Whether you’re vegan, vegetarian, omnivore, or straight-up carnivore, having a balanced diet takes effort, especially as a college student. To ensure your plant-based diet is properly balanced, use this Power Plate by PCRM as a guide. Each day, try to get some of each food group. With the money you will be saving no longer buying meat, eggs, dairy, and heavily processed foods, you can eat plant-based whole foods while spending the same amount of money on groceries as you were before (not to mention saving thousands more dollars down the road in healthcare). Take a week and plan out your menu. Here are some ideas if you don't plan on eating meat that day: Breakfast Toast with jam Bran cereal with almond milk Pancakes Apple cinnamon raisin oatmeal Fruit Smoothie Sweet potato hash
Sure, there are several environmental benefits to switching to eating mostly plants, but can one person make much of difference? You'd be surprised. Without turning into an activist, you can (and should) care at least a little bit about the environment. But ultimately, changing your diet isn’t a political statement. If eating plant-based is appealing to you simply because of the health benefits, there's nothing wrong with that. It’s just a personal statement saying “I care about my health, so I took the time to investigate the risks and benefits of this diet with an open mind. Oh hey, tree. Cute leaves.”
If helping the environment is important to you, you can learn how this diet affects the planet by reading articles by Bruce Monger. This video pretty much sums it up nicely. There are those who find pleasure in shooting animals; they look forward to their next kill so they can hold it by the antlers and pose for a picture. They love the adrenaline and like the taste of animal carcass. There's no point in arguing with these narrow-minded individuals - they are left to kick against the pricks trying to combat reversing heart disease and cancer with the impressive comeback, "But... bacon!" Any sound, objective mind can discern the intelligent from the lack thereof.
I wish I knew the difference between the “right way” to eat plant-based and the “wrong way” back when I first started. I remember buying a Little Caesar's pizza and scraping the cheese off thinking, "Yeah! I'm doing it!" No . . . I wasn't even close.
Some of my people will eat food that, although may not come from animals, is heavily processed and quite unwholesome. Here are some examples: Unhealthy Plant-food French fries Soda pop/alcohol/coffee Potato chips White flour tortillas White loaf of bread that you can squeeze together like an accordian Oil Oreos Fake meat/cheese Onion rings Flavored Quick Oats Yellow Spaghetti Healthy Plants Water, almond milk, natural juices Unprocessed legumes Whole wheat flour tortillas Brown rice Whole wheat, whole grain bread Leafy greens Rinsed beans Fresh fruit/vegetables Whole grains Old-fashioned oats Whole wheat spaghetti noodles
