Raw vegan lifestyle is exhilarating.
People ask me almost daily “what do you eat in one day”? Below is sample of a regular day for me. It is a little bit on a lower end of my caloric intake, which will most resemble the majority of “normal” people. (side note: ha, ha, yes, I am a little extreme in everything I do. And I eat a lot!)
My Food
- I eat many pounds of food. Sometimes maybe 5–7 pounds. That may seem quite extreme. But it’s a fresh food, full of fiber, nourishment and water content, so it is not as bad as it sounds.
- I eat the majority foods in the rawest purest state possible: fresh fruits, fresh vegetables (very occasionally I may steam them)… Sprouted lentils instead of cooked. Some nuts and seeds. My diet is also called raw vegan diet.
- If I eat grains (very seldom), I sprout them as well.
- I don’t eat any animal products, such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, or other derivatives.
- I pretty much don’t eat anything that comes in a box or a package with a long list of ingredients.
- If I eat packaged food (like for example my plant-based protein from pumpkin seeds, hemp, brown rice or similar) then the list of ingredients is very short: just one or a few items.
- I don’t use microwave oven, I got rid of it 10 years ago and after the initial transition, once I have figured how to prepare my foods without it, I don’t miss it at all. In my mind, I feel good about not using it because the discussions about whether it is dangerous to us or not are so unclear, that I find it simpler just not to use it.
- I drink a lot of water, somewhere between 14-18 glasses a day.
- I do have one cup (16 oz) of coffee in the morning. All the other times I drink green tea, herb tee, or dandelion “Dandy Blend” hot drink (made of water-soluble extracts of roasted roots of dandelion, chicory and beets, and the grains of barley and rye… gluten free). Yum.
- I eat about 3,000—3,500 calories a day. It is a lot of volume of food.
My Exercise
- On an average day, I walk my dog Zuzi for 60 minutes and workout with weights for 90 minutes and ride bike a little for transportation. I do this 7 days a week.
- Another 3–4 days per week I add tennis drills for 1–2 hours.
- I move a lot, that’s why I need to eat many calories. 3,000 calories a day makes me to sustain my weight (162 lbs), remain lean, and feel recovered and energized. I love being a raw vegan.
Below is an example of my average day’s food:
One Day Raw Vegan Menu
Breakfast
- 1/2 lb bananas
- 1 lb apples
- 1/2 lb orange
- 1 pear
- 1/3 lb kale
Make a smoothie… Blend it all together with 2 cups of water. Sometimes I add a little bit coconut/almond milk if I want it creamier (1/2–1 cup). 650 calories. Some other days I make 48 oz of carrot-apple-ginger-turmeric juice. No fiber, just plain raw energy…
Lunch
- 1 lb (frozen) blueberries
- 1 banana
- 40 grams of pumpkin seed protein powder
Make a “milk” from banana, water, and pumpkin seed protein. Pour it over the frozen blueberries. They will defrost slightly and the “milk” will freeze slightly. It will become a deliciously nutritious “ice cream”. Total 600 calories, 43 grams of protein. This is my meal after training.
Dinner
- 1/2 lb sprouted lentils
- 1 avocado (140 grams)
- spices (sweet chili, garlic)
- 1 lb tomatoes
Just mix the lentils, avocado and spices in a bowl… I munch the tomatoes on the side. Some other times I eat other vegetables, cauliflower, broccoli, radishes, whatever I find in the fridge (it is always full with plants!). Total 500 calories, 20 grams protein.
Snacks
- apple
- pear
- thin rice crackers, organic (brown rice or 5-grains)
- and my sin: Chimes ginger chew candies… I like to eat them after my meals, ginger helps with digestion. That is my excuse. My digestion works well. I just LOVE the candies.
Depending on how my days look, I “snack” more or less… sort of like mini-meals. I may add some peanut butter or more fruits.
Eating unprocessed, living food gives me a lot of energy. It is easy to digest, so I always feel light. The snacks (apples, pears, etc) are easy to carry around in your bag, so you never get caught hungry somewhere where you would make a bad food choice. I also like to snack on dried fruits sometimes, just be aware that they are more calories dense.
Try this raw vegan lifestyle for a few days, you may be surprised how amazingly you will feel.
Watch a 14-minute interview with Anthea Frances of RawRealNutrition.com about my raw vegan eating habits:
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