Eating Clean

shardown

Hello guys,

Today is the first day I'm going to start eating clean (after being on MFP for 65 days!). I've got really bad food habits and I'm getting really annoyed at myself because I work out so hard (5-6 times a week) and my weight has not budged for the last couple of weeks.

Do you have any tips and tricks for eating clean? I'd appreaciate any awesome recipes too

Cheers!

bahacca

Don't shop on the inside of the grocery store(except perhaps for whole grains like brown rice)
Also, be careful in the meat section with cold cuts and such-lots of nitrates/nitrites added to foods like cold cuts and lots of salt. I wish i had a meat slicer at home! Hard to mimic the yummy paper thin cut of a turkey breast from the deli with a regular old turkey breast and a knife.
And be careful about buying a lot of produce all at once. It WILL go bad, so shop for fresh produce every few days instead of once a week. Ask me how much money I've thrown away doing this:huh:
And meal plan! Do a weeks worth of meals and then make your grocery list for the week/produce list divided by days. Then you have no excuses to order out, etc.

shardown

Thank you! What about snacks? I snack constantly - usually on fruits and today I'll be including carrots as well. Would crunchy granola bars still be alright to have as a mid-morning snack?

mjzzyzoff

I'll tell you what - stick with it! I've been gradually switching over and it does take time to get used to the longer prep and the taste difference, but once you do it's so wonderful! I can't stand most things that come from boxes now, and I used to LOVE them. My daughter has been pretty much on a whole, natural diet since birth. She's two now. She won't touch a lot of things other kids seem to love, i.e. mac+cheese, lunchables, etc. - it's actually a little annoying. I occasionally buy a few quick things to keep around for THOSE DAYS and she will hardly eat any of it! On the other hand, her favorite food ever is tomatoes. She'll eat all kinds, all day if I'd let her. She also loves fresh peppers, broccoli, carrots and hummus we make from scratch.

So good luck! It's amazing the tastes you can create without all the additives, just simple spices. My spice cabinet has more than tripled since this began, and I started with quite a bit (I've always loved to cook).

Another thing I'm starting to do, to go along with menu planning, is to make up pre-measured packages of our favorite dishes or spice mixes and freeze them ready-to-cook. We love Indian food, esp. butter chicken, so I mixed up all the spices/ginger/garlic and put it in the freezer (where I keep all my spices) and it drastically shortens prep time. I also just tried it with bananas for my banana bread - froze them with butter cut into cubes and a splash of vanilla in a gallon sized ziploc, put the dry ingredients in a quart sized ziploc and slipped it inside the larger one, and all I need to do is thaw, add egg, and mix. We'll see if it works!

Let me know what kinds of foods you like and I may have recipes.

bahacca

If you are eating "clean" most granola bars don't necessarily fall into the "clean" category given most have added sugar.
Any fruit and veggie, all natural peanut butter(no added oils, sugars), cottage cheese, yogurt with no added sugar, string cheese. You can make your own granola with oats, honey, nuts and seeds.

mjzzyzoff

And be careful about buying a lot of produce all at once. It WILL go bad, so shop for fresh produce every few days instead of once a week. Ask me how much money I've thrown away doing this:huh:

Yeah. Me too. :huh:

A nifty trick I've found is if I do get something on the verge of going bad I chop it up and throw it in my "soup container" - a large tupperware in the freezer that I fill up with bits and pieces of veggies and when it's full I make soup!

shardown

I'll tell you what - stick with it! I've been gradually switching over and it does take time to get used to the longer prep and the taste difference, but once you do it's so wonderful! I can't stand most things that come from boxes now, and I used to LOVE them. My daughter has been pretty much on a whole, natural diet since birth. She's two now. She won't touch a lot of things other kids seem to love, i.e. mac+cheese, lunchables, etc. - it's actually a little annoying. I occasionally buy a few quick things to keep around for THOSE DAYS and she will hardly eat any of it! On the other hand, her favorite food ever is tomatoes. She'll eat all kinds, all day if I'd let her. She also loves fresh peppers, broccoli, carrots and hummus we make from scratch.

So good luck! It's amazing the tastes you can create without all the additives, just simple spices. My spice cabinet has more than tripled since this began, and I started with quite a bit (I've always loved to cook).

Another thing I'm starting to do, to go along with menu planning, is to make up pre-measured packages of our favorite dishes or spice mixes and freeze them ready-to-cook. We love Indian food, esp. butter chicken, so I mixed up all the spices/ginger/garlic and put it in the freezer (where I keep all my spices) and it drastically shortens prep time. I also just tried it with bananas for my banana bread - froze them with butter cut into cubes and a splash of vanilla in a gallon sized ziploc, put the dry ingredients in a quart sized ziploc and slipped it inside the larger one, and all I need to do is thaw, add egg, and mix. We'll see if it works!

Let me know what kinds of foods you like and I may have recipes.

That's great! My husband makes a mean butter chicken as well We LOVVEE Indian food

I cook a lot of curries, fried noodles, fried rice and pastas as well. Not very healthy, I know but if you have any recipes, I'd love to to see them I'm also a bit of a baking fiend so if you have recipes for cupcakes and cakes, I'd love them too. That banana bread tip is great. I think I'll try that out the next time I have bananas in the house.

mjzzyzoff

Thank you! What about snacks? I snack constantly - usually on fruits and today I'll be including carrots as well. Would crunchy granola bars still be alright to have as a mid-morning snack?

I pre-portion nuts in baggies and sometimes add dried fruit. I've tried (unsuccessfully) to make my own granola bars. I'd love to figure that one out.

shardown

If you are eating "clean" most granola bars don't necessarily fall into the "clean" category given most have added sugar.
Any fruit and veggie, all natural peanut butter(no added oils, sugars), cottage cheese, yogurt with no added sugar, string cheese. You can make your own granola with oats, honey, nuts and seeds.

I've got PB2 (cost me almost $15 to get it in Australia) so I'll start using it a bit more. I'll look into making my own granola because I like filling snacks in the morning as it'll keep me from eating too much at lunch.

I haven't come across string cheese yet though. Are they anything like cheese sticks? ie, the ones they have for kids in tube-like packages?

mrsogden259

there is a clean eating magazine with tons of ideas too. It gets delivered once a month. Good luck!

mjzzyzoff

I just happened to be near the "health food/weight loss/protein supplement" section of the grocery tonight picking up a prescription. For the heck of it I took a look at some of the "natural" protein bars. In the past I've always been impressed with Kashi as a producer of processed foods because they keep the ingredients few and simple and I can usually pronounce all of them. Not so with their protein bars! I guess there really are no shortcuts

blackcoffeeandcherrypie

For a healthy snack try Nairns Oat Biscuits. They do have a little bit of sugar in them, but it's a lot lower than any other snack bar out there. They're also full of oats for a filling low GI carb and will keep you going till your next meal :-)