This power bowl is loaded with protein, high-fiber vegetables, and a nutritious golden tahini sauce. Whether you're vegan, vegetarian, or plant-based (or even if you’re not!) this simple meal is great for tracking your macros (or not!) and can help support any body composition, fitness, or overall nutrition. 

For many, one of the biggest barriers when first starting to track your macros is hitting your protein target. It’s easy to think that eating protein is only important for bodybuilders and elite athletes, but it plays a crucial role in all of our bodies, regardless of our age or athletic ability. Hitting your protein target may be hard at first, but it’s not impossible -- and it definitely doesn’t require just eating meat all day, every day. In fact, since making the personal choice to stop eating meat last year, I know that it’s totally possible to eat an adequate amount of protein and even follow a higher-protein diet with little to no animal-based sources. In this week’s post, I’m sharing just how to do that along with a list of plant-based protein sources and some awesome, easy (and macro-friendly!) plant-based recipes. With the surge of popularity of plant-based diets has also come the increase in plant-based marketing. Walking around the grocery store, you’ll find “plant based” whole wheat pasta, donuts, and chips - all foods that are generally free of animal products anyway, and foods that don’t become automatically healthy just because of a plant-based label.

Ideally you are starting with a diet that is already well-rounded and focused on whole foods, then reducing/eliminating meat consumption and replacing animal based proteins with plant-based alternatives. The unfortunate side effect of a plant-based diet being a fad right now is that many people skip this part and move right to just cutting out meat and dairy.

With the surge of popularity of plant-based diets has also come the increase in plant-based marketing. Walking around the grocery store, you’ll find “plant based” whole wheat pasta, donuts, and chips - all foods that are generally free of animal products anyway, and foods that don’t become automatically healthy just because of a plant-based label.