Typical vegetarian day...?!
Typical vegetarian day...?
I've been vegetarian for about six weeks. Here is a little list of my typical menu for a day. Could anyone tell me whether I am on the right tracks or maybe I need to rethink my diet, am I getting enough of what I need?
BREAKFAST = Actimel / All bran / Herbal tea / Orange.
LUNCH = Home made quiche / mixed fried veg / yogurt / kiwi / Tea
4PM = Apple / Figs / Almonds / Peanuts / Walnuts / Tea
DINNER = Stir fry of beans / Tomatos / Soya / Mushrooms etc and either rice / lentils or mixed cereal, followed by Apple / Tea.
Obviously this varies from day to day but it's a rough idea. Any advise would be appreciated thank you.
2 months ago
I actually drink soya milk but I still eat yogurt and eggs which defeats the object but I live in France and there is almost nothing available here for vegetarians. I even noticed the my yogurts contain pork geletine and beatle juice as colouring and I thought at the time I was buying quality yogurts! I am breast feeding at the moment (which has made me lose weight) I'm worried about losing even more if I cut out all dairy and I need to be passing on nutrients to my little one. I have read a few horrible facts about dairy and would be prepared to cut it out if I wasn't b-feeding. I want to do what's best for myself and my baby. Health is really not an issue here and I have NEVER seen a health food shop! It's very much meat and two veg and nothing else goes! It's proving difficult but I could not / will not go back to meat! Oh by the way I don't sugar my tea but I'm not on a diet, just trying to be healthy and do my best.
Answers:
2 months ago
I actually drink soya milk but I still eat yogurt and eggs which defeats the object but I live in France and there is almost nothing available here for vegetarians. I even noticed the my yogurts contain pork geletine and beatle juice as colouring and I thought at the time I was buying quality yogurts! I am breast feeding at the moment (which has made me lose weight) I'm worried about losing even more if I cut out all dairy and I need to be passing on nutrients to my little one. I have read a few horrible facts about dairy and would be prepared to cut it out if I wasn't b-feeding. I want to do what's best for myself and my baby. Health is really not an issue here and I have NEVER seen a health food shop! It's very much meat and two veg and nothing else goes! It's proving difficult but I could not / will not go back to meat! Oh by the way I don't sugar my tea but I'm not on a diet, just trying to be healthy and do my best.
You are doing very well. Top marks for not eating meat and wanting to find a balanced, healthy diet.
It's good to get the live bacteria for your gut, but actimel is a very expensive way to go. Buy some real live yoghurt from a health food store and make your own from it. You can keep the process going by just adding milk to some of the current batch of fresh live yogurt you've made. Search for details of yogurt making at home. It's very easy. Be careful what you add to yogurt for flavour, as many things will kill the live bacteria and make the yogurt useless.
Also try not to drink orange and dairy in the same meal, they don't like being mixed in your tummy. More about dairy below.
I would also reccommend you stop eating quiche and any other egg products. Make similar things without the egg. Eggs are little choleserol bombs and like to harbour salmonela. If you eat eggs you are eating chicken and what chickens eat; worms, bugs etc.. Eggs are chicken abortions, they are not vegetables and you are not a vegetarian!
The last 3 answers, before Michael*, so far are good the others not so good. They seem well intentioned, but they don't really know what they are talking about. They give this away by emphasising dairy. I would encourage you to just take live yogurt and no other dairy.
* Michaels' fry up is very tasty, but not very healthy, I wouldn't want you eating the eggs, but the rest would be OK occassionally.
Dairy is totally not needed, unless you are a baby!
Look at nature; do you see any creature taking the milk of other creatures ever? No! It's not natural. However, mother's milk is essential; all other dairy will do nothing for you, but give you a clogged up system, be prone to colds and make you fat! Especially cooked cheese.
Find other sources of calcium and be sure you get plenty of vitamin d. Without 'd' you can't assimilate calcium, no matter how much you take.
Protein is very over-rated in modern society. It's more important for children who are still growing, but for adults we don't need to look for high protein sources. All veggies have protein; giving up meat and eating nuts and pulses will give you more protein.
Pulses can be a little difficult to digest and peole complain of gas. There are two things to remedy this:
1) Always use a little asafoetida powder when cooking pulses.
2) *Don't mix starch foods with high protein foods in the same meal.
*Proteins take a very long time to digest in the stomach, but starches don't. Combining them causes the the starches to be held in the stomach [along with the pulses] longer than the starches should be held. This causes them to ferment; starch fermentation is the cause of the gas.
Gas may be a giggle, but it is also a very serious problem. Minute gas bubbles can get into the blood stream and find their way into various organs, even the brain. Over time this can be a big problem, leading to many diseases even death. Mostly though is makes you feel sluggish and drowsy and give you headaches.
Source(s):
Me; Trained and experienced nutritionist and naturopath.
It looks pretty good to me. I've been veggie for about 8 years now and I think one area vegitarians miss out is protein, but this seems pretty good as you include nuts and seeds. The only think I would suggest is prehaps increasing dairy.
Don't worry about it. As long as you don't eat meat your doing fine. A bottle of beer and crackers and cheese is a fine vegetarian snack. And why not?
god you eat more in your lunch then i do for the whole day lol. but sounds gd
how about some wholemeal pasta with mixed veg and tofu, or quorn. you can get quorn mince and make your lasagnes and shephards pie and they are still low fat compared to meat
I also think you should increase calcium - you don't mention water... are you drinking enough water? They say you are supposed to take your weight, divide it in half and that is how many ounces you are supposed to drink each day. Tea is great for a lot of things, but you don't say what kind of herbal tea you are drinking. Do you sweeten it? If so, are you using sugar, honey, stevia?
Other than that, it sounds good.
you have a good supply of protein, your carbohydrate count seems low. Consider veggie burgers, whole wheat pasta and veggie lasagna as additions
Sounds great, but you could use some fresh, raw fruits and veggies. A nice big salad, with mixed greens, raw kolrabi, beets, swiss chard, cucumber, etc would be a super addition. Or, try some raw veggies with sprouted hummus, or freshly squeezed or extracted juice. Keep up the good work!
I'm with the rest of them. Looks and sounds good to me.
Got any lunch left?
I think your diet looks pretty healthy and you have protein, vitamins, iron and calcium in your diet. BUT: Pay attention to your B-vitamins, especially B-12. Look online in what food they are in and if you don't find enough foodsources, go and ask for a good suppliment.
You can't beat a good full cooked breakfast occassionally.
(v) sausages wrapped in (v) bacon, plum tomatoes with basil - grilled, 2 fried eggs, beans, wild exotic mushrooms, hash browns, toast. And if you're still a little peckish, throw in some yoghut, cereal, fruit and croissants.