My friend's boyfriend has just decided to change to a raw diet, but we're not entirely sure what he should be eating in a day to get the right nutrients.

Could you kindly post a 'typical day' eating plan, if you have one?

There's not much on the internet in the way of raw food plans, so it would be much appreciated. Thanks! x

I'm actually quite interested in the same. I have a raw foods cookbook but it doesnt include any meal plans for optimal nutrition and also doesnt include any nutrition facts. Sprouts can definitely be a good source of protein, chlorophyll, vitamins, and enzymes. Ive sprouted mung beans, lentils, chick peas, alfalfa, radish....soy beans....theyre all pretty easy to do. anyway, i dont know where im going with this, but i am definitely interested in learning more about optimal nutrition while eating raw.....:santa:

Thanks, I've been looking at the 'what did you eat *raw* today' thread for ideas, but we still need nutritional guidence, from what I've heard, raw can be quite a dangerous diet if you don't eat the right things.

Maybe using fitday.com will help? You can type in what you eat in a day, and check a certain section to see if you've gotten all your nutrients. It keeps track of fat and protein, too. It might take a long time to put in all the raw foods at first, but it'd give you an idea of what you need and where you get it from.

Edit: I meant "you" in the impersonal sense, I know it's not you who is going raw. :)

I am still learning about raw. However from what I have read, raw foodies have a different outlook on nutritional guidelines. Here are some sites which have persons who have been raw foodies for years and are thriving. Hopefully this will help:
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/
http://www.shazzie.com/
http://www.thegardendiet.com/

yep, i definitely second http://www.rawfoodtalk.com

There also isn't really a set meal plan or anything like that. Some things that have worked for others, haven't worked for some, vice versa. You'll find all you need to know on Alissa's site that I linked.

Carrot, I'm curious where you've heard that raw can be dangerous? Was that from people eating a meat based diet....or even veg*n's? Also, I wouldn't use fitday. That's geared toward people who eat a standard diet.

I'll throw in my two cents. Going raw is an ongoing process for me, but I'm happy to share what I like to eat.

In the morning lately I've been having an apple-banana pudding (just chopped apples, skins on, and bananas thrown together in the blender with some cinnamon). I also like fruit smoothies, and a lot of raw-foodists will put greens like parsley or spinach in theirs to make them healthier.

For lunch I'll have a whole bag of romaine lettuce or baby greens, either with a vinegar-olive oil-garlic dressing, or with walnuts.

Dinner I'll usually prepare something a little more elaborate, for example a "corn chowder soup" which is raw corn, garlic, a few herbs in a blender, then I'll throw in some whole kernals for a better texture. Last night I made a recipie meant for a dehydrater, but since they strike me as kinda weird, I just put the ingredients together and didn't dehydrate it. It was sunflower seeds, green onions, carrots, celery, and some herbs, and I ate it with some tomato.

For snacks I love plums, pears, frozen bananas, prunes, carrots, almonds, you name it. Dates & cashews are an orgasmic mix :lick:

Hope this helps.

Yesterday I had (all raw):
sliver of cantelope
tossed salad w/tahini dressing
1/2 an orange
date torte
raw stir fry

Seasiren - are there enough calories in that??

I don't count calories anymore. I am in the middle of the Raw challenge and every day feels better! I still do cardio and weight lift. I am not lifting as much as before, but I have also dropped weight during the challenge (a few lbs I have been struggling with). My cardio is outstanding...better than ever!

I sleep less hours, no more bloating after meals or feeling sleepy after I eat. I eat when I want whatever I want (so long as it's raw) and as much as I want. Skin is clear and I have had several compliments on "how young I look" over the last several days.

I have some RAW cooking books and now that I have some recipes...I don't feel deprived at all. Other non-raw foodies won't leave my food alone, LOL. I am learning which foods I like and how to make scrumptious desserts, all raw and I can eat them for dinner...hehe.

I'll keep you posted on how it goes as I continue. :)

RawVeganMom makes some fabulous dishes, maybe when she comes on, she can post a few for you to see.

What about beans such as black and kidney beans? I usually stir fry a little and add some spices for flavor.

Canned or boil fresh beans?

For raw you would sprout them.

Update on my raw days, new thread so it won't be off topic.

Seasiren - are there enough calories in that??

I don't see how there can be.

I'll just throw this in here but, I've been on-off raw since January (finally sticking to raw now - 10days today!), and Alissa Cohen's book has a wonderful eating plan. I would recommend her book above all others. I have quite a few of them, but her's just really helped me get started and "plant the seeds" to a completely raw lifestyle! Her recipes are really good, however, she uses apple cider vinegar in some of her recipes and man do I hate the stuff. Vinegar = blegh! I've also found much luck in having freshly juiced vegetable juice in the morning keeps me satisfied and feeling good! :)

I second Alissa's book.

I am mostly having trouble with the cost of food. Organic food in my area is so expensive and now that I am trying to eat all my meals as organic fruits & veggies my food bill is sooo high.

I have been reluctant to juice. I bought a juicer and promptly returned it once I read the directions and found out how much food you needed to put in it for juice. Any suggestions?

I TRY to buy organic, but I totally agree it can be really expensive! About half of my produce is organic, and I guess that is better than nothing. Sometimes if you go to Whole Foods or Wild Oats, and ask the produce person for some "almost bad" fruit, they'll sell it to you at a discount. I got a whole case of organic bananas for 25 cents /lb, and most of them were good! Just throw them in the freezer and they make a wonderful dessert!

Greens really aren't too bad. You can get a huge bunch of organic greens, like kale, beets, spinach, etc, for about $2 at the Wild Oats near my house and that makes for a glass of green juice for me. Of course I add a few carrots and a cucumber in there to enhance the flavor, but if you substitute that for a light meal or snack that shouldn't be too much. I know that as far as making gormet raw desserts I have spent upwards of $20 in ingredients just to make ONE dessert, and THAT is just way too much! lol. $2 a bunch can be bad for greens sometimes, but if you look for the biggest bunch you can find, sometimes you can get almost your money's worth, lol.

Oh I really think you should give juicing another go! If you buy one of those non-spinning juicers (like the ones that crank your veges) you can do so much more than only juice! You can make nut butters and even "ice cream" (Just process the frozen bananas, or try frozen mangos - tastes just like mango sorbet!). Also farmers markets give excellent deals, but sadly the warm weather is coming to an end (in my area at least).

Oh! Also if you buy veges or other produce by the case sometimes they will give you a 10% case discount! I ususally just try to catch the sales though.

Oh and did you know that Larabars are organic and raw? I read it in Body + Soul magazine! I tried one and they are very heavy and filling! If you sometimes feel empty and poor because the cost of the organic produce, a Larabar might help you fill up a bit, and they aren't too bad. Though they aren't the most healthy thing, consisitng a majority of nuts and dates, they are ok once in a while. I actually ate 3 in a row once I was so hungry and they gave me an upset stomach, so be careful.

:)

Thank-you for the info. Sadly, I do not have either of those chains anywhere near me. Our farmer's market does not have organic. There used to be one, but he stopped coming and I didn't know how to find him, so I stopped going all together. But it's worth trying again this week to see if any organic farmer's show up. I have been spoiled with organic produce and the "normal" produce tastes like plastic to me now, lol.

I have tried LaraBars, they are so yummy! Especially the Apple Pie :drool:

I will look for a juicer like you explained, I have been craving fresh juice but am worried how many pieces of fruit it will need.

Just made Alissa's squash & marinara....heaven!

sorry this is a bit off topic, but do you ever feel like you're not "full" with raw foods no matter how much you eat? I've been raw for nearly 2 weeks now and I sometimes totally overeat. It's been like nuts and dates and I've lost no weight whatsoever! This is my largest hurdle, and I don't know where to start. I also heard too many nuts are acid forming foods. I'm afraid of being too restrictive and then allowing myself to feel deprived, and consequently perhaps convincing myself to stop raw foods. I am thinking of adding a few warmed foods, like maybe soup, for a while so that maybe psychologically my body can feel satisfied without deprivation. With all that I eat it gets very expensive. I think that's what makes it so expensive for me - just the amounts I eat!

I know that we need to eat a lot of greens to keep up with our body's energy needs, but sometimes I can't tell between a craving (like for a nutrient) or an emotional pull towards food. I don't know. So I guess I am saying it's kind of hard to formulate a "typical" raw diet. I guess I need to wait for the body to acclimate? Ah! I don't know!

Oh I love the Apple Pie too! And the Cashew Cookie..... yum!

Oh for the fresh juice - for me I once made pineapple juice (it is SOOOOOOO good!) and a whole pineapple made me a 16oz drink. I wanted more! The yield was OK, but that was with my cheap juicer. I have yet to try with my expensive one. The better quality your juicer the better juice yield you'll get - or so I've read. For carrot juice, 6-8 carrots makes me an 8oz cup. Green bunches, I'd say one makes me like 10 oz or so, maybe a bit less as I do add one or two carrots to my green drinks.

Are there any co-ops in your area you could go to? Some places I've heard of (at least in Chicago here) actually send it to your house. In my research, the prices were REASONABLE, but no bargian. It would be right at the upper limit for me including their shipping and membership fees and whatnot.

Oh also, the Jewels and Dominicks around here are beginning to carry more and more (though a limited selection still) of organic produce, did you check there? If not you should ask! I bet they would start to carry things if people asked. :)

Hmm... oh! I'll have to try Alissa's squash and marinara! It sounds good and I haven't made that one yet! I have been the date queen lately......ehhh heh

^^
That's what Johnny is now saying, that he is always wanting to eat something with 'substance'. He's doing well though. He hasn't lost any weight (which is a good thing because he is a bit of a skinny chappy)

organicorange - addressed some of your questions in your other thread. I stayed injured on raw and could not recover. Had vegan protein powder shakes and have recovered. My body was clearly lacking something. I am no longer 100% raw but will continue incorporating raw foods in my Vegan diet.

Dates & cashews are an orgasmic mix :lick:

Hell yup!! :hump: Dates & almonds are pretty yummers too. For breakfast, I like to make a homemade granola bar: raw oats, 1 fruit (usually something crunchy like apple), something sweet (dates or raisins) and something oily/proteiny (almonds, cashews, etc). Throw it in a bowl (with or without soymilk) and fade away into nothingness. :drool: It's perfect road food, too: easy, lightweight, cheap & not messy.

organicoinage... yah, nuts can get addictive. But I've found if you mix them with oats or fruit (instead of popping them solo), it keeps everything in balance. Raw oats are your friend!! It is mathematically impossible to gain weight while eating oats. Horses may look big, but really they're full of helium. Trust me; I'm a scientist!

oooh. That homemade granola bar sounds yummy. I'm assuming you chop the apple up into little bits? How many oats do you put in?

Yeppers, chop everything up as small as you can for maximum flavo-rama release. A half cup of oats ought to do the trick, but you can add more if you like. Oh, and if it's too dry, a nice dollop of almond butter livens things up.:lick:

Adding almond butter is exactly what I was thinking actually. :)

Hi All-

I hope this thread is still being read, and that this information helps a bit. I too struggle with feeling full and sticking to 100% raw. I am fine through the entire day, but dinner is tough. On a side note, I am doing a 4-5 day juice fast right now and feeling extremely bloated. Any ideas to help this? I am trying to only have fruit juice in the AM and veggie juice the rest of the day, or a green smoothie if absolutely needed.

Anyway, foods to help you stay full AND provide good PROTEIN (for you weight lifters, which I am also)

- Hemp Protein Powder and Hemp Seed Nut (Try manitoba harvest). All of these are all raw, provide great protein, fat, and essential amino acids. Mix some protein powder in a smoothie!

- Avocados - don't be afraid to eat a whole one, or even two, at a time. A great dinner for me is one large Florida avocado, 2 ears of raw corn (chew up very well or blend) and a bowl of grape tomatoes

- JUVO - This is a raw 'meal' in powder form. Check it out on * gojuvo DOT com * It has 140 calories and it a perfect pre-workout drink. Mix with cold water (or fresh apple juice, sometimes I add hemp protein too)

I have tried to stay away from plain nuts because I'll just eat and eat. Pumpkin or sunflower seeds are ok and sprouts too. Dates are my ultimate weakness too. Just TRY try try to only eat them in the morning. Try to practice good food combining, meaning no fruit for at least 4 hours after a heavy meal. Try to eat only one fat source per day, but have as much as makes you full. Four main fat sources include - Hemp, nuts/seeds, olive oil and avocado. Good luck, I am checking this daily to stay motivated :hamster: