LSAT Meals

VegMeg55

Hi everyone,

I'm the type of prepper that tries to keep everything concerning my PTs as consistent as possible. With that, I try to plan my meals accordingly so I'm not battling hunger, spikes in blood sugar, or caffeine withdrawal while I'm testing. I'm not sure if this type of thread has already been posted; if so, I apologize. My meal plan has been working pretty well for me, and I wanted to know what everyone else eats when they PT.

P.S. I'm vegan. So my meals might look a bit weird to some of you (haters gonna hate).

6:30 AM- Breakfast
I have a cereal consisting of 1/4 c. unsweetened wheat shreds, 1/4 c. old fashioned rolled oats, 1/4 c. Uncle Sam's Toasted Wheat Berry and Flax cereal, handful of slivered almonds, handful of golden raisins, 1 teaspoon of chia seeds, 1 sliced banana and 1/2 c. of unsweetened almond milk. I usually keep the dry ingredients individually portioned in a bag so it's super quick to toss them in a bowl, cut up the banana, and throw the almond milk on top. For anyone that has seen anything about the Engine2Diet, the recipe is adapted from Rip's Big Bowl (http://engine2diet.com/recipe/rips-big-bowl/).
I usually drink 1 liter of water in the morning and have a cup of tea with breakfast.

Snack after the first three sections
I like a granola bar, banana, and a little bit of trail mix with 20 oz. of water.

Lunch after LSAT completion-

I usually have rice and Chickpea-Potato Stew or Spinach and Tofu lasagna. I make both of these dishes in bulk and bring individual portions to where ever I'm PTing. I can attach recipes... if anyone cares.

More water.

Dinner-
Large salad, usually consisting of a full head of romaine lettuce and my favorite dressing: Rosemary Balsamic Salad Dressing by Drew's.

More water! Be sure to stay hydrated! I cannot stress how important that is.

Ok, I'm done. What does everyone else eat when they PT?

ddakjiking

I eat at least a pound or two of meat a day....We are polar opposites. :P

VegMeg55

@ddakjiking Lol! I figured I would get a few of those kinds of comments. @nicole.hopkins has already shed a single tear for my deprivation of animal proteins.

blah170blah

Breakfast: banana, ~20-25 almonds, greek yogurt, two shots of espresso
Break: ~10-15 almonds
Dinner: whatever I want haha

I usually don't eat or drink too much when I PT in fear of food coma and the urge to go to the bathroom.

hrjones44

food coma is my biggest enemy!

Jengibre

Wanna link me to the recipes for Chickpea-Potato Stew and Spinach and Tofu lasagna? Thanks!

Nilesh S

Breakfast a couple of bananas, an apple, nuts and a 355 ml seltzer water can; lunch, (I used to have brown rice with grilled chicken pieces and spinach earlier) barbecue chicken breast one piece with vegetables seasoned with salt pepper and lemon; dinner either homemade chef salad or two eggs scrambled in a teaspoon and a half of olive oil with mushrooms and onions. 3 - 5 more seltzer water cans through the day. If I'm really hungry then on the days that I work out, I'll have a protein shake and on the days that I feel I need extra fat, I'll microwave a handful of shredded cheese with Tabasco sauce. I'm trying to switch though.

VegMeg55

@Jengibre Here they are!

The chickpea and potato stew, except I leave out the bahrat spice since I don't have any on hand:
http://herbivoracious.com/2011/06/chickpea-and-potato-stew-with-baharat-recipe.html

The tofu lasagna: http://www.hummusapien.com/skinny-vegan-lasagna/

ddakjiking

Sort of off-topic but anyone track macros?

mes08

This might sound stupid, but I've never thought of controlling my diet when PTing. Do you guys think it actually makes a noticeable difference? I just figured that as long as I was well rested, tried to take PTs at a consistent time, and didn't drink too much caffeine beforehand that it wouldn't really matter that much.

@VegMeg55 Thanks for the recipes! Currently vegetarian but considering going vegan

ddakjiking

The amount of calories and macro splits do affect my LSAT performance. @mes08

nicole.hopkins

@mes08 absolutely no question—the function of the brain is largely dependent on calories and perhaps more so on the type of calories. I do HFLC (high fat low carb) Paleo and find that high fat intake not only sustains blood sugar levels/hunger, but aids in attention and mental dexterity. Different people have different metabolisms and temperaments, so there's no one "magic LSAT diet." If I ate as many carbs as the above meal planners shared, I'd be a wreck. If they ate the diet I do, they might have serious brain fog (at least initially).

shine.on.me

I'm not a vegan or a vegetarian but the Spinach and Tofu lasagna sounds awesome. I really need to adjust my diet for mental dexterity.

VegMeg55

@mes08 My LSAT performance is definitely affected by what I eat and it's also just another thing to worry about (If only we didn't have to feed ourselves...). My meal plan keeps me from stress eating, keeps my food costs low, and is also efficient in terms of time. I'll go to the grocery store on a weekend, grab the ingredients for the recipes above, a box of granola bars, bananas, and romaine lettuce. Then I'll make the lasagna and stew in a big batch, freeze individual portions, and reheat whatever I need for individual days. I'm not trying to sell anyone on my meal plan because as Nicole says everyone works differently on different types of diets. I'm just trying to give you an example of how a healthier and well-planned diet can not only help with performance but also save time and money. The meals you eat are just another variable to account for when trying to max your LSAT prep performance, so maybe keep your PT meals constant for a few weeks and see if it affects you? I'd be interested to see how you do!

Jengibre

Thanks for the recipes, @VegMeg55!

VegMeg55

@Jengibre Any time!

nicole.hopkins

@VegMeg55 amen to all that—once I get my kitchen back I'm back to that meal prep. My grocery budget is $70 a week and I eat all organic with lots of meat Buying that stuff at my paleo prepared meals place is like ... $130+ a week.

emli1000

I couldn't imagine living without consuming steak/chicken at least once a day lol