Alysia's Top 10 Picks for Beginning Your Plant-Based Journey

Eat Clean, Play Dirty is a cookbook by the founders of Sakara Life, a plant-based meal delivery service. This book not only gives you numerous plant-based recipes, but it also shows you that eating plant-based does not need to be boring! 

For beginners, you should start off with the "Sexiest Salad in NYC" recipe, as it's one of my favorites. However, you'll learn plenty of other delicious recipes ranging from breakfast to dessert to cocktails. Eating from this cookbook will not only make you feel amazing, but it will make it fun too!

When starting out on your plant-based journey, you will quickly learn that the basis is simply the more greens, the better! Having a green juice or a freshly pressed juice every morning is not only tasty, but it will also help aid in regular digestion, give you a better complexion, and help your body take in more vitamins and nutrients. 

Food truly is medicine, and the combinations you can do with your very own juicer are endless. I suggest mixing celery, cucumber, lemon, and ginger in your juicer every morning. It will wake you up, make you glow from the inside out, and all-around help you feel amazing.

Digestive enzymes help your body absorb the nutrients from your food more effectively and also help your body break down and digest the food. On top of that, Solluna's digestive enzymes are vegan, gluten-free, and have a two-year shelf life.

As you first start to experiment with a plant-based diet, your body may not be accustomed to the level of fiber and cruciferous veggies that you will be consuming. This digestive enzyme will help ease any constipation or bloating. It's really a miracle-worker!

As a plant-centric eater, you'll love having this tool in your kitchen, especially during the warmer winter months! On a plant-centric diet, you may see yourself craving hearty soups or utilizing nut-based recipes. This handheld immersion blender will help you whip those sorts of dishes up with ease! 

One of my favorite uses for it is making a delicious roasted veggie soup. You could start with a base of butternut squash and add white onion and zucchini. Roast all the veggies in the oven, then combine them with spices, chickpeas, and veggie broth using the immersion blender to make a delicious and filling soup!

One of the biggest challenges when switching over to a plant-based diet is finding enough sources of protein. That's where hemp hearts come in! Packing 10 grams of plant protein per every 3 tablespoons, hemp hearts are an amazing thing to keep on hand. 

You can easily combine them into pasta, sprinkle them over a salad, or even mix them into a smoothie or to make energy bites. Due to the high fiber content found in hemp hearts, they're also easier on your digestion than most beans. The possibilities are truly endless with hemp hearts! 

When first starting on a plant-based diet, it's recommended that you start with a nutrient-dense and filling meal to start the day. A super simple way to do this is through a smoothie! 

You may be thinking that it won't fill you up, but with this formula, you will feel full and satisfied! Start with a delicious plant protein powder, add in 1 to 2 tablespoons of healthy fat, an equal amount of fiber, a big handful of greens, your fruit of choice, and some unsweetened nut milk, and voila - you have an amazing breakfast!

Part of eating plant-based eating is also staying hydrated! Especially as you're first starting out, your digestion will need some assistance in moving all of that delicious food through your body, and water helps! 

This 1-liter water bottle allows you to easily track your water consumption throughout the day. I aim to get ~2 to 3 liters per day depending on my activity level, but I would suggest 2 liters of water per day minimum for anyone.

Kimberly Snyder is someone who I look up to immensely in the plant-based and nutrition space. She is an RD, best selling author, and a celebrity nutritionist. 

In this book, Kimberly not only shares amazingly delicious plant-based recipes but also dives into other instrumental practices that are key for living a fulfilled and healthy life all around. Grab this book to start off your plant-based journey and you won't be dissapointed!

Not only are these coconut wraps clean and plant-based, but they are also delicious! They can help to add more bulk to any meal, whether it's in a breakfast burrito, almond butter and banana quesadilla, or a veggie wrap. 

They're a truly delicious addition to any meal, and they're tasty enough to eat multiple times a day! They have a simple yet sweet flavor to them and hold up well no matter how densely you choose to pack them. They're definitely a weekly grocery staple in my household!

Lupini beans are by far one of my favorite sources of plant-based protein! They pack 7 grams of protein per serving, but you can feel free to add in more to get a whole 20 grams per meal! 

The easiest way to use them is to add them into a salad, but you can make things such as lupini bean scramble, choose to smash them as taco meat or add them to a delicious plant-based chilli along with an array of other veggies. 

They're really helpful for easily adding in protein to meals, and you can even eat them plain as an afternoon snack.