SIX

MEAL PLANS FOR THE THRIVE DIET

Shopping List

The following foods are needed for about three-quarters of the Thrive Diet recipes. Devise your weekly (or daily) shopping list based on this general guide and, of course, on the recipes themselves.

Fibrous Vegetables

Avocado (considered a fat in the Thrive Diet)

Beets

Carrots

Celery

Cucumber

Dinosaur kale

Garlic

Ginger (considered an “additive” in the Thrive Diet)

Jalapeño pepper

Mixed greens

Onion (cooking, Spanish)

Red bell pepper

Scallions

Sun-dried tomatoes

Tomatoes

Zucchini

Starchy Vegetables

Squash

Sweet potatoes

Yams

Sea Vegetables

Arame

Dulse

Kelp

Nori sheets

Legumes (raw and dried, or cooked and canned)

Adzuki beans

Black beans

Black-eyed peas

Chickpeas

Lentils (brown, green, red)

Peas (green, yellow)

Seeds

Seeds will keep for up to six months if stored in the refrigerator, and for up to three months if they have been ground.

Flaxseed

Hemp

Pumpkin

Sesame

Sunflower

Pseudograins

Amaranth

Buckwheat

Quinoa

Wild rice

Fruit

Apples

Bananas

Blueberries

Dates

Grapefruit

Lemons

Limes

Mangos

Oranges

Papaya

Pears

Pineapple

Plantain

Pomegranates

Oils

Coconut

Extra-virgin olive

Flaxseed

Hemp

Pumpkin

Nuts

Nuts will keep for up to six months if stored in the refrigerator, and for up to three months if they have been ground.

Almonds

Macadamia

Walnuts

Grains

Brown rice

Oats

Flour

Chickpea

Hemp

Spelt

Sweeteners

Agave nectar

Blackstrap molasses

Stevia leaf powder

Vinegars

Apple cider

Balsamic

Herbs

Dried, or fresh when available

Basil

Chilies

Cilantro

Dill

Mint

Oregano

Parsley

Thyme

Spices

Black pepper

Cardamom

Cayenne

Cinnamon

Cloves

Coriander

Cumin

Curry powder

Nutmeg

Paprika

Turmeric

Extras

Brown rice miso paste

Green tea leaves

Matcha powder

Nutritional yeast

Roasted carob powder

Rooibos

Sea salt

Shredded coconut

Tahini

Yerba maté

Young coconut (or coconut milk)

Appliances Needed

The Thrive Diet recipes require only a few appliances:

• blender (a hand blender is fine), for making smoothies, soups, salad dressings, sport drinks, and energy gels,

• food processor, for energy puddings, pizza crusts, raw bars, crackers, spreads, and burgers,

• coffee grinder, for grinding seeds into flour, and rooibos, yerba maté, and green tea leaves into powder.

Traveling and the Thrive Diet

Believe it or not, the Thrive Diet is an easy eating plan to stick with while on the road. It’s not uncommon for me to be traveling for several months of the year, and my eating plan has to be functional within the limitations of life on the road. Here are a few tips.

Plan Ahead

Depending on the length of your trip, you might be able to bring food with you. I sometimes prepare a few batches of raw energy bars, individually wrapping them in plastic wrap. These travel well: They are compact, it doesn’t matter if they get a bit squished, and no refrigeration is required. Plus, they deliver lots of energy while taking up only a small amount of space. They can be carried easily with you. I now usually pack a stash of Vega One Bars, which are the commercial versions of the Thrive Diet bar recipes beginning here.

Grocery Shopping

When I arrive at my destination, I’ll do a big shop at the local supermarket. Fresh fruit and vegetables form the majority of my purchases. If a farmers’ market is nearby, I’ll go to that—some of the freshest, tastiest food I’ve ever eaten has come straight from the person who grew it. The freshness is unparalleled and being local means fewer resources went into getting the food to the consumer, since the food didn’t have to travel a great distance. Don’t be deterred if local farmers don’t have organic certification, as certification is too expensive for many small operations. Despite this, many of these farmers grow their fruit and vegetables without using herbicides or pesticides.

Grazing

Since most people are on the go while on the road, grazing has a definite advantage: You may not even need to take a lunch break, and when dinnertime arrives, a big salad and a vegetable serving will likely be enough.

Restaurants

Travel and business often involves eating in restaurants—mine certainly does. There is no need to avoid restaurants just because they can’t make you a quinoa beet pizza crust topped with sun-dried tomato marinara sauce and vegetables. Almost any restaurant can make you a salad. In fact, some of the best (the biggest, and with the most seeds and avocado) salads that I’ve eaten have been while on the road, and from unlikely sources. Ironically, many steakhouses make good salads. If your colleagues or companions are going to a restaurant that you don’t think will be able to accommodate your eating style, be flexible. Most restaurants will be happy to load up your salad with extra vegetables, or put together a large plate of vegetables, even if it’s not on the menu. Brown rice and avocado will be on hand at many restaurants as well. A bowl of rice, sliced avocado, and lemon juice squeezed on top, accompanied by a salad, is a reasonable meal, and made with common ingredients. Mexican restaurants often have fresh, homemade salsa; try it with vegetables.

I know that I won’t be able to get a balanced, complete Thrive Diet–approved meal in most North American restaurants, and that’s fine. I simply eat lightly and have a nutritionally balanced smoothie when I return to my room. For these times I use an individual-serving-size pouch of Vega One powder mixed with water. It covers all my nutritional bases and is easy to travel with; that’s one of the reasons I developed it.

The Meal Plan

The Thrive Diet 12-Week Meal Plan is structured in such a way that it balances nutrient intake throughout the day. Portion size is not an important factor of the Thrive Diet. Since all the food is healthy and non-stimulating, feel free to have whatever serving size you like. However, since there are three meals and three snacks each day, you will likely find that small to moderate portion sizes are all that you want.

Since the meal plan is based on nutrient-dense foods, it is common to fill up easily; yet, eating more is certainly an option. The Thrive Diet is not a diet of deprivation. If you feel as though you need to eat larger portions, do so. Gaining excess body fat is hard to do on the Thrive Diet. If you roughly stick to the meal plan, large portions of the recipes at each meal and snack can be eaten each day without gaining weight, as long as you are eating at the right times.

Timing of nutrition is an often overlooked aspect of overall health. It is possible to eat all the right food but at less than optimal times, therefore inhibiting effectiveness. For example, a snack high in dense carbohydrate will boost muscle glycogen levels and speed recovery after a training session. Yet, it would hinder the release of growth hormone if consumed close to bedtime. A high-protein meal a few hours after exercise will help repair damaged muscle tissue. Conversely, a high-protein meal immediately following exercise can inhibit proper hydration, leading to prolonged recovery. A sugary snack during an intense training session can improve endurance by supplying the muscles with readily available fuel, whereas a sugary snack eaten while sitting in front of a computer will, within an hour or so, make concentration harder and precipitate fatigue.

The meal plan is meant to serve as a guide only. You can follow it closely, or you can simply incorporate elements of it into your existing meal plan. Of course, the closer it’s followed, the quicker you will reduce nutritional stress and improve your overall health. However, even one snack or one meal from it each day will be helpful. Start slowly, including a smoothie each day in your diet, progressing to eating a salad a few times a week, and take it from there. Once you’ve recalibrated your system, the meal plan will be easy to stick with.