new vegan diet. how does tomorrow’s menu sound?
So I’ve just decided to become a Vegan starting tomorrow and I’m trying to think of healthy daily menus. I try not to eat junk food but like every other normal person, I need my occasional cookies or sweets. How does this sound for tomorrow;
Meal 1-
Bowl of Special K with Soy Milk
Meal 2-
Large Orange
Meal 3-
2 slices of Whole Wheat bread w/ 2 TBS reduced fat Peanut Butter and Honey
Meal 4-
Protein shake made w/ soy protein, soy milk and 1 large banana
Meal 5-
2 slices of Whole Wheat bread w/ 1 TBS Veganese Mayonaise and Avocado w/ a side of broccoli and lettuce (balsamic vinegar as dressing)
Meal 6-
Leftover Protein Shake
I will have a Vegan diet along with 20 (intense) minutes of exercise everyday for 6-7 days a week. I am around 97 pounds and I’m 5′0. I want to be healthy and also lose 4 pounds just so my lower abs are completely flat and visible. Thanks for reading! 
Umm… to Rab, that was kind of a rude answer. My dad’s a nutritionist and I would be bored on this diet, maybe, but not ill. I’d be very healthy. I am NOT making things up from the top of my head. Been studying diets and nutrition for a very long time mind you. So plz do not assume.
And in my opinion, Honey is vegan, so I think I’m ok there lol. I’m just against the murder of animals.
Let’s address your diet, exercise, and your goals.
DIET
Your diet is severely lacking. Meal 4 is legit, but that’s the only one that is. Here’s a better option:
Meal 1 – Special K is not vegan. It contains whey, which is milk. If you live in the United States, it also contains high fructose corn syrup, a corn product that upsets the liver and causes more fat storage. A better option for you would be oatmeal with soy milk, and cook the oatmeal with nuts and dried fruit. If you want some sweetness, add a little maple syrup or brown sugar.
Meal 2 – Instead of just an orange, have an orange with nuts, or make a half sandwich with one piece of whole grain bread and some PB and a banana and cinnamon. This way, you get fiber, quick carbs, slow carbs, protein, and cinnamon helps balance blood sugar levels and works as a thermogenic.
Meal 3 – Really? A peanut butter sandwich? Come on, you’re not 4 years-old anymore, you need to eat a legit meal. If a sandwich is easy for you to bring, take something like a sandwich made with whole grain bread, use hummus as a spread instead of vegannaise or mustard (hummus provides healthy fats and protein), then top it with as many vegetables as you like. I like greens (either a mix or spinach), tomato, cucumber, sprouts, shredded carrot, polenta, avocado, mushrooms, bell peppers, and olives. I season it with onion powder, garlic powder, and sriracha (a type of hot sauce). Add a piece of fruit to this (here’s where you’d add that orange) and you’re good.
Meal 4 – The protein shake is good. Other snack options that aren’t what I already mentioned would be fruit and nuts, soy or coconut yogurt with granola, or my favorite: hummus and vegetables.
Meal 5 – I don’t get it, you’re trying to lose weight and you just keep making the weirdest choices for what you think should be your new healthy lifestyle. For someone going vegan, you seem to hate vegetables and aren’t quite certain about nutrition. I guess that’s why you’re asking. First, you can do another sandwich like you have here and just add more vegetables (see Meal 3) or you can, you know, make an actual meal. Instead of lettuce, which may as well be solid water, choose something with a higher nutrient value, like kale or spinach.
Meal 6 – Yeah, that’s fine.
EXERCISE
You say you want to be healthy, but then choose an arbitrary number (4 pounds) to drop so you can have flat lower abs? Yeah, no, those things don’t belong in the same sentence. What you do is workout and eat properly, not just aim to lose weight. The people who have visible abs have a lower body fat percentage, which is easier to achieve if you add on some muscle, but that doesn’t seem to be your goal. In fact, you don’t even list the type of exercise you’re going to be doing. Why don’t you email me your routine regimen so I can help you with that? Having lost a ton of weight to get in shape and also served in the US Marines, so I can get you into shape, no problem
That said, let’s clarify what a vegan diet is: it’s a diet that doesn’t use animals or their by-products. Honey is made by animals (bees), therefore honey is an animal by-product and thus does not count as vegan. If you think it’s okay to eat honey, then go ahead and eat honey! Just don’t call yourself a vegan. That’s as annoying as someone who thinks it’s okay to eat fish, but still calls him/herself a vegetarian. There’s an accepted definition out there, you don’t fit it, so don’t call yourself that. You’re a "strict vegetarian." That’s it. You wouldn’t call yourself a doctor if you didn’t meet the qualifications to be a doctor, so don’t call yourself a vegan when you don’t meet the qualifications to be a vegan. There’s nothing wrong with you if you eat honey, but eating honey doesn’t make you vegan.
Also, you must ask yourself why you don’t give a crap about the bees. If you’re against the murder of animals, then why do you think it’s okay to kill bees and steal their hard work (honey) just because someone doesn’t want to use agave nectar or sugar? How is that kindness to animals? Bees are very smart insects and they work so hard that we refer to someone who’s hard-working as "busy as a bee." They have a communication system based on dance. Bees in Japan, when raided by aggressive hornets, will surround the hornet and vibrate to create heat through friction. Why? Because the bees know that the hornet will die a one degree lower than the bees will die, so they warm up to EXACTLY that temperature and cook the invading hornet. You’re telling me that you think they’re stupid, mindless non-creatures that deserve to have their hard work stolen from them? That’s pretty mean.
PHEW! Lots of information you may not care for, but it’s all worth consideration.
April 8th, 2010 at 5:46 am
honey isn’t vegan
References :
April 8th, 2010 at 5:57 am
Drop the Honey and it well be okay
References :
April 8th, 2010 at 6:15 am
Sounds to me like you’re going to be really hungry and you don’t need to lose weight. Also, honey is definitely not vegan, since it comes from bees which are of the animal kingdom.
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April 8th, 2010 at 7:01 am
Hi Zia It sound like you want to punish yourself for some reason. You could not live on a diet like that for very long without either getting bored or ill. I would seriously suggest that you research you diet a lot more,and not just make things up from the top of your head or from one days meals. By all means be vegan but please research some more or you could make yourself ill. This would benefit no one,least of all yourself. Have you thought about changing your diet a little slower. You can never be vegan overnight. The average American when being autopsied has 5lbs of undigested meat in their system. So you are bound to have at least some. If you really want to go about this in a sensible manner you could start by becoming vegetarian for a few weeks until your system gets used to not eating meat. This way you are half way to your goal and your less likely to have cravings and then lapse back into becoming an omnivore again. I am all for people making choices,I would say however let them be rational choices, well informed and not just on a whim.Please look after yourself and do some research so that you can enjoy your food and the lifestyle of your choice. I am not a vegetarian or vegan. I am however a chef who enjoys cooking for all types of diet. Food is a huge part of your life something you should do every day of your life for the rest of your life. So you might as well enjoy a healthy balanced diet this will help you live hopefully a long and fruitful (no pun intended) life healthily and not be sickly and weak through bad choices or poor diet. I hope this helps,all the best. Rab
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/vegetarian_and_vegan/children.shtml
http://www.navs-online.org/
http://www.vegansociety.com/
References :
I am a Chef.
April 8th, 2010 at 7:08 am
honey isn’t vegan
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April 8th, 2010 at 7:55 am
peanut butter is a no no. bad for you. aslo the honey and the balsamic dressing thats aslo bad for you.
i would say just include more fruit and veg but some with your breakfast and meal 6
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April 8th, 2010 at 8:34 am
i think its fine/normal until dinner. thats the kind of thing one would have for lunch not dinner. you should have a proper meal made with beans or lentils for protein plus vegetables, plus potatoes or wholegrains. such as chillie with brown rice, lentil bolognaise with pasta, tangine, bean curry, lentil stew, bean hotpot.
soya inhibits the thyroid so its not good to eat too much of it, plus it doesnt contain calcium, so soya milk is a very poor substitute for milk – it gives you protein but not much else. you could have sesame milk for calcium, and you need to eat lots of dark leafy greens – spinach, kale, watercress, rocket, parsley, collards, turnip greens. broccoli also contains calcium. I recommend blending greens with fruit and water or fruit juice to make a smoothie.
almond milk is the most neutral tasting of the nut and seed milks. you can make your own with a blender and sieve.
I would replace the soya milk at breakfast with almond milk.
have a green smoothie with the orange
have a salad with the sandwich at lunchtime
use sesame milk in the protein shake
and have a proper vegan meal for dinner – with vegetables and beans or lentils.
You could make healthy sweets and cookies out of ground nuts with medjool dates as the sweetener. For example.
In a food processor put 1 cup of walnuts, 1 cup of dates (without stones) and 1/3 cup cocoa powder. Whizz it all up. Press into a pan. Put in fridge. Cut into slices.
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April 8th, 2010 at 9:19 am
Honey is an animal product so it’s not exactly vegan..
The ones saying peanut butter is unhealthy are lying, it’s all about portions. Protein shakes are perhaps the most unhealthy thing a person can put in their body; any ‘food’ that is sold dehydrated is very synthetic, completely unnatural. If you want to be healthy, try and find your protein from natural sources instead, rather than boxed powder that’s been synthesized in a laboratory.
And to be honest, I don’t think, looking at the menu, that you would be consuming enough calories to stay healthy, especially given that you would be doing vigorous exercise daily.
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April 8th, 2010 at 9:31 am
Yeah – actually honey is not vegan.
Your day is a little carbohydrate heavy. You may want to consider incorporating a wider variety of fruits and vegetables since you are probably going to be lacking in iron and your Omega-3/6.
Protein shakes can be extremely unhealthy. They are often highly processed and loaded with sugars. The proteins are heavily refined and often not fully digestible.
References :
April 8th, 2010 at 9:39 am
Honey is not vegan… and sorry, but it’s really not subject to your opinion. Animal products are not vegan, and honey is an animal product. And if you’re "just against the murder of animals" then why are you vegan and not vegetarian? Animals are not murdered in order to cultivate their milk, eggs, etc.
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April 8th, 2010 at 9:49 am
Yeah, animals are not murdered for their products – I would suggest becoming vegetarian if you do not want to give up honey.
Being a vegan who eats honey is like being a vegetarian who eats bacon.
References :
April 8th, 2010 at 10:26 am
I think you need to incorporate more vegetables into your diet. Your "dinner" could consist of a whole grain like quinoa and some steamed or sauteed veggies.
Also, more and more studies are showing that soy should be eaten in moderation. Try almond milk instead in your shakes and protein powders made of rice and pea protein are actually better for building/sustaining muscle.
As for the honey thing, yeah, it’s technically not "vegan" according to the formal definition. But don’t let others tell you what to eat. If you are comfortable eating honey, then eat honey. Just be ready to get criticized by others who like to follow the rules or definition of the label (vegan is really just a label).
Good luck!
References :
April 8th, 2010 at 11:07 am
Let’s address your diet, exercise, and your goals.
DIET
Your diet is severely lacking. Meal 4 is legit, but that’s the only one that is. Here’s a better option:
Meal 1 – Special K is not vegan. It contains whey, which is milk. If you live in the United States, it also contains high fructose corn syrup, a corn product that upsets the liver and causes more fat storage. A better option for you would be oatmeal with soy milk, and cook the oatmeal with nuts and dried fruit. If you want some sweetness, add a little maple syrup or brown sugar.
Meal 2 – Instead of just an orange, have an orange with nuts, or make a half sandwich with one piece of whole grain bread and some PB and a banana and cinnamon. This way, you get fiber, quick carbs, slow carbs, protein, and cinnamon helps balance blood sugar levels and works as a thermogenic.
Meal 3 – Really? A peanut butter sandwich? Come on, you’re not 4 years-old anymore, you need to eat a legit meal. If a sandwich is easy for you to bring, take something like a sandwich made with whole grain bread, use hummus as a spread instead of vegannaise or mustard (hummus provides healthy fats and protein), then top it with as many vegetables as you like. I like greens (either a mix or spinach), tomato, cucumber, sprouts, shredded carrot, polenta, avocado, mushrooms, bell peppers, and olives. I season it with onion powder, garlic powder, and sriracha (a type of hot sauce). Add a piece of fruit to this (here’s where you’d add that orange) and you’re good.
Meal 4 – The protein shake is good. Other snack options that aren’t what I already mentioned would be fruit and nuts, soy or coconut yogurt with granola, or my favorite: hummus and vegetables.
Meal 5 – I don’t get it, you’re trying to lose weight and you just keep making the weirdest choices for what you think should be your new healthy lifestyle. For someone going vegan, you seem to hate vegetables and aren’t quite certain about nutrition. I guess that’s why you’re asking. First, you can do another sandwich like you have here and just add more vegetables (see Meal 3) or you can, you know, make an actual meal. Instead of lettuce, which may as well be solid water, choose something with a higher nutrient value, like kale or spinach.
Meal 6 – Yeah, that’s fine.
EXERCISE
You say you want to be healthy, but then choose an arbitrary number (4 pounds) to drop so you can have flat lower abs? Yeah, no, those things don’t belong in the same sentence. What you do is workout and eat properly, not just aim to lose weight. The people who have visible abs have a lower body fat percentage, which is easier to achieve if you add on some muscle, but that doesn’t seem to be your goal. In fact, you don’t even list the type of exercise you’re going to be doing. Why don’t you email me your routine regimen so I can help you with that? Having lost a ton of weight to get in shape and also served in the US Marines, so I can get you into shape, no problem
That said, let’s clarify what a vegan diet is: it’s a diet that doesn’t use animals or their by-products. Honey is made by animals (bees), therefore honey is an animal by-product and thus does not count as vegan. If you think it’s okay to eat honey, then go ahead and eat honey! Just don’t call yourself a vegan. That’s as annoying as someone who thinks it’s okay to eat fish, but still calls him/herself a vegetarian. There’s an accepted definition out there, you don’t fit it, so don’t call yourself that. You’re a "strict vegetarian." That’s it. You wouldn’t call yourself a doctor if you didn’t meet the qualifications to be a doctor, so don’t call yourself a vegan when you don’t meet the qualifications to be a vegan. There’s nothing wrong with you if you eat honey, but eating honey doesn’t make you vegan.
Also, you must ask yourself why you don’t give a crap about the bees. If you’re against the murder of animals, then why do you think it’s okay to kill bees and steal their hard work (honey) just because someone doesn’t want to use agave nectar or sugar? How is that kindness to animals? Bees are very smart insects and they work so hard that we refer to someone who’s hard-working as "busy as a bee." They have a communication system based on dance. Bees in Japan, when raided by aggressive hornets, will surround the hornet and vibrate to create heat through friction. Why? Because the bees know that the hornet will die a one degree lower than the bees will die, so they warm up to EXACTLY that temperature and cook the invading hornet. You’re telling me that you think they’re stupid, mindless non-creatures that deserve to have their hard work stolen from them? That’s pretty mean.
PHEW! Lots of information you may not care for, but it’s all worth consideration.
References :
vegan bodybuilder and personal trainer