Struggling a lot with starting to eat clean

LaurenAOK

I hit my goal weight about a month ago and am now looking to tone everything up. I've been eating at maintenance level and exercising regularly, but I'd really like to start eating "clean" as I've been told "abs are made in the kitchen" about 1000 times.

The problem is I just can't seem to find the motivation to really DO it. It just seems so daunting. I'm a college student, so keep in mind that a lot of social events revolve around food. Going out to eat, movie nights and ordering pizza, etc. Not to mention that I'm a vegetarian and most of the clean eating plans I've seen involve a lot of "lean protein," AKA meat. Right now I get a lot of my protein through cheese, fake meats, and protein shakes.

So I just can't bring myself to fully do it. Don't get me wrong, I've gotten better - eliminated all drinks but water from my diet, bake my own potato chips instead of eating store bought, switched to whole wheat versions of everything, etc. I'd say I eat clean 50% of the time where as it used to be maybe only 20%. But I just can't see myself going farther than this.

Has anyone else been stuck in this kind of rut? How did you bring yourself to finally do it? I'm thinking maybe I should just keep making gradual changes and maybe eventually I can be totally clean, even if it's a long time from now. But in the meantime I find myself getting frustrated with myself for not doing a better job :grumble: I just want to look awesome and toned. The exercise is really paying off, but I'm afraid I won't get the body I want without eating clean, too. I'm just feeling discouraged I guess.

amyindm

I've heard even the big proponents of clean eating say that for the most part they follow an "80/20" rule of eating clean 80% of the time... if you beat yourself up over every bite it probably won't be something that you can stick with.

Have you thought about the reasons you want to change your eating habits other than because you hear you're supposed to? For me at least, I feel more incentivized to eat that way more of the time because my body feels better. When I start doing things because I think I'm supposed to but I don't feel like I'm making the choice myself it's harder to rally when everyone else is choosing differently. I hope that makes sense!

Kudos to you for taking care of your body, especially as a student. That's not easy!

DominiqueSmall

I hit my goal weight about a month ago and am now looking to tone everything up. I've been eating at maintenance level and exercising regularly, but I'd really like to start eating "clean" as I've been told "abs are made in the kitchen" about 1000 times.

The problem is I just can't seem to find the motivation to really DO it. It just seems so daunting. I'm a college student, so keep in mind that a lot of social events revolve around food. Going out to eat, movie nights and ordering pizza, etc. Not to mention that I'm a vegetarian and most of the clean eating plans I've seen involve a lot of "lean protein," AKA meat. Right now I get a lot of my protein through cheese, fake meats, and protein shakes.

So I just can't bring myself to fully do it. Don't get me wrong, I've gotten better - eliminated all drinks but water from my diet, bake my own potato chips instead of eating store bought, switched to whole wheat versions of everything, etc. I'd say I eat clean 50% of the time where as it used to be maybe only 20%. But I just can't see myself going farther than this.

Has anyone else been stuck in this kind of rut? How did you bring yourself to finally do it? I'm thinking maybe I should just keep making gradual changes and maybe eventually I can be totally clean, even if it's a long time from now. But in the meantime I find myself getting frustrated with myself for not doing a better job :grumble: I just want to look awesome and toned. The exercise is really paying off, but I'm afraid I won't get the body I want without eating clean, too. I'm just feeling discouraged I guess.

When I started making the change to a clean diet I change one thing a month. For instance, I replaced my coke with Perrier water, butter with ghee, butter cookies with ginger snaps and so forth. By changing one or two things a month it was less daunting and it became a habit after 30 days.

Also, it was less chaotic on my body as well.

I also added Amazing Grass Super Food as shakes daily which helped give my body what it needed and eventually my body started craving wholesome food.
Good luck!

ZugTheMegasaurus

I know how it can be hard in that situation. I'm a second-year law student; I swear, during orientation, I heard more about how law students love free food than anything else! And it's CONSTANTLY around, and I mean quality stuff. My domestic violence professor even brings in homemade baked goods every week (to counteract the depression caused by the subject matter)!

But this entire semester, I've been eating clean almost 100% of the time. It requires preparation; I have to pack myself enough food with enough variety that going after those treats isn't an option. Usually that's a meal (often leftovers or chicken breast and a side), some nuts, and a piece of fruit. I never eat all of it, but it basically gives me something for being hungry, craving salt, and craving sugar.

It was kind of hard at first, but it really helped that I didn't judge myself for it. I didn't get mad for wanting a cookie or chastise myself for eating the "wrong" things. The effect was very surprising; when I stopped making it about rules and expectations, I stopped craving those things. At this point, cookies and cake smell almost revoltingly sweet; I've even spit out bread because it was just thick and tasted of nothing. So the choice isn't really hard anymore; I want the healthful options more than the junk food. I just had to give myself the chance.

The best advice I can give you is just to make it available and don't get upset if you don't find yourself wanting it right away. The more it feels like a choice and less like an obligation, the more likely you'll be to do it.

CassieReannan

Hey Lauren,

I know how you feel trying to stay clean when vegetarian....
Thats entirely why I am overweight. I ate junk food every meal and never ever ate that many vegetables.
I hope you get better, you need to be concious of your decisions. I know it sucks that everyone around you is eating pizza and chips and all the rest! But think about your body how it used to be, tired sick and unhealthy.. Since starting on MFP I can still have a packet of chips or make my own pizza, I just need to take into account the calories and macros..

Its your choices..

Helloitsdan

80/20 is a good way to start!

Just get 2 cups of veg a day.
2 fruit.
Protein protein protein!

Ivyzmama

When I was on college, I accidentally started eating cleaner because my friend moved in with me, she ate clean & I was awed by her not having crazy Reese's Cups cravings like I did. I started eating whole foods & trying new beans/legumes & the unhealthy foods just fell out of my diet. Seriously, I never planned to push the junk food out, it fell out by accident (cause there was no room left in the cart, or fridge, or my stomach for the junk). I recommend: trying a new healthy bean or legume recipe once a week. Beans are a great source of protein; they're nearly fat-free and also have fiber that has no calories and helps fill you up (something that chicken, fish etc doesn't have).

Use canned beans or fast-cooking legumes like lentils & grains like barley - cans much faster than dried beans, & the portion sizes are better for a single person. Always pour the cans into a strainer & rinse & drain the beans before you cook with them. Look up recipes on-line. To start, I recommend: pasta salad with beans & lots of veggies, black bean & corn salad, Indian curries with beans & split peas, split pea soup, and my family's favorite, Sloppy Joes made with red kidney beans. Like, buy a can of Sloppy Joe sauce, mix it with a rinsed, drained can of red kidney beans instead of beef, & serve on light or whole wheat hamburger buns. Delicious (& man-pleasing). Any recipe that calls for ground meat can be made with red kidney beans. Also, you might want to treat yourself to a cookbook that focuses on clean foods. There are cookbooks that focus on beans and on vegan cooking. A lot of ethnic recipes also focus on beans.

You will also save so much $ by getting your lean protein from beans - and this is how most of the world eats, every day; veggies, fruits, some grains and some beans in a flavorful sauce. Have you read Diet for a Small Planet? It's old but I loved it; it was inspiring.

supergirl6

Go slow.

This is like, the best possible advice anyone can give when it comes to eating clean. Go slow, take your time, one thing at a time. You need to make things habits and you need to work them into your budget, so expect to make the change over many months, not weeks. When we started, we chose 2 things - no more fast food except Subway, and we'd only go out to eat once a week. Part of this was for budget reasons, but also because freeing up our "going out to eat" money left us money to budget for more expensive food in the grocery store.

The second thing we changed was dairy. I'm extremely lactose intolerant and I read a study that suggested eating/drinking organic drairy could clear this up in people with a sensitivity to the things cows are given - the hormones and the antibiotics. So we started buying organic milk and organic yogurt and as much organic cheese as possible (this was often not possible.) My lactose intolerance cleared up, so did my mood swings and cramps during that TOM and so did my digestive problems. It was worth it in the money I saved from buying TUMS alone.

Then we started working out all the processed foods we used for dinners and lunches. I still have microwavable lunches sometimes because they are easiest at my work, but I supplement them with fresh veggies and fruit. We still use some canned food in recipes like black beans and crushed tomatoes, but almost all of our vegetables are fresh and I make a lot of my own sauces now. This took a HUGE amount of time to learn and build into our habits, months and months, but my dinners now taste so much better.

The last thing we've been working on is switching out all of our meats, veggies, and fruits with organic and local choices. It's not always possible and we tend to pick up what is on sale, but it works. We also found a local organic farmer who delivers to our house for free every three weeks. We are starting to get all our meats, eggs, salmon, and cheeses from him, which is slightly more expensive than non-organic in the store, but WAY cheaper than the organic products in the store. And he's local and we like supporting that. I'm really loving it so far.

We still go out to eat once a week at a nice place and we don't pretend we are able to choose clean foods there. We sometimes hit Subway on the weekends when we need something quick. Clean eating has helped me kick a lot of cravings.