Clean Eating Club ~ Dec. 8-14

cherapple

This "club" is for anyone who wants to eat five or six times per day and eat healthier foods. Clean Eating is a diet of athletes and bodybuilders, but you don't have to be an athlete or a bodybuilder to reap its benefits! Have you ever wondered how they get so lean and healthy? Not by starving themselves.

Let's support each other in the quest to eat well, feel satisfied all the time, eliminate cravings, feed our muscles, burn fat, and get lean. Anyone is welcome to join. You don't have to follow the diet perfectly, but it's easier than you might think! Feel free to add your own tips or recipes. Tell us how you eat. Ask questions. How is clean eating helping you or changing your life?
________
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. Take the "one ingredient" challenge and try to buy as many foods as possible that contain just one ingredient.

A person who eats clean:

* Eats 5 to 6 small meals per day
* Eats every 2 to 3 hours
* Eats whole foods
* Eliminates refined sugar and processed foods
* Combines lean proteins with complex carbohydrates at every meal
* Eats healthy fats
* Drinks lots of water
* Eliminates alcoholic beverages (another kind of sugar)
* Never skips a meal, especially breakfast
* Sticks to reasonable portion sizes
* Carries a supply of healthy foods when away from home
* Makes healthy choices when dining out.

~Adapted from http://www.eatingcleanworks.com and the Eat-Clean Diet books by Tosca Reno

cherapple

This "club" is for anyone who wants to eat five or six times per day and eat healthier foods. Clean Eating is a diet of athletes and bodybuilders, but you don't have to be an athlete or a bodybuilder to reap its benefits! Have you ever wondered how they get so lean and healthy? Not by starving themselves.

Let's support each other in the quest to eat well, feel satisfied all the time, eliminate cravings, feed our muscles, burn fat, and get lean. Anyone is welcome to join. You don't have to follow the diet perfectly, but it's easier than you might think! Feel free to add your own tips or recipes. Tell us how you eat. Ask questions. How is clean eating helping you or changing your life?
________
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. Take the "one ingredient" challenge and try to buy as many foods as possible that contain just one ingredient.

A person who eats clean:

* Eats 5 to 6 small meals per day
* Eats every 2 to 3 hours
* Eats whole foods
* Eliminates refined sugar and processed foods
* Combines lean proteins with complex carbohydrates at every meal
* Eats healthy fats
* Drinks lots of water
* Eliminates alcoholic beverages (another kind of sugar)
* Never skips a meal, especially breakfast
* Sticks to reasonable portion sizes
* Carries a supply of healthy foods when away from home
* Makes healthy choices when dining out.

~Adapted from http://www.eatingcleanworks.com and the Eat-Clean Diet books by Tosca Reno

arewethereyet

I am trying. by looking over your menu, to change some of my eating habits. This was my attempt yeserday at 'clean' eating.

Nestle - Coffee Mate - Coffee Creamer, 5 tbsp
Publix - Multigrain Italian Bread, 1 slice
Strawberries - Raw, 9 large (1-3/8" dia)
Sargento Reduced Fat String Cheese From 2% Milk, 1 String Cheese
total 277
snack nothing

lunch
Ronzoni- Smart Taste - Rotini, 2 OZ 180
Homemade - Fresh Green, Yellow, Red and Orange Peppers,Cherry Tomatoes and Onion, 1 cup
Publix - Multigrain Italian Bread, 1 slice
Foster Farms - Whole Young Chicken, 4 oz
total 551

snack
Athenos - Hummus - Spicy Three Pepper, 2 oz
Fresh Produce - Red Bell Pepper, 1 oz
Celery - Raw, 1 stalk large (11"-12" long)
Broccoli - Raw, 1 spear (about 5" long)
total 131

dinner
Pepperidge Farm - Light Style Oatmeal Bread, 2 slice
Smuckers Organic - Creamy Peanut Butter, 2 tbsp
Publix - All Natural Lowfat Grade A Milk (1%), 1 cup
total 490

snack Apple Slices Crunch Pak - Sweet Apple Slices Red

cherapple

Guilty pleasure :blushing: :
1 cup coffee substitute
2 Tbs half and half
1 tsp maple syrup

Breakfast:
1/2 dry oatmeal, cooked
1/4 c lowfat cottage cheese
1/4 c skim milk
1/4 c egg whites
14 almonds
Cinnamon & Stevia

I am taking a day of rest in order to let my body heal from yesterday's run. I'm hobbling a little bit and there is still something not quite right with my hips, but I feel pretty good and I think I'll recover quickly. I managed to exercise both days over the weekend, despite travel, so I think my body deserves some rest!

cherapple

I am trying. by looking over your menu, to change some of my eating habits. This was my attempt yeserday at 'clean' eating.

Looking good! Just don't forget to always eat a little protein with your carbs. That's one of *my* main focuses right now, anyway -- never eating carbs alone, if I can manage it. For example, I will have a few nuts or a bit of peanut butter with an apple. It has turned into kind of a fun game for me. Carbs are always the first thing I want to grab, but then I think, "What kind of protein would go good with this?" :bigsmile:

Angiebangie

I'm back...my computer konked out (second time) and just got it back from the doc, hope santa brings a new one for Christmas!!!

Doing pretty well, a few things here and there, went out to dinner after a concert last night, split a french dip and fries w/ mom, and a cookie and ice cream dessert, split it though, did not consume by myself

Going on vacation Friday, will not have met my goal of 135, but I'm okay with that, I look good in my suit and will eat as clean as I can in Mexico, we'll eat breakfast and lunch from our room and only go out for dinners. And this is a kid trip, so no drinking all day by the pool

Today 12/8:

Breakfast
2c. water
20 oz. black coffee
1c. quinoa/oatmeal porridge (made w/ dates & pumpkin pie spice, yum!)
splash soymilk
1/2 oz. walnuts
1/2 c. berries

Snack
2 c. water
1/2 c. red grapes
1/2 oz. walnuts (this is my favorite snack, the grapes and nuts together taste so good!)

jessmomof3

Here is my day:

Pre-workout:
Apple
Light string cheese

Did Cathe's Muscle Max, haven't done that one in a while!

Post-workout: (the usual oatmeal)
1/2 c. old fashioned oatmeal, 1/2 c. cranberries
1/4 c. Fiber one cereal
1/2 scoop choc. protein powder
1 T. NM PB, 1 T. flax, 1 T. wheat germ
1/4 c. cottage cheese (all that was left in the carton! :laugh: )

Need to run errands now!

Jess

Angiebangie

Heading to the gym, speed interval, and quick strength, followed by sauna.

Post-workout snack
1c. 13 bean/bison chili
1 clementine
4c. water (during and after workout)

cherapple

snack:
1/4 c yogurt
1/4 c cottage cheese
1 banana
1/2 Tbs. PB

lunch:
Whole wheat tortilla
Turkey
1 Tbs hommus
Lettuce
1 cup sweet potato and bean stew
(This was over 500 calories. I'm getting a little carried away on portions, or something. I should have done 1/2 cup of the stew, or saved it for later.)

Good to see you back, Angie!

jessmomof3

Lunch:
Apple
12 almonds (not much, packed it for the errands!)

Snack:
1 c. Kashi GoLean cereal
1/2 c. light soymilk

Dinner plan:
Leftover salsa chicken from y'day (YUM!) probably in a whole grain tortilla

jessmomof3

1 cup sweet potato and bean stew

Have you posted this recipe??? I'd love to have it. I LOVE sweet potatoes!!

Jess

Angiebangie

Thanks Cherapple!

I LOVE sweet potatoes too, and would like that recipe. The other day I just poked some holes in one and baked it for 45 minutes, ate it with just a pinch of sea salt, it was so yummy!

Did my workout and went grocery shopping for Mexico, we only eat dinners out, and bring as much as we're able to.

Snack
1 small (45 cal.) Joseph's flax/oatbran pita
1/4 each zucchini and yellow squash, steamed
red onion
drizzle of sun-dried tomato dressing
1 turkey meatball (from Tosca's book, make these, they are sooo good!)

cherapple

Oh, I'm so glad you guys said something! :laugh: I've had the sweet potato stew recipe sitting right here by the computer for several days (from when I calculated the nutrition info.) Duh! :bigsmile: Of course I'll post it. I love sweet potatoes, too, and discovered that they make better baked potatoes than white ones (although I love those, too). They need hardly anything on them!

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Stew

2 Tbs olive oil
2-3 red onions
3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 red, yellow, or orange peppers
3-4 sweet potatoes
1 big can crushed tomatoes
3/4 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne

about 2 cups water
about 2 cups cooked brown rice
2 cans black beans, rinsed

Heat oil in large soup pot, cook onions and garlic until limp. Add peppers, cook 5 mins. Add sweet potatoes and tomatoes, cook 4 mins. Stir in spices. Add water. Boil, cover and simmer 20 mins. until potatoes are tender. Stir in rice and beans, heat through.

Source: Unknown. (My husband found it online after we had a similar stew at Moosewood. Theirs was topped with cheese.)

cherapple

Snacks:
2 pieces whole wheat bread
1 Tbs peanut butter
(Spread out over a couple of hours)

Dinner:
1/4 chicken breast
1 cup skim milk
1 Tbs cocoa powder
Stevia

I wasn't very hungry, so I took the opportunity to make up for eating so much at lunch by having a light dinner. I don't know why some days it's so hard to eat all my calories, and others it's so hard to stay within them. Whether or not I exercise makes a big difference, of course. I didn't exercise today and I went over by 400 calories. Knowing that it was good food that got me there, though, doesn't bother me as much as it would if it had been candy. :happy:

Angiebangie

Dinner
1 tilapia filet
1/2 c. steamed zucchini and yellow squash
1 1/2 c. spinach, tomato, gr. pepper and onion salad
2T. FF dressing
1/2 c. red grapes


Snack
1/4 roasted sweet corn (crunchy like corn nuts, remember those? Yummy, found 'em in the natural section)

Water, water, all day long 20 c. total
2 c. herbal tea too

cherapple

Water, water, all day long 20 c. total
2 c. herbal tea too

Wow, what's your secret for getting all that water down? I just don't want it, especially when the weather turns so cold, unless I'm exercising, which is really the only time I drink a lot. The rest of the day, I may take a sip here and there. I also have a strange fear of having to go the bathroom and being somewhere (like in the car) that I can't.

cherapple

I had a really bad night last night. I ate a *ton* of heavily buttered and salted popcorn, and stayed up so late that I didn't wake up in time to go to the gym this morning. At least it wasn't sugar. I should be getting my period any day now....

Breakfast:
1/2 c dry oatmeal, cooked
1/4 c egg whites
1/4 c skim milk
One sliced apple
1 Tbs flax
Cinnamon
Stevia

shar140

Well I've fallen off the proverbial clean eating wagon...and boy does it make a difference in how I feel - even in just a few days!

We had our company xmas party last Friday and it's been hard to get back into my routine. Plus I am going to be out of town for 4 days this coming weekend (sister's college graduation) - it's like those Allstate commercials - Life comes at you fast!

I am slowly doing better this week - I finally got to take a walk outside with the dog last night, it was warmer but still crazy windy, and it felt really good to be outside doing something!

Angiebangie

Water, water, all day long 20 c. total
2 c. herbal tea too

Wow, what's your secret for getting all that water down? I just don't want it, especially when the weather turns so cold, unless I'm exercising, which is really the only time I drink a lot. The rest of the day, I may take a sip here and there. I also have a strange fear of having to go the bathroom and being somewhere (like in the car) that I can't.

Running I guess, I always want to be fully hydrated, and so I carry a bottle around that holds 4c., drink and fill, I've been doing it since I started training for my first marathon in '06 and it's just habit now Plus it's all I drink except for my morning coffee and a few cups of tea, no milk, pop, juice or other beverages.

Angiebangie

Breakfast
3 c. water
20 oz. coffee
1c. quinoa/oatmeal porridge
1 clementine

jessmomof3

OK, another crazy day. I swear this time of year is non-stop!!

Wake-up: (my dh overslept, and had to hurry to get him off to work & then the kiddos didn't want to get movin'!)
Apple

Pre-workout:
Melaleuca Caramel Kruncher Access bar

Ran 4 miles in the TM, then swam 600 yds.

Lunch:
(Waited too long to eat, but met my dh for lunch at Chinese Buffet, should have had a snack!)
Veggies- cucumbers, tomatoes, broccoli, a couple boiled egg whites
Chicken & broccoli (very little sauce), salmon, some shrimp & crab
Dessert- cantaloupe & honeydew
Didn't overeat, but my tummy was upset. See what happens when I get out of routine!! :grumble:

jessmomof3

Oh, and I drink at least a gallon of water a day. Coffee in the morning and sometimes green tea.

Angiebangie

Didn't get my workout in :grumble: My 5 year old had been sick Fri. and Sat. was feeling better Sun. Before school Mon. I noticed he had a hive like rash on his torso and called the doc, well the nurse, and gave her all the details, sore throat, mostly gone, low fever, now gone, rash on torso??? She said it was probably dry skin, gave him Benadryl, rubbed on some Aveeno, sent him to school. Today, went to friends, told her about weekend, rash, she said, that's probably strep!!! It was!!! I'm mad at that nurse for not connecting the dots (no pun intended) about the sore throat and the rash! Sorry to vent...

Snack
1 hardboiled egg w/ salt
1 c. green tea

Lunch
2 c. romaine salad w/ carrots, celery, cabbage
2 oz. chicken
1 T. sunflower seeds
2 T. LF dressing

Snack
4 oz. chicken
1 sweet potato
1 c. green beans

Ooooooh, and I just bought some "Flackers" (flaxseed crackers) at my coop, they're 100 cal. for 2 with 5-6 g. of both fiber and protien, savory flavor, can't wait to try them!

cherapple

Snack
1/4 c lowfat plain yogurt
1/4 c cottage cheese
1/4 c pomegranate seeds
14 almonds

Lunch
Wheat tortilla
2 oz. turkey
1 Tbs hommus
2 slices tomato
Green leaf lettuce

Snack
Banana
Trail mix
1 c skim milk
1 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder

Dinner
1 c sweet potato stew
1/2 c cottage cheese

Snack
1/4 c dry roasted wasabi edamame

Just feeling blah :sick: . I'm going to try really hard to get myself out the door for some exercise in the morning!

cherapple

I'm mad at that nurse for not connecting the dots (no pun intended) about the sore throat and the rash!

Don't get me started on "health care" providers. I hope your son feels better soon!!! :flowerforyou:

shar140

Didn't get my workout in :grumble: My 5 year old had been sick Fri. and Sat. was feeling better Sun. Before school Mon. I noticed he had a hive like rash on his torso and called the doc, well the nurse, and gave her all the details, sore throat, mostly gone, low fever, now gone, rash on torso??? She said it was probably dry skin, gave him Benadryl, rubbed on some Aveeno, sent him to school. Today, went to friends, told her about weekend, rash, she said, that's probably strep!!! It was!!! I'm mad at that nurse for not connecting the dots (no pun intended) about the sore throat and the rash! Sorry to vent...

Oh I hope he gets better soon!! It's probably scarlet fever - I had that when I was like 8? But I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on tv!!

cherapple

More mindless eating: Raisins and nuts, and more raisins and nuts. The raisins are satisfying my sweet tooth. TOM, please get here!!! :sad: :grumble: :laugh:

jessmomof3

Didn't get my workout in :grumble: My 5 year old had been sick Fri. and Sat. was feeling better Sun. Before school Mon. I noticed he had a hive like rash on his torso and called the doc, well the nurse, and gave her all the details, sore throat, mostly gone, low fever, now gone, rash on torso??? She said it was probably dry skin, gave him Benadryl, rubbed on some Aveeno, sent him to school. Today, went to friends, told her about weekend, rash, she said, that's probably strep!!! It was!!! I'm mad at that nurse for not connecting the dots (no pun intended) about the sore throat and the rash! Sorry to vent...

Yes, it sounds like strep or scarlet fever. My girls have had strep a LOT so I feel like I could diagnose it. :grumble: I hope he is feeling better soon!

Jess

jessmomof3

Tummy still upset all day, almost wondering if I had a touch of food poisoning????

Snack:
1/2 c. NF yogurt + 1 T. NM PB + 1/4 c. Nature's Path Pumpkin Flax Granola

Dinner:
Usual oatmeal (again, all that sounded good)

And just had herbal tea tonight, hope I wake up feeling normal tomorrow!! :ohwell:

cherapple

I just increased my base calories to 1320 because I want to see what happens. Even for my small height and size, 1200 sounds like starvation (although I almost never eat that little). If I don't lose or gain in a couple of weeks, I'll increase again. I'm curious!

jessmomof3

I just increased my base calories to 1320 because I want to see what happens. Even for my small height and size, 1200 sounds like starvation (although I almost never eat that little). If I don't lose or gain in a couple of weeks, I'll increase again. I'm curious!

I have my baseline as 1,600 cals and then add in my exercise cals. I am 5'7" and have a lot of muscle so I just can't go below 1,500 even on rest days. I probably average around 1,800 most days. Good luck!!