Getting the daily recommended vits and mins

[iluvcacao]

I am 8 days into my 30 day challenge and doing well. I wanted to log what I was eating and see how it was nutritionally stacking up, so I started using fitday.com. I was coming up short on quite a few things (calicium, selenium-gotta get some brazil nuts!, zinc, Vit A and Iron), and after filling in the holes. I ended up eating A LOT of nuts, basically 60% of my diet was fats!!! :eek: I must be going about this wrong...any suggestions?
For example, this what I ate yesterday and was able to reach everything but selenium, calcium (only got half :( ) and Vit B12, which I am supplementing:
Breakfast-smoothie which had sesame seeds, wild berry mix, pear and plum
Snack- banana
Lunch-coleslaw and a bowl of Alissa's corn chowder
Snack-Alissa's blueberry pie, which I made with the wild berry mix instead
Snack-a few dates
Dinner-Large salad of green lettuce, tomato, and half an avacado
Snack-red pepper slices dipped in a cashew cheese sauce (found recipe online here)
Snack-large shake of cashews, sesame seeds, bananas, carob powder, Tbsp coconut oil, and a few dates ( I really wasn't hungry for this, but was trying to up my calcium intake for the day)
I don't want to spend every day running around freaking out and making food such a hassle. I also realize I probably wasn't reaching my daily intake on my diet before switching to raw. However, I am raw now to be healthier, so I want to give my body all it needs. I would love to hear some opinions and suggestions. Thanks :)

[alex]

Add more greens: kale, collard, mustard, dandelion, beet greens etc.

Greens is where most of the vitamin and minerals are. Also if you eat organic you will probably be getting even more.


alex

[Sunshine9]

Since you just started, I would suggest focusing more on staying raw than trying to fill every nutritional requirement. I find it is difficult to meet each one every day. Over the course of a few days, or a week you will probably see that you are filling your nutritional requirements. Personally I also think the nutrient calculators have a huge margin of error, because the vitamins and minerals in our food vary widely depending on organic, farming practices, and the amount of time from tree to you. (which in many cases, is weeks!)

I second Alex's suggesstion to eat more greens. That is where the nutrients are. Seeds such as sesame and pumpkin also have a lot of nutrients, and one brazil nut a day will fulfill your selenium needs. Foods like bananas and dates are much lower on the mineral spectrum.

Enjoy ... :)

[rawdelight]

Alissa does not promote counting calories, fat grams or carbs. Have you read her book? It takes all of the stress and hassle out of eating raw food. I would suggest you read her book and start enjoying raw food instead of stressing.
Best to you and please let us know if you need more help.

rawdelight

[iluvcacao]

I do have Alissa's book and love it. I am not counting calories or anything like that, just trying to make sure I'm getting everything my body needs. When I ate cooked food, I tend to find my favorites and not eat a lot of variety, and I am tending to do this with eating raw. So, I was mainly just seeing what my body was getting nutrient-wise. I understand that the RDA would factor in cooked food and the nutrients it loses with cooking, but then shouldn't you be able to reach that set amount much faster with raw food?

[vgloveforlife]

Seaweed has a lot of nutrients.

[VeryBerry]

I would not take "daily recommended allowances" too seriously. Conventional dietitians seem to think that you have to get all you nutrients in one day.
You can eat calcuim rich foods one day, iron rich foods the next and still be ok.
Also it is not only about what you are eating, but also how much you are absorbing. Poor absorbtion is the reason why some people who eat red meat are still iron defficient.

If you are concerned about getting enough nutrients I would go to the doctor and get a blood test to check you status right now. Then recheck again in 6 month. I did that.

[iluvcacao]

Very Berry, that is a good idea. I will give my doc a call.