Hello all, in being very new to this change in life I want to do it right. I am not totally raw just yet, but I am looking at making a slow transition. I have a juicer and have a juice for breakfast but tend to fall off as the day goes on. What is a good lunch time meal to eat that will help with the break from processed foods. Also any in between meal ideas would be greatly appreciated.

John

i used to like cucumber boats filled with avocado and sprinkled with parsley and cayenne and salt. maybe some nice olives would make it yummier. what about salad or maybe one of Ani's scrambles.

Hello!

I don't claim to be an absolute expert in nutrition, but as far as i know, breakfast should be the most consistent meal of the day, because that's the meal that provides most of the calories you are going to be using during the day. So i tend to include foods that provide slow release carbohydrates in my breakfast meal, such as bananas and grains. I'm not sure juice alone is enough for breakfast, but others may have different approaches to dieting.
I also think that lunch should be a lighter meal that complements breakfast, and it helps with not feeling heavy and sleepy at noon. It is also OK to have snacks throughout the day. According to the latest medical data, it is better to have several lighter meals per day (up to 5 or more) than 3 big meals each day. Veggie sandwiches, salads or a thick smoothie are great lunch ideas! I think anywhere between 12 PM and 2 PM are ideal lunch hours.

Keeping it raw at [rawfoodhealthwatch.com]

I like to eat a meal of fresh fruit for lunch. For example, I might eat 10 largue fuyu persimmons for lunch.

When I began raw, I experimented with fruit salad at midday and raw veg salad in the late avo/evening. However, the evening meal deemed too heavy for me to sleep well, so I switched those two around. Now, I have my main meal of raw veg salad at midday, and both fresh and soaked dried fruit salad in the evening. As fruit digests much easier than vegies (for me anyways) I sleep right through.

Cheers,
geo

I can never eat very much at breakfast, so I usually make lunch my largest meal of the day. Lunch is when your digestion is at its strongest. Also, if you eat your largest meal at lunch instead of dinner, you will have longer before bedtime to digest your largest meal.

I usually recommend breakfast include a little fat and protein, lunch having more fat and protein, and then have the carbs at dinner. This way, the heavier, harder-to-digest foods have time to make it through your system before bed.

Cravings are usually best handled with fat, like avocado, coconut oil, or olives. If you get a pretty good amount of fat at breakfast and lunch, your cravings will be weaker, allowing you to make it to dinner without cheating.

Avoid eating carbs at breakfast, that will make your cravings intense the entire day.

Hmmm that makes sense re allowing food to digest, and probably why I couldn't sleep well when I ate my main meal at dinner.

And fat for cravings is interesting too, as cashews are my bane, and I eat around a cup full prior to my fruit salad. I'm told that it's a really bad combo, but it's pretty much my only vice, and I do wait awhile before I eat the fruit.

Thanks for the info, I am greatly appreciative. Will help me formulate a plan suited to my body, I do like the idea of a bigger meal at lunch, makes perfect sense.

if i eat fats or heavy proteins (nuts) in the morning i am so sluggish for the rest of the day .. i eat fruit smoothies in the morning .. green juices and nuts mid day and salads at dinner with a light dressing

i dont like to eat heavy before bed either it just keeps me awake and wired

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/2011 10:21PM by Jgunn.

I'm still trying to educate myself too before I attempt a switch to raw. I'm going to have to follow this topic. You all seem to give such good advice. It just seems to make sense as I read through it anyway.

I have some obstacles to prevent these wonderful practices. I do seem to do better if I eat fruit on an empty stomach. The Harvey and Marilyn Diamond understanding is what seems to make most sense to me and works best for me too. I have to eat my lunch with the children at work and bring in no outside food. I am uncomfortable with this but that is how it has to be. I could just snack on a bit of good things they offer but I am so hungry when work ends that I over eat on not the greatest things anyway. I try to keep an Ensure drink or a Specail K bar in the car to slow down the hunger until I get home. Does anyone have a better recommendation on a more nutritious drink, bar, or both?

Also I can manage to eat a piece of fruit before leaving for work and then when we eat later in the morning with the children it is cereal or bread. How would you suggest to eat breakfast to get the balance of protein and carbohydrates that are mentioned here and not combine my fruit to make it hard for my digestion.

I am a very overweight vegetarian because I handle my stresses with food. I am such an addict. It is better by a land-slide these days but I had someone say to me, "I thought vegetarians were suppose to be skinny."

i like Muscle Milk. it's not vegan, please don't ban me. another great one is almond smoothies with a sweetener. but you have to chew a little. i make them in a Magic Bullet. they are so easy that way. those Special K bars are probably loaded with corn syrup, i like my homemade ones way better. (mostly nuts, dates, and lecithin ) do you "uncook"?

i don't know the method your talking about, but your not supposed to mix protein with any starch, but non-starchy vegetables are okay, according to edgar cayce. i'm not so clear on food combining, but if you do it, it mostly just causes gas, and mixes up two kinds of stomach acid. i think he also says fruit is okay to mix with protein. like maybe a raw trail mix or something. (starch not the same as sugar)

When I was here years ago I made the "Tastes Like Crumb Donuts" from the recipe board and they were so good. I plan on making them again. I know that the special K bars are not the best choice and I only have a couple left. I took nuts in my car today and that is what I will continue doing as I find other choices to do also. I can make some good choices outside of work but while there (only Monday - Thursday) I can only choose the best from what is given. I will find my "groove" even with that obstacle since I am back here amongst the community of rawfooders.

For a snack the other day I brought with me raw walnuts and fresh Medjool dates. Oh man, those two things really go together.

I'm usually still eating fruit at lunchtime and have worked my way to more dense stuff, like bananas, which are handy on-the-go.

lovely to hear everyones ideas i think it depends alot on the individual and finding what works best for you, and also slowly. At first your body might not cope with just fruit for breakfast, then after a while you might feel great with lots of energy with just fruit for breakfast. so i think its a case of trial and error and see what works for you, but definatly getting ideas of each other and research on how the body best works helps ALOT. im still learning!

i normally have fruit and a green smoothie for breakfast. raw salad (with egg/nuts/fish/olives) something like that, with yummy raw dressings. for dinner raw veg with something (coconut milk blended soups/ sprouts etc)

with my job my eating patterns/times are all over the place, but im working on getting a routine.

i LOVE making snack bags (im english... my it think in america you say trail mix ) i love the ideas mentioned, here are some more... but really just mix a load of what you love, make a massive jar/tupawear of it. then take a handful in a sandwich bag on the go each day, its there if you need it, and bananas are really good for satisfying cravings/and sugar carvings i find

other ideas...
caco nibs (raw cocobeans-give you lots of good energy ), with cashew nuts and dates.
macadamian nuts, dried cranberries and raw coconut dried pieces

flaked almonds, dried apricot pieces, dried papaya and pineapple

also, have you ever tried dried mango... yummy! just make sure youve got this stuff around you so you can munch when you want

just 4 me... what food choices do you have at breakfast lunch on the 4 days you work? you could drink a large amount of green smoothie before you go, have you heard of green smoothies? eat a bit of what you have to at work... munch on some dried fruit and nut on way home, and prepare a lovely big raw dinner

Well, we are fed by the public school if that gives you any idea what we eat. LOL. I have switched to greek yogurt for breakfast to get the protein. I love bananas but I think I need the protein quick meal. It varies from day to day once I get to work. Always a bread and canned fruit. Rather than the bread I have been eating the fruit. Today we had wild rice and bread. I try to not eat the bread now but at lunch I had bread, lettuce, and cheese rather than the turkey burger. Some days nothing to eat but the bread. Since I am trying gluten free now I chose the fish sticks over the bread but I was sick all weekend. YUCK!! I may have to just let myself sneak some nuts in on my bathroom break but how gross is eating in the bathroom? In your opinions is that better than eating what they offer??

I could juice and fruit in the morning, and then do nuts all through the day by sneaking them in and waiting until my lunch break and eat only if they offer something like bananas or cooked veggies. (They never have raw veggies). I am determined to make something work!

I know you said its very strict at your work... but maybe you could try talking to the staff and the catering staff, by saying you are on a strict diet to do with your health and you have been told by a doctor (you are the doctor for yourself!... white lie! ) that you can't eat certain foods. if they cook veg, then surely they have veg in the kitchen, and should have a bit of fruit about. i know its a long shot but you could try?

if not, have a big breakfast, depending on how your body feels in the morning... you could try having a yummy salad for dinner, then in the morning you will be hungry, have a large green smoothie, bananas, honey and ground falx seeds/seeds/nuts in, nice boster, and anything else, raw, you fancy for breakfast, then eat only oK things at work, munch nuts on way home?

or.,.... sneak in the nuts, and eat in the toilet!! germs are everywhere... if your bodies healthy it will keep germs out. the fact that everyone is going crazy over germs, and at your work i think is silly! if we wer in the wild we would be fine! even near a toilet! ha ah!... its just all the chemicals we use in everything weakens our immune system, we should be exposed to some germs to harden our immune systems...

good luck... i guess its up to you to find your balance, and what works for you in your daily routine, to keep healthy food and meal choices and we are all here to help you along that journey

just 4 me,

Seriously consider getting a high speed blender and making green smoothies for yourself, a large one, that will tide you over and can be kept at room temp in a Thermos. Talk to your health care provider about getting a "doctor's note" saying you must eat this way for health reasons--blood sugar or what have you. Good luck!

I did talk to the head of the center and a higher up in the company...no go. Well, today went well, Banana before leaving for work. 1/2 of bagel for breakfast with cream cheese, and canned pineapple chunks, Lunch was canned manderin oranges and instant mashed potatoes. I have been home since 3:30 and I had a raw pecan, 2 raw almonds and a mug of black tea. I cannot decide what to eat. I will manage with all of you here to talk with. Need to destress also. I talked to the lead teacher in my class and told her I really need to leave when they stop paying me. I usually don't mind 15 minutes extra but I have been doing 45 minutes lately. I am not selfish but I think I have enough stress and I would rather volunteer my time elsewhere rather than let my employer take advantage of me. I just thought as I was typing that if they can't manage to help me a bit then why should I let them use my generosity.

I am a kind person but if stress is hard on my digestion than I need to weed it where I can!

just 4 me,

You are not eating anything close to a "diet" by any definition, and compounded by stress, this is going to rob you of health over time. Seriously--doctor's note. There are laws against your place of work abusing you; keep that in mind along with finding a new situation. Good luck with working things out.

Thank you!!

Hi John,
It's great to hear that you are enthusiastic about eating more raw foods in your diet.
I have found that the style of raw eating Dr. Graham outlines in 'The 80/10/10 Diet' to work phenomenally for me. I eat one or two meals of fresh, ripe, raw, sweet fruit during the day, and then I have some more fruit before a vegetable salad at dinner.
I enjoy eating mainly sweet fruit meals during the day because of the convenience they give me. They are low in fat, rich in water, easy to digest, and give me plenty of fuel to keep me active throughout both the morning and afternoon. Most times, these meals take no more than fifteen minutes for me to consume, so I have lots of time during the "lunch-hour" I have in the middle of the day to get out in the sun and get some exercise before my meal.

Best regards,
Luke

The best food for you will depend on your digestion and how your body reacts to certain foods.

Some as said in this thread get on better with just fruits or even juices in the morning where as i find they fatigue me and soon after am hungry for something else. I find a little protein and fats first thing stabalize my blood sugar better till lunch time.

For lunch i find my body likes fruit best at this time of day so i tend to go from there and have a salad also most days.

[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]