The perfect food

Natural peanut butter

I copied the paragraph below from an article on MSN. To be honest, it's taken from an article in Men's Health Magazine, but I've heard this from a few other sources on womens' health too.

To drop weight, you need to cut back on certain foods—but not dairy. Milk and other dairy products can help dieters slim down and beef up, say Canadian researchers. Their study found that heavy people who exercised every day and followed a high-protein, high-dairy (and calorie-restricted) diet for 16 weeks lost about 10 pounds of fat and gained 1 1/2 pounds of muscle. (Those who ate less dairy and protein still lost weight, but they also lost muscle.) The reasons: Milk may help regulate appetite, and whey protein can activate muscle growth.

700-800 calories a day is not enough. If you eat to little food your body goes into starvation mode and stores all the food it can in fat, it's better to eat more then to eat to little. Plus as soon as you eat over the amount it will go straight to fat. And you may lose weight but it really really easy to gain it all back again and more, it's not worth it.

If you are not hungry, then don't eat... thats pretty straight forward.

I tend to follow my body's schedule, and if I'm not hungry for breakfast then I eat a huge lunch... and if I'm not hungry for dinner, then I don't eat dinner, and if I'm hungry before bed, then I'll eat something.

As far as foods go, you can eat pretty much what you want as long as it fits in your calories/macros.

I hope this image of a food pyramid gives you a bit of a better understanding of your foods.

http://www.freshandnaturalfoods.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Food-Pyramid.jpg

And although nearly all foods contain more than just one nutrient, the basics are......

Wholegrain, Veg & Fruit = Carbs
Meat, Fish & Eggs = Protein
Nuts, Seeds & Oils = Healthy Fats


You will have to click the image as it is absolutely huge to have displayed on this forum

Eggs are yummy.

I dnt really eat food I use to pig out on goodies an not eat food. So I'm new to all this clean eating I don't know what foods good or bad ( I know that sounds stupid but I really don't I know the obvious take aways,carbs,) but I'm just learning about processed chicken after it blew me up for a week with sodium . Iv never ate breakfast so I have started but I'm not hungry around dinner time then but I have to eat dinner so it's usually soup an then that only adds up to 300 cals ?

No food is good or bad. If you allow yourself enough calories and watch your micronutrients, you can eat whatever you want in moderation.

700 to 800 cals?
no bueno

sweetie you need to eat more, you can become a new you by June AND be healthy

I'm not eating this much on purpose since I cut out all bad food(goodies) I just can't seem to eat I force myself to eat in a morning and I hate it , it is getting better I didn't feel sick this morning an then it comes to dinner and I'm not hungry so I have to force myself to eat again an then I'm not hungry u till tea time and iv. Have a meal around 4-500 cals because I don't finish it. An that's when I usually sit on the couch with alsorts of sweet stuff then and consume around 2000 cals!!! My tdee is 1400 I was eating 1200 before Xmas an still only meeting 800 on a week day 1200 and exercise cals on a weekend but I have had 3 weeks of eating what I want anits piled back on me I know I need to eat more for this to be a real change . Iv completely cut sugar out apart from good sugars . I'm the type of person that goes to the fridge or checks in my bag every half an hour rather than sitting down to eat a big meal

What is your height, weight, and activity level? 1400 seems awfully low for TDEE. Are you sure that isn't your BMR instead of TDEE?

700 to 800 cals?
no bueno

sweetie you need to eat more, you can become a new you by June AND be healthy

I'm not eating this much on purpose since I cut out all bad food(goodies) I just can't seem to eat I force myself to eat in a morning and I hate it , it is getting better I didn't feel sick this morning an then it comes to dinner and I'm not hungry so I have to force myself to eat again an then I'm not hungry u till tea time and iv. Have a meal around 4-500 cals because I don't finish it. An that's when I usually sit on the couch with alsorts of sweet stuff then and consume around 2000 cals!!! My tdee is 1400 I was eating 1200 before Xmas an still only meeting 800 on a week day 1200 and exercise cals on a weekend but I have had 3 weeks of eating what I want anits piled back on me I know I need to eat more for this to be a real change . Iv completely cut sugar out apart from good sugars . I'm the type of person that goes to the fridge or checks in my bag every half an hour rather than sitting down to eat a big meal

You know, it's ok to snack. If that suits you, then it's fine. Likewise, it's ok not to eat breakfast. I often don't. If you're not happy consuming so much sugar, you can still snack on healthier options like raw veggies, nuts, seeds, cheese (not evil!) etc. If three big meals isn't working for you, find something that does.

I dnt really eat food I use to pig out on goodies an not eat food. So I'm new to all this clean eating I don't know what foods good or bad ( I know that sounds stupid but I really don't I know the obvious take aways,carbs,) but I'm just learning about processed chicken after it blew me up for a week with sodium . Iv never ate breakfast so I have started but I'm not hungry around dinner time then but I have to eat dinner so it's usually soup an then that only adds up to 300 cals ?

You don't need to wait until you are hungry to eat, that is your body telling you that you have failed to give it the nutrients it needs not an early warning system it's a meal time. There is no one food that is going to get your calories up and supply a balance of all the nutrients your body needs - start meal planning, spread your servings of each food group through the day. Clean eating is not about depriving your body of any macro or micronutrient, it's actually about giving your body MORE nutrients. Carbs are not the enemy, it's refined and processed carbs that can be detrimental to health (added sugars, white carbs like white flour/ white rice/ white pasta/ peeled potatoes). If you stop eating anything processed or with an ingredients list, but mostly eat stuff that looks pretty much the same as when it came off the animal or plant you won't go too far wrong.

Basic diet that will supply a balance of all the nutrients your body needs for optimum health
- nine servings of low sugar fruits and non starchy vegetables every day in the full rainbow of colours (blue/ purple, red, green, orange/ yellow)
- three servings of reduced fat dairy (plain yoghurt, plain soft cheese, milk etc) a day
- protein little and often starting with breakfast including oily fish several times a week
- small portions of whole healthy fats several times a day (oily fish, avocado, olives, block creamed coconut, nuts or seeds)
- fibre/ mineral rich foods several times a day (beans, lentils, wholegrains, nuts, seeds)
Every western government has portion sizes on a website somewhere if you are unsure.

Sodium in one chicken meal should not blow you up for a week, are you quite sure it was that? If you are make an appointment with your doctor. In the mean time eat all your fruits and veggies (water, potassium which flushes and balances sodium), drink plenty of water, limit or avoid caffeine, sugary drinks, artificial sweeteners such as diet soda. And be sure you are taking the recommended 10,000 steps every day, your muscles squeezing as you walk activates the lymphatic system which helps eliminate excess water.

It's a shame all the people who just reply with "you need to eat more", it's like they didn't even read your question!

A lot of people who make the switch from eating lots of crap to eating healthy have this same problem, it's not just you. It's easy to eat 2000 calories worth of fast food and ice cream! Not as easy to get all those calories from "healthy" food if you think healthy means low-calorie/low-fat/low-carbs all the time.

One thing to realize is that not all "fats" are bad! you don't have to make everything low fat (just like you dont have to make everything low-carb either). You do, however want to chose healthy fats (think natural, not processed) If you are having trouble meeting your calorie goal, chose some higher calorie items. Not everything healthy and "clean" is low-cal.
Avocado is SO delicious and full of good-for-you fat.
Nuts are a calorie dense food too, with good fats and protein.
Nothing says all your dairy needs to be fat-free, if you consistently have room for more calories, chose full fat milks, cheeses and yogurts

Whole grains, like brown rice or Quinoa are good too. I think people who are trying to lose weight get afraid of carbs, but don't be, everything in moderation. They aren't "low calorie", but the right portion size should fit well into your goals.

bumping for the great info! So many helpful people around here