Being mindful of eating healthier

I’ve started eating plant-based. This is big news for me. For a long time, I’ve been telling my husband that I’m going to become vegetarian. He was encouraging but after the 20th time of my telling him this, his enthusiasm waned. I understood why. I hadn’t convinced myself to make the change.Eating french fries and cheese pizza isn’t enough to call myself a vegetarian.

I must admit that health reasons and age are pushing me to make some changes. The changes I plan to make will be gradual and allow me to be kinder to myself. I’m not going from zero to hundred because it’s not sustainable. After reading an interview with Michelle Obama, I was even more encouraged. In response to a question about weight gained during menopause she said, “I have to be more mindful, not obsessive, but more mindful.” I too want to be more mindful of choices I make and no longer make grand unachievable goals. My goals are to eat healthier and “keep moving.”

I started this post with the sentence, “I’ve started eating plant-based food.” That is true because I started today. This morning I had some time to meal prep. Today, I’ve eaten 2 plant-based meals for breakfast and lunch. I was so excited that I decided to write about it.  As a doctor, I know the importance of eating healthy and encourage parents and kids to eat healthy but I also understand that life can get in our way and make it harder to find time to shop for groceries, prepare them and cook. Personally, that has been an issue for me. When my kids were younger and needed me to drive them to events, it was easier to pick up a meal on the way home. But now, my kids are young men and I’ve had to transition from the on the go mom to a new lifestyle. 

As I think more about transitioning to a mom with kids that are adulting, I realize that some of my food choices were made so that I could spend time with my sons. They like to eat out like I do. I remember the weekly pizza dinners with my youngest son when he was in high school. It was a chance to catch up and connect. But now, I have to be mindful of my food choices and activities to ensure that I meet my goal of being healthier and moving more.  

I have to give a shout out to Tabitha Brown. I came across a youtube video with her teaching how to meal prep 12 easy vegan recipes. Tabitha’s encouragement and sharing her journey to become vegan made me want to try something new. I don’t plan to become strictly vegan or vegetarian but I do want to incorporate more plant-based options in my diet. Plant-based means eating foods that are mostly from plants such as fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and seeds.

I’m sharing two photos of the meals I prepared today, tofu-scramble with roasted sweet potatoes and red peppers with pico de gallo and quinoa with roasted vegetables and homemade pesto. They both tasted good. I won’t lie, I had my doubts about the tofu.

Tofu-scramble with spinach, pico de gallo, and roasted sweet potatoes and red peppers (Source: Tabatha Brown and Goodful, see youtube video below for recipe)

Quinoa bowl with homemade pesto and roasted chickpeas, broccoli and red peppers (Source: Tabatha Brown and Goodful, see youtube video below for recipe)

Today is my first day of mindfully incorporating more plant-based meals. I’m glad I did this. I know it’s a journey and will need to be compassionate with myself on those days that I don’t eat as healthy. I know those days will come but I hope to have more days that I make better choices. I’m also aware that changes I make still influence my family’s choices. Even when your kids are adulting, they are still watching and occasionally join you for dinner.