Clean Eating...

NykkieC

Hi Everybody, :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

This is for anyone who likes the concept of clean eating but isn't quite sure what it means.
I got it off the Clean Eating Club Thread:


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)


I claim progress rather than perfection in my journey toward my clean eating goal.
:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

Thank you for that useful information!!

CALIECAT

NykkieZ---- Just follow the plan that Barbiecat posted and you will never be hungry and you will lose the weight.thats a nice thought NEVER BE HUNGRY AGAIN AND LOSE WEIGHT TOO.


basrbiecat another 3 lbs. how facinating. You are becoming our biggest loser. HURRAY FOR YOU.

CALIECAT

Still eating clean to the best of my knoledge.
Marie

CALIECAT

This clean eating is great way to go. Love it.

crmldlyte

bump

fitinyoga14

thank you for all the tips for clean eating!! i saved the post from barbiecat on my computer to refer to. clean eating is definately the way i want to spend the rest of my life. i'm currently finishing up high school while living at home with my parents. they have been very supportive in agreeing to purchase my grocery requests! :laugh: i also like to think that i've influenced the amount of processed food that my parents take in as well. however, i'm terrified about keeping up with my habits while off at college. eating in cafeterias shall be a big challenge. i feel like if i can eat clean during my college years, then i have nothing to fear!

pz5wjj

Just found the thread. I love Clean Eating too - the cook books, the magazine, everything!

I always say my mom was the "original crunchy mama" because she raised us this way -- no processed foods, no sugar, all whole grains, she made all our bread, shopped at co-ops and we even drank raw milk fresh from a nearby farm. It wasn't as easy to do in the 70's as it is now! Now you can find "clean" and "organic" food just about everywhere you go! She did it to control my brothers ADHD and it worked!

Then of course over the years I fell off the Clean Eating wagon and now I'm back up and on and trying like heck to get my kids on board. They still partake of the occasional chicken nugget or processed mac & cheese though!

I do have a question -- where do you find Flax Seeds? I can't find it at any of the local grocery stores and don't know where to look. Do they have them at GNC? I'm in the Atlanta area and not sure if I should venture out to Harry's/Whole Foods or if they sell them at Trader Joes, or if I have to seek out a specialty store.

Thanks guys!

pz5wjj

thank you for all the tips for clean eating!! i saved the post from barbiecat on my computer to refer to. clean eating is definately the way i want to spend the rest of my life. i'm currently finishing up high school while living at home with my parents. they have been very supportive in agreeing to purchase my grocery requests! :laugh: i also like to think that i've influenced the amount of processed food that my parents take in as well. however, i'm terrified about keeping up with my habits while off at college. eating in cafeterias shall be a big challenge. i feel like if i can eat clean during my college years, then i have nothing to fear!

Good for you! That is awesome -- and so glad your parents are supportive! Hopefully they'll follow your example!

questionablemethods

Hooray for clean eating! This is how I strive to eat 90% of the time. I allow myself small pieces of dark chocolate or other little treats now and then in small portions. Otherwise, bread/Wasa crackers and protein powder is probably the most processed food that I eat. I feel great. I feel hungry when it is meal time (like clockwork--my body knows), but otherwise I feel pleasantly satiated the rest of the day.

Another resource for clean eating is Michi's Ladder, which I've posted on other similar threads. Clean eating is thought to be eating from the top two tiers, as I understand it. http://www.beachbody.com/category/michis_ladder.do

lvfunandfit

I'm basically a clean eater (minus my protein shakes). My question is, how do I get my 2 1/2 yr old to eat clean??

She has a redundant colon. Her colon is too big for her abdomen, so it has an extra loop which causes severe cramping and constipation. She rarely has an appetite due to her discomfort and always feeling full. She is only 22 lbs 6 oz. She should be at least 30 lbs. We see a specialist (GI Dr) every 6 weeks. He says to feed her anything that she will eat. Even goldfish cracker (ahhh!). If she wants it, we feed it to her. I'm trying to come up with snacks that are high calorie and not full of garbage. We are doing carnation instant breakfast shakes and I despise them. They are full of sugars. Even though they have a ton of nutrients, the processed part bothers me. She can't tolerate milk (She can tolerate small amounts of dairy, like cheese and yogurt.), so she is on Soy. Another thing I'm not too fond of, but it's the only other high calorie/fat drink there is. I found an all natural meal replacement shake for Toddlers at Whole (http://www.naturesone.com/pediasmart/nutrition-facts/) that I'm switching her to. It's much healthier. She doesn't like the taste as much, so we do half carnation and half that and hopefully we'll be fully switched over in a few weeks.

She LOVES chocolate. I'm sure she would eat more if EVERYTHING was made out of chocolate. HA HA I'd like to find her some chocolate protein bars that are all natural and healthy without nuts. I tried the think thin bars but she doesn't like them. I tried making her chocolate oatmeal protein bars, but she doesn't eat anything that I make her. I keep trying though.

Any ideas will help.