There's been a lot of advice on the forum as to what to eat, what to avoid, tips for preparation, how to not become deficient, ways to heal and oodles of fantastic recipes. I've learned so much and, come Saturday, I'm jumping in whole hog! Well, whole foods anyway...

What would be amazingly advantageous, benevolently beneficial and positively productive, would be if some of you would be so kind as to make a list of one day's worth of groceries for yourself. I don't mean how you buy items when you shop, but what you actually eat in one day. For example: If you eat two apples a day, don't list a bag of apples. (And it's not about organic or not, just the items.) See what I'm asking?

The purpose would be to help us newbies plan our shopping trips better. If several people would show a One Day Menu of groceries, I think it would help some to not over-buy or under-buy. From what I understand this is one of the problems newbies face. You could help someone save money, or be more realistic, and not make the same mistakes you did! It's like volunteer work without having to get out of your pajamas!

So, whatcha eat today?

Edited to add: I'm aware that different people eat different things in different quantities. This is just to give folks ideas so they can plan better for themselves.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2008 04:33PM by Simple Living.

For me:

Breakfast: 2 big glasses fresh orange juice (about 4 lbs of oranges)
Snack: 3 large apples
Lunch: 6 small avocadoes (or one big Florida one)
Snack: 2 Asian Pears...or 1/2 of grapes
Snack: 1 pint of strawberries or blueberries. Or 4 peaches/plums.
Dinner: 1 Canteloupe/Honeydew....or 1/2 a papaya....or 1/2 a pineapple...or 1/4 Watermelon.

-It's all good.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Thank you David. I can always count on your help!

It's good to note that David is a fruitarian though, and not a veggie eater. I hope others will take the time to list out their daily groceries, too. I know it takes time, but it really is incredibly helpful and appreciated! Thanks again, David!

Anyone one else?

This is a typical day for me but keep in mind I am 5 ft 3 in, weigh about 105 lbs and I do take a supplement:

Half bag spinach
1 grapefruit
2 to 4 bananas
1/4 to 1/2 cup seaweed
2 apples
Pint of berries
1 small to medium melon
1 to 2 cups of nut milk
handful of nuts (particularly Brazil)
1 to 2 cups of grapes
1 or 2 carrots
1/4 cups or so of raw hummus

If I'm particularly active I will usually have a bit more fat (like avocado or sesame oil on my salads etc)

*edited to fix a spelling error*



My website: The Coconut Chronicles



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2008 06:28PM by TheCoconutChronicles.

Massive amounts of greens (including tender salad greens and tougher things like kale)

Limes!

Fruit! Whatever is cheapest. Bananas for smoothies and berries are yum

Non-starchy veggies--what's on sale. Cauliflower, suagr snap peas, etc

Stock up on some nuts--maybe pumpkin seeds today

Avocado

Lisa, This is perfect and exactly what I was hoping for! So far, from what I'm able to deduce, I would have bought too much. Then, in order for it not to spoil, I would have had to overeat. Thank you!

rost0037, Can I ask you for a few more specifics for what you eat in one day? It doesn't have to be exact numbers or amounts if you don't know, but a good guesstimate would be great. A bag of mixed greens and a bag of spinach? 3 bananas a day? How many different veggies for the day? etc., Thanks. (I don't mean to sound ungrateful for your reply because any responses are helpful!)

Okay, I am 5'3" and small-boned. And active. So this will be different for other people. Also it was different when I had 15 pounds to lose (I could get by on a lot less). And it will be different in the future. Also, sometimes I eat cooked foods--I had steamed kale and mushrooms for dinner last night. Otherwise I would have eaten half a cup of almond butter, maybe. Better to not push it.

I eat 2-3x/day, I like to experience true hunger and complete digestion before I eat. Sometimes I get off-track on the weekend, but generally--

--2 heads of greens. Maybe a head of kale and 5 oz of mixed greens, for example. (I make green smoothies a lot. I also make salads with salsa and fruits and sprouts. Wraps are also good. Or pates with greens blended in. Limes are for ALL these things). Sometimes I fill up on other veggies and eat less greens, no problem. You can always juice, too, if you feel the need.
--5 fruits? a guesstimate. Including 1 cup berries=1 cup. They fill me up with water quickly or I'd eat more.
--1 cup sprouted legumes or grains. Maybe another cup or two if I need more calorically-dense food (lots of exercise, limited stomach)
--1-2 ounces nuts/seeds, .5-1 avocado
--I try and limit dried fruit. I like the chewy texture, but it is so sweet and not as optimal as fresh.
--at *least* a few cups of misc veg--tomatoes, cauliflower, red cabbage, sugar snap peas or whatever I feel like

I like to vary my foods or I get tired of them. But I also get into grooves--when persimmons (the ones that have to get mushy first) were in season, I had one or two a day! I knew I would be sad when they went out of season. And I am. I also will, say, buy collards over kale if the bunches are bigger but they're the same price. Things like that make me vary everything a lot.

Everyday my eating changes to reflect my instinctive approach to what I eat but it does follow a basic plan that I apply loosely with my instincts getting first attention. I start my day with a juice break-fast and then move to blended meals using a juice base. after that I eat mostly whole foods for the rest of my day. This is not a strict plan and can only be described as "loose". I like to wait for a slight return of hunger signal between meals, each meal is shown as a "+)". Yesterday I ate in order of occurrence:


+) fresh juice - 2 apples, 1 orange, small slice of ginger, 4 cloves of garlic, handful of celery sliced into short pieces from the end of a celery bunch to go through my Champion juicer.

+) 2 apples with seeds

+) 2 bananas

+) juice of 6 carrots and a small slice of ginger as a base and VM blended with 2 shitake mushrooms.

+) 1 young coconut juice & pulp VM blended together with 9 oz of baby spinach.

+) 1 large red bell pepper with seeds.

+) 2 large avocados

+) a salad made of romaine lettuce with some hemp seed oil for a dressing.

+) a small bowl of sunflower seeds with a little hemp seed oil poured over them.

+) 1 apple with seeds


Listing out what I ate yesterday makes me realize how much food I am eating. I am not fat but I'm not starving either, in fact I feel quite comfortable with the quantity of food I eat. All of my foods are fresh raw and prepared and eaten with no storage. Some of my foods are organic (long drive - once a week) and some are not (in my neighborhood). None of my foods are heated in any way and have not been frozen. In addition to eating the above foods yesterday I also drank just under a gallon of clean, pure water spaced out throughout my day. This is loosely about the same amount of food and drink I have on a daily basis but the foods vary from day to day and include an interesting variety of fruits and vegetables depending on where I shopped last and what was available. I try to keep my food inventory small consistent with the ripening time needed for foods like pineapple, kiwi, avocado, cantaloupe, bananas, etc. to get to the ripeness I like.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2008 11:22PM by EZ rider.

i just started (monday) tracking my intake on nutritiondata.com per the wisdom of the mighty Arugula, and its pretty fascinating! and it will make it easy for me to complete this task.

i am 5'10" and i weigh 155 (down 50 lbs since july 07). i take ayurvedic herbs twice a day in addition to my food. i do yoga and/or strength training 5x/week.

its interesting to note than when i actually kept track, i realized that i ate way more than i thought i did...

MONDAY: i had a green smoothie for breakfast, a salad at lunch, a blended soup at dinner, and snacked on fruits throughout the day. here's what it looked like on nutritiondata.com:

* total of 1937 calories in a ratio of 63%/32%/5% (carbs/fats/protein)
* missing or low (<50%) nutrients: selenium, zinc, cholesterol (?), saturated fat (?), vit D, B12, folic acid.
* if its possible to overdose on vitamin K, i'm doing it! also my sodium level was quite high.

2 Apples
1 sm Avocado
2 Bananas
1 Carrot
1 Cucumber
2 Dates
1 cup Dill
5 1" slices Ginger root
3 cups Grapes
1 Lemon (juice)
3 cups Mixed Greens
4 Macadamia Nuts
2 T Olive Oil
1 small Onion
1 Orange
2 cups Parsley
1 asian Pear
1 oz Raisins
1 tsp Salt (celtic)
2 T nama shoyu
1 zucchini Squash
10 cherry Tomatoes
2 T balsamic Vinegar

TUESDAY: i had a green smoothie for breakfast, blended soup for lunch, and a salad for dinner. i had a midafternoon snack of carrot sticks and asparagus spears with a citrus/nut dip. i snacked on fruit throughout the day. here are the results:

* total of 2193 calories in a ratio of 60%/30%/10% (carbs/fats/protein)
* missing or low (<50%) nutrients: selenium, calcium, cholesterol (?), saturated fat (?), vit D, B12, pantothenic acid, folic acid.
* my sodium intake was just about right on, but again vit K through the roof.
* interesting that my zinc was fine, when Monday i had virtually none. must be the nutritional yeast?

15 spears Asparagus
4 sm Bananas
1.5 C Blackberries
4 Carrots
2 C Carrot Tops (greens)
1 C Dill weed
1 clove Garlic
4 C Grapes
1 Lemon (juice)
5 C Baby Mixed Greens
1 Lime (whole with skin)
6 Almonds
6 Macadamia Nuts
1 Orange
1 Asian Pear
.5 C Pumpkin Seeds
1 T Nama Shoyu
2" Turmeric Root
1.5 C Spinach
1 Tomato
3 T Nutritional Yeast

good luck with your shopping trip! i love getting back from the farmer's market and looking around my house with big bowls spilling over with gorgeous fruits of all colors, and when i open up my fridge i imagine it looks like the fridge in a kitchen at some amazingly expensive and luxurious health retreat & spa.

when i first started raw, i made a commitment to buy myself any damn thing i wanted to eat, as long as it was raw. (and i live in hawaii, where the food costs can be quite hilarious...) so $9 for a tiny carton of raspberries? in the cart it went. $15 for a bag of dragonfruit? sold. it was a psychological strategy that i employed to get habituated to the raw lifestyle, because i know myself -- if deprivation is part of it, i will rebel 180* in the opposite direction. so i just made sure that i didn't feel deprived in any way, rather i felt super-spoiled, because these were all things that i would never have dreamed of purchasing, they were too expensive. so for the first couple of months my food bills were UGLY, but i didn't even look at them. instead i viewed it as a big gift i was giving myself. this approach worked great for me, and now i spend normally again. or, as normally as someone eating raw foods living on maui can spend.

You folks are the greatest! I'm so glad I started this thread. I'm learning more than I thought I would from it. Not only that, it helps you to see exactly what you're eating, so that's got to be worth a few awareness points right there. It also shows me that it will be helpful and wise to keep track of exactly what I'm eating, at least for several months. I can't thank you enough for your help!

This thread shows the absolute variety in foods eaten and in the amounts consumed. Let this be a lesson for all newbies... this really is up to you to find your niche and your balance in this lifestyle.

EZ rider, I like your style. I'm still a little nervous about all those apple seeds, but you've got style. I love your confidence. It's contagious and encouraging. What's VM? (Oops, there goes my ignorance again.) Sunflower seeds with hemp oil poured over them? I'm interested in this combination choice. How did you come up with this one? Thanks for taking the time to type it out!

maui_butterfly, You're all about variety, I see! I love it! How often do you shop? Your display of information has thoroughly convinced me to use nutritiondata.com. Monday's menu looks amazing, except for the salt. Hi. My name is Keith and I'm a salt-a-holic. (Salt and Vinegar Potato Chips have lied to me and told me they were my friend.) No salt for me unless it's naturally in the food. What did you use the salt in/on?

Tuesday menu looks great, too. Is Nama Shoyu the nutritional yeast? I just want it to be known publicly that YOU are my first raw food hero! I love your last paragraph and will absolutely adapt it for myself! It describes me (and my stubbornness) perfectly! Thank you so much!

--------

Well, tomorrow is my last day to eat any cooked food! Friday will be a liquid fast all day and Saturday, March 1st is the first raw food day of the rest of my life. Tonight I had my favorite pizza called Pizza Athena. It has fresh spinach, tomato, Calamata olives, artichoke hearts, greek oregano and roasted garlic with mozzarella on a bianca sauce. It also has onions and feta cheese but I order it without those. See? Other than the fact that it's cooked, it's not that bad is it? Oh yeah, I also got a vegan chocolate and peanut butter bar. Hey, I have one cooked food eating day available for the rest of my life. I'm enjoying it while I still can and before it thoroughly disgusts me later on!

I plan to go 99.99% raw. I intend to still use different dried spices (as well as fresh) and have the occasional odd cup of herbal tea. Other than that, it's all raw.

Simple Living Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What's VM? (Oops,
> there goes my ignorance again.) Sunflower seeds
> with hemp oil poured over them? I'm interested in
> this combination choice. How did you come up with
> this one? Thanks for taking the time to type it out!

VM = Vita Mixer
Years ago a friend of mine said to me that if a person is doing the same thing the same way they may be missing out on a better way to do it. He said to always try to experiment with everything you can whenever you can think of something else to try. Especially question those things that are the routine and see if you can think of something new to try. I call this the "Mosley" principal named after my friend. I have found this to be a good learning tool and I have never let go of it. The sunflower seeds and hemp seed oil were both sitting in my refrigerator and I tried them together as a "Mosley".



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/2008 01:17AM by EZ rider.

Keith Nama Shoyu is raw unpasteurized soy sauce... its good stuff

(I'm a bit of a salt addict myself so I feel your pain)



My website: The Coconut Chronicles

Today (though I haven't eaten my dinner yet):

Lunch: 4 navels, 10 tangerines
Dinner: 6-8 bananas, 9-12 strawberries, 1-2 romaine hearts

A quick question that goes along with this thread:

Do you have any special tricks, techniques, rules and/or warnings about how you store your food? Which items do you refrigerate and which do you refuse to? Any tips in this regard would be appreciated.

Disclaimer: I'm not an idiot. I've bought fruits and veggies before and did just fine. I ask this for two reasons: 1) I don't know everything and there are things I could always do better. And, 2) I know others out there must have this question but are afraid to ask. I'm not embarrassed, though! I'm here to learn so I can live better and support the next wave of raw foodies that comes along!

EZ rider, I thought it meant VitaMixer but I remembered you said you have a Champion. What's the difference between them? I'm sure Mosley will appreciate his wisdom being spread around like a ripe compost.

TheCoconutChronicles, I should never have known about Nama Shoyu. Ever. Now I'll have to practice restraint!

Bryan, I appreciate the simplicity in your food choices. I'm a banana nut, myself, but I wonder if I could eat 6-8 of them!

So far this thread has taught/reminded me to have fun, relax, use common sense, listen to what your body is asking for, and experiment with variety and simplicity.

Simple Living Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Do you have any special tricks, techniques, rules
> and/or warnings about how you store your food?
> Which items do you refrigerate and which do you
> refuse to? Any tips in this regard would be
> appreciated.

I try to store my foods in the same way as the co-op that I belong to does as I consider them the experts on keeping and storing foods.

My local Asian store is cheaper than the local farmers markets and available 7 days a week (as opposed to two).

I feel guilty but I am dirt poor.

I love Bryans shopping list. A real raw foodist

EZ rider, Well, you pretty well answered that question the only way it really can be answered! Naturally, co-ops would know best how to store them, so why not do what they do. It's so simple that I'm beyond embarrassed for not thinking of that myself!

suvine, I agree. I'm really impressed with Bryan's simple eating. Because I used to love to cook, I want to have some fun creating some fun and amazing dishes, but I'd also like to experiment with the utter simplicity of eating raw.

arugula, my friend, it's all about the quality of life! The people I respect most are dirt poor. I'd like to share a story I recently read with you. It's true and it has really blessed and humbled me. This is for you...

The Television Interview

This is a story told about an elderly lady in Arkansas. The state voted to increase welfare payments to indigents. Hoping for a tear-jerker story, a television interviewer went into the back hills where many welfare recipients lived.

The old woman he chose to interview lived in a one room shack: draughty in winter; stifling in summer. Her bed was a few rough planks nailed together, with a pine needle mattress. A couple thin blankets, and a fireplace, did little to protect her from the cold.

Her furniture, a table and two chairs, were fashioned from the same rough wood as her bed. Some shelves held a few cans of food from the general store, a three mile walk down the road. Several jars of preserves and a few squash completed her larder.

She had no refrigerator or freezer. The fireplace provided heat for cooking. With no phone or television, her only connection with the outside world was an old radio that pulled in two or three local stations on a good day.

The old woman had one convenience: running water. A crystal clear stream gurgled a short distance behind her home.

A small garden near her back door provided fresh vegetables during the summer, and some squash and turnips for the winter. A tidy flower garden brightened the front of her house.

The television crew arrived and set up their big expensive cameras. Their mobile station broadcast pictures of the woman and the place she called home.

Eventually, the interviewer asked the old woman, "If the government gave you $200 more each month, what would you do with it?"

Without hesitation, the woman replied, "I'd give it to the poor."

--Peggie C. Bohanon

I can't access fitday right now, but I do normally exceed all nutritional requirements.

2-3 bananas
2 apples or 2 oranges or 5 kiwi or 1/2 pineapple
strawberries or blueberries
5-8 cups of kale
6 cups of mixed salad greens
1 c. cilantro
Salad dressing (water, lemon juice, bragg's, cumin, dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar, coconut oil, flax oil, hemp oil)
Fresh or sun-dried tomatoes
Seaweed (either dulse in a salad, 1 c., or nori in rolls, 1 c)
Other veggies - bell peppers, cucumber, bok choy
Carrots (5) and/or carrot juice
Celery
One brazil nut
Maybe 2 T. cacao with 2 T. agave, vanilla extract, hempseeds

Non-raw items include usually a decaf soylatte, tea, and maybe a cooked grain (though not often).

[utopiankitchen.wordpress.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/2008 05:37AM by Utopian Life.

breakfast: bunch of spinach, a banana, 2 pears, 2 spoons chia seeds, soaked (green smoothie)plus 6 oranges, 2 peaches, a banana
lunch: 1 jar of biodynamic Marrook Farm Yoghurt with a handful of nuts / seeds and another handful of dried fruit (eg black mission figs or sultanas)
snack: another banana, 2 more peaches, bunch of grapes
dinner: this is hard to quantify as I often pull all my veggies out of the fridge and grate some of each, trying to get all of the colours (purple capsicum, carrot, squash, radish, cauliflower, zuchini etc) Sometimes I have a blob of guacamole (half an avocado, clove of garlic, 1/2 an onion, 1 chili, pinch of organic celtic sea salt) or some homemade dressing or some wax coated, additive free cheese.
supper (not too late): 1/2 pineapple

* this is guesswork, I've probably never had exactly this, but you get the idea.
Grayzie

Simple Living Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How often do you shop?

i do a BIG shop at the farmer's market on Saturday. i load up on greens, bananas, coconuts, and all manner of locally grown fruits and veggies (conventional and organic). then i hit the (small, insanely expensive) HFS in my neighborhood approximately 2x/week for replenishments and stuff i can't get locally. and i go to the big supermarket 1x week for cheap(er) conventionally-grown mainland produce, and other food for my daughter (who is vegetarian, but not raw). so 4x/week usually.

> What did you use the salt in/on?

i used the salt in a salad dressing, and the nama shoyu in my blended soup. boy, i got a big wake up call on nutritiondata.com with the sodium. now i know, i am allowed either 1 T of nama shoyu OR 1 tsp sea salt per day, MAXIMUM. i am really going to clean up my act on that score.

> I just want it to be known
> publicly that YOU are my first raw food hero!

oh my gosh, stop it, i'm going to cry!!!

What a wonderful thread! Thank you all for sharing!

PS. how long can I store homemade salad dressings with lemon &/or lime juice w/ oil, garlic, herbs, nama shoyu etc..?

AM- 1 banana, 1 necterine, 2 tbl sunflower seeds, 4 blackberries
SNACK- 1 mango
LUNCH- 1 avacado, 1 tomato, cabage, hand full mushrooms
SNACK- 1 figi apple
DINNER- 1 corn on the cob


.........living to tell a tale of a life it self........

Stoner, good for you!!