Clean Eating Club for Monday 11/24

cherapple

This "club" is for anyone who wants to eat five or six times per day and eat natural, healthy, "clean" foods. Let's support each other in the quest to eat well, feel satisfied all the time, eliminate cravings, and melt off body fat. Anyone is welcome to join, and anyone can start the thread each day. Just copy and paste this first message into a new topic. You don't have to follow the diet perfectly, but it's easier than you might think! (I, personally, felt like a new person within days. ~Cheryl)
________
What is clean eating?

"In a nutshell, eating clean is the practice of eating whole, natural foods such as fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and complex carbohydrates. It also means staying away from the junk that typically makes up the Standard American Diet (S.A.D) These types of food include man-made sugar, bad fats (hydrogenated, trans-fat), preservatives, white bread, and any other ingredients that are unnecessary. An easy way to remember if a food is clean is: If man made it, don’t eat it.

A person who eats clean:

* Eliminates refined sugar
* Eats 5-6 small meals per day
* Combines healthy proteins with complex carbohydrates at every meal, which provides a feeling of fullness
* Drinks a lot of water
* Eliminates alcoholic beverages (or significantly limits them)
* Always eats breakfast.
* Cooks healthy meals
* Packs healthy meals
* Makes healthy choices when dining out."

~Adapted from http://www.eatingcleanworks.com

cherapple

This "club" is for anyone who wants to eat five or six times per day and eat natural, healthy, "clean" foods. Let's support each other in the quest to eat well, feel satisfied all the time, eliminate cravings, and melt off body fat. Anyone is welcome to join, and anyone can start the thread each day. Just copy and paste this first message into a new topic. You don't have to follow the diet perfectly, but it's easier than you might think! (I, personally, felt like a new person within days. ~Cheryl)
________
What is clean eating?

"In a nutshell, eating clean is the practice of eating whole, natural foods such as fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and complex carbohydrates. It also means staying away from the junk that typically makes up the Standard American Diet (S.A.D) These types of food include man-made sugar, bad fats (hydrogenated, trans-fat), preservatives, white bread, and any other ingredients that are unnecessary. An easy way to remember if a food is clean is: If man made it, don’t eat it.

A person who eats clean:

* Eliminates refined sugar
* Eats 5-6 small meals per day
* Combines healthy proteins with complex carbohydrates at every meal, which provides a feeling of fullness
* Drinks a lot of water
* Eliminates alcoholic beverages (or significantly limits them)
* Always eats breakfast.
* Cooks healthy meals
* Packs healthy meals
* Makes healthy choices when dining out."

~Adapted from http://www.eatingcleanworks.com

cherapple

:flowerforyou: TIP OF THE DAY: Top your salad with tuna or chicken. This provides the perfect combination of complex carbs and protein.

I should have done this for dinner last night, when I had so many calories left for the day and didn't know what to do with them! We had salad and I have tuna in the cupboard, which I had bought specifically for clean eating. I just hadn't figured out how to use it yet!

Here's a chicken recipe. I think I'm going to make this tonight. I need to learn to cook meat all over again, after being a vegetarian for five years. I'm not sure what my husband will say because he doesn't feel ready to make the switch back to meat eating (although he has said he'll have a little Thanksgiving turkey, which he often did anyway, while I swore off it). He also hates cottage cheese. I'm going to see if I can change his preferences, LOL. Not so much because I want to force him to eat like I do, but because I know he's at least willing to try anything I make for dinner. He can pick off the chicken if he wants to :bigsmile: , or the kids will eat it, since they've been meat eaters all along. I'll tell him the cottage cheese is ricotta.

:flowerforyou: RECIPE OF THE DAY:

Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo

2 red peppers, cut in half, seeds and ribs removed
1 cup reduced fat cottage cheese
2 Tsp chicken broth
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
10 oz. package of chopped frozen broccoli
12 oz. package of whole wheat fettuccini
2 cooked boneless chicken breasts, sliced into strips

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Roast red peppers cut side down for 20 mins., until skin is blackened and peeling away. Remove from oven and let cool. When they can be handled, peel off skin and cut pepper into long strips. Set aside.

In a blender or food processor, puree cottage cheese and chicken broth until no curds remain, approximately 2 minutes. Stir in Parmesan cheese and minced garlic. Season awith salt and pepper, if desired. Set aside.

Cook broccoli in microwave according to package directions.

Cook fettuccini according to package directions. Save 1/2 cup of pasta water before draining. Drain and return pasta to bowl. Stir in cheese sauce, peppers and broccoli. Thin out sauce with reserved pasta water if needed. Place chicken strips on top of pasta and serve.

Servings: 4, Calories: 518, Fat 8 g, Carbs 69 g, Protein 34 g.

~Source: Clean Eating Magazine, Winter 2007

(I finally got my magazine and Tosca's book back from my friend. Now I can really get down to business with clean eating. It was exactly a year ago that I first became interested in eating this way, and I'm finally getting into it now. Woo hoo! )

Enjoy good health!

Cheryl

cherapple

I didn't end up making the fettuccini after all. I was the only one home for dinner, and I got home late and hungry, so I grabbed something quick, and I'll keep it in mind for another night.

Here's what I ate today:

1/2 cup oatmeal
An apple
1/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup egg whites

Salad
1/2 can tuna
lemon and vinegar dressing
1/2 cup lowfat plain yogurt
14 almonds

Banana
1 slice of whole wheat bread
1 Tbs. peanut butter

1 slice of whole wheat bread
1 Tbs. peanut butter

1 cup black bean soup
Whole wheat tortilla
1 Tbs. hommus
Lettuce
Turkey slices
1 cup skim milk

1 cup skim milk
Unsweetened cocoa powder
Stevia
12 pistachio nuts

Yet another day when I'm under on calories (-300). This is really becoming a problem! I eat all day long. Sometimes I just don't have time to eat, I'm not in a place where I can eat (like work), or the right food isn't available, so I'll wait, and end up skipping a snack. I ate six times today. Maybe I need to make my portions bigger, but then I'm afraid of going over. I guess that's my biggest fear. Overall, I feel satisfied and like I've had plenty to eat most of the time.

It's so strange to have this problem! I exercised today, but I've eaten like I didn't. :grumble: Off to find more food. :ohwell:

Cheryl

Phoenixflame

I'd love to join! I admit, I'm a college student, so sometimes it's super difficult to eat entirely clean, but I definitely make it a big part of my diet. Hopefully y'all will give me some inspiration!

I'm so happy to be going home for Christmas break. I'm from Texas and the bison meat is like a million times cheaper than in California. I love bison!

Breakfast:
2-egg white scramble with spinach, diced onions, and mushrooms
1/3 cup oatmeal
1/2 sliced banana

Lunch:
Steamed broccoli
Grilled carrots
Roasted chicken breast

Dinner:
Baked sweet potato
Pork tenderloin
Salad with spinach, cukes, and cherry tomatoes

Snacks:
1/4 cup Trader Joe's Trekking the Himalayas Trail Mix
2 oz. grilled turkey meat
1/2 apple

Dessert:
Ok, this isn't clean...
Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latte

cherapple

Hi, Phoenixflame! It's good to have someone join me here today. It's been a little lonely, LOL.

Just curious -- Did you eat all your calories today? Because I'm having a hard time eating all of mine, and your food looks pretty light, too.

How long have you been clean eating? I'm on week two and loving it.

Cheryl