Beyond The Body (My Journey of a Plant-Based Diet)

This is a longer article from the archives of my computer files. It touches on some things I have talked about in previous posts and articles, such as the catalyst for my vegan journey and the relationship between creativity and a plant based diet, but also some new things that I haven’t previously written about before but have featured in talks and and interviews I have had with some of the people featured.

I have been plant-based since late 2011 and this story documents so much of that journey, and why for me it’s always been about so much more than the food on my plate.

I wasn’t sure what photo to use to accompany this piece… but as the ‘gateway ‘ was a Nakd bar, I thought I share one of the first recipes I ever made for my blog. My family call these ‘smoosh bars’ although now I more commonly roll the mix into balls and refer to them as bliss balls… if you have been following me on social media for a while you’ll know I still make them regularly (usually weekly!) to this very day.

Read the original post with recipe (note I have since simplified the recipe, scroll down for more bliss ball/bar recipe ideas)

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I want to tell you a little story.

A moment in time, that became the gateway to my plant-based vegan journey. A moment that became my gateway to understanding that a vegan diet was not just 'kale and cucumber'

In 2010 my life was incredibly ordinary. Everything was very mediocre. Not bad, but really not great either. Towards the end of that year I met a guy, a vegan guy.

One weekend on our third date, we went for a walk around a park which led into the town centre where the office building of the company he owned was based. We had grabbed some lunch from the supermarket and were debating where to sit and eat it. He asked if I'd like to come up and see his office as it was on the 12th floor of the building and had a great view over the town. It would be empty and we could sit and eat lunch there.

He was right, the view was amazing.

He took a ‘Nakd bar’ (equivalent to Larabar in the US) out of his carrier bag and I looked over curiously, since I had already finished all my food! Breaking it in half he held out his hand, with a bemused and slightly quizzical look on his face.

"It’s just dates, nuts and cocoa all smooshed up together…it tastes exactly like chocolate”, he told me.

"Yeah right" I smiled back.

But I very was curious, and to be honest didn’t want to offend since it was only the third date and all! So I took it.

Mind blown. It DID taste exactly like chocolate!

In that precise moment in time, as I sat on a chair on the 12th floor of an empty office block with a guy I barely knew… my entire life changed. In that precise moment I realised that a vegan diet was indeed about more than just kale and cucumber... I was holding the proof in my hand!

I still vividly remember thinking, 'maybe this guy is not so crazy after all!'

At that time veganism was not at all mainstream (I’d even had to ask him to explain to me exactly what it meant!) Vegan food options were not widely available and Nakd bars were pretty much the only type of vegan treat you could buy, and only typically available in health food shops. Plus they were very expensive!

From that moment forward my curiosity got the better of me.

I made vegan cakes and cookies that he could eat at every given opportunity. I went and bought a £20 food processor on Amazon so I could make my own chocolate ‘smoosh bars’. It wasn’t until about nine months later than my ‘Including Cake’ recipe blog was born, by which time I was now totally immersed, following a 99% healthy, wholefood plant-based diet myself and seeing so many shifts in all areas of my life- physically, mentally and spiritually.

In conversations with others, I often refer to myself as an 'accidental vegan', since it had never even been on my radar. Life simply presented me with a guy, who happened to offer me a piece of chocolate Nakd bar one day and in doing so turned my world around,

Over the last ten years since that moment (as of 2021), I have grown and evolved so deeply and I attribute so much of this to shifting to a plant-based wholefood diet.

I often talk about nutrition being the gateway to our optimal self, because it literally creates the foundation for the journey, it provides us with the building blocks at a cellular level.

Of course I appreciate there are many of interpretations of a ‘healthy diet’ but my focus here is specifically my experience of the benefits of a plant-based diet and not only my experiences, but those of so many clients, colleagues and friends around the world who have shared with me their incredible shifts too.

Let’s first consider some of the fundamental benefits of a plant-based diet in relation to our physical wellbeing.

In removing the animal products we create a more alkaline environment, which is often referred to as the ‘healing diet’. One of the things I personally noticed almost immediately when I’d made the shift was that the speed of muscle recovery after heavy gym training was significantly improved, there was less inflammation in my body and so less muscle soreness.

Reduction in inflammation across the body, enables the muscles to work more efficiently with less energy expenditure- giving us more energy to use elsewhere.

That is also referred to as ‘high net gain nutrition’, where we are spending a small amount of digestive energy for a big nutritional return.

We are in the age of discoveries, yet so many people still suffer an energy crisis - they are constantly fatigued, susceptible to tension and anxiety, disease and depression. People seem to vary between complete disregard for what they eat and a fanatical obsession with proteins, vitamins, minerals and calories. As a society we have disregarded going back to basics. Back to abundant plant-based wholefoods.

We don’t even have to eat a lot of food to be well nourished, in fact it’s the nutritional density that matters, that is the ratio between the amount of calories in a given food to it’s nutritional value- vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and antioxidants. Brightly and intensely coloured fruits and veg are highest in antioxidants. We want to consume as much of each nutrient relative to the amount of calories. If we base our diets on the nutrient dense plant-based wholefoods, we’ll be sure of getting the highest level of nutrition in.

Another noticeable sign very early on in my transition, was my increased energy and reduced need for sleep. I’d literally be bouncing out of bed early in the morning, something that had never happened before! When we eat alkaline foods overall nutritional stress goes down which also reduces the levels of cortisol- the stress hormone, enabling higher quality sleep.

It was experiencing positive physical changes like this, that gave me huge motivation to continue the exploration.

Shifting across to a mind-body viewpoint, a wholefood plant-based diet, by its very nature means that we are eating closer to the Source. The more refined and processed the foods we eat, the more we are travelling away from the original source, and so arguably the energy from the ‘life source’ is reduced. This effect is even more dramatically enhanced when we shift to a more ‘raw vegan’ diet also known as a ‘high vibrational’ or ‘living food’ diet.

A high vibrational diet is described as a diet consists of foods that are ‘alive’ and that positively benefit the person, as well as the planet as a whole. High vibration means having more light, and thus less density. Plants exemplify this by photosynthesizing light into energy.

Spiritual nutrition also ties in with the idea of eating closer to source. Originating in Buddhist and Hindu communities is the idea of ’Ahimsa’, where the wellbeing of everything that is related to the food itself is considered. It is though that a more plant-based diet offers access to the higher self. Mahatma Gandhi was a great exponent of ahimsa, saying, “The way to truth lies through ahimsa.”

Recently, I spent some time living with a number of different spiritual communities around the world, all of which followed a plant-based vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. It was fascinating to observe the ways in which their diet and lifestyle was so interconnected.

In speaking with a resident at one of the centres I stayed at, he talked of a deep sense of wellbeing and a knowledge that “Every day I am living and eating with a purpose that extends beyond myself.” I found myself nodding and realising that for me too, there is so much truth in that statement.

Prior to switching to a plant-based wholefood diet, I had not considered myself a particularly spiritual person, yet now these were the people I was drawn to and most resonated with. I also found that the ethical side and ‘wider view’ of a vegan lifestyle was slowly beginning to catch up with me, and link arms with the nutritional standpoint that had first caught my attention and lead me down the road in the beginning.

As my fascination with a plant based-diet grew, I found myself more and more drawn into conversations with others who had found themselves on a similar path, often triggered by very different start points.

I began a series of interviews as a platform for sharing the stories of those who have created powerful transformation in their lives through plant-based nutrition as the gateway to change. Nutrition is a powerful catalyst... but, as I soon discovered, it is just the beginning. It creates a threshold to allow you to step more powerfully into your own story of wellness in ways you would never have thought possible.

The first person I interviewed was a guy I met whilst in Portugal. He’d turned his entire life on it’s head, leaving the UK and his successful building company to set up an off-grid community and retreat centre in the Portuguese mountains.

I was fascinated as to what triggered this. He told me that it was through years of battling debilitating Crohn’s disease that at times almost killed him and according to the medical profession was ‘incurable’, but was then totally cured by switching to a plant-based whole food diet as a last resort. What began as a ‘30-day plant-based challenge’ following advice from a trusted friend turned into his life’s purpose.

What is fascinating is that he also realised that after about six months of being fully plant-based, the asthma that had plagued him his entire life, with attacks often landing him in hospital, had totally disappeared.

He told me; “My whole life has done 180 degree shift, most of my friends back home don’t know me any more. I am a better version of myself. After the initial 30-days I wanted more, what else could I do? The next thing was yoga and meditation, what could I do with my body and mind. I had been a typical gym lad, wanting to build big bulky muscle, and so yoga could not have been a bigger shift for me. I began questioning everything else in my life. I went with what felt right for me in my heart”.

Whilst the stories of those I interviewed could not have been more different, there were some fascinating patterns that quickly began to emerge.

Another lady, now the creator of a healthy food and lifestyle magazine, told me; “You start on the journey with what you’re eating but then your mind opens up and you find your intuition becomes more empowered as your nutrition improves.”

Another interview alludes to this same sense of mind-body shift;

“Two weeks after going vegan the eczema that had plagued me for years just disappeared. The fact that I saw the physical benefit straightaway gave me the motivation to continue. After a few months had past I noticed I had not had a single depressive episode or self harmed. I would say that through a vegan diet I am completely cured of depression. I feel content and grounded in myself.”

In all my conversations, the sense of ‘expansion’ was very apparent and also very much part of my own story.

Once we stop and question something so integral such as diet, something that is so deeply conditioned to be perceived a certain way in our society, and we realise there are other solutions… it creates a cascade of questioning. The better we feel the more we question and the more in tune we become with our inner knowing.

Very soon another question began to rise within me.

Does a plant-based diet increase your innate creativity?

This had been something I had been feeling for some time. When I made the shift to a plant-based wholefood diet, my own creativity skyrocketed. I had always been a creative person in the traditional ‘arty’ sense, but now coupled with the questioning mentality, my creativity and curiosity knew no bounds.

I also had a sense that creativity and a sense of wellbeing were inextricably and powerfully linked. Indeed, a quick search on-line brings up numerous articles and research literature on how being more creative improves our mental and physical health. This deeper approach to well-being is often described as "eudaimonic well-being" and focuses on living life in a full and deeply satisfying way.

Creativity is fundamental to the experience of being human.

The deep connection between creativity and meaning was noted long ago by the creativity researcher Frank X. Barron. Through his pioneering research on some of the most creative people of his generation, Barron came to realize that creative people have the remarkable capacity to become intimate with themselves. According to psychologist Ruth Richards, they “dare to look within, even at one’s irrational and less conscious material, including one’s ‘shadow’ materials”. Richards refers to this capacity as “courageous openness".

As Richards puts it, “A creative style of living, coping with difficulties and weaving possibilities, can not only produce useful accomplishments for self and world but can offer the creator new resilience, perspective, aliveness in the moment, joy, and purpose in life.”

In the words of Brene Brown; "Creativity is the way I share my soul with the world." I see creativity as giving yourself permission to see things differently. Tilting your perspective, maybe mere millimeters, to create the world anew and shine a light into previously undiscovered corners.

For me the shift is primarily two-fold;

Once we go against the norms and think outside the box in terms of what we put on our plates, it opens up space to question the world beyond the confines of society’s expectations and gives us courage to step into our authentic truth in so many other ways.

Alongside this, the nourishment for our body through eating closer to source creates a ‘lightness’, an increased energy at a cellular level and something of a spiritual connection within, although I didn’t realise this initially and still find it hard to put into words today.

I decided to reach out to see if others shared my thoughts and feelings around a plant-based diet and innate creativity. I put this question out to various plant-based communities:

“Do you feel as though your creativity, spirituality or personal development has increased significantly since switching to a plant-based vegan diet?”

I received an overwhelming majority of ‘Yes’s to my poll, approx 70%. Some beautiful comments were shared which strongly reinforced for me this powerful dietary link and mindset catalyst.

Here are some of the words that were shared:

“Yes! absolutely it has! I have been vegan just over a year and it has had a positive impact on all areas of my life. I think on a deeper level, I am more connected to the earth and I am more peaceful. I have had more creative ideas and energy to make them a reality.”

“I went vegetarian the beginning of last year and have gone vegan this month, I have to say my creativity has increased! I am drawing and painting again, something I haven't done in a long time. Also in the way I am being creative in my wardrobe and dressing more how I want too!”

“I am much more creative since going vegan. I'm not sure if it has to do with nutrition as much as living a more authentic and value based lifestyle. It has pushed me out of the dissatisfied way I had been living. I'm also more fearless, I try new things all the time. “

“A vegetarian for 30 years, I then embraced a raw vegan lifestyle about 3 years ago which totally changed me. I suddenly felt connected with the earth, with nature, with life in a way I never had before. Alive, creative, excited.... It was transformative! 3 years down the line I don't eat a wholly raw diet any more, I eat a mostly vegan diet (eggs from my pet ducks when they're laying) but with a high proportion of raw because when you eat raw foods you really feel the life-force, the energy, of those foods going into your body and it's wonderful.”

“I can certainly relate to this. I’ve metamorphosed from a bored meal provider into an enthusiastic, energetic and lovable (well my family believe so) server of wholesome foods. One’s creative energies seem to open up in so many areas of one’s life.”

“Yes, not only in cooking but other ways too. I always have been the type to look outside the box anyway, but this perspective on life has changed the way I look at things even more.”

It’s not just feedback on social media that align with this way of thinking. I dug a little deeper and found various articles also alluding to this sense of creativity and connectedness.

Back in 2008 Steve Pavlina wrote a long article focussed on ‘diet and energy’. It document’s the authors thoughts around his shift to a raw vegan diet. He states, the most significant and biggest change was definitely increased creative output.

“I feel more creatively inspired than ever, so I’ve been doing more creative work than I used to, shifting between blogging, speaking, journaling, business planning, concocting raw food dishes, and other outlets. I now feel very uncomfortable if I go more than a couple days without creating new material. It’s like I’m overly aroused with creative energy and feel compelled to express it.”

I was also fascinated by the question he asked in the article; “Are you resisting a more energetic state of being?

“If you improve your diet and then feel much more energetic (physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually), how will you channel all that extra energy? Where will you direct it? How will you use it to fuel greater creative output?

I think those questions need to be addressed before you’re ready to make the shift. Otherwise it’s too easy to fall back into your old comfort zone.”

This is fascinating to me, and something I had never before considered in that light. When I work with coaching clients or speak with friends who are struggling with aspects of their nutritional journey, or indeed any aspect of stepping up and changing their life for the better, the idea that clinging to our comfort zone, or as Steve put’s it ‘resisting a more energetic state of being’ begins to make a lot of sense.

Whilst we all, no doubt, want to achieve a state of optimal well-being, we also need to be ready for it. No more hiding behind the stories we tell ourselves that keep us playing small.

I believe there is a powerful truth in the ‘knowing’. That when you know more; when you have experienced it in the heart of your being, then there is no ‘un-knowing’.

Exploring Veganism and a plant-based diet goes beyond the body and expands the mind in so many dimensions, and a mind expanded cannot return to it’s old dimensions.

NOTE: This story was first published in 2017 in Athena Publishing: Your Well-Being. A book that showcases wellness, nutrition, alternative medicine and natural health therapies that improve the quality of life physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

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Chewy & Crispy Oat Cookies (and they are oil-free!)

I seems I have acquired a bit of an aquafaba (aka chickpea water) obsession!

If you’ve seen my granola and chocolate cake recipes… you’ll know ;-)

I think it’s such a wonderful ingredient for two big reasons:

1. It’s the brine from a can of chickpeas (or other white beans) and a staple ingredient we all have in our cupboards and one that usually gets drained down the plughole. (So in effect is zero cost too!)

2. It whips up all white and frothy and can create a beautiful light moist cake crumb and even better can replace most or all of the oil in a recipe whilst still giving a crispy and chewy texture the way oil typically would.

A few days ago I really fancied a flapjack but the classic recipes typically have a lot of oil and sugar, and the recipes without oil are more like healthy soft granola bars (still great but just not what I craved!)

So I decided to put the aquafaba I had sitting in the fridge to the test!

Instead of bars I dolloped the mix into cookies instead as I wanted more crispy ‘edge’ texture, but a regular flapjack slab baked and sliced should totally work too.

It was such a success, crispy when fresh out the oven during the first day then gorgeously chewy for the following few days (not that they lasted very long!)

Such a versatile recipe too… I have noted some swaps below.

I used Boost Your Bowl Toppers but if you don’t have any of your own- swap with chopped dried fruit and some chopped coconut chips (coconut is optional but I find gives extra chewiness).

If you make these, please tag @eatboostyourbowl on Instagram, I always love to see your creations!

Recipe: Chewy & Crispy Oat Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup whipped up aquafaba (aka chickpea water)

• 1/4 cup peanut butter (or any nut butter) - this is optional

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 cups porridge oats

• 1/2 cup flour of choice (or ground up oats - just to help bind the mix so it doens’t fall apart)

• 1 cup chopped nuts/seeds of choice

• 1/2 cup Boost Your Bowl Toppers of your choice (or chopped dried fruit)

• 1/3 cup coconut sugar (or any sugar)

• large handful of dark chocolate chunks for extra indulgence - optional but highly recommended!

• 1/2 heaped tsp baking powder

• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Method:

Whip up the aqua faba until it’s nice and frothy then add the nut butter and vanilla extract and blend into the aquafaba.

In a separate large bowl, mix all the remaining dry ingredients together. Pour in the aquafaba mix and stir well to coat the mix well.

I kind of used my hands and a spoon to place semi-compacted dollops of the mix on to a lined baking sheet.

Bake at 180ºC for approx 15 mins until golden. Cool fully and store ina airtight container for 3-4 days (possibly longer but mine all got eaten by day 3!) I haven’t yet tried freezing them.

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