Raw/vegan/vegetarian: Improving my diet!

[Majesticzero]

Hey everyone!

My feelings are really changing a lot at the moment. It began with feeling bad about driving too fast (I used to drive too fast every time) as I posted in an other article a while ago. And now I don't feel that good about what I eat.

I would like to change my diet on some points and see if I feel better about it. And of course I hope to improve my health!

Some points to keep in mind:
- My intestines don't work optimal because of an infection I had. But it's getting better. So health is also improving.
- 3 days a week weightlifting (so I need a lot of carbs, calories and protein).
- I live at my parents house. So I can't change my dinner, I need to eat what they eat.
- I have a lot of acne on my shoulders. It probably because of the infection because it's getting less. But it could be from food also.\
- I eat lunch together with the company I work for, they order food, so I can't change that to much.

Here is what I eat:

breakfast:
4 slices of bread with cucumber and tomato

10 am:
3 slices of bread with turkey breast

lunch:
4 slices of bread with peanut butter

3 pm:
3 slices of bread with turkey breast

6 pm:
what my parents eat. Usually potatoes with vegetables all cooked. and sometimes meat (often pig).

10 pm: (only after workouts)
2 slices of bread with peanut butter

It could be a lot worse of course. But it can also be a lot better. Some more variation would be good. But also a lot less bread.
I also need to change my breakfast because my dokter (chinese medicine) told me that it's not good to eat something that is that cold right after I get out of bed. She said it drains my energy for the rest of the day.

The reason why I eat also at 10 am and 3 pm is because of sports. I burn extremely much calories every time I do sports, so I need to eat a lot. And my muscles also need to grow... and that also means eating a lot!


I would like to start with changing my breakfast and meals at 10 am and 3 pm. I would like to eat more quality food.

Do you have any advise for me? Maybe rawfood or something vegetarian?
Maybe something else?

I'm completely new to rawfood/vegetarian food so that's why I ask you people I'm also searching on google for more information

[Majesticzero]

I also found this and would like your reaction

"there is not really any scientific mechanism that makes eating raw food better than eating cooked food." In fact, strict raw foodists lack concentrated protein sources, and often are deficient in vitamin B12, zinc, calcium, and vitamin D. Also, some foods are definitely better for you when they're heated; for instance, tomatoes have more heart-healthy lycopene when they're hot."

source: Wellsphere - Health knowledge made personal

[Beuford]

Well I'll share what I eat with you, so you can compare. I have not moved out yet, as I am still 16.

Breakfast is usually 4 slices of wholemeal bread with half a can of baked beans(salt reduced), and often a piece of fruit. This is usually at about 7:30am, though a bit later usually if I don't have school(school is 4 days a week).

I do not take any food to school, so if I have school, I won't eat anything until about 4pm. But the 3 days a week I am at home, I'll eat twice before then, and again in the afternoon. Oranges, mandarins, apples, melons, pineapple, walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and some others depending on what I have chosen shopping previously.

At dinner, I do not just eat what my family eats. Though I do share in some of it, like vegetables, I'm usually eating legumes while they are usually eating meat. Just today, I ate wholemeal pasta with soybeans and some vegetables. I'll often eat potatoes, cauliflower, carrot, green beans, and quite a range of things.

My diet is certainly not perfect, but is somewhat healthy compared to most people my age and I hope you can do similiar even though you live with your parents. Just make it so it is not a big issue for them, take care of most of your diet yourself.

A few months ago I thought I wouldn't be a vegetarian until I move out. One day I said(after having leaned towards vegetarianism for months) "I don't like chicken" and ever since then I have not ate meat.

Goodluck.

[Beuford]

Originally Posted by Majesticzero

In fact, strict raw foodists lack concentrated protein sources, and often are deficient in vitamin B12, zinc, calcium, and vitamin D. [/url]

It's good that you are researching this but they are all obtainable with a sufficient variety of plant food. Those points are also raised about vegans and to a lesser extent vegetarians. B12 does not cost a lot to supplement.

[Indy107]

Um....I'm no expert - I'm working on that aspect - but I wouldn't say I'm there yet - um - but expert or not - um -

I just can't see eating a loaf a bread a day as healthy?

Unless you buy the really, really, healthy bread - which is really, really, expensive, it's probably full of white flour and HFCS. 16 slices a bread a day is a LOT.

So if you want health advice - I would say cut out the bread!

[scorpio1980]

I second getting rid of most of that bread, your insulin levels are probably on a roller coaster all day. Try waking up to something like an omlet of 3 eggs, with tomatos, bell peppers, and onions, and a piece of fruit. Having a turkey sandwhich for lunch would be ok, but eat fruit, or veggies with it. For dinner I would go with a portion of meat, half a plate of veggies, maybe some brown rice if you really want carbs. Snack on things like fruit, veggies, beef jerky, etc. I limit my grains, but if you really want grain carbs choose others besides bread all the time, limit bread to maybe lunch.

[Beuford]

..and make sure it is wholemeal!

[Indy107]

Your post title says Raw/Vegan/Vegetarian.....

So if you want to improve your diet under those terms, here's what I would suggest. First of all, start small. Baby steps. One thing at a time. And make a commitment to whatever that first step is for you, to stick with it for at least 2 weeks, if not 30 days, so you can really see if it's working for you or not. See how you feel, how you look, how your numbers change (weight, bp, etc).

One small thing I did , just last week, was to replace my usual breakfast of toast and butter with a green smoothie. Grab a handful or two of raw spinach. Wash the leaves to make sure there's no dirt or anything in it and toss it in a blender. Cut up a stick of celery and throw that in too. Maybe add a carrot if you like. Then core and cut up an apple and throw that in too. Blend it with water until it liquefied nicely. Finally toss in a banana and some ice cubes. Blend on high until the chunks are all gone. It should have the consistency of a Wendys Frosty, or maybe a little thinner.

It will look like nuclear waste sludge. But it smells so fresh and it tastes sooo, soooo, good. Have a glass every morning and see what your energy levels are like after a week.

[rocksupreme]

I'll echo what a couple of others have said here, that being that bread is probably not something you want to be a primary source of calories. Granted, I used to eat peanut butter sandwiches all day when I was a teenager and it helped me put on mass when I was working out, but all that sugar was awful for me.

I'd suggest dropping the bread and peanut butter. Really, there are a thousand better ways to get carbs and protein.

If you want a convenient, grain-based staple, I suggest oatmeal. I open up a raw egg over a bowl of hot oatmeal, and it's unbelievably delicious. Eggs are a much better source of protein than PB - no sugar too.

[koneall]

Originally Posted by Indy107

Your post title says Raw/Vegan/Vegetarian.....

So if you want to improve your diet under those terms, here's what I would suggest. First of all, start small. Baby steps. One thing at a time. And make a commitment to whatever that first step is for you, to stick with it for at least 2 weeks, if not 30 days, so you can really see if it's working for you or not. See how you feel, how you look, how your numbers change (weight, bp, etc).

One small thing I did , just last week, was to replace my usual breakfast of toast and butter with a green smoothie. Grab a handful or two of raw spinach. Wash the leaves to make sure there's no dirt or anything in it and toss it in a blender. Cut up a stick of celery and throw that in too. Maybe add a carrot if you like. Then core and cut up an apple and throw that in too. Blend it with water until it liquefied nicely. Finally toss in a banana and some ice cubes. Blend on high until the chunks are all gone. It should have the consistency of a Wendys Frosty, or maybe a little thinner.

It will look like nuclear waste sludge. But it smells so fresh and it tastes sooo, soooo, good. Have a glass every morning and see what your energy levels are like after a week.

I like that and will probably try it but for me it seems protein deficient. I would add two raw eggs to the mixture. A vegan might use protein powder (made from soy) plus an avocado for some healthy fat.

[aelle]

Originally Posted by koneall

I like that and will probably try it but for me it seems protein deficient. I would add two raw eggs to the mixture. A vegan might use protein powder (made from soy) plus an avocado for some healthy fat.

Or nuts. I drink a green smoothie every morning and like to include a different kind of nuts every day, to get a variety of nutrients. Proteins and fats in one go!

[Indy107]

Originally Posted by aelle

Or nuts. I drink a green smoothie every morning and like to include a different kind of nuts every day, to get a variety of nutrients. Proteins and fats in one go!

Me too! Green Smoothie first thing every day for almost a week now. Lost another 3lbs and my energy level has jumped up 3 notches!

[ginkgo]

Originally Posted by Majesticzero

I also found this and would like your reaction

"there is not really any scientific mechanism that makes eating raw food better than eating cooked food." In fact, strict raw foodists lack concentrated protein sources, and often are deficient in vitamin B12, zinc, calcium, and vitamin D. Also, some foods are definitely better for you when they're heated; for instance, tomatoes have more heart-healthy lycopene when they're hot."

source: Wellsphere - Health knowledge made personal

To use Michael Jackson's words, this is ignorant. It should be "health ignorance made personal!" Enzymes are important to health and all are destroyed from cooking. But it is fun reading this since it is so easy to refute.

With B-12 about 30% of the meat-eaters are deficient so everyone should supplement this one since it is the cheapest vitamin ever. Some people take 500 mg of C a day. That much B-12 is enough to last you a hundred years. You need 1 mg of B-12 every 166 days!

As far as vitamin D there are no good food sources. So you do not have to worry about too much that causes death (hypervitaminosis D). The best source is sunlight that creates non-toxic pre-vitamin D. You can supplement also.

The American Dietetic Association says that vegans [they eat no animal foods-- no meat, fish, fowl, eggs or dairy] eat twice the amount of protein that they need. Meat-eaters get 5 times the protein that they need and that is a big reason that Americans have so many cardiovascular problems (40% of Americans over age 40 of high blood pressure). Read the article on this The Truth About Protein.

Now calcium is the most fun to refute. Many Americans have osteoporosis that they say is from a lack of calcium. If that were the case then Americans do not eat enough ice cream. Ice cream has lots of calcium.

But when you eat excess protein, it makes the body acid so the body must take calcium out of the bones to neutralize this (buffer it) and then the body gets rid of it. So scientifically speaking, meat-eaters have a lot of calcium in their urine. They have measured this. They get more than raw eaters but urinate out a lot of it!

Dairy is highest in calcium but also has a lot protein. So eating dairy to get calcium is like drinking your urine to get all the calcium in it! This calcium cannot be used since it bound up with the acid.

A far as tomatoes, how do cause tomatoes to have 5 times the nutrients in it? It is measured as weight of nutrient in weight of the food. The heaviest thing in the food is water. So you take out the water (dried tomatoes/cooking evaporates water) and the nutrition goes up 5 times. Dried tomatoes have a lot more lycopene than the cooked tomatoes since you took out the water.

That Wellesphere link is a total scam and SPAM. It has virtually no information on it, just links. We have all just been SPAMMED.

[Beuford]

Originally Posted by ginkgo

Some people take 500 mg of C a day.

I know it's kind of irrelevant but why would they? One orange is enough vitamin C in a day. Anyway, about the protein thing, I've also read that plant protein is less acidic so it won't take your calcium away from you.

[ginkgo]

Originally Posted by Beuford

I know it's kind of irrelevant but why would they? One orange is enough vitamin C in a day. Anyway, about the protein thing, I've also read that plant protein is less acidic so it won't take your calcium away from you.

Yes plant protein is less acidic but still you should not be eating lots of nuts and seeds since the excess protein is not good for you. Some people are fruitarians and only eat fruit. That includes hard fruit like nuts and seeds, but smaller amounts of them.

One muscular fruitarian has never drank a liquid in years. He eats lots of juicy fruits to get his water.

[scorpio1980]

While were at it why don't we mention the plant foods that are inflamatory. An apple for instance has a rating of -21, while a 1/2 chicken breast is only a -20, baked beans has an imflamatory rating of -106 per cup, while a sirloin steak of 505grams is actually 121 which is moderatly anti-inflamatory, which means you have to eat almost 2 cups of spinich to reach the same anti inflamatory properties of the steak. I'm not downing veggies, infact a large portion of my diet are veggies, just tired of everyone downing a perfectly nutritious food. The steak blew the spinich out of the water in just about every vitamin, and mineral, infact once added up it takes 10 cups of raw spinich to be about equal with the steak in nutrient density. Again not downing veggies, half my diet is veggies, I probably eat more veggies than most vegans that eat alot of beans, and grains, the difference is I eat meat along with it. I understand the importance of plant foods, but also see how good wild, and grass fed meats, and fish make me feel.

[scorpio1980]

Originally Posted by ginkgo

Yes plant protein is less acidic

Please inform me on how plant protein is less acidic than animal based protein. A protein is nothing more than a bunch of amino acids, and all protein comes from differing ratios of these different amino acids. Animal proteins, and plant proteins are both made up from the same amino acids, just differing amounts of the different amino acids. How does an amino acid that becomes a protein in a nut become less acidic than that same amino acid when it is in an egg for example? It is true different foods are more or less acidic, but this is caused by other factors besides proteins, mainly mineral content, this is why veggies are so alkaline. Most people don't respect the fact sugar itself is acidic in the body, and is why most carbs in general are acidic as well. If you take a look at the charts many, many fruits are acidic to the body, and that means they will leach calcium from the bones just as easy as any other acidic food. Fruits such as berries are best fruit wise, because they have low sugar content. This nonsense that natural sugars are ok in excess is ridiculous, and goes completely against what science has proved. ALL sugars are broken down in the same manner, and eigther used as energy right away or stored for later, because too much sugar in the blood will kill, and insulin has to bring these levels down. Fat/fiber slow the absorbtion of sugars into the blood, but if one binges on carb laden foods all day every day, your pancreas constantly produces insulin to respond to this, which is the most major precursor to insulin resistance.

[ginkgo]

Originally Posted by scorpio1980

Please inform me on how plant protein is less acidic than animal based protein. A protein is nothing more than a bunch of amino acids, and all protein comes from differing ratios of these different amino acids. Animal proteins, and plant proteins are both made up from the same amino acids, just differing amounts of the different amino acids. How does an amino acid that becomes a protein in a nut become less acidic than that same amino acid when it is in an egg for example? It is true different foods are more or less acidic, but this is caused by other factors besides proteins, mainly mineral content, this is why veggies are so alkaline. Most people don't respect the fact sugar itself is acidic in the body, and is why most carbs in general are acidic as well. If you take a look at the charts many, many fruits are acidic to the body, and that means they will leach calcium from the bones just as easy as any other acidic food. Fruits such as berries are best fruit wise, because they have low sugar content. This nonsense that natural sugars are ok in excess is ridiculous, and goes completely against what science has proved. ALL sugars are broken down in the same manner, and eigther used as energy right away or stored for later, because too much sugar in the blood will kill, and insulin has to bring these levels down. Fat/fiber slow the absorbtion of sugars into the blood, but if one binges on carb laden foods all day every day, your pancreas constantly produces insulin to respond to this, which is the most major precursor to insulin resistance.

The charts are about acid forming and alkaline forming foods after they are digested. So (citric) acid fruits like oranges are alkaline forming foods. There are no charts saying that a plant protein is less acidic than an animal protein since people do not eat the above. They eat foods. Plant foods are less acid forming than the animal foods in general according to the charts.

I did not mention carbs or sugars since that is a complex quagmire (a difficult, precarious, or entrapping position). Many MDs, NDs and nutritionists get this mixed up. But the college textbooks on nutrition keeps everything right. That is where I get this information. How do they test a food to see how acidic it is. The same way that they measure the calories in a food. Do you know what that is? They burn the food. For acidity they test the ash to see how acidic it is.

The complex carbs are starches. The simple carbs are the sugars. There are whole grains and refined grains. So people get these mixed up like which is better a simple grain or a refined carb.

Then with sugar, there are the monosacharides and disacharides. Mono is one like monogamous and di is two like dichloride (containing 2 chlorine atoms). So you can say there are single and double sugars. Now there is a bigger chance of mixing up all of the above. You can do a search for a simple sugar and find lots of sites even though there is no such thing.

If there was then since a sugar is a simple carb then a simple sugar would be a simple simple carbohydrate and a complex sugar would be a complex simple carbohydrate. So you have the simple and complex carbs, the refined and whole grains and the single and double sugars. So it is so easy to mix them up like with double grains, simple sugars and whole carbs.

Also baked beans are not a vegetable. It is a concoction like Chicken Pot Pie. Pinto beans is a vegetable but that is one ingredient in baked beans. But since they contain sugar, someone can make baked beans with mostly sugar making it a junk food. I believe that potatoes are healthy but not french fries.

[Beuford]

Beans are a fruit .

[Majesticzero]

Wow, been away for a couple of days and I see this big discussion now :P
Thanks for all the posts!

@ Ginkgo

Sorry for the spam... I don't know how the URL got messed up. But it wasn't on purpose.

Originally Posted by scorpio1980

I second getting rid of most of that bread, your insulin levels are probably on a roller coaster all day.

What happens if my insulin is really high because of the bread?


I'm thinking of starting with Green smoothies. Of course because of all your responses and the positive articles I find on websites.

Maybe instead of the 10 am and 3 pm meals I could take 0.5 liters of green smoothie.

Maybe later on change my breakfast to soup (maybe pumpkin? jum!) or another raw food meal if the green smoothies are really that great ;-)

[Maximum Jack]

What happens if my insulin is really high because of the bread?

Insulin encourages blood sugar to be metabolized, this also causes fat to be stored due to the body not requiring any further energy because the carbs in processed bread are so readily digested. The effect of this can vary greatly depending on your genetics and metabolic type. If your system rapidly oxidizes food this will play havoc with your metabolism, if you are a slower oxidizer then you will handle carbs pretty well as the energy release from the carbs is slower. You should try to identify your metabolic type as it enables you to take control of your own health and take responsibility for your own health. This article helps set out some good reasons to identify your metabolic type and approaches some myths about dieting, more aimed at weight loss but has a positive angle to it.

[Love2Love]

Originally Posted by koneall

I like that and will probably try it but for me it seems protein deficient. I would add two raw eggs to the mixture. A vegan might use protein powder (made from soy) plus an avocado for some healthy fat.

I lovvvvve green smoothies!
I use:
Kale and sometimes chollards & spinach too
1 apple
1 banana
HEMP Protein
Maca Powder ~ Works wondersss! I love love love lovvvvve it!! (highly recommended for a feel good day)
Ice
Coconut Water
+ if you'd like it a bit sweetened add 1 capful of Pure Maple Syrup
Mmmm, MMmmmm, MmmMmMmmm!
hee-hee ;~D

[Majesticzero]

Originally Posted by Love2Love

I lovvvvve green smoothies!
I use:
Kale and sometimes chollards & spinach too
1 apple
1 banana
HEMP Protein
Maca Powder ~ Works wondersss! I love love love lovvvvve it!! (highly recommended for a feel good day)
Ice
Coconut Water
+ if you'd like it a bit sweetened add 1 capful of Pure Maple Syrup
Mmmm, MMmmmm, MmmMmMmmm!
hee-hee ;~D

I love your positivity

Today I bought some spinach (600 grams total), a couple of apples and around 10 bananas.
I just made my first Green smoothie with 4 bananas and 100 grams of spinach (The Pavlina smoothie ;-))

I just had dinner so I'm going to eat it in a couple of hours. I still need to see what I'm going to do with the apples. I'll probably mix them with the bananas in the smoothie.

UPDATE: The smoothie was really heavy! I'm feel really full. Maybe I need to add some more water to make it more liquid so I can drink it more easily. This time I used a straw and it was really difficult to get the smoothie through the straw.

[Majesticzero]

I made another smoothie today.
- 2 bananas
- 3 apples
- 100 gram spinach

Again this smoothie was really heavy. It felt just too much to drink.
Tomorrow I'm going to take 2 smoothies with me made out of:
- 4 bananas
- 100 gram spinach

I'm going to eat them at 10 am and 3 pm. I'm really curious if they aren't too much.

[whatinspiresu]

Originally Posted by Majesticzero

I made another smoothie today.
- 2 bananas
- 3 apples
- 100 gram spinach

Again this smoothie was really heavy. It felt just too much to drink.
Tomorrow I'm going to take 2 smoothies with me made out of:
- 4 bananas
- 100 gram spinach

I'm going to eat them at 10 am and 3 pm. I'm really curious if they aren't too much.

just a guess, could it be the banana making it heavy?

[Majesticzero]

Yes it is. I calculated the smoothie (4 bananas + 100 gram spinach) at around 500 kcal.
Today I have eaten another one, this time I was hungry so I didn't feel more heavy than my normal meal (4 slices of bread).

So it feels like a good change. Although I need to buy new bananas, again :P

[whatinspiresu]

Originally Posted by Majesticzero

Yes it is. I calculated the smoothie (4 bananas + 100 gram spinach) at around 500 kcal.
Today I have eaten another one, this time I was hungry so I didn't feel more heavy than my normal meal (4 slices of bread).

So it feels like a good change. Although I need to buy new bananas, again :P

thats good bananas are cheap! one question, does it taste good?

[Majesticzero]

Originally Posted by whatinspiresu

thats good bananas are cheap! one question, does it taste good?

4 bananas + spinach (100 grams) tastes great!
The one I made with the apples isn't as great as this one ;-) But that's just my opinion of course.

Today I've eaten 2 smoothies and I still want more

[whatinspiresu]

Originally Posted by Majesticzero

4 bananas + spinach (100 grams) tastes great!
The one I made with the apples isn't as great as this one ;-) But that's just my opinion of course.

Today I've eaten 2 smoothies and I still want more

ok! its going on my shopping list! THANKS!

[Majesticzero]

Originally Posted by whatinspiresu

ok! its going on my shopping list! THANKS!

No problem Let me know if you like it!

P.S. don't forget to add some water to it. I add around half a glas of water, sometimes 1 glas of water. My blender doesn't seem to like it when I don't add the water :P