Eating Clean Newbie.. Advice?

evansproudmama

I have been eating clean for three days now, today is the first day I am going to log my food because the past two days I have just been focused on detoxing my body and getting my toddler on board with the new diet. I am so so happy (beyond words actually) with how I feel just after three days of not having processed crap in my body and shocked at how little food I actually need to sustain me and keep my appetite satisfied! My four year old was having chronic constipation and no matter how much fiber I would feed him he still would have this problem. I decided to educate myself and read up on many many things and I came across a documentary called Hungry for change and it changed my life!! I have nearly eliminated all processed foods and am moving myself and my son to a clean natural diet and he actually likes it!! I bought a blender and we have been making smoothies with fresh berries, carrots, kale and spinach and he loves it! Last night we had free range organic chicken with steamed broccoli and carrots and he ate the broccoli!! This morning he enjoyed an egg white omelette with spinach and avocado and ate every bite. Im almost in tears knowing how much this is going to change his life, I don't ever want him to struggle with food addiction like I have been because Its a prison.

Now that you have my back story, can you offer any words of wisdom on clean eating, advice or even recipes I just started a pintreset account and already have some yummy things to try on there.. I've been blending and drinking lots of veggies and I love it!! Anything you can share about your journey that will benefit mine please do

dc_smile2002

Bump!

XXXMinnieXXX

Picking up on something you said... Fiber works both ways. Too much or too little means constipation. Important to find a balance. Blending veggies sounds good.. Be a little more careful with blending fruit! Lots of sugars... Fruits that are best for the blood sugar levels are melon, grapes and berries. Stops the blood sugar crashing!

Eating well really does make you feel a lot better. I wouldn't worry about everything being organic. It gets very expensive! Eating from. Fresh is really good for you organic or not.

I often cook in batches so that it cuts down prep time a little. If your calories are too low when. You start logging with eating everything fresh you could eat full eggs instead of just whites.. Add nuts... Hummus... Healthy fats.

Drink plenty of water along with your healthy food... Will help you feel good.

Your doing a great thing for your son. Remember your allowed a treat... And that's important to make this a long term lifestyle change. Well done on taking the first step towards a happy and healthy future for you both!

Zara x

bearkisses

shop the perimeter of the grocery store, but bypass the bakery

jigglewiggles

Bump

Firefox7275

What is your definition of clean eating - that sounds more like low carb? Will you be eating oily fish, dairy, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds? If you are cutting out any food groups how are intending on replacing the lost nutrients? Whilst you have made a great start you cannot apply an adult weight management diet to a developing child, you are mentioning lean protein and fruits/ veggies but little in the way of essential fatty acids, minerals and complex carbs? Kids should not be eating egg whites except under medical advice or supervision, you lose the fats and vitamins in the yolk. If you wish to make eggs healthier perhaps choose omega-enriched eggs for essential fatty acids (avocado is super healthy but monounsaturates are not essential)?

If you intend to eliminate grains be sure to eat beans, lentils, nuts or seeds at every meal and snack for the minerals, carbs and fibre. If you hope to eliminate dairy consider plenty of bioavailable calcium (it is bound in certain vegetables), if you cut red meat consider iron and so on. Do try to get a balance of different coloured fruits and vegetables (blue/ purple, red, orange/ yellow, green) not an overload of greens.

HTH.

joybedford

I am just about to start clean eating and hopefully the kids will get on board too they are 16 and twins 8 so might be a little harder to change their views, 2 of them are autistic so what they will and won,t eat is limited anyway. I have suffered from constipation and chronic candida my whole life so hopefully this will be the way forward. I dont eat a lot of processed food anyway but will be reducing sugar and alcohol drastically not that I am an alcoholic but like the odd glass of wine. Good luck if you want to add me so we can encourage each other feel free.

Bobby__Clerici

I define "clean" as 75% whole foods: lean meats, fresh fruits and veggies, nuts, low fat dairy.
I stay within my calorie goal and macros.
This is as good as it gets.
Life is to be lived :bigsmile:

julesf1

My kids love when I cut extra firm tofu into strips and do a breadcrumb coating then bake them. After a while, my 5 year old prefers them cubed and in the skillet. I use toasted sesame oil in the skillet and then add Tamari sauce while they are cooking. Serve it with brown rice, broccoli and it's a hit! (As well as quick and easy)

Firefox7275

I am just about to start clean eating and hopefully the kids will get on board too they are 16 and twins 8 so might be a little harder to change their views, 2 of them are autistic so what they will and won,t eat is limited anyway. I have suffered from constipation and chronic candida my whole life so hopefully this will be the way forward. I dont eat a lot of processed food anyway but will be reducing sugar and alcohol drastically not that I am an alcoholic but like the odd glass of wine. Good luck if you want to add me so we can encourage each other feel free.

Looking at your diary you eat more processed foods than you realise - chocolate, bagels, cereal, gravy, protein powder, trifle, rice, jar sauce for example.

TheGlen

My family and I try to follow the primal blueprint. There are some great recipes here, http://goo.gl/QwjJC (and a bunch more if you do a quick search on "primal recipes").

My personal opinion is that it is healthier to eliminate the wheat/gluten, limit sugar/dyes/grains/processed food and all that gmo soy stuff everyone pushes as healthy. It's not always easy, companies put these fillers in everything.

Both our children have never been healthier; putting on weight (they were very skinny) and we've been able to reduce our son's medications and daughter's visits to the hospital.

joybedford

My diary isn't typical at the moment due to Christmas. I am aware my diet has been bad recently. I use protein powders because I struggle to eat enough protein.

TheGlen

I am just about to start clean eating and hopefully the kids will get on board too they are 16 and twins 8 so might be a little harder to change their views, 2 of them are autistic so what they will and won,t eat is limited anyway. I have suffered from constipation and chronic candida my whole life so hopefully this will be the way forward. I dont eat a lot of processed food anyway but will be reducing sugar and alcohol drastically not that I am an alcoholic but like the odd glass of wine. Good luck if you want to add me so we can encourage each other feel free.

Hi Joy,

It was actually researching the "autism diet" that led us to finding other non conventional diets. If you have children with autism, I highly recommend considering the "autism diet" (http://www.autism-diet.com/). It basically starts with removing gluten and casein from the children's diet, and I've seen and heard of amazing results from it.

Message me if you want to talk more.

evansproudmama

What is your definition of clean eating - that sounds more like low carb? Will you be eating oily fish, dairy, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds? If you are cutting out any food groups how are intending on replacing the lost nutrients? Whilst you have made a great start you cannot apply an adult weight management diet to a developing child, you are mentioning lean protein and fruits/ veggies but little in the way of essential fatty acids, minerals and complex carbs? Kids should not be eating egg whites except under medical advice or supervision, you lose the fats and vitamins in the yolk. If you wish to make eggs healthier perhaps choose omega-enriched eggs for essential fatty acids (avocado is super healthy but monounsaturates are not essential)?

If you intend to eliminate grains be sure to eat beans, lentils, nuts or seeds at every meal and snack for the minerals, carbs and fibre. If you hope to eliminate dairy consider plenty of bioavailable calcium (it is bound in certain vegetables), if you cut red meat consider iron and so on. Do try to get a balance of different coloured fruits and vegetables (blue/ purple, red, orange/ yellow, green) not an overload of greens.

HTH.

Thanks for the input, I welcome everyone opinion. As you will see in my original post, I just started eating this way three days ago and today is the only day so far I have logged my foods so I know how crappy I used to eat which is why I am doing this now.
My definition of clean eating is not eating foods that have ingredients I can’t pronounce or that where manipulated in some way or another. Therefore I plan to not eat processed foods and if I have to I will chose the least processed option. I just want to eat what the body needs.
As far as my son’s diet, I have already talked with his dr. about this and he has no qualms with it. I don’t plan on cutting out complex carbs he is still enjoying brown rice, whole grain organic bread and lots and lots of beans/lentils. We eat soups made from scratch, organic cereal with little as possible chemicals in it. I think it’s the smart healthy thing to do for our bodies considering that 80% of the foods we eat now are not food but products created to taste yummy and keep you coming back for more. We are eating healthy fats from nuts, avocados and seeds I made sure to research and have plenty of knowledge in the needs of my adult body and his which is why I want to do this for him so he doesn’t grow up addicted to sugary cereal and nutrient empty carbs that will do nothing for him but keep him addicted and compared to the processed crud he eats now I know this will do nothing but benefit him :-) won’t be cutting out fats either since our bodies need them to process properly but we will be eating healthy fats created by the planet just how we were intended to.

evansproudmama

I am just about to start clean eating and hopefully the kids will get on board too they are 16 and twins 8 so might be a little harder to change their views, 2 of them are autistic so what they will and won,t eat is limited anyway. I have suffered from constipation and chronic candida my whole life so hopefully this will be the way forward. I dont eat a lot of processed food anyway but will be reducing sugar and alcohol drastically not that I am an alcoholic but like the odd glass of wine. Good luck if you want to add me so we can encourage each other feel free.

Hi Joy,

It was actually researching the "autism diet" that led us to finding other non conventional diets. If you have children with autism, I highly recommend considering the "autism diet" (http://www.autism-diet.com/). It basically starts with removing gluten and casein from the children's diet, and I've seen and heard of amazing results from it.

Message me if you want to talk more.

Yes!! This is something else I came across while researching, we are also doing away with as much gluten as possible since mild gluten intolarences can mask itself as so many diseases including adhd, autism and depression. Its amazing how our bodies begin to work properly when we feed it the basics and do away with all that junk that was taking up calories in our diet.

evansproudmama

" America is starving, not due to a lack of calories but due to a lack of nutrition!" - Hungry for change documentary

think about the calories your eating what are the made of?

I would highly recommend you viewing the website and the documentary if possible, it has changed my life and will change your also!!
http://www.hungryforchange.tv/

shaybuggie

like

my31169

Hi, what works for me is preparation!!! I make my meals/snacks for the entire week. Using a scale to weigh my portions really helped too. Logging helped me realize how much sugar was in so many things, so cutting that down made a big difference for me. I also have one cheat meal a week which I really look forward to. Good luck and feel free to add me so we can motivate each other. I eased up on the clean eating over the holidays, but will be back on track the beginning of the year. Michelle

XXXMinnieXXX

What is your definition of clean eating - that sounds more like low carb? Will you be eating oily fish, dairy, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds? If you are cutting out any food groups how are intending on replacing the lost nutrients? Whilst you have made a great start you cannot apply an adult weight management diet to a developing child, you are mentioning lean protein and fruits/ veggies but little in the way of essential fatty acids, minerals and complex carbs? Kids should not be eating egg whites except under medical advice or supervision, you lose the fats and vitamins in the yolk. If you wish to make eggs healthier perhaps choose omega-enriched eggs for essential fatty acids (avocado is super healthy but monounsaturates are not essential)?

If you intend to eliminate grains be sure to eat beans, lentils, nuts or seeds at every meal and snack for the minerals, carbs and fibre. If you hope to eliminate dairy consider plenty of bioavailable calcium (it is bound in certain vegetables), if you cut red meat consider iron and so on. Do try to get a balance of different coloured fruits and vegetables (blue/ purple, red, orange/ yellow, green) not an overload of greens.

HTH.

Thanks for the input, I welcome everyone opinion. As you will see in my original post, I just started eating this way three days ago and today is the only day so far I have logged my foods so I know how crappy I used to eat which is why I am doing this now.
My definition of clean eating is not eating foods that have ingredients I can’t pronounce or that where manipulated in some way or another. Therefore I plan to not eat processed foods and if I have to I will chose the least processed option. I just want to eat what the body needs.
As far as my son’s diet, I have already talked with his dr. about this and he has no qualms with it. I don’t plan on cutting out complex carbs he is still enjoying brown rice, whole grain organic bread and lots and lots of beans/lentils. We eat soups made from scratch, organic cereal with little as possible chemicals in it. I think it’s the smart healthy thing to do for our bodies considering that 80% of the foods we eat now are not food but products created to taste yummy and keep you coming back for more. We are eating healthy fats from nuts, avocados and seeds I made sure to research and have plenty of knowledge in the needs of my adult body and his which is why I want to do this for him so he doesn’t grow up addicted to sugary cereal and nutrient empty carbs that will do nothing for him but keep him addicted and compared to the processed crud he eats now I know this will do nothing but benefit him :-) won’t be cutting out fats either since our bodies need them to process properly but we will be eating healthy fats created by the planet just how we were intended to.

Sounds perfect! Well done!

Zara x

Firefox7275

Thanks for the input, I welcome everyone opinion. As you will see in my original post, I just started eating this way three days ago and today is the only day so far I have logged my foods so I know how crappy I used to eat which is why I am doing this now.
My definition of clean eating is not eating foods that have ingredients I can’t pronounce or that where manipulated in some way or another. Therefore I plan to not eat processed foods and if I have to I will chose the least processed option. I just want to eat what the body needs.
As far as my son’s diet, I have already talked with his dr. about this and he has no qualms with it. I don’t plan on cutting out complex carbs he is still enjoying brown rice, whole grain organic bread and lots and lots of beans/lentils. We eat soups made from scratch, organic cereal with little as possible chemicals in it. I think it’s the smart healthy thing to do for our bodies considering that 80% of the foods we eat now are not food but products created to taste yummy and keep you coming back for more. We are eating healthy fats from nuts, avocados and seeds I made sure to research and have plenty of knowledge in the needs of my adult body and his which is why I want to do this for him so he doesn’t grow up addicted to sugary cereal and nutrient empty carbs that will do nothing for him but keep him addicted and compared to the processed crud he eats now I know this will do nothing but benefit him :-) won’t be cutting out fats either since our bodies need them to process properly but we will be eating healthy fats created by the planet just how we were intended to.

Don't get me wrong, as a healthcare professional I am all for a family eating a wide variety of clean unprocessed wholefoods.

Overall sounds great but add in oily fish, you can't get long chain omega-3s from nuts, seeds or avocado and they are also a great source of vitamin D which many of us are deficient in come winter. And consider adding back egg yolks, nature made the egg whole, there are beneficial fats, vitamins and minerals in there again including vitamin D, egg whites are very low in almost every vitamin and mineral (see below, set each to 100g serving for a fair comparison). Also you don't mention dairy so be sure you are getting plenty of calcium from your plant foods - be aware the amounts of some you need to consume are prohibitive even when websites claim they are a 'good source'.
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1843/2
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/dairy-and-egg-products/113/2
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/dairy-and-egg-products/112/2