I generally don’t talk about my diet because it simply weirds people out.  Furthermore, nobody likes to be told what to do, but I’ll give out information when people come to me.  If someone happens to notice how strange I eat, I usually get these same questions.

1. Where do you get your protein?

When I first started eating a lot of raw produce, I felt fantastic and was drawn to the vegan, raw food diet.  Vegan means that you consume no animal products.  However, after about three years, I noticed that even though I still felt ten times better than when I ate the standard American diet, I didn’t feel as good as when I first started.  I added back dairy, eggs, and seafood.  Then, I became a vegetarian for a couple years.  Though I felt better, it was hard to find protein products my body didn’t like.  I started taking whey protein powder, and there were some brands that would give me a rash.  If I ate any significant quantity of dairy, I would be blowing my nose all the next day.  Another thing, I noticed was that my cholesterol went back up over twenty points.  When I was vegan, my cholesterol went down to 150, with the bad cholesterol being under 100.  I found it interesting in Dr. Furhman’s book when he said that cholesterol readings will always be higher eating animal products even if you are eating no or low-fat.

For years I felt I hadn’t quite figured out the protein thing until I read Dr. Fuhrman’s book.  I am currently able to consume at 50-60 grams of vegan protein daily following his recommendations.  First, I had to double or triple the amount of greens I was eating.  Greens actually have more protein per calorie than any other food, even steak.  Secondly, I had to start eating at least one cup of beans per day.  I also eat other proteins such as tofu and other soy based products, but they are not a mainstay of my daily diet.  I also eat either fish or eggs two to four times a month.  I do this to make it easier for social eating, and it is usually when I am eating out.        

As I said earlier, I still think it is more important to eat mostly plants than worry about meat.  There are a couple of problems with meat, though they can be avoided by buying organic.  First, the crops fed to animal have much higher levels of pesticides allowed, and they tend to become concentrated in the animal.  Secondly, any hormones consumed by the animal to make it grow bigger will also be consumed by you.

2. Where do you get your calcium?

I currently take a calcium-magnesium supplement containing 1,000 mg of calcium.  I think our need for calcium has increased due to increased intake of acidic foods in recent years.  Calcium is needed to neutralize acidic food. Greens are very alkaline, fruits are slightly acidic, but animal protein is very acidic.  Soda is extremely acidic.  I looked up the food ash ph and found the following scores:  spinach +13, banana -10.1, beef -34.5, chicken -18, and artificial sweetners -26.   (Acidity is negative and alkalinity is positive.  Source was Young, Sick, and Tired by Robert O.)  If you think about the standard American diet, you can see why we might need more calcium now than we used to. 

Produce in the cruciferous family is very high in calcium.  (This includes broccoli, cabbage, spinach, kale, cauliflower, etc.)  In fruits, it is high in oranges and figs.  When I was pregnant, the only cravings I had were for parsley and oranges.  I also started to develop plaque on my teeth even though I normally have minimal problems.  My elderly cousin who was a retired OB nurse, told me that my baby was robbing calcium from me.  I thought it made sense given that I was craving two of the most calcium rich foods.  I love it when the body tries to fix itself.  I started the supplement, and the plaque never came back.  Sometimes in the winter when oranges are in season, I will have daily calcium levels of 600 mg in www.fitday.com without even eating any dairy. 

3. Do you take vitamins?

Some people believe that if you eat a varied diet you will get everything you need.  Maybe this is true, but I’d rather take the vitamins and have peace of mind.  However, not all vitamins are created equal.  Some vitamins can become toxic if over-consumed.  This is why I take vitamins in vegetarian, whole-food form.  Have you ever heard of someone getting vitamin-C toxic build-up from oranges?  It just isn’t possible to get an overdose in the vitamin’s natural form.  They are also much easier to absorb as a whole food because the body recognizes it, and all the relations with other vitamins are preserved.  Most vitamins are also not potent enough.  I once read that if your daily vitamin doesn’t include at least three pills, they’re not strong enough. 

The best value vitamins I have been able to find are Nature’s Way “Alive! Whole Food Energizer.”  It is actually made by dehydrating over 70 different fruits and vegetables at a low temperature and then grinding to a powder.  It costs about $13 per month for capsules on www.vitacost.com.  You can get the price a little lower if you take the tablets, but I find them hard to swallow.  

4. How do you feel full?  Aren’t you hungry all the time?

Personally for me, hunger is driven by nutrition.  When I ate the standard American diet (SAD), I used be hungry all the time.  When I ate fresh, raw produce, I was much less hungry and ate less.  However, the sensation of getting full is significantly different when eating mostly produce and hard to describe.  When I ate the SAD, I used to stop eating when I physically felt I couldn’t put anything else in my stomach.  I do not get that full feeling anymore.  I know I’m done eating when the food stops tasting as good, and I just don’t feel like eating anymore.  I definitely feel like I’ve had my meal and am not in any way deprived.  It did take a while to get used to not eating heavy foods.  If you’re an emotional eater, this can be tough.  On the positive side, I don’t feel sleepy after meals anymore and have a much more constant level of energy throughout the day.   

5. What is your typical daily diet?

To put it simply, here is what I do:

Breakfast:  Fruit

Lunch:  Salad, vegetables, beans

Snack: Fruit

Dinner:  Salad vegetables, beans

At first glance, this may seem very boring, and it is sort of.  When I say “salad,” I do not eat the traditional green salad at every meal.  I switch around between lettuce, spinach, kale, red cabbage, green cabbage, and tabbouli.  Every salad has an infinite amount of possibilities.  For example, using green lettuce I could make an Asian salad with soy dressing and mandarin oranges.  Or, I could add chopped apples and raisins and dress with a strawberry vinaigrette.  I like both these combinations very much, but they are two completely different tastes.  The hardest part of eating this way is to find enough good salad dressings that aren’t too high in fat.

I also tend to eat the more uncommon vegetables and fruits such as fennel and blood oranges.  When I really started to eat a lot of produce, I noticed there is much more variety available than the average person realizes.   In the summer, I am constantly buying the uncommon melons such as crenshaw, galia, casaba, pepito, and my favorite, canary.  I’ve had many people come up to me and ask where I find these melons.  Actually, all the big supermarket chains in my area sell these things.  People just don’t notice the produce that they are not accustomed to eating. 

A few years ago, my friend, Grace, and I were buying food for a vegetarian dinner for my yoga studio.  Grace noticed a couple unusual looking squashes in my wagon and asked me what they were.  I told her I didn’t know, but they looked like they’d be good for some veggie burgers I wanted to make.  I was really embarrassed the next day when Grace recounted this story in front of everyone at our dinner while trying to make the point that we should try to get as much variety in our diet as possible.     

I periodically log my diet in www.fitday.com and consistently eat about 1,500 calories per day.  This is fairly low because I am not very big, have a slow metabolism and sedentary (unfortunately).  However, if you saw me, I don’t look at all skinny. 

I don’t want to give the impression that I eat this good all the time because this would not be true.  Though, at the time I saw an improvement in my KC, I was very vigilant.  The one thing that ruins my diet (and most other people’s) is social eating.  I made a choice to eat with everyone else on holidays and go to restaurants with friends and family.  Most the time, I am able to eat the healthier selections on the menu, but my diet will not be nearly as clean as if I were preparing the foods.  I was vegan for three years and know how miserable it was when I couldn’t find anything on the menu.  I’m much happier temporarily relaxing my standards.  One meal does not seem to make a difference; however, if I do this two days in a row, I definitely feel a difference.  This discussion lends itself well to the next question:

6. What do you do when you eat out or travel?

Most people assume I prefer salad as my first choice at a restaurant.  I have actually found this to be one of the least optimum choices.  Usually it is Iceberg lettuce (which has little nutritional value) and some type of creamy dressing.  Also, most of the salads have so many ingredients I wouldn’t eat (such as cheese and meat) that too much adjustment would be necessary for me to order them.  I usually end up with either soup, a veggie sandwich, or fish and vegetables.  In selecting my foods, this is my order of most preferable to least preferable:

1. Fresh, raw produce- sometimes I see a decent salad, but usually not.
2. Cooked vegetables- easy to find in an Asian restaurant.  It’s fairly easy to find fish with a baked potato and vegetables.  Most of the time, I’m ordering this. 
3. If I order something processed (such as pasta), I try select something low in fat. 

When traveling, it’s easy for me to keep eating a lot of fruit because I can usually find it everywhere.  Though, it is helpful to bring enough for the first day in my suitcase if I don’t have my own transportation.  The rest of my meals I will eat as I described above.  I also bring dried fruits and nuts because I’d rather overeat them than something else unhealthy.  To be honest, usually by the end of the week, I’m just dying to eat a simple salad and get back to my boring diet.    

7. Does your husband eat the same way too?

No.  My husband is one of those lucky people who never gains weight no matter what he eats.  My frame is curvy, so I’ve always had to watch my diet.  Long before I ate vegetarian, my husband and I were eating separately because even then he said my foods were too healthy.  (If I put a vegetable in anything, he didn’t want to eat it.)  I’ve always had to eat different from him unless I wanted to gain 20 pounds and feel lousy.  I try to make good choices for my husband and my son, but neither of them follow the strict dietary practices that I do.  Being different from everyone else is hard, and I wouldn’t force it on anyone.