If you’re an educated vegan or vegetarian (by educated, I mean you know that doing it the right way doesn’t mean eating French fries and coconut milk ice cream and thinking it’s healthy), I want you to know that following the Code Red Lifestyle™ is definitely possible.
But I also want you to know that in weight loss mode, we eliminate some foods that may be staples for you right now (especially if you’re vegan).
The reason we eliminate them is because I’ve found that they stall weight loss in most people, for one reason or another.
For example, they’re starchy. Or, they contain phyto-estrogens, which mimic estrogen and screw with your hormones.
Since we wanna get you off the weight loss mountain once and for all, these foods have got to go while you’re in weight loss mode. In maintenance, you can carefully re-introduce them and see how things go for you.
These foods we eliminate are also common sources of plant-based protein, and while Code Red’s not a protein-focused program, the fact remains that if you’re not eating animal proteins, AND you don’t know what you’re doing with plant-based eating (because, again, it’s not as simple as cutting out animal-based foods), you could make yourself sick.
To help you avoid that, I wanna make sure you know about the following Code Red-approved seeds. They’re an excellent source of protein (as well as fat).
They’re also extremely versatile, and can either be added to meals, or used to create entire dishes.
Here are some great choices that are also very popular with Rebels:
- Hemp seeds
- Flax seeds (including ground into flax meal)
- Chia seeds
- Sunflower seeds
- Pumpkin seeds
- Sesame seeds
Flax meal and chia can be combined to make noatmeal. Flax meal with water can serve as an egg substitute in certain recipes, and is a substitute for flour.
Any of these seeds can be added to salads for crunch, nutrients, and texture. Sunflower and pumpkin are delicious on their own, and make great emergency foods.
Hemp, sunflower, and pumpkin seeds also make great additions to noatmeal (once it’s made).
You can season and bake pumpkin seeks in the oven – either sweet or savory. The flavor possibilities are limitless!
I’m only scratching the surface of what you can do with these seeds. The point is, make sure you incorporate them as plant-based Code Red-approved options if you are vegan or vegetarian.