I started a 75% raw vegan diet (all meals, excluding dinner) for various reasons: health, weight, cure fatigue, etc… There are so many benefits to this type of diet.
Misconception: You eat like a rabbit. 
Truth: You’d be surprised at the array of dishes on the menu.
Benefits: I’ve already lost 7 pounds in 2 weeks and I’ve never felt more energized. The weight loss will subside once all the toxins have been released from my body. No, I won’t become ulta skinny or look deprived of food. Actually I get to eat every couple of hours. Its great!
So, I am listing my lunch and dinner menu because this post is what I resort to keeping me on track for the week. 😉
Lunch:
- Stuffed bell pepper w/ guacamole, triscuits, and baby carrots. Fruit: tangelo
- Romaine wraps with white bean hummus, shredded carrots, sprouts, red bellpepper, and cucumber. Fruit: Apple
- Veggie Sushi: zucchini, carrots, sprouts, avacado. Dip: tamari. Fruit: Grapes
- Zucchini spaghetti with Sun dried tomato Marinara sauce. Fruit: undecided
- Tortilla soup and salad with corn chips
Dinner:
- Fried Chicken, pasta salad, and corn
- Flank Steak, Baked Potato, Veggies
- Burritos and refried beans
- Spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread
- Breakfast. Yum!
- Turkey burgers, steak fries, and fresh fruit
And I want to THANK YOU for all the kinds words I have recieved, my fellow bloggers. The unplugged time has helped me refocus on my life plans and offered great insight. I promise to update you soon.
mmmmmmm, looks divine! I think the biggest misconception about vegetarians/vegans is that they eat like rabbits. Me and my sister were talking about just this on the phone last night (I am vegi, she is vegan) … I think most people would be utterly surprised at the array of delicious foods/recipes on offer – as per your menu plan. We eat a fair bit of raw food too and actually since we have been completely vegetarian (9 months) we have felt a lot healthier in general 🙂
I didn’t know you were vegetarian! I am jealous that you are consuming all those wonderful fruit dishes lately. How I wish i was in your neck of the woods. 🙂
It really is surprising how many dishes can be concocted with a colorful array of veggie food. I love the creativity and taste that comes with this diet.
9 months and still going… Congrats to you and your sis! I totally believe in eating a healthy diet.
That’s great!I’ve never felt better than when I ate all raw vegan (need to do that again!!) . I think the food tastes exponentially better. YUM!
Wow, you too? Its nice to see a large array of people who have connected themselves to eating healthy.
As I forgot my lunch in the fridge today, I can see how it can be challenging to eat raw vegan in a non friendly raw vegan city (due to the standard american diet food).
But as long as I try to incorporate a large percentage to this raw vegan diet…its all good to me. 🙂
I thinking menu planning is definitely key. Plus, I went out and splurged on a couple of great cookbooks.
Thanks for the inspiration! One of my goals is to eat raw for a week and I’m happy to see someone having success with it!
Hi Megan, Thanks for stopping by! I think the biggest thing is to plan (and shop for new cookbooks! 😉 ) your menu to have success.
It really is amazing at the arrangements of dishes one can make on a raw food diet. I just bought this cookbook: The Art of Raw Living Food. Amazing.
Good luck with your raw food diet.
Your lunches sound so good! I love eating that way. It always makes me feel so good. I just get too lazy to do it all the time! I find it easier to eat raw veggies and fruit in the summer when everything is at its peak and the weather is warm. During the winter, I want warm comfort foods.
Oh I understand the comfort food in the winter. That is why I am 75% raw vegan with a 25% high vegetarian. 🙂
I still get my yummy macaroni and cheese. Polenta with a chunky tomato sauce. Try this for comfort food: 3 bean vegetarian chili. Totally yum!
I really do like the way I feel and my husband finds me sexy with my healthy body. So, its a win-win situation for me.
Thanks for the inspiration.
So, congrats on the weight loss….it is indeed a hard road.
I wandered over here from Organizing Junkie because your hyperlink said “raw vegan”. As a vegetarian on the verge of vegan who LOVES raw food, I was STOKED! Very excited, I clicked and enjoyed reading your lunch menus. I applaud you on your efforts to eat healthy and clean foods.
Then I saw the dinner menus. I am a bit confused….I am not sure you should be claiming to be on a raw vegan diet when at least 3 of your dinners this week will include meat….but, perhaps I misunderstood. If I did, then I sincerely apologize, but anyone that eats beef, chicken and turkey is nowhere near being vegan. Or vegetarian, for that matter. There are tons of misconceptions out there about what it means to call oneself vegetarian/vegan/etc. These types of posts help to perpetuate that inexactitude.
However, every good thing we put into our bodies is indeed a good thing, so best wishes for your continued success. Just please be careful what you call it….until you really do decide that without meat you truly feel better, your skin is healthier, you look younger, you have more energy – all because of that great food you are using to honor and heal your body.
🙂
Hi Xan,
Thank you! I understand your concern. I should say my diet is 75% raw vegan per day or maybe 65% (breakfast, snack(s), and lunch). Dinner is the 35% non-raw vegan but highly vegetarian.
I know that my dinners look carnivorous. That is because my husband is definitely a T-REX! He could pound down a steak a night (in fact he used to!). So, it is the family’s dinner menu. I tend not to partake too much in the meat portions.
For me, I substitute the meat portions with other items. Taco night, I use my recipe for Tasty Lentil Taco Filling or black beans. Steak night, I omit the steak and pile on the veggies for my Baked Potato. Spaghetti, I forgo the ground beef and toss my noodles with marinated tomatoes (basil, oregano, olive oil). Turkey burgers… well, I do give in. I do love a Turkey burger with avacado, purple onion, sprouts, etc… 🙂
Sorry, sometimes i post my menus w/ the veg portions vs. the meat portions, but I was aiming for a short post. All the while, I can say more veggies and whole foods. Definitely a winner just incorporating more of them into my diet.
You are great to make these changes! It is tough – I do know!
I worried all day that I came across as a not-so-nice person, giving veg-heads a bad name. (And I know that I did, and I apologize).
My hubby refused to give up meat for the longest time. One trip to Ireland (where he ate mostly veg) with a bad hamburger in England made up his mind.
🙂
Again – I apologize for my tone….and wish you all the best with your journeys…..
Xan
Xan, please do not worry. I understand about the veg-labels. And I completely understand how my menu could look confusing.
Thank you for your praise towards my good journey. I hope I can make more veggie people or help people understand the importance of eating more veggies in any diet they are in. It’s amazing how good one can feel.
And thank you for your apologies, but not necessary. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I welcome it. It makes for good conversation. And I am glad that you paid a visit to my site. 🙂
I feel like giving this a try. But I really like my food cooked.
Can you blog about the benefits of raw vegan food versus cooked food?
I’ve heard so many good things about it, but raw veggies & fruits are not really my idea of a delicious meal. More like a snack.
I like some of my food cooked, too. Hence the vegan part of my diet. 🙂
Please look at this site for information on the benefits of a raw food diet (click here). I actually started this diet because I have trouble physically processing the Standard American Diet. I get stomach pains, fatigue, grogginess. Plus I’ve always been more prone to a veggie diet throughout my life. My mom told me the other day that she thought I would become a vegetarian some day. I guess mom’s know best.
There is so much more to Raw Food than a plate of raw veggies and carrots. You’d be amazed. Check out Rawmazing to see the magic behind raw food. 🙂
where do you get your vegan recipes from? did i miss that? i’ll read again just to make sure. hahaha! i’ have 15 things going on at this very moment. hahaha.
Oh, I got the recipes from my $50 worth of new cookbooks, Rawmazing, Russell James, and Living and Raw foods. 🙂
How’s that running coming along???
oh thanks. i need to update the running. i should make my new end of year target date;-). being that this is my second time out of town this month, it’s been slower than i care to admit, but oh well. 😉
Hi Christine!
It sounds like you’ve made some wonderful, serious changes to your lifestyle. The recipes sound delicious and I’ve been wavering about dropping meat from my diet, but I honestly don’t know if I could. I really do love turkey and fish…perhaps just fewer meals including meat to start with and going from there. I AM, however, considering a week or two of detox – I did this a couple of years ago with amazing results. I did basically what you did – lots of raw fruit and veggies (giant salads 2x a day, fruit salad for breakfast, granola bars for snacks, etc.) and boy! Did I feel great. Winter is setting in and you tend to reach automatically for comfort foods (I love starch! Potatoes, bread, cheese…MMMMMM!) and you tend to listen to your body at times like this. But, but, but…
I was aiming to do my detox through October as I have lots of time to make and toss and bake potatoes/sweet potatoes and stuff. You’re amazing! Continued success with your meals and doing what’s best for YOU!
Thank you for all the great words!
When I eat meat I slice it thin. Tends to curb the meat craving for me. Then I load extra veggies/grains to fill my plate.
I do feel great. i am not completely 100% raw, nor do I think i will ever be. But just incorporating more into my diet makes me feel great. Plus I am having loads of fun making new dishes (that my kids eat, too). Now that is a win-win situation in my book. 🙂
Have fun with the detoxing and feeling great!
As for the comfort food (like a huge honkin’ plate of homeade mac and cheese)… I am going to have to work on that too. lol. Let me know if you find something that works for you with the comfort cravings.