​You don't have to go completely vegan or vegetarian but we can all benefit from stepping up our plant game. A plant based diet benefits the dieter, the environment, and animals.  It's also guaranteed to be healthier than the typical American diet.   Plants, fruits and veggies provide us with nutrient dense calories. Both fruits and veggies are packed with vitamins, minerals, and fiber.  Some veggies are even calorie negative, meaning they provide less energy than it takes to digest them.

The minerals and vitamins found in plant food sources do tremendous things for our bodies like regulate bodily functions, help fight disease, and help metabolize other food for energy.  The fiber in fruits and veggies helps regulate blood sugar,  maintain healthy body weight,  promotes heart health, and can ease gastrointestinal issues like IBS.  While fruits contain sugar the fiber benefits of fruit, in many cases, negate the sugar in the fruit. 

Do yourself a favor and load up on veggies and eat plenty of fruit.  When making a meal start by covering the majority of your plate in green leafy vegetables along with other colorful veggies, add a healthy portion of protein and a serving of fruit and you will be consuming a healthy meal.  Veggies are nutrient dense and low calorie, meaning that you can really eat a ton of them, if you like them.  If you're like me and veggies aren't naturally appetizing to you, then get creative. Add veggies to your eggs, any pasta dishes you make, or to any other dish you can. Try eating your veggies first before anything else to make sure you fill up on the good stuff.  Get creative and when you find something that works for you, share it with me!

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