Can you help me improve my diet?

Question

I have been a vegetarian for 2 years, and I dont really ge tthe nutrition I need. I guess I am what you would call a Doritos and Coke Vegetarian. I basically just eat cereal alot and dont really eat supper. I would like to improve what I eat so I dont get sick as often and have problems later on. Can somebody help me actualy figure out a meal plan. It needs to be a breakfast I can grab and go, a lunch I can take to school(i have acess to a microwave there) and then anything for supper. And I do eat morningstar farms food sometimes. So any reciped would be appreciatted and just give me a sample day menu

Answer 1

I suggest you educate yourself on the vegetarian diet and learn how to have a proper diet. This is a very good book to read and easy to find at public libraries:
http://www.amazon.com/New-Becoming-Vegetarian-Essential-Healthy/dp/1570671443/sr=8-1/qid=1171421695/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-3576253-7320631?ie=UTF8&s=books
If you want to be a healthy vegetarian, you must make an effort to cook healthy meals at night that you can bring to school the next day. Please check this website for menu ideas:
http://www.asu.edu/studentaffairs/src/wellness_therapy/recipes.htm

Good luck.

Answer 2

If you want to greatly improve your health, you (and everyone else) need to get nutrients into your body from *plants*. So start by adding more (9-13 servings) fruits and vegetables in your diet. Ideally you want to eat 70% raw, 30% cooked. Eat less grains (2-3 servings max) and if you're going to eat bread or cereal go for "sprouted wheat". You'll need to shop in a health food store. You'll also need to plan out your meals for the week. I understand you probably live in a dormatory, but you cannot expect to do everything fast and last minute if you want to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

Read Labels. Get Trans Fats, refined sugar, MSG, food dyes and flavors, GMOs, and other negative ingredients out of your diet. You need to read the "ingredients" part of the label, not the "nutrition facts".

Buy organic as often as you can. Always buy organic soy products. Most people are allergic to soy that is not organic as it is most always genetically modified.

Quit dairy products. Dairy is not a good source of calcium, it is only 32% absorbable and the high amount of animal protein actually drains calcium from your bones. Soy milk, Rice milk or Almond milk are good substitutes.

Quit the soda habit and drink more WATER. If you are not drinking at least 64 oz a day you are dehydrated. Only water can properly cleanse your organs and keep you hydrated.

Below is a sample menu. The idea is to get as wide of a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet every day. Drink water in between meals. Do not drink water or any other beverage with meals. It waters down your stomach acid and causes the food to not be properly digested. Wait one hour after a meal to start drinking water again.

Breakfast-
Dr. Pam Popper's Healthy Breakfast Shake
Combine the following:
8 oz Soy Milk
1 Frozen Banana
1/3 cup raw green tea (order from the Wellness Forum)
1 1/2 cups frozen berries
1 tbsp Golden Organic flax
1 scoop Juice Plus Complete Shake Mix or "Alive" Vegetarian Shake Mix
4-6 oz water

Snack
Raw Veggies and Hummus

Lunch
Large salad of 3 cups organic mixed greens, sprouts, 1/2 avacado, 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds, raw broccoli, grape tomatoes, califlower, tofu chunks, etc. Balsalmic Vinagrette. You could also stuff all this into an organic pita bread for a hearty sandwich.

Snack
raw fruit or vegetables

Dinner
Large salad similar to lunch salad/pita sandwich
2 cups of cooked food, like beans and rice or pasta with cooked veggies and marinara sauce. You'll want to use a slow cooker instead of a microwave.

For more healthy lunch ideas try Vegan Lunch Box by McCann

Answer 3

This is simpler then you think, eat like when you were a kid and your mom made you. Just put away the coke and doritoes.
Bring fresh fruit and fruit juice, Veggie sticks and dip, corn chips and salsa, tea, milk (or chocolate milk or soy milk) peanut butter (its got lots of protein) and jelly on whole wheat bread.

Use wholewheat (not just wheat as most of that has regular white wheat also as filler, "whole wheat") breads and bagels whenever you eat them. Try a bagel with cream chese or a bran muffin, applesauce, cottage cheese cups with fruit, bring dried fruits like banana chips or apple rings, buy a bag of roasted nuts.
Add avacado to your salad of a sandwich with grilled mushrooms, avacado, lettuce, cheese and tomato. Sprinkle on sesame seeds to your salad,
Use dark lettuces instead of iceburg lettuce, also try adding spinach and dandelion greens
Cook a healthy dinner and bring the left overs for lunch. there are lots of vegetarian cookbooks made specifically for quick/easy recipies. Go to your local book store and I'm sure you will find a few.

Answer 4

Breakfast: apple, banana or other fruit and a handful of nuts or
You can keep bags of nuts and dried fruit in your book bag or locker
Yogurt with fruit
Lunch: whole grain bread with cheese or nut butter and jam

Dinner: vegetable soup. Add whatever veggies you like to V8 juice and cook to desired tenderness. Try Dr Kracker breads? they are delicious with soups.

Answer 5

In the superstore, fruits are usually chosen far too soon. Some are rocks, many are wrong. Some of the fruit and vegetables are right (zucchini, onions, garlic, lettuce, greens, and a few others) so I'd have to go with vegetables.

Answer 6

I was totally in your boat. It's really hard to eat healthy today even when you do eat meat - and not eating meat makes it a serious challenge.

Take a multivitamin every day. put them next to your coffee or your toothbrush - somewhere you will take it every day.

Use drinks as a good way to supplement your diet with healthier options. cutting down on soda and drinking juices without added sugars, milk (even chocolate) and water helps.

Good breakfasts - yogurt, cottage cheese and fruit (they have great 'cottage cheese doubles' that come with fruitspread in the grocery store, cheese sticks, whole grain toast, milk boxes, granola bar (check for ones with more protein), pieces of fruit, nuts, raisins, hard boiled eggs, oatmeal

i mix up a box of raisins and a bag of nuts and make trail mix baggies to take all week for healthy munching. hard boil some eggs for quick protien - they'll keep all week. And I love them.

lunches - i like to mix up a bean salad with my favorite veggies, pasta for filler, a can of black beans, salad dressing and eat that for a few days lunch. Super filling. you can also make wraps and take them with you. some soups (Amy's and Progresso have good ones) are pretty healthy and make good easy lunches with some crackers. Amy's frozen meals are pretty good too for lunch if you have a freezer available? they're microwaveable. i usually just bring baby carrot sticks, a pb&j or cheese sandwich, an orange or apple and much on that. hummus is chock full of protein too and good for dipping.

my favorite dinners:
try the morningstar veggie ground 'beef' in pasta sauce or as taco filler (i'm addicted). baked potato with plain yogurt, onion, cheese, other veggies. instant rice or couscous mixed with a can of beans, veggies, and vegetable bullion. since you always have to run out the door before breakfast try it for dinner - I do this all the time as an excuse to eat morningstar veggie bacon and saugages and over easy eggs on toast (sigh). omlettes are great for dinner too. tofu and veggies and asian marinade makes for an endless array of stir frys (i skip the rice and noodles to make it easier).

the more research you do about specific foods that fill your dietary needs the better. i'm still trying to educate myself on good sources of protein, nutrients, vitamins, etc. I do know that high fiber whole grain bread is so worth the extra money - it fills you up and tastes so much better. Protein is key. Get as much as you can - but limit your soy intake to one-two servings a day as too much can be bad for you. And eat as many DIFFERENT veggies as you can. Raw is best, but variety is better.

cooking in advance for a few days supply of breakfasts and lunches (or making extra dinner to bring the next day) really is the only way i've found to eat at all healthily during the day. the options available out in the world are so crappy and lacking for vegetarians - so i gotta try to make due.

don't beat yourself up for being a doritos and coke vegetarian - i just lunched out on some doritos and chinese take out last night, but the more times we do try and are able to improve what we eat the better. :)

i recommend the foodnetwork website for great recipes from people you might have heard of - and you can find great vegetarian cookbooks out there. spend some time in a bookstore sifting through the selection for foods you'd like to try.

good luck with everything!

Answer 7

I think maybe you'd better start taking a multivitamin if you don't already. I don't really have any advice in particular except make sure that your cereal is whole grain.