So did you enjoy watching the film yesterday? Are you hungry for change?
Today we are going to be learning how to plan our meals. Let’s first understand the basics.
Wake up with a herbal tea or infusion, or even a glass of water with lime juice.
Breakfast: Green Smoothie & Fruits
You can have as much Green Smoothie and fruit as you like. It would be best not to eat anything else till lunch if you are not hungry. However, if you do feel hungry, have a snack between breakfast and lunch and make sure to use whole ingredients and cook without oil. Try our breakfast recipes at https://sharan-india.org/recipe/breakfast
Start your lunch with a nice bowl of salad. This will ensure you eat less cooked food!
Cook your vegetables and dals without oil.
Have only one grain at a time – either brown/red rice or whole wheat rotis or millets. You can also make it a point to add some grated vegetables to your rice and roti every time – like grated carrots, pumpkin, beetroot, cucumbers etc.
If you wish to have curds (yoghurt) you already know how to make it from plant based ingredients.
Ideally at least ¼ of the meal should be a salad and no more than ¼ should be a grain. The rest can be cooked vegetables, beans or lentils.For a variety of salad recipes click https://sharan-india.org/recipe/salads-and-dressings/.
You can also check out more lunch recipes:
For Indian meals – https://sharan-india.org/recipe/indian-main-dishes/.
For Global meals – https://sharan-india.org/recipe/global-main-dishes/.
Remember to eat only if hungry. Raw is always best, so, if you like, have a green smoothie, fruits or a fruit salad.
If you feel like eating something savoury, then you can perhaps have a sprouts/ chole / potatoes / sweet potatoes / sweet corn/ mixed chaat or other chaats with plenty of raw veggies like chopped onions, tomatoes, green chillies, coriander, cucumber etc with various chutneys. (Remember that the chutneys can be made and stored in the freezer so that they can be easily used over a long period of time).
Get more snack ideas on https://sharan-india.org/recipe/snacks/.
For chutney recipes, click https://sharan-india.org/recipe/chutneys/.
It’s ideal to have dinner as early as possible – before sunset if possible. Ensure at least a two hour gap before your bedtime which should be no later than 10pm.
It would be best to start your dinner with a salad or at least a soup.
If you would like to have grains, then once again make sure that there is only one grain in the meal. Cook whatever else you like with wholesome ingredients and zero oil.
Once again, ideally at least 1/4 of the meal should be a salad and no more than 1/4 should be a grain. The rest can be cooked vegetables, beans or lentils.
For soup ideas, click https://sharan-india.org/recipe/soups/.
If you feel like having something sweet, have it. Desserts can be easily made without sugar! All our desserts are made from whole ingredients – dates, raisins, figs or fruits.
Once you start having green smoothies regularly, your sweet cravings will reduce automatically since you are starting the day with a sweet and delicious smoothie every day.
For interesting dessert recipes, click https://sharan-india.org/recipe/desserts/.
Plan your menu for the coming week.
Things to remember while planning your meals:
- Use seasonal produce.
- Make your meals colorful.
- Ensure all colors have been incorporated in your weekly menu plans.
- One salad of the day could be simple and one could be with a dressing, if you wish. The easiest salad dressing is lime and salt!
- Make wholesome salads so that they could replace a meal itself too. For this you could add some beans or steamed veggies to your salad, so they are satisfying and filling too. This could be done twice or thrice a week.
- Plan your snacks carefully.
- Make sure that you have no more than 5 meals a day including snacks. Herbal teas can be had any time.
