. I am definitely glad we experienced a true vegan diet though, and perhaps it was because we did more of a whole foods approach, in that we didn't use processed options at all at first.

I won't bore you with the details, but I would have wanted even more time to prepare had we really understood the difference and that's probably why we ultimately went back to the simpler plant-based option, because it was the most natural and least-restrictive option that worked for us. We hope these explanations below will make this transition easier to help you in determining if or what option works best for you!

Vegetarian-

The simplest for most people, this dietary group avoid animal meat of any kind.

-Like other groups, so subgroups have adopted specific exceptions. For vegetarians, the common for of this are individuals who do consume fish and usually seafood in general.

Plant-Based-

This refers to people who avoid all meat and dairy of any kind.

-Again, there are subgroups who make specific exceptions and others that are more restrictive than your typical plant-based eater.

Examples include

-Eggs or seafood.

-Whole plant-based diet, avoiding all processed foods

-Raw plant-based diet, avoiding processed foods while only cooking

enough for consumption, to leave the important nutrients that are

often cooked out of vegetables, usually under 120 degrees.

Vegan-

I remember telling my doctor when we went Vegan. His facial expression was the best part of his response. A combination of 'that explains the weight loss' and 'do you really understand what that means' A vegan himself, he just smiled patiently and said 'Ahhh, the black-belt of all diets...'.

At the time, we were only a few months in and I was feeling a little cocky about how well we had been doing, but over the long-term we understood why. Veganism truly is a lifestyle, an admirable one...but not for the faint of heart!

-Again, there are subgroups who make specific exceptions and others that are more restrictive than your typical plant-based eater.

Examples include

-Eggs or seafood.

-Whole plant-based diet, avoiding all processed foods

-Raw vegan diet, avoiding processed foods while only cooking them

enough for consumption, to leave the important nutrients that are

often cooked out of vegetables, usually under 120 degrees.

Vegans don't limit their lifestyle choices to food. In fact, this is the biggest distinction between vegans and any other type of diet...because as they say, it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle! We have described ourselves to non-plant-based eaters as vegan, but not when talking with an actual Vegan because they know the difference. They are very proud of their choice and go as far as avoiding clothing, household products, and anything else they use that contain any animal products whatsoever. We mean no disrespect to them and admire their discipline.

This is next-level and while some people get upset about having to have so many classifications, but understanding them and addressing each one appropriately is not only easy to do, but respectful and shows you care. Plus, let's be honest, if you worked as hard as vegans do...that deserves the distinction of being called one. It's like calling a doctor 'Mr' or 'Mrs', they earned that title!!