Eating clean,
Options
ginnylee74
Posts: 398 Member
Hi,
I have been at a standstill for a month :grumble: or more now and I went into some of the groups and some of the success stories to see what I am doing wrong. Many, and I won't list which ones as there are so many, recommend eating NO processed foods and eating clean, lots of vegies, and fruits etc. You know what I mean. They recommend checking out their diary to see what they are eating. So I did. What I'm finding is that most, not all, eat protein bars and drink protein shakes for their meals. A LOT :huh:
I'm confused. Protein bars and shakes are not clean eating, IMO, Plus they are expensive, especially if you are feeding a family. Someone tell me that I'm not reading these right. I will get a protein bar if I;m in town and don't have time or don't want to take the time to stop for lunch. But, all the time?????????
I'm don't mean to criticize those that choose to eat that way. :blushing: I'm just trying how to figure out how to eat and feed my family healthy meals and still manage to lose weight for myself??????????????
Any suggestions?:bigsmile:
Ginny:flowerforyou:
I have been at a standstill for a month :grumble: or more now and I went into some of the groups and some of the success stories to see what I am doing wrong. Many, and I won't list which ones as there are so many, recommend eating NO processed foods and eating clean, lots of vegies, and fruits etc. You know what I mean. They recommend checking out their diary to see what they are eating. So I did. What I'm finding is that most, not all, eat protein bars and drink protein shakes for their meals. A LOT :huh:
I'm confused. Protein bars and shakes are not clean eating, IMO, Plus they are expensive, especially if you are feeding a family. Someone tell me that I'm not reading these right. I will get a protein bar if I;m in town and don't have time or don't want to take the time to stop for lunch. But, all the time?????????
I'm don't mean to criticize those that choose to eat that way. :blushing: I'm just trying how to figure out how to eat and feed my family healthy meals and still manage to lose weight for myself??????????????
Any suggestions?:bigsmile:
Ginny:flowerforyou:
0
Replies
-
I'm surprised that there are no responses to your question. I'm not sure if this helps, but here is what I've been doing. I am currently on my own since my wife is not eating the same as me. I have changed by eating lifestyle since January and found that I'm happy with a few core foods. I eat a lot of chicken breasts either skinless-boneless filets or frozen fully-cooked grilled chicken breast strips with rice or whole wheat tortillas. I make rollups with Costco turkey, a cheddar cheese slice, light mayo and shredded lettuce. I have cottage cheese w/shredded lettuce and canned peaches. I snack on bananas and oranges. I try to keep my fat content under the recommended maximum and don't worry very much if the calorie count exceeds the recommended maximum. We do occasionally (I try to keep this to once a week, but there have been some weeks with as many as 3) eat out, have a hamburger, fast food breakfast sandwich, or have pizza (one of my favorite foods) and try to make up for it in the following few days.
Add me as a friend and you can look at my diary, and see there are days I am better than others.0 -
Gobunkos,
Thank you for your response. Friend request sent.
Ginny:flowerforyou:0 -
G, Was hoping for some see some answers since we seem to be in the boat. I change my plan every week but still searching. M :ohwell:0
-
Not that I do this 100 % of the time but everything I have read for years, that has not been fadded out, says eat food that grows, is not processed, Nuts and seeds and fruit and vegetables and protein sources: dairy , legumes, meat, poultry, chicken, fish. That is what I think of eating clean. Cookies, although tasty, are usually not clean!!! Boo!!0
-
i agree with Smackadoodle's definition. But cookies should be a food group
For me I still struggle with portion size. 0 -
Not that I do this 100 % of the time but everything I have read for years, that has not been fadded out, says eat food that grows, is not processed, Nuts and seeds and fruit and vegetables and protein sources: dairy , legumes, meat, poultry, chicken, fish. That is what I think of eating clean. Cookies, although tasty, are usually not clean!!! Boo!!
I agree with you. Sometimes it's hard to do. You are right on. As far as the cookies go, wouldn't they be considered clean if you made them from scratch at home and didn't buy them at the store? LOL Well, we could hope.0 -
Cookies made with agave syrup, whole wheat bread and throw in carob to replace chocolate? Maybe it would taste like tofu ice cream.:ohwell:0
-
I have a fairly healthy cookie recipe, made with oats and raisins, as being vast bulk of each cookie, yet are moist and Delish. I invented the recipe myself, when my guy came down with high cholesterol, and needed something sweet with little or no cholesterol. I should submit it on MFP recipe thing, to see how many calories ARE in each one...
I recently read a remark from someone here, who said they still occasionally indulge now and then in 'forbidden' foods,
so long as they keep under their target calories for the day.
An idea i liked.
I read another person remark who said, to him, it was not so much about going over a little for a day here or there, but the overall pattern each week, of a trend to be less than his daily calorie allowance.
which was another idea i liked.
SO NICE to see ANY activity in this group, btw!0 -
Cookies made with agave syrup, whole wheat bread and throw in carob to replace chocolate? Maybe it would taste like tofu ice cream.:ohwell:
lol Oh, yuck. Tofu.
ETA: BlueJean, We don't seem to use this sight too much but when someone posts a topic we check in. I think we all check every day or so to see if anything new is posted. Glad you like the sight.
Ginny0 -
Yeah, i do not eat those fitness bars, they ARE expensive. Guess there ARE many ways to get fit, not just one way to eat.
btw, re: your standstill,
are you using the food diary to log all your intake?
I find doing that to be VERY helpful,
in so many ways,
it is helping me stay focused on what i eat,
how MUCH i eat
and for first time in my life, i am now at least eyeballing, if not measuring, my amounts of food!!!!!!!!!!
and i am becoming aware of where my calories do come from,
when i log every condiment,
every liquid i consume,
every bite i eat.
does not take more than a few minutes to log the food,
and it tells me how many calories i have left to spend.
I think one CAN "spend" their calories to include the occasional treat, if THAT is what someone is really aching for.
For me, treats i once loved,
are now becoming less attractive,
cuz i use the "food diary"
and i NOW see those items as too high of calorie to spend my daily allotment of calories on.0 -
RE: feeding the family,
maybe this website will give you ideas of recipes to use:
http://www.skinnytaste.com/
as well as the MFP forum which has "Recipe" section to look over, too.0 -
Thank you BlueJean,
I do log everything every day. No cheating on the food diary. Not allowed for me. lol. Keeps me on my toes. Thank you for your suggestions. I will certainly check into the web sights you suggested.
Ginny:flowerforyou:
ETA: I just checked out the SkinnyTaste web sight. Awesome recipes. Thanks again.0 -
Here is another website, i often use, for YEARS, to cook.
It is Kraftrecipes.com
It is NOT a diet website, and not all the recipes on it will meet your criteria for eating "clean",(?)
but, i like it because it lists the nutritional info for EVERY recipe they have,
the recipes tend to have only a few ingredients, (not like, 20 ingredients and 8 steps)
and tend to have ingredients which many ppl already own, not a lot of exotic things i don't even know what they are....lol!
sure, sometimes it IS FUN to cook up something very exotic, and experiment around,
but, often, when feeding a family on the go,
we need simple, easy, quick recipes for day to day use.
Kraftrecipes has an area where you can 'save' your favorite recipes, too. I think it is called "My recipe box" or something. YOu can the n sort out the recipes YOU have saved, into categories, like "side dishes" or "salads", etc. I have a few 100 recipes i've saved there, which are tested and true great tasty dishes i use all the time.
btw, Kraftrecipes has some DELICIOUS salad recipes. I know, i thought same thing, "what!? a recipe for A SALAD! how silly"
but,
turns out, most of the salad recipes really DO taste good, and jazz up eating salads all the time, makes it more interesting, to have a totally unexpected change in the salad bowl. Lotta variety in salads i'd never considered..
It also lists, on the home page,
a feature called "Use What is On Hand" or something,
where you can type in 2 or 3 ingredients, which you already have,
and recipes using those ingredients will pop up.:bigsmile:
Most of the recipes on that website, can be calorie reduced, too, by swapping out a few ingredients, like use fatfree mayo, or less sugar, or whatever, to make it healthier recipe if it doesn't suit you.
Kraftrecipes also has a "Healthy Living" section, too
>
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/healthy-living/healthy-living-recipes/main.aspx
BE SURE TO READ THE OTHER COOK'S COMMENTS prior to making the meal. I find reading those comments VERY helpful, and much enjoy THAT feature.0 -
oh, and that Kraftrecipe site,
also has a way to add the ingredients to a 'shopping list' which is kind of handy, too. YOu can delete items you already own off of the shopping list, and just print out the stuff you have to buy to make the dish, all divided up by area in the store, too!!
nice.0 -
I like All Recipes.com. It gives all the nutritional info you need. And it allows you adjust # of servings and recalculates the recipe,0
-
BlueJean4114, I also like the Kraft recipe web site for all the reasons you mentioned. I love the recipe box feature. And now that I'm on MFP I will use the nutrient values the next time I use one of my recipes. I never paid them any mind before :glasses: (see no evil lol).
I'm also becoming very conscious of what goes into my grocery cart since being on MFP and using the food diary and tools. Just yesterday I had to put back 3 items b/c they no longer were worth indulging in b/c of how many calories and carbs they would use up while not being nutrient dense at all. And the temptations I would be buying were not worth it .
And the sodium counts.... whoa, that alone turns me away even if the cal counts are ok. Last night I had 3-4 of those little stick pretzels that my DH was eating when I decided that the 490 mg of sodium in one serving was not a good trade off, even if only for100 calories, which I still had left to use up. I put them away
I am just learning about 'eating clean' having never heard that term before joining MFP. I am now aiming for 'cleaner' more of the time. This will help me eat more natural and less processed foods.
I've been reading labels for a long time, but now that I have been using MFP tools I can see how even the "healthy" and/or the vegetarian processed foods are still full (if not fuller) of sodium and chemicals and still use up whopping amounts of the other values I am tracking, or not enough of what I am aiming to increase (protein or fiber) at the cost of the high sodium and sugars in them. If that makes sense. Oh, my. Such a learning curve.
Interesting topic.0 -
Welcome texasgardnr,
Eating clean and local...helps us and the economy. Glad you joined the group0 -
Hi Steps,
I checked out the All Recipes.com and I love the sight. Thanks for the info.:bigsmile:
Ginny:flowerforyou:0 -
Ginny,
You are very welcome. I like it too. The friends in this group are so terrific. Always there with help and a kind word. :flowerforyou:0 -
Thanks for posting this site.0
