Vegan diet - and one meal a day ?

[purple planet]

I used to be vegan now i am in a "break" of 3 months in which i ate meat - and now i want to go back to being vegan
- at the time i eat in the morning cereal with milk and for lunch vegetables with meat and then i dont eat until next morning -

My question is how to eat vegan and once or twice a day and still get all nutritional vitamins and minerals and also proteins and carbs ? and how do you do it with only one meal a day ?

[Ben]

Unless you are a monk, I don't understand why you only want to eat once a day.
Be that as it may, make sure that your meal contains a range of different food items inc beans/tofu/tempeh, green vegetables such as bok choi, peas, broccoli and a source of carbs - potato, rice or bread. There should be easily available resources on the internet to help you balance your diet.
All the best,

Ben

[marc108]

My question is how to eat vegan and once or twice a day and still get all nutritional vitamins and minerals and also proteins and carbs ? and how do you do it with only one meal a day ?

impossible

[Sam Vara]

Ben's advice is very sound. In addition, you will need a source of vitamin B12.

The English monk Ajahn Vajiro has been vegan for a long while and says it has caused him no problems on one meal a day.

But to echo Ben again, why bother with this when you don't need to?

[David N. Snyder]

See this long thread on this subject: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=3045

My question is how to eat vegan and once or twice a day and still get all nutritional vitamins and minerals and also proteins and carbs ? and how do you do it with only one meal a day ?

impossible

Definitely not impossible because I'm doing it and I know of others who are doing it.

You just need to make sure to get enough protein, not because we need that much protein (we don't) but simply so you will have more of a sensation of being full. And this can be done with plenty of grains, legumes, nuts, beans, tofu, etc.

The only nutrient the vegan diet is missing is B-12 but the amount we need is measured in micrograms, not even in grams. There are some (harder to find) vegan sources too.

As with any one meal program or two meals before noon, you need to make sure to get at / close to the number of calories that you ate with three meals, just all at once if doing one meal. It is not that hard once you get used to it. As lay people it is not required, so I don't do it all the time, but around 90% of the time.

I use the same principle with being vegan -- I don't do it all the time, since it's not required of me for any reason other than good nutrition, so will eat lacto-ovo on occasion. And eating lacto-ovo once in a while then supplies all the B-12 you need.

[BubbaBuddhist]

Not only B12 but choline, also considered an essential nutrient.

BB

[marc108]

Definitely not impossible because I'm doing it and I know of others who are doing it.

respectfully, I would invite you to download cron-o-meter(.com) and enter your food for a few days. i've done so much long term analysis on my diet for school (vegetarian, eat twice per day) i know its nearly impossible to get 100% vits/mins without serious planning and habitual eating patterns and literally impossible as a vegan (without supplementation). whether or not getting 100% of everything is going to effect your health in the long term is a different story... it seems a lot of people can have subadaquate nutrition and live long healthy lives for some reason.

[LonesomeYogurt]

I've done it for a while, so it's possible, but it requires heedfulness and quite a bit of research. I would suggest, if possible, that you contact a professional nutritionist or dietician.

[purple planet]

David N. Snyder and LonesomeYogurt can you tell me examples meals you ate - that would be very helpful

[LonesomeYogurt]

David N. Snyder and LonesomeYogurt can you tell me examples meals you ate - that would be very helpful

Usually I made sure to include tofu or tempeh in large quantities, but otherwise I did a rotating lineup of spinach, broccoli, and other leafy greens as well as peanuts or almonds if I didn't include any main protein. Rice and beans, preferably together, are also great things to work in a few times a week. Coconut milk is also your friend when it comes to making curries or other large, multi-ingredient dishes. I stayed away from most grains besides rice and occasionally whole-wheat wraps. Honestly I found that Asian food was the easiest to "veganize" and I tended mostly towards simplicity, although I'm sure someone who is a better cook than I could wring more out of the ingredients and make any type of approach work.

Take a supplement for B12 and other necessities. You might also consider a general vegan vitamin and, if you're not too rigid, maybe some fresh fruit for an evening snack.

[DAWN]

I eat bio vegan one meal a day until one year perharps.

And i dont care about vitamins. It's more simple.
Anyway we go die.

[David N. Snyder]

David N. Snyder and LonesomeYogurt can you tell me examples meals you ate - that would be very helpful

שלום חבר
(Hebrew greeting)

I eat a variety of foods; here is a sample:

Stir fry veggies and tofu, rice,
veggie burger,
fake-meat deli slices in a sandwich,
falafel in a pita with salad (I know you know that one),
salads,
cooked vegetables in curry sauce,
Indian foods made vegan such as malai kofta balls and other vegetarian Indian dishes without the dairy cream sauces that are usually in the recipes.
Vegan Ethiopian foods such as mixed veggies, spicy lentils, green beans with carrots and spicy sauce, etc.
Bar-be-Que tofu (just put slices of tofu on a cooking sheet, brush with bar-be-que sauce and bake for about 10 minutes; easy)
Italian foods such as vegan lasagne, vegan pizza (soy cheese), pastas

As you can see, it doesn't have to be boring to be vegan and it can still be tasty.

[gavesako]

I was just reading the biography of this monk in northern Thailand:

Since April 2010 the Venerable Khuva Boonchum has been in a solitary retreat in the Rajagrha cave in Lampang Province, northern Thailand; he is determined to complete a three-years three-months three-weeks and three-days retreat. A life-long vegetarian, he lives on fruits and biscuits that his followers bring all the way and place them at the entrance of the cave. He comes out every now and then to take the food when there is no one around. He observes total silence while in retreat but answers dhamma questions in writing when one is put to him.

[BubbaBuddhist]

Some of the veggie burgers are very good, others taste like old shoe boxes, I learned the hard way. Another great thing to make is faux tuna salad: grind chick peas with a little garlic and that Japanese seaweed called Nori, which is not only edible but very nutritious. But don't use too much. It imparts a pleasant fishy taste to the chickpeas. Spread it on rye and by God it's like tuna salad. Use free-range chick peas please, the ones that frolicked happily in fields seem to taste better.

BB

[David N. Snyder]

I was just reading the biography of this monk in northern Thailand:

Since April 2010 the Venerable Khuva Boonchum has been in a solitary retreat in the Rajagrha cave in Lampang Province, northern Thailand; he is determined to complete a three-years three-months three-weeks and three-days retreat. A life-long vegetarian, he lives on fruits and biscuits that his followers bring all the way and place them at the entrance of the cave. He comes out every now and then to take the food when there is no one around. He observes total silence while in retreat but answers dhamma questions in writing when one is put to him.

That is amazing. He sounds like a serious monk and he lives on only biscuits and fruits!? How did / does he do that in regard to the 3-fold rule? Is he allowed to let the lay people know to bring him only those foods? Great discipline!

[gavesako]

I think he is like those Tibetan monks doing tantric meditation practices and probably gets much energy from that. Also i don't think he follows the conventional Vinaya strictly in terms of having food offered into his hands.

[Digity]

I was just reading the biography of this monk in northern Thailand:

Since April 2010 the Venerable Khuva Boonchum has been in a solitary retreat in the Rajagrha cave in Lampang Province, northern Thailand; he is determined to complete a three-years three-months three-weeks and three-days retreat. A life-long vegetarian, he lives on fruits and biscuits that his followers bring all the way and place them at the entrance of the cave. He comes out every now and then to take the food when there is no one around. He observes total silence while in retreat but answers dhamma questions in writing when one is put to him.

That sounds like a bad diet...too many simple carbs. I hope he doesn't get health problems.

[Chi]

Many Tibetan yogis living in mountains and caves will subsist mostly on tsampa (roasted barley flour) for years and decades. They seem to come out very realized human beings. So maybe we make too big of a deal out of our diets.

Personally, I like to eat lots of fruit and veggies and nuts. I do admit, I am fascinated with peanut butter right now.

[SarathW]

I heard this saying “We eat food and food eat us”
By the way I spoke to one of my Muslim friend (Islamic faith) and he said that he take one meal a day for forty days in Ramadan season. He said that he was quite fit and lost about eight kilos.

Last night I skip my dinner and got a headache this morning. One of my work friend said, may be my sugar level gone down. It seems to me that food control also a gradual training thing.

[Shinemate]

The only vitamins that vegans need are vitamin D and of of course vitamin B12, also 600 milligrams of calcium every day ( read here in the last two paragraphs of tips for healthy vegan diet) so I guess it doesn't matter how many meals you have every day, you just need to take some supplements that contain these vitamins and it'll be enough. Though to be honest I don't think that eating once a day can be healthy for anyone, no matter if they are vegan or not