The classic dieting or meal plans. Who can obtain them? No gluten, Paleo, Whole30, Low Carb, Ketogenic, Vegan, Vegetarian, SAD, and the list literally NEVER ends.
But what if there is a better way. A way that keeps your body in fasting mode for optimal healing, but also provides you with nutrient-dense and high quality mineral and vitamins? What if there is a way to be vegan AND paleo? What if there is a way to eat what you love without compromising your health?
That’s what we have done here at dose. We have taken the beneficial parts of multiple “diets” and through scientific research and prayer about WHY and HOW our bodies work, we believe we have came up with a nutrient-dense, beautifying way of living and eating that brings with it all the essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients your body needs.
The first thing we need to establish is that we always, always recommend organic, non-gmo, and as local as possible for all food. Just do your best. Our rule is we can’t control what we are eating outside of our home, as far as quality goes, but we can absolutely control what we bring in our home!
The second thing we need to establish is this isn’t about perfection. If you are on vacation or in a bind, just do your best. Think of the 90/10 rule and establish your food guidelines ahead of time. For example: for me, my non-negotionables are gluten, dairy, and nitrates. I won’t do any of those even when we are out. But of course I can’t possibly eat all organic when out all the time, especially here in the midwest. Nor can I control all of the preservatives and added chemicals in all the foods when we are out. I believe our bodies were made to DETOX and CLEANSE naturally when we feed our bodies the right things 90% of the time. The other 10% it can handle a few chemicals or preservatives.
With all of that established, heres how to obtains dose wholeness….
1. To stay in “healing mode” as long as possible, a great way to do this is what is known as intermittent fasting. Don’t be scared by the word fasting! You are still actually consuming nutrients, you are just doing it in a blended form so your body doesn’t have to spend the energy on digestion and instead it can heal. Please skip the eggs, coffee, processed breads, meats, etc. This DOES NOT keep your body in healing modes and can destroy your blood sugar and cortisol. I know it goes against everything you know but read HERE why staying in healing mode is so important.
-Upon waking have a warm mug of water with lemon-this helps to cleanse and detox your blood, lymph, and entire immune system. It helps regulate blood sugar and purifies all bodily systems specifically the kidneys and liver.
-When hungry, have your Everyday Green Smoothie. Click on the smoothie and it explains why this is important.
-Have a superfood, protein-filled smoothie next. The goal is to make it until LUNCH or about 4-6 hours after you wake up without consuming any food you have to chew. The superfood smoothie can be any of your favorite fruit and vegetables, combined with your favorite superfoods like cacao, maca, moringa, spirulina, camu camu, hemp seeds, etc. Fruit is the ULTIMATE brain fuel! It is the perfect food and we should aim to have 8-10 servings a day of fruits and vegetables. Think of everything you know about how fruit is bad for you or spikes your blood sugar and throw it out the window. THAT IS NOT TRUE. Fruit (and vegetables and all whole, God made foods) is just perfect. This is also a great time to add in your powdered collagen or amino acids as well as an organic vegan protein powder.
2. Once you make it to your lunchtime. CONGRATS! That was the hardest part, especially when first starting out. It really is just all about changing YOUR MINDSET and knowing the WHY behind why you should eat a certain way. It’s all about how God made our bodies to heal, restore, renew and be filled with HIS goodness. Anyway, so it’s lunchtime. Now what? This is a great time to load yourself up with as many veggies as you can. Soups, stews, veggie burgers, veggie bowls, and any other vegan meals you can find on Pinterest or are inspired to make. So when do you get MEAT? The answer is 3-5 times a week you should have animal protein with dinner. You may be thinking, thats not enough PROTEIN?! Actually, you’ve already consumed copious amounts of plant protein in your day already by having the Everyday Green Smoothie and eating all the vegetables and plant proteins in your smoothies. Our bodies WERE made for meat and animal protein, but NOT in excess! And the very real fact is, our society eats just way to much of it! Read here about the risks of too much protein. The short of it is, excess protein leads to WEIGHT GAIN because it turns to sugar in our bodies. Not only that but it can lead to cancer, heart disease, and many other problems like yeast overgrowth and systemic inflammation.
(Find this delicious veggie recipe here!)
3. You’ve made it through your fasting time and your amazing vegetable loaded meal and now what? The afternoon is where you can be creative! Some of our favorite nourishing snacks are loaded vegetable toasts, faux cheese dip with raw pepper strips, celery or sprouted corn tortilla chips, guacamole with veggie strips, salsa and veggies or tortilla chips, vegetable wraps with hummus, sprouts and your favorite vegetables. Do you get the drift here? Or maybe in the summer you have a giant fruit bowl with fruit thats in season. The whole point is you want your afternoon snack to be full of vitamins and minerals. Nut butters on gluten free toast or even another smoothie. Be CREATIVE! Love the food you eat. Enjoy the food you eat. With every bite thank God for His amazing creation and how He knew exactly what our bodies need.
4. Its DINNERTIME! You’ve made it all day and loaded your body with the most amazing, nourishing foods. I bet you didn’t realize just how MUCH you can eat with Dose Wholeness?! Who knew you could FAST and nourish your body? Now is the time to have some more amazing vegetables, maybe some sprouted brown rice or quinoa and your organic, quality animal protein. Dinnertime doesn’t have to be fancy but be creative and LOVE what you are eating. Recreate some of your favorite “yucky” meals with nourishing ingredients.
Also, now is a time to enjoy that treat of dark chocolate or some coconut milk ice cream or maybe you made the chocolate chocolate cookies or the cookie skillet heaven.