After The Reboot: Transitioning to a Healthy, Plant-based Diet

Congratulations on completing your Reboot!  Let’s discuss how you can gently and gradually transition to digesting more complex foods, while continuing to include fresh juice in your everyday diet.

First and foremost, avoid fast food, packaged foods, meat, dairy and high-fat foods: after enjoying days of fresh fruits, vegetables and juice, your body will not be happy if you jump right back into eating these foods abruptly, and the result will likely be stomach pain, bloating, indigestion and fatigue.

Here are our recipes for planning your meals for the first, post-Reboot week.

1. Choose as many local, seasonal, organic foods as possible.
2. Keep up with drinking plenty of water.
3. If you were on a juice-only Reboot, spend your first 5 days transitioning out of this by following a plan similar to the days on our juicing plus eating 10-Day Reboot, that includes fresh juice 1-2 times per day and vegetable/fruit only meals and snacks.
4. If you were drinking juice and eating vegetable/fruit based meals during your Reboot, start with expanding your soups, smoothies and salads, while also including juice once per day.
5. Add plant-based proteins, like nuts or beans, to your meals and snacks during this first week then reintroduce recommended animal proteins gradually over the following weeks if you choose to do so.
6. Begin to add whole grains to your plant-based meals.  You may find that you tolerate gluten-free whole grains best at first like quinoa, teff and brown rice. The added proteins and whole grains will give your body nutrients in a variety of forms and help to retrain your digestive system for handling a regular, yet healthy diet.
7. Eat smaller amounts more often. This will be essential to retraining your digestive system to process complex combinations of foods. Eating just enough to nourish yourself without going beyond what is comfortable is at the heart of being gentle to your body.
8. Consider how you cook your food to enhance the digestibility of your meals.  Bake, broil, grill, roast and steam your food. Stir-frying is acceptable as well with a small amount of oil.  Avoid fried foods or anything with a lot of oil or added fats since these are very hard to digest.
9. Avoid dairy foods, red meats and sugary foods for at least the first 5-7 days following your Reboot to help prevent digestive discomfort.  If you choose to resume dairy or meats, consume sparingly and in small amounts, like a garnish. And be very picky about the quality, meaning low-fat, lean and organic.
10. Plan to include fresh juice and plenty of plant-based foods each and every day for optimal health and wellness.

It’s just as important to plan how and where you plan to eat immediately following your Reboot as well as what you will be eating.  Keep in mind that the amazing practice you just experienced during your Reboot can help launch you into a lifetime of healthy eating.  Navigating social events and day-to-day life can get tricky when trying to stick with a healthy eating pattern.  Many people find drinking just juice very simple, easy, effective and straightforward, but when thinking of how to begin food shopping, cooking and eating in social settings, it can feel overwhelming.   Our Reboot community has some amazing groups and forums to help you stay connected and supported during this important transition.  You can also reach out to us in the Ask the Nutritionist group anytime.