Skinny, bikini clad bodies chowing down on hamburgers may work to create sexy commercials, ahem Carl’s Junior, but let’s be honest, have you ever truly seen one of those super gorgeous people dining at a fast food restaurant? Probably not. In real life, all those heavy portions of meat — and lack of a whole food plant based diet — are what contribute to fat rolls on the tummy, not to mention the grease-covered fingers and lips after a meal — not exactly the aphrodisiac inducing image most advertisers try to portray!
Similar to how smoking cigarettes may have initially looked cool until one’s skin started to prematurely shrivel and they began coughing uncontrollably, eating a heavy, animal-based diet will take its physical toll on your body too. Your body will eventually show signs of early aging and weight gain…the opposite of sexy! Ladies, it’s time to break the image that only carnivores eat the cool foods…
If you want to shed unwanted weight and regain your health, your food will need the makeover first. We’re talking plants! Not only will a plant based diet keep you healthy on the inside, but it will also give you that hot body worthy of a bikini year-round. Click here to see how to stay in shape all summer long.
Below, we share with you 5 reasons you’ll want to switch to a plant based diet immediately as well as how a whole food plant diet will give you a sexy bikini body forever! Not bad, eh?
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5 Ways A Plant Based Diet Is The Key To A Bikini Body
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1. Excess plant based foods get burned off as body heat instead of getting stored as fat cells
One major benefit to eating a plant based diet is you don’t need to count calories. Lucky for us we don’t have to limit ourselves to eating celery sticks to burn more calories than we consume. Say goodbye to wasting time calculating points and worrying if you ate too much today. When you feel hungry, eat!
2. Plant foods nourish the body from the inside out
What exactly is a plant based diet? The easiest explanation is eating a wide variety of color rich foods. Nature specifically designed produce to look appealing to the eye to entice us to eat it. Fill your plate with a wide variety of different shades of vegetables, fruits, beans, legumes, nuts and grains.
Different colors represent different chemicals that are the most prevalent in the produce. Lycopene in tomatoes, beta-carotene in carrots, anthocyanins in blueberries, and indoles in broccoli, for a short list. Produce that keeps the color on the inside are more nutrient dense than produce that turns white or a pale color under the skin. Some nutrients will help improve your skin; other will give you stronger hair and nails. The list of how various nutrients positively impact your outer beauty is endless. But don’t worry about having to memorize which colors mean what. They are all vital. The goal is to eat all of them. When your food looks attractive, it will translate into you feeling and looking great too.
Which foods to hit according to color:
- Deep Reds: strawberries, tomatoes, cranberries, grapes, watermelon, cherries, red quinoa, kidney beans, spices
- Sweet Oranges: sweet potatoes, oranges, squash, persimmons, grapefruit
- Yellows: bananas, squash, lemons, pineapple, peppers, onions
- Dark greens: cruciferous vegetables, leafy greens, herbs, avocados, French lentils, split peas
- Blues: blueberries, kelp, juniper berries
- Vivid Purples: eggplants, plums, cabbage, purple cauliflower, beets, purple potatoes
- All Browns: nuts, ginger, mushrooms, spices, beans, legumes, whole grains
- Blacks: dark chocolate, blackberries, dates, beans
3. Phytonutrients found in plants help detox toxins, making it easier to boost the immune system
Runny nose, red eyes and irritated skin don’t fit into the perfect beach look. Tired of wasting days in bed recovering while you could have been enjoying the sunshine? Feeling sick too often may be due to a high level of toxins lurking in your body. The less toxins in your body, the stronger your immune system will be to keep you feeling sick-free. Many of the most health damaging toxins are fat soluble. Meaning, they like to imbed themselves deep into fat tissue. To remove them you have to get the toxin out of the fat cells and lose weight to prevent new ones from finding a home. So far, over 10,000 phytonutrients have been discovered. These bad boys will play scrub-a-dub-dub to rid your body of these toxins. Eat a wide variety of leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables to put as many different phytonutrients to work for you as possible.
4. Plants help you get rid of cravings for foods that make you gain weight
After switching to a plant based diet, you’ll notice that most of the cravings you’ve had before will be gone. No more midnight fridge raids, nor having to have a daily piece of cake for dessert, nor digging deep to find the will power to stay away from fatty foods. Your body will simply start to prefer the tastes and benefits of nutrient dense foods and you won’t have to feel like you’re depriving yourself by saying “no” all the time. Thank both the fiber and the components in whole foods that haven’t been lost in processing for this benefit. Click here to get the recipe for our easy Detox Salad.
5. Plants give you more energy
Carbs= Energy. Before you get too nervous about seeing “carbs,” it’s important to note we are talking about complex carbs only. Simple carbs are the refined grains and sugars (enriched flours, white rice, sugar, etc.) Stay away from these. Complex carbohydrates, however, are found in fruits, vegetables, beans and legumes. A whole food plant based lifestyle will increase your complex carb intake, giving you more energy. You can use the extra energy to get more out of your workouts and thus get better toned muscles.
For more diet tips and plant based diet information from Sophia, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter in the right hand sidebar above. We’ll send you weekly updates!
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