Why Do You Want To Start The Raw Food Diet
Understanding the reason why you want to become a raw vegan will help you to see the big picture of your health and your quality of life. If you truly want to make a change in your life and youre ready to work hard and see results, then you will have the will and drive to take action towards starting the raw food diet. Thats the most important step when starting the raw food diet!
% Calories For A Treat Per Day Option
This is all outlined in our free meal plan and Joys meal plan in her book.
Here is a 5 Day 80/20 Diet Meal Plan Sample. This is just what we eat each day. You will need to adjust it to suit your calories and needs. This is just an example and not meant as medical advice.
Why Is It So Popular
The simplicity and flexibility of clean eating are quite easy to understand and has thus gained popularity. You just ask yourself: Would my grandmother have it recognized as food?
Many people today are aware of the connection between poor health and processed food. Clean eating educates you on the pitfalls of our modern industrialized processed foods. It shows you how to remove chemicals, hormones, and trans fats from your diet while focusing on foods to eat directly from nature.
The core and also the real challenge is the habit-alteration. This is by the way also the focus of my website LeanJumpStart.com.
Read Also: Benefits Of High Fiber Diet
Applying The Pareto Principle To Plant
While the principle has been widely adapted for use in business, it is equally applicable for anyone trying to adopt a healthier lifestyle through plant-based living.
So you dont have to go cold turkey and be 100% plant-based all at once.
Instead, you can shift 20% of your diet and start seeing 80% of the health results.
Here are three top ways to apply the 80/20 rule to plant-based living.
Eliminate Dairy
One of the first places to go to apply the 80/20 principle to your plant-based journey is to eliminate dairy. Just by doing this one thing will pay extremely high dividends.
Cheese and other dairy products are the #1 source of saturated fat in the American diet and its the one food most people say they just cant live without. But 45% of calories in cheese come from saturated fat. You can definitely live without that.
Cut out all foods containing dairy including:
- Grain-based dishes that use milk, cream or butter like desserts, breads, muffins and biscuits.
- Dairy-based desserts like ice cream, frozen yogurt and custards.
- Milk-and cream-based gravies and sauces.
- Casseroles made with cream or sour cream.
- Macaroni and cheese, pizzaanything with cheese.
Beware: cheese is in everything! So you have to be diligent. Be on the lookout for cheeses in salads, soups, sandwiches, pasta dishes and desserts.
It might seem impossible that all of those dairy foods that were once a part of your life have to go now.
Eliminate Oils
Start Your Day Plant-Based
Cons Of The 80/20 Diet
There are still a few drawbacks of this plan, even though it is quite modifiable.
- May not work for everyone: If you currently eat high-fat, high-calorie foods every day, the 80/20 diet is likely to help you lose weightat least initially. You will need to eat lower-calorie foods most of the time. The result should be that you consume significantly fewer calories overall and lose weight. However, if your current diet is fairly healthy, youre not likely to see a calorie deficit large enough to produce weight loss. You may need to evaluate your caloric intake and adjust your energy balance to lose weight.
- May not have enough structure: The 80/20 rule is not an excuse to overeat or overindulge. On your relaxed days, you should still practice moderation. The only change is that you are not as rigid about your food choices. For example, you might choose to have a slice of chocolate cake after dinner. However, if you eat three slices of cake, youre not following the 80/20 principle and you wont see any change in your weight. If you need more strict rules to stick with an eating plan, the 80/20 diet might not be right for you.
Also Check: Plant Based Diet For Beginners
Con: It Can Be Hard To Stick To It
Though more and more people are vegans and vegetarian than ever, it can still be hard to find healthy, nutritious vegan and vegetarian options, especially when eating out. Youll also have to say good-bye to certain foods that you may love. However, with a little patience, perseverance, and planning, it is more than possible!
Can The 80 20 Rule Diet Help You Lose Weight
One of the main reasons some follow the 80-20 rule diet is to lose weight. So does it help?
Following an 80-20 rule diet plan can help lose weight. However, there are some important principles you need to understand.
1. You Still Need To Count Calories.
Make no mistake about it. Eating more calories than needed will cause weight gain. This makes nutritious options, strength training, and some weekly HIIT crucial for weight loss.
As mentioned, the 80-20 rule diet provides general guidance for your food intake. This means you can’t totally get away from counting calories in order to lose weight. Caloric intake still matters and is the main driver of weight loss in any diet.
In fact, research has proven that controlling calories is the primary factor in weight loss².
2. It’s Easier To Adhere To.
The same study that concluded no diet is necessarily better than another when calories are controlled also stated that adherence is the number one factor in a diet’s success².
This makes sense when you think about it. Weight loss comes down to the total amount of calories lost in the long term. Most diets suggest you have a daily deficit of 300-500 calories. As 1 pound of fat requires 3,500 calories, you’re only losing 4 pounds max every month. This means it takes a while to add up!
3. It Gets Easier The Longer You Stick With It.
4. It’s Hard To Gain Weight Eating Whole Foods.
5. You Can Still Gain Weight And Build Muscle .
With this in mind, you can add muscle with the 80-20 diet.
Recommended Reading: Keto Diet 7 Day Plan
Going For Your 20% Today Will Help You Succeed Tomorrow
Theres a huge advantage to focusing on a single change in your diet when youre transitioning to a plant-based lifestyle: your chances of success are a lot better.
Many of the experts in the plant-based community say they started with one change or a few small changes and continued to stack on more changes along the way.
Once you succeed with one habit change, its easier to go for it and stack on the second. And the third. And the fourth, fifth and sixth.
Your success will make you more confident in your ability to make the full transition. Because it makes you realize that since the first one wasnt as hard as you thought, the second and third wont be either.
Who would have ever guessed that Pareto could have had so much to say to us plant-based enthusiasts in the 21st century? Applying the 80/20 principle to your plant-based journey will give you excellent results with much less of a struggle. Instead of choosing an all or nothing approach, you can move to a plant-based diet the smart wayby changing your habits 20% at a time.
Why The 80/20 Diet For Weight Loss
Eating healthy 80 percent of the time is recommended for weight loss because eliminating unhealthy foods from your diet completely is not sustainable long-term. Eventually, youre likely to cave when the cravings and temptations become too strong. When youre eating healthy 80 percent of the time you can afford to indulge the other 20 percent of the time and not face any major dietary set-backs.
We apply this same principle with our clients. We help them track their macros to maximize their gym progress, but every so often we give them what we call a macro break. This just means we allow them to indulge for a short period of time without having to worry about hitting their protein, carb and fat goals.
This balance between having what their body needs and what they crave helps them remain consistent with reaching their weight goals. When youre too restrictive with yourself, youre more likely to fail long-term.
Read Also: Plant Based Diet With Meat
Pros Of The 80/20 Diet
This style of eating has many advantages.
- Easy to do: The 80/20 diet is not a restrictive, feast-or-famine plan. All of your meals and indulgences are included. The only thing that changes is their relative proportions.
- No counting: There is no need to use food intake apps or food diaries to track your food choices, or to count calories or carbs.
- No foods to avoid: On the 80/20 diet, no food is off-limits. You can enjoy everything you like, just not all the time.
- No deprivation: If you have a party or a special night out, you can still enjoy indulgences like a restaurant meal or birthday cake and ice cream.
- Promotes healthy habits: Since you are eating nutritious foods 80% of the time, you learn to adopt healthy cooking methods and healthy grocery shopping strategies.
- Acceptable for any diet needs: Anyone can try this diet since no foods are demanded or restricted completely. So, if you are gluten-free, vegan, diabetic, or have an allergy, the 80/20 diet can work for you.
Get Creative With Your Foods
There are so many delicious ways to spice up vegan foods. Ill typically add sautéed cashews in garlic to a lot of my dishes to replace cheese in my pastas or stir frys or Ill add coconut milk to rice or quinoa for a buttery flavour.
Dont limit yourself to raw, flavorless foods just because youre not adding dairy to the mix your foods are only as boring as you let them be!
Going vegan can be a big shift in your eating. Rather than viewing it as a hard switch from your current eating style, consider it an ongoing experiment to learn what works best for your own body, and dont be afraid to adapt as need. Hopefully, you can learn from my experience and start out with high-quality nutrition right from the start.
In summary, heres what I recommend if you decide to go vegan yourself:
- Avoid the processed soy-based meat replacements they often contain too much sodium. Whole foods and whole grains are satisfying, and a more complete source of nutrients, than processed substitute foods.
- Make sure you are getting enough protein and, for women, iron. Beans and lentils are great sources.
- Pay attention to how your body responds to your diet over time. Keep an open mind and be open to adjusting what you eat if something doesnt seem to be working.
- A routine of purchasing ingredients and preparing meals in advance can help you stay on track with healthy foods that you enjoy, rather than succumbing to the tempation of poor choices to get a quick fix.
Recommended Reading: Best Diet For Losing Weight And Gaining Muscle
An Effective Raw Food Diet Meal Plan Isnt Complicated
For the love of nancy, if your life is like mine youve got about a gazillion things you should be doing and raw food just cant be that complicated in your life. OK, I love to go out to a raw restaurant and have raw lasagna and raw cheesecake and all kinds of crazy delicious good raw stuff, but puh-lease I dont have time for a high-falluting raw food diet meal plan on weeknightsor even on weekends for that matter!
So lets have reasonable recipes that dont take very long to prepare, OK?
An Effective Raw Food Diet Meal Planshould Make You Feel Great
The raw food lifestyle is not about pining away for the foods you used to eat and its certainly not about feeling hungry.
Effective raw food diet meal plans should leave you feeling satiated, full, and energized.
If you are transitioning to a raw food diet meal plan from a very junky meal plan, like I did, then you will go through some detox so at the beginning you might not feel so hot. But after the first week youll be on the upswing.
Rule of thumb? If youre hungry, eat! Fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, desserts for dinner, entrees for breakfast, whatever you like is fine. Just eat raw and dont let yourself go hungry.
Recommended Reading: Low Calorie Low Carb Diet
When The 20% Mindset Goes Awry
Since there arent any official rules, people structure the 80/20 plan differently, and certain approaches may be unhelpful. For instance, some people choose to eat a little dessert each night, others prefer a fast-food meal here and there, and some stick with healthy foods during the week and less healthy ones over the weekend. As a registered dietitian, Id caution against the last approach.
Taking the weekends off plays into the on/off mentality that youre good during the week and bad on weekends. This can backfire in a couple of ways. First, you may be unnecessarily limiting your food choices and therefore, your enjoyment during the week. Being satisfied with your food choices helps you sustain them, and that means youll maintain the benefits they provide. Think: Better energy during the day and sleep at night, improvements in mental well-being, healthier digestion, and a lower risk of numerous illnesses. Youll also avoid the sluggishness and other unpleasant feelings that accompany a full day of less healthful eating.
Is The 80/20 Diet A Healthy Choice For You
With its flexibility and lack of restriction, the 80/20 diet is in line with expert guidelines and shares similarities with other gradual weight-loss plans. For example, the MyPlate guidelines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture suggest a balanced eating plan of reasonable portions of grains, lean meats, fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products, which aligns with the 80/20 diet’s principles.
For weight loss, the USDA suggests a daily calorie intake of roughly 1500 calories for women and 2000 calories for men, but these numbers can vary based on age, sex, activity level, and weight. The 80/20 diet doesn’t set a recommended calorie count .
The 80/20 diet is a good introduction to moderation and eating a balanced, nutritious diet. Learning to plan for and accept indulgences without guilt can prevent feeling like a diet is too strict. However, it may not be enough to induce weight loss, if that is your goal, since it doesn’t necessarily create a caloric deficit.
Recommended Reading: Gluten Free Diet Weight Loss
An Effective Raw Food Diet Meal Planfocuses On *your* Favorite Foods
Hate bananas? Love hazelnuts? Grossed out by avocado? Look, you are the boss of you. If you dont like something that some raw foodists say must be in your raw food diet meal plan, then dont eat it! Its that simple.
And if, on the hand, you find a recipe that you absolutely love, make it often and enjoy yourself!
The beauty of raw foods is that everything you eat is healthy. Its alive! Its natural. So if you want a raw strawberry smoothie for breakfast, then go for it.
All I say is that you must learn to love greens in order to have a balanced raw food diet meal plan. But, do not fear. If you arent totally raw, you will learn to love your greens. But for some people that might be kale, for others it might be baby spinach, or romaine, or mesclun. Listen to your tastebuds and dont let anybody else boss you around!
Raw Food 30 Days 50% + Raw Vegan
When approaching raw food for 30 days, for some people simply increasing their daily intake of raw, living foods to above 50% of their total diet is a remarkable change. In my experience, however, it is important when doing a 30 day raw food challenge to aim for higher than this level in order to experience the full benefits. In addition, its key that the remaining portion of your non-raw intake be healthful food choice! For example, the following 50%+ raw vegan diet is not recommended:
No: 50% raw vegan / 50% junk :
- 51% healthful raw vegan choices, such as fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds for 30 days
- 49% standard American diet junk food, such as cookies, chips, cheese, dairy, full-fat meats, potato chips, soda pop, candy, refined sugars, poultry, deep fried foods, etc.
Yes: 50% raw vegan / 50% healthy, cooked foods :
- 50% healthful raw vegan choices, such as fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds for 30 days
- 40% healthful cooked food choices, such as lentils, brown rice, steamed vegetables, rice wraps, very limited dairy, meats and poultry, little to no refined sugars, etc.
Recommended Reading: Dr Now’s Diet Plan
May Be Good For The Environment
The Flexitarian Diet may benefit your health and the environment.
Reducing meat consumption can help preserve natural resources by decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and land and water use.
A review of the research on the sustainability of plant-based diets found that switching from the average Western diet to flexitarian eating, in which meat is partially replaced by plant foods, could decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 7% .
Eating more plant foods will also drive the demand to devote more land to growing fruits and vegetables for humans instead of feed for livestock.
Cultivating plants requires far fewer resources than raising animals to eat.
In fact, greenhouse gas emissions resulting from vegan and ovo-lacto-vegetarian diets are about 50% and about 35% lower, respectively, than those from most current omnivore diets, with corresponding reductions in the use of natural resources (
- omega-3 fatty acids
A review of the research on vitamin B12 deficiency found that vegetarians may be at risk for deficiency, with 62% of pregnant vegetarians and up to 90% of older adult vegetarians having a deficiency .
Vitamin B12 occurs naturally only in animal products. Still, B12-fortified foods can also be part of a healthy diet. You can also speak with a healthcare professional or registered dietitian, who can help you to decide whether a B12 supplement is necessary.
Flexitarians emphasize plant proteins and other whole, minimally processed plant foods while limiting animal products.
