Plant Based Eating – Is it restrictive?

If you’re looking for a healthy, efficient and sustainable way to release unwanted (and unhealthy) weight, a whole food, plant-based eating protocol is likely the best you can find.

When someone asks me what I’ve done to release 35 pounds in the last few months, I tell them I’ve gone plant based.

The conversation usually goes something like, “Wow! I really need to lose X amount of weight.”

When I ask how important it is to them, they usually say, “I’d do anything.”

When I tell them all they have to do is eliminate dairy, animal products, processed oils and sugars, they ask, “Isn’t there an easier way?”

I say, “Doesn’t get much easier than this. You get fruits, veggies, rice, beans, legumes, natural oils found in nuts and avocados AND you can often eat more than you are currently eating while watching the weight melt away.”

“That seems pretty restrictive.”

Maybe my definition of restrictive is different but restrictive to me is carrying around the equivalent of nearly four 10 pound bags of potatoes.

Restrictive is:

-Inflammation that prevents me from doing what I love… writing.
-Lackluster energy
-Lack of focus
-Mid afternoon energy dips
-Feeling bloated most of the time
-Trying to fit into clothes that long ago were too tight
-Total exhaustion by day’s end
-Inability to have fast recovery time after a good run

We each have our own definition of what restrictive means. Sure, choosing to eliminate unhealthy, processed foods, animal products and dairy may seem restrictive for some. But for me, not be able to live a life filled with movement, passion , vibrancy and energy is far more restrictive than what I do, or don’t, put on my plate.

How about you? What’s your definition of restrictive? What’s the quality of life you choose to have?