Hi Val.
Yes, the warm weather should help! Spring and summer have so much to offer us! To answer your question regarding meat, dairy, etc...I have never fed my son meat and rarely any dairy. Our bodies absorb nutrients from plants much better than the ones found in meat and dairy. Meat has no fiber, so it just sits in you, rotting, and dairy is mucus forming. Our bodies do not digest either well. Green leafy veggies are really good. They contain iron, calcium, an endless array of nutrients! The way I get these into my son's diet is to make green smoothies, which consists of water, fruit, and green leaves all blended together. My son will also drink juices, like apple/carrot/celery/beet/beet greens. He doesn't drink a lot of either, but I figure that every little counts! and he eats fruit galore! Non-sweet fruits, too, like cucumber, red peppers, tomatoes, etc. Although, watch out for citrus fruits because they are hard on tooth enamel. Also, raw unhulled sesame seed milk is supposed to be really good. It has lots of calcium! As far as protein, all plantlife contains it, and as far as I've read, we need much less than we've been told...like 10 to 20 grams a day. (read the book "The China Study" by Campbell) You should check out Victoria Boutenko's book, "Green for Life" and Frederic Pautenaude's "Instant Raw Sensations" and "Raw Secrets". I recommend anything by Gabriel Cousens. (Am I overwhelming you with book suggestions??) Search the internet, too. There is so much good information out there. For the above mentioned authors,
www.rawfamily.com and
www.fredericpatenaude.com.
Again, I wish you the best on your quest! God Bless
you!