Karina's Plant Power

Today's Eat-Clean Diet Vegetarian Cookbook guest blogger is Karina. She has such a powerful message about the beauty of CLEAN vegan/vegetarian eating. Read on for Karina's powerful words...

Karina is working hard in the gym!

Without motivation from Tosca, The Eat-Clean Diet, and Oxygen magazine, my fitness wouldn’t be where it is today (well, hard work helps, too!)  In my pre-vegan years, I never would have thought that I’d be deadlifting 200lbs, doing 19 chin-ups in a row, gaining 12lbs of muscle mass, and competing in the odd swim race.  And I did it all without meat, dairy, or eggs.

Think vegans eat only weird foods like seitan and tofurkey to get their muscle-building protein? If you’re following Tosca’s Eat-Clean Diet, you’re probably eating a lot of vegan food that doesn’t sound like it came from outer space.  Many of the alien-sounding vegan foods you may come across are processed, chock full of salt, and thus not part of Eating Clean.  It’s time to ditch the unnecessary (and usually expensive!) fake meats and packaged foods, in favour of basic, natural, wholesome plants.

I’m really excited to see that Tosca’s new Eat-Clean Diet Vegetarian Cookbook contains plant-based ingredients you can find at any supermarket.  Vegan eating doesn’t have to be complicated!  And it can certainly foster your most hardcore muscle- and strength-building goals.  As a 9-year vegan, I tell my personal training clients to stick to tried-‘n’-true, unprocessed plants: Veggies, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds.

Not only is it easily possible to eat a high protein vegan diet – I eat 120 grams of protein per day – but compared to the general population, vegans live up to 15 years longer, weigh less, and have lower rates of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.

So, to reap the amazing health benefits of plant foods and to support the hard work you put in at the gym, try some of Tosca’s new clean recipes!

I’d love to hear from you!  Please visit www.kihealthandfitness.com.