
You may remember the article in which I shared my experience eating fully raw for a week. It was a life changing experience, and I have been discovering what the best way of eating for my body has been ever since. For now eating fully raw isn’t my best match, yet eating a high raw diet has been bliss.
Earlier this spring I learned about hybrid foods, and was more than overwhelmed with the information. I found it very difficult to completely eliminate all hybrid foods from my diet as it felt extremely restricting. I have become more conscious of how much I do consume though, and have minimized them as I can. Eating organic non-gmo food is still in full effect though. Let’s get into what I have been eating, recipes, and how it all breaks down nutritionally.
Breakfast
I have been starting my day with avocado on gluten-free toast all week long and I love it. I recently purchased chia seeds in the bulk bin of my local grocery store. I have put them to good use here.
Meal 2
I still enjoy my smoothies and here is another. I blended 6 large bananas, two medjool dates, a tablespoon of chia seeds, and a few dashes of pumpkin pie spice. I added enough water in my Vitamix to give it a good texture. Also the amount made from this smoothie fills this jar about 2 1/2 times. All I can say is yum!
Meal 3
My third meal of the day is most often a simple fruit plate. I love peaches so I have been eating them almost every day while they are in season. I buy organic fruit from our local farmer’s market. I purchase a 20 lb box which is discounted because of the high volume. This saves me so much money compared to buying organic fruit at the grocery store.
Dinner
It is probably no surprise that for dinner I am eating a large salad. I love adding quinoa to my salads. For this salad I used a head of romaine lettuce, 1 1/2 cups of quinoa, a yellow tomato, 1/2 of a red bell pepper, and 1/4 of a red onion. I no longer always make my own raw salad dressings, and in this case I added 3 tablespoons of store bought Italian dressing which is sugar-free. I actually added the dressing later so the picture would look nice.
Below is the nutritional breakdown of what I ate today using my CRON-O-Meter account. I first spoke about CRON-O-Meter in an article on becoming your own nutritionist. It has helped me tremendously with learning what works best for me and my lifestyle. It has also completely eliminated the false belief that it is impossible to get adequate protein on a plant-based diet.
You will notice that both B12 and vitamin D are inadequate on my chart, so I supplement both of them. I’ll get more into supplements another time though. Just know that if you are choosing to eat a plant-based diet, it is very helpful to supplement B12 especially. Depending upon where you live, and how much vitamin D you can easily absorb from the sun may help to determine if you want to supplement that as well. Both can be determined by having your blood work done.
Also you can get your complete selenium requirements for the day by eating only one Brazil nut. I should have added one to my smoothie, but it completely slipped my mind. As for calcium, juicing greens makes a huge difference. I honestly don’t juice everyday. You can check out one of my favorite green juice recipes if you like though.
I have recently gotten into a habit of eating four times a day versus only three and a small snack. Spreading out more meals throughout the day has allowed me to have continuous energy as the day goes on. You may notice that I do eat fewer calories on the days where I am not as active and take a dance class. It is important to listen to your body and do what works best for you. I do my best to be flexible and make changes as my body asks for them.
Eat to live, not the other way around. It can still taste insanely delicious so don’t worry!
(Images by Dawn Michelle)
Na says
This looks great and very clean. My only question is how much was the sugar intake for the day. I ask as a person with a family that is full of people with diabetes. The amount of sugar in bananas and other fruits could be a bit too much for me. I would love to try this just fear the sugar part. Also maybe I missed it and if so I will try to find the link, Where can I find more details on the hybrid foods?
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Na,
I have heard stories about healing diabetes by eating a high raw or fully raw diet containing lots of fruits. It is something to definitely do more research on, yet because fruit is not an isolated sugar (meaning without vitamins, minerals, live enzymes, fiber, etc.), it does not spike your blood sugar later following a crash like refined sugar will. Kids will not become hyper eating fruit but will with refined sugar. I shared some info on refined sugar here. I linked in this article with sources above about hybrid foods, yet there is also other info online. I hope this helps!
ninaframbuesa says
Those meals look really good! I still struggle with the amount of what I eat and have gained weight since starting a workout regimen. I have always had a fast metabolism and need to eat at least a small snack pretty much every two hours. The problem is that I have been eating too many (healthy) fats, such as nuts, nut butters, and avocados, so despite the fact that I really love them I am now trying to cut down on them.
Unfortunately, Cron-o-Meter doesn’t really work well for me. I have tried it once, but it’s heavily oriented towards the American market, so if I cannot find a brand of something specific I don’t know what to choose as I don’t know the ingredients of the American products that are listed.
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Ninaframbuesa,
If your focus is eating primarily organic whole foods, you will not need to enter specific brands to calculate your nutritional information no matter what website/app you use. Yet I can definitely see how it would be frustrating to not be able to enter some other basics because it does have certain American brands. Even so it does not contain even all of the US brands. My focus is always just simple whole foods regardless.
I also find that fruit provides me with more energy than eating other things during the day. Most importantly it is about finding what works well for your body and what feels good overall. I know you will find your way and thanks so much for your comment!
BeaJae says
Hi Dawn,
I hope all is well.
I remember reading this post around the time of the initial date. Today, I came across the book The Fully Raw Diet: 21 Days to Better Health. I plan to get the book, but as I used the “Look Inside” feature of Amazon for the book, I instantly though of you. The author describes mono-meals and the CRON-O-Meter in the book. Have you read it? It’s right up your alley.
Best.
BeaJae says
Nevermind. The book was published last year, but I just came across one of your posts from 2012 referring to one of Kristina’s recipes. You’ve probably read the book already.
Best and Thank you for always sharing.
Dawn Michelle says
Hi BaeJae,
I hope you are enjoying your summer. I LOVE Fully Raw Kristina. I do have her book and it is a great resource for education and inspiration. If you do get it, I hope you love it!
Kristin says
Hi Dawn,
Thank you again for your blog! I really appreciate your insight. What is the brand and name of your favorite B-12 supplement? Any B-12 supplements that you recommend?
I have one that is sublingual, but it has potassium sorbate as a preservative. I like it because it has all of the b vitamins. Ideally, I would like one without preservatives but with all the b vitamins too. Any ideas?
Thank you for your continued insight,
Kristin
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Kristin,
I honestly don’t have a favorite brand but I prefer liquid B-12. I will usually buy the best of the bunch at the store I’m purchasing from in terms of ingredients amd price.