Eating Clean!!! Support group!

Hi!

I LOVE Clean Eating and Tosca Reno is such an inspiration!

If you're on Facebook I have started a group for people to share their recipes and success stories. I personally lost 13 pounds last year "eating clean" and continue to eat clean about 90% of the time.

Once you make the changes it's pretty easy to maintain. It's just a matter f switching things out and finding brands and alternatives that work within your diet.

I ave to admint that lately I haven't been eating as clean as I would like, but was just thinking that I need to get back on the wagon!! lol I just feel so much better when I'm eating clean.

Here's the link to join my Facebook Group! http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=218928818511

This may be a stupid question but what does "eating clean" include? What food groups do you eat? I've been looking at slowly becoming a vegan and I'm wondering if this is anything similar. Is it more strict or less?

The way I understand it, is that you more or less cut out pre packaged foods which are full of preservatives. You eat mostly lean meats, veg, fruit, seeds, nuts..

eating clean is consuming foods that are NOT processed.....foods that are in their most natural state, and have less than 4-5 ingredients. it can/should also include organic foods....preservatives and pesticides are bad for us...

DO EAT~
fresh/frozen fruits and vegetables
100 % whole grains
lean protein
healthy fats

what i noticed first, within a couple days was the energy that consumed me. i felt amazing and the sluggish feeling was gone. my skin became clearer, face less puffy, i slept more deeper, and did not really have hunger issues.

become label savvy. watch sodium, sugar contents. sugar is NOT your friend. yes, eating CLEAN is more costly, but well worth the expense. try it for a few days, or a week....your body will love you for it! once you commit, you won't wanna go back to *crap*!

good luck!

I searched MFP for "clean eating " and found several very helpful posts:

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)

Hello,

I am having a very hard time with the just eating right, I work out hard and then stop at Wendy's so I don't have to cook when I get home.

A lot of eating clean or eating right for me is setting my mind to do it. I work hard and after three weeks, I'm still trying to reach my goal of 225, the scale will lose the 2 pounds I need to reach my (short term ) goal.

ok, so being new at this, i have kindove a stupid question, what are preservatives, like i know there chemicals and stuff added to food to make them last longer but like what are they called, what should i be looking for on all the labelled foods/? this would really help in getting me started in the right direction!

Not a stupid question! I don't know the names of preservatives, but the way I read labels and determine if its something I'm willing to consume is by reading the ingredients to see if there is anything in the list that I don't know. If its a complicated name its often a preservative or flavour additive etc. Stick to ingredients you can pronounce only. If it makes you scratch your head and wonder what an ingredient might be, leave it on the shelf and find a 'cleaner' alternative. Or better yet, avoid entering the middle aisles of the grocery store except when you are in need of spices or whole grains (oatmeal, brown rice etc)....most of the rest of the stuff is junk anyways. Make your own tomato sauce, your own soup, if you make it, you know you didn't put preservatives in it.

I have been eating clean since last September and since the beginning of 2010, I have have tightened my diet even more. My biggest tip for clean eating is to begin gradually. I didn't throw out all my 'unclean' food when I started, but I didn't buy them again, and I replaced them with foods that are clean.

I swapped my Quaker instant oatmeal for Steal Cut Oats, Quinoa, and rolled oats. I swapped my high sodium soup, for homemade - cheaper and healthier.

Eventually I cut out all soda, even though I was only drinking the occasional diet pepsi or gingerale. I don't eat desserts except on very special occasions, and when I have a sweet tooth, I'll either enjoy a bit of fruit, or a small piece of expensive chocolate and that does the trick.

I eat clean 95% of the time, and I allow myself little treats or the occasional meal where I don't worry about how clean it is. It helps keep me sane and I've lost 12 lbs since the beginning of September. It helps to give yourself a bit of wiggle room so you don't feel totally deprived. Eventually you stop craving crappy un-nutritious food. And your body signals you when its time to eat again.

I am on a 3 hour scheduel like clockwork 6:30 breakfast, 9:30 snack, 12:30 Lunch, 3:30 snack and 6:30 dinner. When I go to long, my body screams at me to fuel it.

The biggest changes are that my daily headaches have completely gone away. When I slack on my eating, they come back. I have a ton of energy, clear skin and better focus.

Clean eating is a bit of a learning curve as you get to know what is, and what is not, something you should be consuming. As you begin to incorporate new foods, flavours and textures, you will discover that this way of eating is really not a diet, but a way of life (as cliche as it sounds)! Try making small modifications to your diet and you'll be a clean eater in no time!

Clean Eating magazine has a lot of information and recipes. I think you can get a free issue by going to their website. That is what I did but ended up getting a subscription later because I really liked it. I don't eat as clean right now as I'd like to but really want to work on it.

Alicia ~ ** exactly** love everything you shared!!