CHAPTER 22

sample menus

IF YOU’RE EAGER TO GET STARTED ON YOUR TWENTY-ONE-DAY DANIEL FAST, the sample menus in this chapter will give you a strong head start. They’ll also be a guide to you if you are continuing with the Daniel Cure lifestyle. The first two menus provide a breakdown of meal timing and proportions of protein, carbohydrate, and fat. They are not specific to the Daniel Fast or Daniel Cure plans. They can be used with any dietary plan aimed at optimal health. Eight others (four for the Daniel Fast and four for the Daniel Cure) include meal options you can use as a quick reference to see how you might construct a workable meal plan for yourself. One of the four Daniel Fast menus gives a lot of detail on nutrients and calories — this is an example of a personal plan that I (Rick) routinely use.

EXAMPLES OF MEAL TIMING AND MACRONUTRIENT PROPORTIONS

These examples give you an idea of how to design your daily meals to include the right amounts of protein, carbohydrate, and fat. Notice that the daily totals are close to the recommended amounts of protein (20 percent), carbohydrate (60 percent), and fat (20 percent). (See chapter 11.) This does not mean that every meal must match these proportions.

To keep things simple, just split your plate into three equal parts with one part containing a low-fat source of protein and the other two parts for carbohydrates. Make one part vegetable and/or fruit and the other part whole grains. By following this simple step, you don’t need any complex math. But if you are interested in doing the math (and some are), see “How Do I Compute the Calorie Contribution of Protein, Carbohydrate, and Fat in Foods?” on page 246.

The meal-planning examples of nutrient amounts in tables 22.1 and 22.2 apply to both the Daniel Fast and the Daniel Cure.

TABLE 22.1 Sample Diet (1,500 Calories per Day)

TABLE 22.2 Sample Diet (2,500 Calories per Day)

DANIEL FAST

If you are beginning a traditional Daniel Fast, an exclusively plant-based eating plan, consider the menus in tables 22.3 to 22.6.

TABLE 22.3 Sample Daniel Fast Menu 1

TABLE 22.4 Sample Daniel Fast Menu 2

The following plan (table 22.5) is the typical menu that Susan adheres to when she is following the Daniel Fast.

TABLE 22.5 Susan’s Typical Daniel Fast Menu

Table 22.6 (see next page) is the menu that I adhere to when following the Daniel Fast, listing what I eat and when. For less than 3,000 calories, I can eat a lot of food and feel great throughout the day. I often don’t eat as much food as this in one day. I typically consume more calories on exercise training days. My usual calorie intake is from 2,500 to 3,000 calories a day — true both on and off the Daniel Fast. You will need to do some experimenting to determine what is best for you.

TABLE 22.6 Rick’s Sample Daniel Fast Menu

Note: The pre-workout meal and breakfast are both consumed at home. I then bring the two shakes and lunch meal with me to work (these are prepared the night before — or sometimes two days before). These are placed in the refrigerator for easy access during the day. I then consume dinner at home. On occasion, I will have another small meal or snack after dinner.

This meal plan is only one example. On this day you can see that my protein intake is close to 16 percent (which is likely adequate based on my body mass of about 82kg, or 180 pounds). My carbohydrate intake is very high at 76 percent of calories and my fat intake is very low at only 8 percent. I may have other days when I consume less carbohydrate and more fat, placing my percentages for the week closer to 65 percent for carbohydrate and 20 percent for fat. Overall, my ratios on the Daniel Fast fall somewhere in the middle: 15 percent protein, 70 percent carbohydrate, and 15 percent fat. Considering the high fiber intake (70 grams), this diet looks very good.

While this represents a typical day for me while following the Daniel Fast, my usual non-Daniel Fast diet is very similar. In fact, after doing the Daniel Fast many times, I have adopted many of the meals into my year-long routine. The only real differences are:

1. I usually consume a higher percentage of protein (20–25%) and a lower percentage of carbohydrate (60%) when I’m not following the Daniel Fast.

2. I use whey or whey-casein protein powder rather than soy protein powder. The quality of whey and casein protein powder is typically much better than soy (despite soy being a complete protein).

3. I include lunch and dinner meals that often contain lean meat — poultry, steak, fish. An ideal meal might be 5 ounces of marinated chicken breast, 1 cup of steamed brown rice, 1 cup of steamed broccoli, and a side salad (with balsamic vinegar dressing) — nutritionally excellent and very satisfying.

4. I will occasionally include white rice, breads, and other “processed” carbohydrate — they taste great to me and I like to include these for something different.

5. I occasionally have a “cheat” meal such as pizza, burgers, a sausage roll, garlic bread, desserts, etc. But I don’t do this often and I get right back on track with the next meal. In fact, to make progress and get into the best overall health that your genetics will allow, it has to be this way — consistency, consistency, consistency!

DANIEL CURE

As you begin the Daniel Cure lifestyle eating plan, note that you do not need to include animal products or “cheat meals” in your weekly menu. However, we know from working with so many over the years that most people enjoy these on occasion. We also know that permanent restrictions often result in poor overall compliance and people give up. This is typical for most dieters.

The Daniel Cure is different. We want you to enter this plan knowing that you are in it for life. Develop a plan that maintains the core principles of the Daniel Cure, but is also reasonable to adhere to. You have a great deal of flexibility. Use it.

Most menu plans shown (tables 22.7 to 22.10) include animal products and protein powder. Animal products contain several healthful nutrients and can work well with the plant-based foods you’ll incorporate in your overall plan. Figure out what you enjoy eating and develop your plan around those foods.

TABLE 22.7 Sample Daniel Cure Menu 1

TABLE 22.8 Sample Daniel Cure Menu 260

TABLE 22.9 Sample Daniel Cure Menu 3

TABLE 22.10 Sample Daniel Cure Menu 261

SO WHAT WILL WORK FOR YOU?

The examples we have given are just that — examples. They are balanced plans that include a variety of foods and will work well for most people. But you need to determine what will work best for you and your lifestyle. Perhaps you would prefer to minimize animal products and reserve these for only once or twice per week. That’s fine. Or maybe you really enjoy the meal-replacement shakes and want to replace your traditional whole food breakfast with a shake each day. Again, this is fine. What is most important is figuring out what will work best for you and then sticking with it. This includes adjusting not only your food choices and timing of meals but also the amount of food consumed. You may require more food than what is presented. Or you may require less. Spend some time experimenting and determine what works for you. Your goal is to be satisfied at the end of your meals but never overly full. Slow down when you eat. Allow yourself time to decide if you need more food. The answer usually is no.

There are no secrets to eating a healthy diet and getting into great physical health. It’s just a matter of knowing a few essentials, understanding how they impact your dietary plan, developing a plan that is realistic, and then sticking to it. You’re ready to make this work.

HOW DO I COMPUTE THE CALORIE CONTRIBUTION OF PROTEIN, CARBOHYDRATE, AND FAT IN FOODS?

Follow these steps to calculate the calorie contribution of macronutrients in the foods you eat:

1. There are approximately 4 calories per gram for protein and carbohydrate and 9 calories per gram for fat. There are approximately 7 calories per gram for alcohol.

2. Determine how many grams of each macronutrient are contained in the food. If it is a packaged food item, look at the nutrition facts label. If it’s an unpackaged food item (such as fruits or vegetables), you’ll need to search online or use a published food guide.

3. Multiply the number of grams for each nutrient by the calories per gram.

Example: 8 (grams of protein) × 4 (calories per gram) = 32 (8 × 4 = 32).

4. To get the percentage of calories for each macronutrient in a food, divide the number of calories for each macronutrient (protein, carbohydrate, fat) by the total number of calories in the food, and then multiply this number by 100. For example, we know that one serving of skim milk contains a total of 80 calories and 8 grams of protein, which equates to 32 calories from protein.

Example: 32 (protein calories) / 80 (total calories) × 100 = 40% of total calories are protein (32 / 80 × 100 = .40 or 40%).

We can do the same with carbohydrate in one serving (one cup) of skim milk, first figuring the number of calories from carbohydrates:

Example: 12 (grams of carbohydrate) × 4 (calories per gram) = 48 carbohydrate calories (12 × 4 = 48).

Example: 48 (carbohydrate calories) / 80 (total calories) × 100 = 60% of total calories are carbohydrate (48 / 80 × 100 = .60 or 60%).

The zero grams of fat in skim milk means 0% of total milk calories are from fat.

This same math works for any food, drink, or recipe. And while you don’t need to calculate these often, it’s a good idea to at least know how. It will help you to understand what is in the foods you eat.