Originally published in April 2022. Updated on August 24, 2023. All opinions still hold true and are honest. My freezer is still stocked with Daily Harvest and I’ve absolutely found my favorites, while trying more items to review for Girl Planted.
Plant-Based beginner hacks are all over the internet. I appreciate those articles, but still found them to be overwhelming to my ADHD brain. If you’ve ever wanted to try a plant-based diet, but felt overwhelmed not knowing where to start, you’re not alone. I’ve been there, too.
All I needed was one single solution that made starting and sticking to a plant-based diet EASY. I finally found a solution with Daily Harvest, which has become my favorite plant-based beginner hack.
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Why A Plant-Based Diet?
I’m going to be honest and vulnerable with you; Before learning about plant-based diets, I struggled with binge-eating. I’d go all day without food and water and then stuff my face with foods that were heavily processed, high in sugar, carbohydrates and especially high in calories.
I’d feel so great while eating them (turns out my ADHD brain was searching for dopamine) and almost immediately after, felt like absolute crap. It was a vicious cycle that lasted well over a decade. I knew I had to change, but I found myself unsure of how and where to start.
After keeping a food diary and noting how different foods (all the foods/drinks, good and bad) made me feel after consuming them, I quickly realized that natural, earthly, feel-good-healthy, whole foods were what made me feel the best. I started learning more about plant-based diets and decided right then and there to go ALL-IN!
I started out by eating very simple, leafy green salads. But quickly realized that I didn’t really know enough about eating a plant-based diet and trying to follow all these Pinterest recipes and advice got super overwhelming, fast! I broke down and gained all my weight back…again.
Real change is freaking HARD.
I needed a different solution. I needed easy. I needed to be able to follow a healthy, plant-based diet that took all the overwhelm away and that helped me ease into a way of eating that I’d be able to actually keep up with long-term. I needed a solution that helped me be successful.
What Is Plant-Based Eating?
Plant-based basically means MOST of the foods you eat are from plant sources. They grow on a tree, a vine, in the ground, etc. These foods include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, seeds, nuts, legumes and beans. Oils are included, too! Plant-based also means that if the foodie wants to, they can incorporate smaller amounts of animal products, like meat, fish, seafood, eggs and even dairy.
I personally eat an 85% plant-based diet intentionally, with the other 15% coming from organic or wild caught fish, organic poultry, organic brown eggs and a little diary (mainly cheese and greek yogurt).
Every once in awhile I’ll eat red meat, but I’ve made a conscious effort to make that an occasional food. This is my personal choice, of course, but I find that eating a mostly plant-based diet makes me feel good from the inside out. I’m grateful that I’m able to easily follow a plant-based diet, thanks in large part to a plant-based beginner hack I found.
Daily Harvest saved my sanity and helped me ease into a committed plant-based diet very easily. Not only that, I’m able to actually stick with it. I’m no longer feeling overwhelmed when it comes to figuring out how to actually eat a plant-based diet, pay attention to macros and see if what I’m eating works.
An added perk (as in my favorite thing about Daily Harvest besides taking away the immense overwhelm I used to have as a plant-based beginner) is that everything comes frozen. I have been a customer of fresh veggie and fruit boxes for years and adore those, but frozen healthy meals are a game changer as I’ve gotten a lot busier in my every-day. I need something easy to grab and make MOST days, lately.
My freezer is now stocked with easy to grab, easy to make, convenient, HEALTHY, plant-based foods for all meal categories. Processed-heavy frozen meals, goodbye!
Don’t get me wrong, I still love and eat mostly fresh, raw veggies and fruits. But often times I’m so busy during the daytime hours that I forget to eat or don’t have the time to cook from scratch. I didn’t have this easy option before Daily Harvest came into my life and it took me back to binge-eating unhealthy foods.
Literally, DH saved my sanity and is such a huge part of my daily lifestyle as well as my success in eating a mostly plant-based diet.
Daily Harvest Meal Prep
Ok, so I knew when ordering my first box, that the items I were getting would be frozen. I chose a variety of different meal types on purpose, then silently stalked my mail delivery guy until he showed up with my pretty box. As an experienced branding strategist and graphic designer, I am OBSESSED with their branding graphics. So good. Anyway.
So I’m sorting through my items and placing them into my freezer, one at a time. I stopped and looked at the how to prepare instructions before placing each item on a frozen shelf and was blown away at how EASY Daily Harvest had made convenient healthy, plant-based eating, meal prep.
Seriously. This is the main reason I’ve made Daily Harvest “my favorite plant-based beginner hack.” No longer feeling overwhelmed with my nutritional eating plan has been life-changing.
use the code: girlplanted
I love Daily Harvest SO much, that I reached out to them and asked if I could give Girl Planted Food And Lifestyle Blog Readers a special discount off their first box!
Be sure to follow this link to get up to $65 off! How incredible.
Here are the items I tried with my very first box and absolutely LOVED:
- Banana + Greens Smoothie
- Mulberry + Dragon Fruit Oat Bowl
- Hazelnut + Chocolate Bites
- Strawberry + Peach Smoothie
- Strawberry + Rich, Rippled Berry Compote Scoops
- Chickpea + Za’Atar Harvest Bowl
An Added Bonus Feature For Those Who Love Our Planet
I recycle and compost amongst other things, in an on-going effort to do my part in loving my planet Earth and reducing my carbon-footprint. Recycling is the easiest method for me.
When I discovered that Daily Harvest had aligned goals for both healthy eating and a healthy Earth, I got wildly excited.
I love that the box itself and everything inside of it are easy to break down and recycle. Even the box liner is able to be recycled, as it’s made from paper and plant-based items. Cool right?
The individual cups and bowls used to packed each meal are recyclable, but they are also compostable! Yes, yes, YES!
Honestly, I’m really impressed by this brand, over-all.
Please note that by the time I received my first box of Daily Harvest deliciousness, I had already started eating plant-based foods, just not fully committed yet.
I had cut out processed sugar by about 50%, which basically means that when I would eat something like a bakery donut, I’d immediately think it was way too sweet. My tastebuds were changing and my sweet tooth was requesting more natural sugar sources (like berries, dates and raw honey).
Eating a Daily Harvest cup, bowl, bites and smoothies tasted refreshing to me. They were sweet to me. They were delicious (so far; excited to try more!).
I’m not so sure I would feel this way if I hadn’t already cut out a fair amount of processed sugar beforehand. My sweet tooth was INTENSE and what I mean by that is that I’d have no problem stuffing an entire box of processed sweets down my throat in one sitting. I wish I were kidding.
So please keep this in mind if you are just starting out in your plant-based eating adventure and still have a craving for the processed sweets and treats. Your Daily Harvest experience may not be the same.
However, if you already love whole, healthy, organic, plant-based foods and are looking to eat a mostly plant-based diet, Daily Harvest is the BEST plant-based hack for beginners. I’m so thankful to have found them and to see how easy they have made plant-based eating for me to actually stick to and be successful with.
It’s LOVE. If you decide to give it a try, use the promo code GIRLPLANTED for up to $65 off.
Can’t order Daily Harvest yet? That’s ok!
Trust me, it’s definitely something I personally feel you should try if you’re looking for organic, nourishing, healthy, good for the planet, delicious, plant-based food.
And it seriously the EASIEST way to implement a plant-based diet. I cannot recommend Daily Harvest enough.
Have a wonderful day!
