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Thread: Can anyone recommend an incredibly simple 2,000 calorie vegan meal plan?

  1. #1
    100% sure – I'm going vegan!
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    Default Can anyone recommend an incredibly simple 2,000 calorie vegan meal plan?

    Hi, Thank you for reading my post.

    My situation is that I DESPERATELY WANT TO GO VEGAN and kick all the bad food I eat, but I am dismally uncreative when it comes to food and my personality is essentially the polar opposite of a foodie.

    Honestly if I could just take a pill like in The Jetsons that would give me all of my nutritional needs for the day so I would not have to consume food, I would probably take the pill. I'm just a software engineer who doesn't care about food. I need to eat it so I don't run out of gas. It is just fuel to me. I'm fairly certain my room mates of 4 years have never seen me cook. I realize how sad that is, but it's who I am.

    I am trying to find a super simple set of ideas for vegan meals that will give me maximum energy and nutrition with the least amount of food preparation.

    I need to get off pizza and fast food. It's killing me. Also I feel like a complete douche for supporting the meat industry with my wallet.

    The one and only good thing that I do nutrition wise is I have recently started juicing fresh greens to off set the processed junk I eat and I absolutely friggin love juicing, because it's so quick and simple and condenses so much nutrition into a glass I can drink in like 10 seconds. My juice is the same boring thing every day - a heaping ton of kale, a cucumber, some celery, parsley, spinach and just a little bit of apple for some sweetness for taste. I'll usually drink 24 ounces of this per day, and it feels amazing.

    The problem is that despite the juice's super cool appetite suppressant qualities, I am still hungry and keep falling back on my old habits of pizza/pasta/other high fat/processed nonsense for my "three meals a day" to keep me fueled for the day.

    I want to replace these three meals per day of processed, fat riddled garbage with healthy, vegan food that is simple to prepare for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Basically looking for things that are hyper nutritional, provide tons of energy and are as simple to prepare as oatmeal. Seriously like, I don't even like steaming. Maybe raw vegan is the way to go? I just don't want to cook. I know how sad that is. I need 2,000 calories per day according to my doctor so around 700 calories per meal or so. I have a very high metabolism and am hungry a lot. I swim 30 minutes per day for what it's worth. I am 5' 10" and 140 lbs. I struggle every day with fatigue and I think it's because of the fast food I eat. I want to stop this.

    Also,
    1) What is a good fat to carb ratio for energy generation for a healthy person? I understand that energy from carbs are available more rapidly, where as fat provides longer sustaining energy, with the downside of it being well, fat. If I'm eating 2k calories per day, how much fat/carbs/protein/etc should I be getting and in what ratios?

    2) Does a healthy person need any more supplements than the following:

    Vegan Multivitamin
    1000 MG Vitamin C
    Vegan B12 Source
    Vegan Omega 3 Source

    2b) Does my juicing regimen eliminate the need for any of the above?

    3) How much can you replace solid food with juicing?

    4) Are almonds/raw almond butter the best in between meal snack?


    Any help getting me off fast food will probably save my life in the long run and is immensely appreciated. Thank you for reading my eccentric thread.

  2. #2

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    Default Re: Can anyone recommend an incredibly simple 2,000 calorie vegan meal plan?

    Hello aqueoushaze,

    welcome to the forum!

    have you thought about fresh, ripe fruits yet?
    Take a look at the 30bad (30 bananas a day) website!

    I also like juicing - to be precise, blending - putting all the stuff (fruit and greens) into my Vita-mix and blending the hell out of it to make delicious green smoothies.
    However, as I still am hungry at lunch and dinner, I supplement that with fresh salads - very easy to prepare, no big "cooking" needed.

    Best regards,
    Andy

  3. #3

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    Default Re: Can anyone recommend an incredibly simple 2,000 calorie vegan meal plan?

    How about things like avocado I always keep some in the fridge. It's really good just to put on a sandwich it's great with houmous. Nuts, seeds and dried fruit are great easy snacks, you could include banana. Nut butters are good too. How about vegan yogurt then you could add fruits nuts etc. Couscous is really easy as you just add hot water although you would need to add other things to that. Baked potatoes including sweet potatoes are really easy, add houmous and baked beans.

    I make things like stews which you can just add lots of veg and pulses, throw them all in together and leave to cook. I do mine in a pressure cooker which is really quick. You can made up big batches and then they will last a few days.

    Hopefully once you start eating more interesting foods you will get more interested and start enjoying preparing food. Lots of people on this forum seem to have found that to be the case.

  4. #4
    Ex-admin Korn's Avatar
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    Default Re: Can anyone recommend an incredibly simple 2,000 calorie vegan meal plan?

    2) Does a healthy person need any more supplements than the following:

    Vegan Multivitamin
    1000 MG Vitamin C
    Vegan B12 Source
    Vegan Omega 3 Source
    Hi, just like meat eaters, vegans may need tip supplement, at least in periods, the difference is only the kind of supplements we may need to take.
    Check this thread: Nutrient deficiencies more common in meat eaters than in vegans?

    Regarding your little list, I can't see why a healthy vegan eating a varied, good diet would need to supplement with vitamin C or take a multivitamin. B12 is, as you will see in many other threads, something which both vegans and many others need to pay special attention to. We also have dedicated threads about Omega-3 and DHA/EPA.

    But good luck with your plans. Like it or not, but taking supplements (and similar) instead of eating real food usually isn't at all a good idea.
    I will not eat anything that walks, swims, flies, runs, skips, hops or crawls.

  5. #5

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    Default Re: Can anyone recommend an incredibly simple 2,000 calorie vegan meal plan?

    Hi, I'm a new member here <waves>

    I'd like to give you a few pointers as I've been eating vegan for a while and I'm also somewhat of an amateur nutrition fanatic, so I've read quite a lot of articles everyone else finds too boring to read. Doing so kinda helped me educate myself to losing over 100 pounds, so I'd say it was worth it!

    If I can give just a few simple tips and then I'll try help you out with things to eat in terms of your plan and I'll answer your questions as best as I can.

    First things first, really. If you wish to eat healthier I'd say cut out all of the simple carbohydrates out and stick to complex carbohydrates only. Wholemeal everything is usually a good way of going. Given the fact that complex carbohydrates release energy slower into the bloodstream this may actually help your fatigue problems if you are solely eating simple carbohydrates (white rice, white bread, white pasta).

    Secondly, may I ask as to why you have an aversion to light cooking? There are a lot of meals that can be produced in very little time and if you have such things as a steamer available to you, you don't even have to be in the room while your food is cooking.

    Hypothetical meal:
    Firm marinated tofu, lightly fried (200g) roughly 320 calories, 32g protein, 0.5g carbs, 10g fats (This is a German brand of Tofu, not sure if the values are the same elsewhere)
    Steamed mixed vegetables (80g) roughly 80 calories, 3g protein, 13g carbs, 0.5 fats
    Boiled lentils (80g) roughly 120 calories, 9g protein, 19g carbs, 0.4g fats

    Total: 520 calories, 44g protein, 32g carbs, 10.9g fats.

    Cooking time without supervision:
    Lentils 45 minutes boiling, use some kind of vegetable broth to add some taste if you like.
    Mixed steam vegetables: 10-20 minutes? Depends on how you like them.
    Tofu fried: 5 minutes

    Optional: Salad

    Actual time spent 'cooking/preparing meal to be eaten' somewhere around 10 minutes. That's purely frying the tofu while you plate the vegetables. Don't be afraid to spend a little time cooking for yourself. It's your body after all, it's pretty worth the time you put into it.

    1. As for macronutrients, there is really no 'golden ratio' that works well for everyone. various food associations denote that your ratios should be something like 50% carbs, 30% proteins and 20% fats. However I doubt it matters much if you deviate and put more into protein, or a little more into fats. Just don't make one nutrient vastly overpower the rest. Just remember what I said about complex carbohydrates because of your fatigue.

    2. I agree with Korn here. I don't believe supplementing is necessary and I find that if you eat a balanced and varied diet every single thing you have listed there you will get from your diet. Nuts are a great source of omega 3/6 fatty acids, they are also calorie dense, so moderation here. As for supplying B12, I find drinking certain 'milk' products that have added B12 for vegans help. I like the taste, it's a few extra calories and it gives me those vitamins I need.

    3. I'm pretty sure, if you wanted to entirely eliminate solid foods from your diet it is 100% possible to sustain from juicing alone. Some raw vegans I have read about do it regularly. Although my girlfriend would probably have more information regarding this topic.

    4. There is no 'perfect' snack, almonds and almond butter, much like peanuts and peanut butter, both have their strengths, but as I said before vary your diet.

    And as Mymblesdaughter pointed out, stews, broths and soups are really, really good. You can always make a huge pot of a stew or broth, separate it into t tupperware and freeze it, so if you're ever lazy or want a quick meal or need packed lunch in an emergency, you always have something to grab. If you make them, and they're not hard, you have a simple, hearty and nutrient rich meal.

    Foots to consider incorporating into your diet:

    Lentils, all kinds of beans, wholemeal grains, wholemeal rice, wholemeal pasta, quinoa, amaranth, sprouted seeds, nuts of all kinds,

    I gave you a small meal example and I've listed quite a few things you could incorporate into your diet. One thing I must mention is, go wild with vegetables and fruits. If you feel hungry you can always eat as much of those on top of your meals anyway. Also don't sweat your macronutrients and calories so much. Just focus on eating when you're hungry in the right amounts and try and get over your fear of cooking, I did and I came a long way since! It's worth putting the time and effort into your food. Don't punish yourself and remember that healthy food can be just as tasty as a pizza.

    I hope I helped you out a little, good luck!

  6. #6
    100% sure – I'm going vegan!
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    Default Re: Can anyone recommend an incredibly simple 2,000 calorie vegan meal plan?

    Thank you so much to everyone for the thoughtful replies to my thread. This forum is awesome. It really means a lot that each of you took the time to provide such detailed information to me and such clearly beneficial advice. I am going grocery shopping tomorrow morning and I am not going to buy any of the things I used to buy. Reading this makes me realize that I have been holding myself back for no reason and the time to start is now.

    Seriously thank you.

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