Food & recipes

In The Kitchen With Jessica Murnane

Jessica Murnane, author of One Part Plant

I definitely did not always have an interest in healthy living. The ‘old me’ did work out and I knew better enough not to eat an entire cake to myself (although, I might still have done that), but the idea of healthy living and the relationship it had to how I felt and functioned throughout the day was not even on my radar. It wasn’t until I radically changed my lifestyle and diet to avoid a major surgery (a hysterectomy) that the ‘aha!’ moment happened for me and healthy living became the norm. Plant-based foods are more than just an ‘interest’ for me, I truly believe they saved me. I owe them so much. But when I changed my diet, it was one the hardest things I’ve ever done. It was brutal. I didn’t know what to eat or how to cook. I struggled so much. In fact, I wrote my book so no one had to ever struggle the same way I did. I want to help people make healthy changes without the frustration and fear.

I started my blog One Part Plant (OPP) as a mission to get people to start eating one plant-based meal a day. Just one meal to start. Not all of us are designed to go from zero to kale smoothies in a day. Some of us have a hard time with an ‘all or nothing’ mentality. OPP is about easing into a healthy lifestyle change.

Pre-plants, I was severely depressed and couldn’t make it out of bed because of the pain and fatigue from my stage four endometriosis. When I switched my diet, my eyes started to open wider, the pain started to fade, and my body was able to exercise again. I not only felt better physically, but mentally too. I am a completely different woman now.

If you’re keen to introduce more plant-based foods into your diet, the best way to start is to find plant-based foods you like! I know it might sound obvious, but it wasn’t for me when I first started. I thought I had to eat bland unseasoned veggies that I didn’t like and wanted to give up. But plant-based eating can be creamy soups and stews, hearty pasta dishes, and delicious and filling veggies that you actually want to eat. Start tasting things and find what suits your taste buds.

If you’re time-strapped, make simple recipes! If I see a recipe that involves 30 minutes of prep and 100 steps until it’s ready, I skip that one. You have to find recipes that work for your schedule. Most of my recipes are simple or you can make in advance the night before. Easy is key for time-strapped people to eat well.

My advice is to begin with one plant-based meal a day. We get so caught up in feeling like it has to be all or nothing and if we eat something ‘bad’ we’ve failed. We need to give ourselves room to breathe and go at our own pace, not someone else’s. Eat one plant-based meal a day and see what happens. What might feel like a small step can be a giant leap in getting healthy.