A Typical Day on 80/20 Plants

I'm now 31 days into my 80/20 Plants program — a vegan nutrition plan that helps you eat 80% whole food, plant-based (with the other 20% saved for indulgent meals and treats). An ideal day looks like this — WFPB breakfast, WFPB snacks, WFPB lunch, and indulgent dinner. Or you could save that indulgent option for a dessert or a couple beers.

What's considered indulgent? Anything not made with whole foods. So plant meats and cheeses, oils, sugary things, and alcohol. I'd also consider white bread and white pasta to be indulgent, but I place sprouted grain and whole wheat breads and pastas into the 80% category. There's nothing wrong with these foods! But they don't provide as much nutrition, so it's best to eat them in moderation.

I wanted to show y'all what I ate today since it was a typical day. I went to a party last night and stayed up a little too late, so I pushed my run to the afternoon so I could sleep in an extra hour. Then I got up and had this Sprouted Grain English Muffin with Avocado and Tofu around 7 am. I pan-fried the tofu with a little eggy salt and Bragg's. YUMMMM!

I drank one beer too many at that party, and I was feeling a little sluggish at work. So I went down to the Juice Bar downstairs from my office for a mid-morning Fresh Greens Juice. It helped!

I'd packed this Sharp Cheddar Cashew Cheese from 80/20 Plants (recipe here) with whole wheat crackers for my morning snack. I tend to eat snacks at my desk every day around 10:30 am.

Lunch was a really tasty bowl that I packed from home. This Southwest Bowl has black beans, brown rice, corn, cherry tomato, and kale, and it's topped with chipotle Everything Sauce (a tofu-based sauce from 80/20 Plants), salsa, and avocado.

I had an afternoon meeting at Low-Fi Coffee, so I enjoyed a Nitro Cinnamon Tea Latte while I was there. This awesome nitro tea has oatmilk and cinnamon essential oil. I can't do coffee after noon or it affects my sleep, but tea is perfect.

Since I needed to do my run after work, I had my pre-run snack at my desk around 4:30 pm. I usually have Larabars before my runs, but I'm almost out. So I packed this Mamma Chia Squeeze Vitality Snack and some strawberries instead. The chia squeeze is made with mango and banana puree, coconut cream, and it's sweetened with fruit juice. Perfect for quick carbs!

After my run, I needed more carbs to re-fuel, so I snacked on this simple salad while I prepared dinner. It's just lettuce, red cabbage, cucumber, and a oil-free maple balsamic dressing.

Dinner was this awesome bowl of Whole Wheat Penne with Tomato Sauce, Seitan Sausages, Mushrooms & Zucchini. Plus, some cashew parm on top! I promise there was pasta and red sauce in there, but there were so many veggies that you can't see it.

The indulgent part of my day were those sausages! They're jalapeno-pineapple seitan sausage made by The BE-Hive in Nashville. Really, today was more like 90/10 since my only splurge was that one ingredient. And some days are like that! Other days, my splurge may be a couple beers and some French fries or a whole order of Imagine's gooey vegan mozzarella sticks.

Since I've been doing this program, my digestion has improved. I have more energy (especially in the afternoons when my energy tended to slump before). I'm recovering more quickly from workouts. I'm seeing benefits! And I'd like to keep eating this way.