I struggle with the concept of "whole foods" and "real food" and other common terms in health circles nowadays. I typed in "what is the definition of whole foods" on google and got a ton of hits of different groups defining whole foods broadly. Some include grains, some do not. Some include dairy, some do not. I see people talking about eating a whole foods plant based diet but then list that they ate pasta or commercial plant milk or soy yogurt. Is pasta really a whole food? Even oats? They are somewhat processed so that they would not be recognized in nature. Oat groats however are the whole seed, found that way in nature albeit within a plant. I used to consider whatever I could find as is in nature would be a real and whole food. Minimal processing from field to mouth. I used to be really really strict with diet, until I pared down to eating only raw fruits, leafy greens, and some seeds. That didn't last long primarily because I was severely underweight and it required that I eat an enormous amount of food to meet my needs which was very difficult.
I am fully vegan and have been for four years this month. I eat out maybe five or six times max per year and usually do not enjoy restaurant food as it tends to be too heavy, too oily, and tasteless. I am still somewhat strict in that I do not buy a lot of processed foods. I don't ever touch cold commercial cereals, or candy or junk food. Junk food for me is an occasional cliff bar, maybe twice a month when I am on the run or long hikes and just need something quick. More often than not I make homemade bean bars for energy bars. Even commercial vegan yogurts are an occasional treat and usually I buy the plain versions but find them too sweet. I like tofu/banana blended with spices and stevia better. Is tofu a whole food? Hmm... I rarely eat pasta of any kind but maybe two or three times a month I have whole wheat spaghetti or macaroni or penne pasta with loads of beans and veggies. For the most part I keep bread intake very low but on occasion enjoy Ezekiel whole wheat sprouted sesame seed bread or some other commercial whole wheat vegan bread like Rudys with less than four or five ingredients lol. I rarely use flours but on occasion will work with chickpea flour, grind my own buckwheat groats for buckwheat flour, or rice flour (grind my own there sometimes too). I used to make loads of homemade whole wheat bread every week but stopped doing that some time ago and just don't eat much bread. But I love whole grains daily like millet seeds, wild rice, brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat groats, barley. I use bulgur quite often too though it is a slightly more processed whole grain than the others. I avoid oats mostly because they trigger me to eat too many for some reason and I also bloat a lot after eating them, but on occasion I will have crockpot oat groats or steel cut oats. Other commerical foods I eat regularly: tofu, tempeh, plant milks (used to strictly make my own flaxmilk with just flaxseeds, water, and homegrown stevia but got lazy), canned whole tomatoes or tomato paste, cocoa powder, maple syrup. I try to avoid most sugar but do utilize blackstrap molasses for it's high calcium and iron content and I use maple syrup on occasion. If I bake a special treat for work or some event I will buy turbinado sugar but I buy it maybe three or four times per year max. I have also used confectioner sugar (beet sugar derived) for rare treats for some event. Mostly I use fruit itself as a sweetener or home grown herbal stevia. But I don't avoid sugar altogether. My daily diet ALWAYS includes beans, one or two servings of nuts/seeds, lots of fruits and vegetables, and some sort of grain (right now munching on a mango and whole almonds for breakfast lol). I seem to function best with about 70% carbs, 15% fat, 15% protein, or at least that is what my dietary range always seems to fall within when I take the time to calculate macronutrients (I did this for so long and obsessively that the numbers of every imaginable food and it's macronutrients are ingrained in my head lol). I am quite active too. I tried ultra low fat for a while and just didn't feel good, had less stamina and oomph for lifting weights.
I prepare homemade breakfasts, lunches, and dinners every day. I have done this for years. If I travel or visit inlaws out of town for a weekend I bring my own food or plan ahead so I can find a way to make food on the road. I try to stay in hotels/motels or other places with access to a microwave or refrigerator. On canoe camping trips in the wilderness (my husband and I go to the BWCA every year for a week) it is easy to pack in vegan food as it needs less refrigeration than nonvegan, though I have had to resort to dehydrated foods and light weight stuff which sometimes means there is more processing involved. I have to carry that food on my back over rough terrain so I need to pack light and dry.
Even before I was vegan, for several years before I ate very healthy but also included stuff like wild salmon, sardines, eggs, Greek yogurt, etc. I was intolerant to most other dairy but would very occasionally try parmesan cheese or mozerella cheese. Cutting that stuff out improved my sinuses/respiratory tract, stamina, energy, and most of all digestion. I had blood tests done as an omnivore and two years into being vegan for all kinds of stuff and all my scores came out better as a vegan. Cholesterol went down from 155 to 125 from 2010 to 2012. Vitamin D was still good, B12 still good, hemoglobin and iron stores still excellent, glucose and tryglycerides still excellent and even improved. The only thing that got slightly worse was HDL. It was 62 as an omnivore and two years later as a vegan it was 57 (LDL as a vegan was something like 67, not tested as an omnivore). I assume it is because of the DHA/Omega 3 factor? Not sure but I do incorporate as many sources of omega 3s as I can, especially flaxseeds. I used to take a vegan DHA/EPA but have since cut back on that. I incorporate a minimum of two cups a day but usually more of leafy greens, especially low oxalate for calcium and iron and include a source of vitamin C (bell peppers, strawberries, mango, oranges etc). I do incorporate plant milks daily. I used to avoid soy but I have become much more relaxed around food as I had to put on a lot of weight and change my relationship with food and not be so strict because I have health issues from years of hard core restriction, mostly in the form of worsening osteoporosis.
About once or twice a month I have pancakes for dinner such as buckwheat/blueberry or chocolate etc. It is a treat, a challenge for me to have something fun and tasty and outside my comfort zone but not so junkfoodish as to trigger binges. I like to make pancakes using whole grain seeds and grind them into flour with my blendtec. But I do incorporate maple syrup or sometimes a little oil or some other "forbidden" food. I don't use plant butters and usually have a homemade fresh fruit compote to top my pancakes instead.
I used to strictly avoid oil and did for years but over the last year I have relaxed and allow it in my diet from time to time. Not every day, but usually once or twice a week I may use it for something or other. I have a very low blood pressure, low pulse, excellent cholesterol, my triglycerides are something like 27, glucose is in the low 80s. Weight is a low normal for my height. I exercise intensively 1 to 2 hours each day. So I don't think adding a little oil here and there is going to be too high of a risk for me and my arteries. Having an occasional glob of maple syrup or molasses wont send my glucose through the roof lol. When I started eating more and incorporating more nuts/seeds and occasional oil into my diet, as well as occasional tempeh, tofu etc, my hair and nails and skin tone improved dramatically. I have very healthy skin, hair, nails. I never use commercial shampoo either. Don't and never have worn makeup.
I love my current style of eating and I find that it is not so restrictive as to cause me to have a black and white attitude about food (though I still have some "fear" foods I am working on incorporating such as tahini, almond butter etc on occasion). It is not so extreme that i have to constantly plan and prepare and think about food every minute. I have spent many a year obsessively planning every detail and cutting out this and that and it does get old. I'm not anti grain and anti soy and anti oil and anti carbs or anti protein etc. I try to find balance and occasionally enjoy treats and so on. Sometimes I over or under do it. Not perfect. For the most part eat a healthy whole foods plant based diet but also incorporate an occasional processed food that might not be approved by Essylstein lol. I don't follow any particular diet plan set forth by any vegan expert. Just try to get in the basic nutritional needs of a vegan and eat foods that I feel good about eating and that my body functions best on. Not going to feel bad if on occasion I feel like devouring homemade chocolate pancakes. Today I am making a treat for a potluck at work....my own recipe...tropical sweet potato balls that includes cornflour, coconut oil (gasp), maple syrup, ground almonds, sweet potato, spices, fresh blended pineapple mixed together and baked in oven. I did this one before grinding unsweetened dried coconut into a flour instead of almonds and it was delicious, but a lot of people don't seem to like coconut so I am trying almonds this time.