Clean Eating Club ~ Dec. 22-31

shar140

(Cheryl - I went ahead and posted for this week thru the end of the year!)

What is clean eating?
The 80 Percent Principle

In a nutshell, eating clean is the practice of eating whole, natural foods. These include fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and complex carbohydrates. It also means staying away from the junk that typically makes up the Standard American Diet (SAD). These types of food include man-made sugar, bad fats (hydrogenated and trans-fat), preservatives, white bread, artificial sweeteners, and any other ingredients that are unnecessary. An easy way to remember whether a food is clean is: If man made it, don’t eat it. (Try buying as many foods as possible that contain only one ingredient.)

According to physique experts (fitness models and body builders), the body is a product of 10 percent genetics, 10 percent exercise, and 80 percent nutrition. That means that in order to improve the way we look and feel, the most important thing that we can do is focus on nutrition!

Anyone who wants to eat cleaner can develop some or all of the following habits:

* Eating 5 to 6 small meals per day
* Eating every 2 to 3 hours
* Combining lean proteins with complex carbohydrates at every meal
* Never skipping a meal, especially breakfast
* Eating whole foods
* Eating healthy fats
* Drinking lots of water
* Eliminating refined sugar and processed foods
* Eliminating alcoholic beverages (another kind of sugar)
* Carrying a supply of healthy foods when away from home
* Making healthy choices when dining out
* Sticking to reasonable portion sizes at all times
* And exercising for both fat loss (cardio) and muscle gain (strength training).

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

Join the club! Ask questions. Tell us what you're eating. Our goal is to support each other in becoming both leaner and healthier!

shar140

(Cheryl - I went ahead and posted for this week thru the end of the year!)

What is clean eating?
The 80 Percent Principle

In a nutshell, eating clean is the practice of eating whole, natural foods. These include fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and complex carbohydrates. It also means staying away from the junk that typically makes up the Standard American Diet (SAD). These types of food include man-made sugar, bad fats (hydrogenated and trans-fat), preservatives, white bread, artificial sweeteners, and any other ingredients that are unnecessary. An easy way to remember whether a food is clean is: If man made it, don’t eat it. (Try buying as many foods as possible that contain only one ingredient.)

According to physique experts (fitness models and body builders), the body is a product of 10 percent genetics, 10 percent exercise, and 80 percent nutrition. That means that in order to improve the way we look and feel, the most important thing that we can do is focus on nutrition!

Anyone who wants to eat cleaner can develop some or all of the following habits:

* Eating 5 to 6 small meals per day
* Eating every 2 to 3 hours
* Combining lean proteins with complex carbohydrates at every meal
* Never skipping a meal, especially breakfast
* Eating whole foods
* Eating healthy fats
* Drinking lots of water
* Eliminating refined sugar and processed foods
* Eliminating alcoholic beverages (another kind of sugar)
* Carrying a supply of healthy foods when away from home
* Making healthy choices when dining out
* Sticking to reasonable portion sizes at all times
* And exercising for both fat loss (cardio) and muscle gain (strength training).

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

Join the club! Ask questions. Tell us what you're eating. Our goal is to support each other in becoming both leaner and healthier!

shar140

Today's breakfast:
2 turkey sausage patties - Jimmy Dean
2 slices of rye toast - Aunt Millie's Hearth
1 T. Smart Balance Light

My breakfasts always tend to be a bit high in fat, but I balance it out the rest of the day. I can't really just have cereal - I need more protein to feel full longer, plus milk gives me issues (and I haven't found any alternatives that I like!).

Marla64

:laugh: Every time I see this thread my mind first reads it as the "Clean Plate Club" of which I'm a card carrying member-- LOL-- I always have to do a double take--

Sorry-- just had to interject that-- ahem

Carry on with the serious stuff--

Have a great day.

cherapple

:laugh: Every time I see this thread my mind first reads it as the "Clean Plate Club" of which I'm a card carrying member-- LOL-- I always have to do a double take--

Sorry-- just had to interject that-- ahem

Carry on with the serious stuff--

Have a great day.

LOL, Marla! That's right -- this IS the Clean (Your) Plate Club -- and we clean our plates five to six times per day -- because we've piled them with healthy foods and controlled your portions! :bigsmile: :laugh: I see your signature says "No Sweets Until Christmas." You're in the right place for that goal! :happy:

Thanks for starting the thread, Shar!

cherapple

This is week five for me with clean eating. (I think yesterday I may have said week six?) I feel like I'm stalled. I've been doing so well with it and I am feeling a little leaner, but I would like to lose five pounds of flab. The scale is stuck, and I can't eat any less, so I'm really going to try to eat more. I just bumped my calories to 1330. Why does it make me so nervous to do so? :grumble: :laugh:

Meal #1:
1/2 c dry oatmeal, cooked
1 sliced apple
1/4 c egg whites
1/4 c skim milk
1 Tbs flax
1/8 c raisins
(No stevia -- I'm trying to get used to the naturally sweet flavors of food)
Calories: 367

My workout today was 50 mins of cardio on the ellipticals.

Jess, I finally found NM Peanut Butter in the grocery store! It was in the natural foods section, rather than with the regular PB. I was looking in the wrong place all along! When I looked at the ingredients, though, I saw it has added sugar, so I didn't buy it. I'll stick with just plain peanut butter and get my flax in elsewhere.

jawaria

Thanks Cher! your meal plans are helping me! ihave been ngoing over my calories too often!
Thanks!

cherapple

You're welcome, jawaria!

Meal #2:
1/4 c lowfat cottage cheese
1/4 c lowfat yogurt
1/8 c cashews
1/8 c grape nuts
Stevia
1 c skim milk
1/4 c egg whites
1 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
Stevia
(OK, I don't want to give up my Stevia! :laugh: )
Calories: 327

I'll be out of the house for the rest of the day, so my next two or three meals will come from my cooler.

shar140

Went out for lunch today - didn't do so bad with choosing "clean" foods, but still more calories that I should have had!

Chips & salsa (the corn tortilla chips are whole grain, right? )
And a steak fajita quesadilla - the tortilla wasn't whole grain, but I subbed beans for the rice!

jessmomof3

I'm here!!

Crazy day, my dh's truck was dead so he had to take my van in to work!! Had plans today, so my running buddy picked me up and we did our grocery shopping together and met our other 2 running buddies for lunch!!

Breakfast:
My usual oatmeal
1/2 c. old fashioned oatmeal, 1/2 c. whole cranberries
1/2 scoop choc. protein powder
1 T. NM PB, 1 T. flax, 1 T. wheat germ
1/2 c. cottage cheese

Lunch: FlatTop Grill (stir fry)
Loaded w/ veggies- spinach, mushrooms, green peppers, water chesnuts, snow peas, broccoli, edamame, carrots, etc and had a little brown rice and for protein had chicken & tofu. YUMMY!!

Dessert: Cold Stone Creamery (*gasp* I know!), a treat from one of my friends
Sinless fat free (made w/ splenda) ice cream w/ triple berries & almonds (a pretty good choice and I hardly EVER splurge w/ ice cream!)

Dinner:
Making pork chops
Baked sweet potatoes

It's my dd's 10th bday but I won't be eating any cake (had my ice cream to celebrate already!! :laugh: )

jessmomof3

Jess, I finally found NM Peanut Butter in the grocery store! It was in the natural foods section, rather than with the regular PB. I was looking in the wrong place all along! When I looked at the ingredients, though, I saw it has added sugar, so I didn't buy it. I'll stick with just plain peanut butter and get my flax in elsewhere.

It does have a little cane sugar & honey it, but at 2g of sugar for 2 T of it and 5g less fat than regular PB (that has 1g of sugar in it anyway with just peanuts), I'm ok with that!

shar140

I wasn't hungry this afternoon due to the large lunch, so no snack this afternoon.

Dinner:
pork (loin) & sauerkraut
green beans
boiled potatoes

Yum!

I stayed within my calories today, but due to lunch I was over on fat, and under on carbs & protein for today. I still have 100 calories left for today, so I will probably have a small snack tonight.

mrwatson

Eating clean (or as close as I can get as a newb) has really helped me today. I still have calories left over and I am not hungry.

I appreciated reading the posts in last week's thread and look forward to getting more ideas this week.

Also, I finally ordered a HRM to keep better track of the calories I burn.

Thank you to all of the club members and their suggestions.

cherapple

*delete*

Sorry, I caught myself whining there! :laugh: :sad: Why am I not getting leaner? As much as I love, love, love clean eating, the mirror isn't showing me what I want to be seeing.

Off to get mad and get even. :mad: Upper body weights today.

jessmomof3

*delete*

Sorry, I caught myself whining there! :laugh: :sad: Why am I not getting leaner? As much as I love, love, love clean eating, the mirror isn't showing me what I want to be seeing.

Off to get mad and get even. :mad: Upper body weights today.

We all have those days!! Remember it just takes time. My days are usually when I'm PMS'ing!! :explode: Just remember how much healthier you are and how your body is being fueled properly. Enjoy those UB weights!

Jess

jessmomof3

Eating clean (or as close as I can get as a newb) has really helped me today. I still have calories left over and I am not hungry.

I appreciated reading the posts in last week's thread and look forward to getting more ideas this week.

Also, I finally ordered a HRM to keep better track of the calories I burn.

Thank you to all of the club members and their suggestions.

Good for you!! I don't have a HRM but I know people love theirs!

Jess

shar140

*delete*

Sorry, I caught myself whining there! :laugh: :sad: Why am I not getting leaner? As much as I love, love, love clean eating, the mirror isn't showing me what I want to be seeing.

Off to get mad and get even. :mad: Upper body weights today.

Hmm...how are you measuring whether or not you are getting leaner? Other than the mirror? In the past, my experience is that my weight can stay the same for 2, 3, even 4 weeks at a time, but I'll be losing fat/inches - based on how my clothes fit.

shar140

Last night I did some exercise, so I had enough extra calories to have a banana & cup of milk as a snack after dinner.

Breakfast today was rye toast, a turkey sausage patty, & 2 eggs.

Upcoming snack, a banana and a few mixed nuts.

jessmomof3

Hello Clean Eaters!

My day... 4 mile run at the Y and then 600 yd swim.

Breakfast:
1/2 c. old fashioned oatmeal, 1/2 c. whole cranberries
1/2 scoop choc. protein powder
1 T. NM PB, 2 T. flax
1/2 c. cottage cheese
Clementine

Baking cupcakes for my dd's bday snack at Girl Scouts tonight! Also resisted my dh's homemade caramel rolls (his Mom's recipe) that he took in to work today!! It smells good in my house! :laugh:

jawaria

i didn't eat healthy today....had chicken biryani..only if i jknow how many calories it really had...had guests over so hubby got a take out from a rest...when we cook at home we reduce the amount of oil and sometimes we even use brown basmati rice instead of regular basmati rice....oh welll i enjoyed every bit of it:devil:
i also had 2 pieces of chocolate and ramenn noodles...so a yucky day today!
i am getting better with excercising though...did 20 mins but better than nothing! i have to keep reminding mysaelf that

cherapple

We all have those days!! Remember it just takes time. My days are usually when I'm PMS'ing!! :explode: Just remember how much healthier you are and how your body is being fueled properly. Enjoy those UB weights!

Jess

I went clothes shopping last night and I didn't look as good in the mirror as I did the last time I went clothes shopping. After five weeks of eating clean (the majority of the time), you'd think I'd see some improvement? :huh: It causes me to wonder about the logic of eating several times a day. I recently heard another nutrition expert (JJ Virgin) say that if you feed your body so often, it doesn't feel any need to burn its own fat because it's getting a constant supply of calories.

But you are right, I'm eating healthier than I've ever eaten before as far as nutrition goes, and I love being able to eat whenever I feel hungry. I have no desire to give that up and go back to eating just three times a day! I'm on a much more even keel now emotionally than I was when I would get to the point of starving between meals. I have to look at that aspect of it, too. I'm doing this for more reasons than just what my body looks like.