Clean eating.

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  • ChunkieNuts
    ChunkieNuts Posts: 135 Member
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    i have lost most of my weight through clean eating. its just become a way of life now.
    i also find i can eat alot more aswell and ive up-ped my calories

    also everyone has there own way of clean eating
  • lisamarie2181
    lisamarie2181 Posts: 560 Member
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    Your diet didn't seem too bad, my only suggestion would be to learn to cook if you don't know how already. That is really a big determining factor for a lot of people and why a lot tend to go for frozen ready made meals - they either don't like cooking or don't have the time. If you truly wanted a clean diet - and by me saying clean I am referring more to a whole foods approach - cooking is definitely a huge aspect. I eat this way, with a few exceptions, but I couldn't do it without my kitchen lol A big issue I have with the ready made meals, is the size. For the amount of cals it contains, I can have double, sometimes triple the amount of food for the same amount of cals. I rather get more bang for my buck lol

    Soups and chili's are great ways to get a ton of veggies in a dish and these are great because no one veggie taste usually stands out, no matter what I put in my chili, it tastes like chili lol

    Good luck hun!! Feel free to add me if you need some support or food ideas!
  • Topher1978
    Topher1978 Posts: 975 Member
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    My diary is open… is my breakfast clean eating?
  • Melampus
    Melampus Posts: 95 Member
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    I am by no means a clean eating expert but I'd second some of things said already. One of the great things about myfitnesspal and similar systems is that you can make small changes and let it tell you have this affects your calories and your other nutrients rather than going on a whole unfamiliar diet that is hard to stick to.

    Starting to cook your own meals would be a big improvement because once you do that the scope you have for making changes is much greater. On the subject of the ready meals my experience is that they tend to reasonable at being low fat, assuming that is what they advertise, but tend to be phsyically small portions for the calories, leave me feeling like I have not really eaten a full meal and slightly hungry. Having plenty of sugar in, as some do, won't help in that regard and putting in plenty of sugar to replace the missing fat is much cheaper than putting in other interesting ingredients.

    On the cooking front again it is possible to take one step at a time. I quite like curry and to start with my approach was to use a ready made suace and just add the meat. After that I started using a paste with the spices in and adding more of the ingedients fresh and more recently stilll I have been cooking some completely from scratch. For a dish such as curry there can be a big difference in the calorie count between one made with a ready made sauce and one from scratch but one step at a time.

    To be fair I do like vegetables anyway but in ordere to get other people in the house to eat them I do slip them into spcier dishes. Curry and chilli con carne will often stand extra vegetables added.

    On the subject of your example diet you invited comment on, nothing stands out as being bad but some of the things on that list are the kind of things the manufacterer may have ladelled lots of sugar into though exactly how much depends on the manufacter. I don't know if it technical counts as a clean or not clean ingredient but as far as I am concerned it is something to be watched as, for me at least, it seems to promote hunger and make sticking to the diet harder.
  • ericmooney69
    ericmooney69 Posts: 13
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    Eat real food. Call it "clean eating" or whatever. I've been down every path. The ONLY one that worked for me is eating lots of veggies, a moderate amount of fruit and meat.... majority of lean meat. I supplement that with some nuts (almonds or pistacios mostly) if I feel I need more calories. My general attitude about food is that if heavy preperation is required, it probably isn't ideal for human consumption and optimal health. I've been eating this way for a few years now. I haven't counted calories in a few years and quite honetly, have no idea how many calories I consume. I thoroughly enjoy trips to Whole Foods, farmers markets or just my local grocer 3-4 times per week, seeing what is fresh.

    I am 44 and 6'2". Went from 250lbs to 200lbs in about 1 years and have maintained that for nearly 3 years. Dipped down to almost 190 but I'm more comfy in the 197-200 range. I sleep like a rock. I have more energy than I know what to do with. I exercise moderately (3 times per week...30 minutes per). You don't need to work out like you are training for the Olympics to stay in shape.

    I am soooo annoyed I screwed around with several different diets over the years and the "diet" I ignored was the most obvious one.....EAT......REAL.....FOOD. You do that, you'll never have to be on a diet.

    And for the record, I definitely have my "cheating moments"... I typically reserve those for special occassions, nights out, etc...Sometimes I just crave In-N-Out....when I do, I go enjoy In-N-Out.
  • sunsnstatheart
    sunsnstatheart Posts: 2,544 Member
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    I ate clean for a while but all the dusting and mopping got to be quite a chore. Now its all down and dirty and I'm so much happier.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
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    I eat about 60% "whole foods". 40% processed. I try to stay under my calories and eat at least 100 grams of protein a day.

    I do not think 100% clean eating is necessary.
  • hellraisedfire
    hellraisedfire Posts: 403 Member
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    What about bulk cooking? Find a recipe for the things you are buying as ready meals and then cook enough for (say) 4 people, e.g. lasagne/spaghetti bolognese. You can have one portion fresh and freeze the others, then when you come home you can bung a "ready meal" in the microwave and you're done.

    It may not be gospel "eating clean" but at least you have a chance to control the ingredients (high quality meat, low sodium. etc.)

    this is great advice, it's helps a lot to know what's going into your meals and having ready to go food is fantastic!
  • ericmooney69
    ericmooney69 Posts: 13
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    I do not think 100% clean eating is necessary.

    Depends what "necessary" means. To lose weight? Nope, not necessary. To be as healthy as you can possibly be? Absolutely necessary.
  • Topher1978
    Topher1978 Posts: 975 Member
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    I do not think 100% clean eating is necessary.

    Depends what "necessary" means. To lose weight? Nope, not necessary. To be as healthy as you can possibly be? Absolutely necessary.
    That is why my breakfast had some clean Guinness and some clean Fine Scotch and a nice cigar! hehehe
  • ericmooney69
    ericmooney69 Posts: 13
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    I do not think 100% clean eating is necessary.

    Depends what "necessary" means. To lose weight? Nope, not necessary. To be as healthy as you can possibly be? Absolutely necessary.
    That is why my breakfast had some clean Guinness and some clean Fine Scotch and a nice cigar! hehehe

    All things I love! Just got a nice bottle of McCallan 17. Hey, if you are gonna cheat, I'm convinced a nice single malt is much better for you than some made-in-the-lab energy bar with 19 ingredients. That and a nice Partagas Series D.
  • blu_meanie_ca
    blu_meanie_ca Posts: 352 Member
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    Watch out for "low fat" as it's usually high sugar.
  • peckish_pomegranate
    peckish_pomegranate Posts: 242 Member
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    Thinking of food as "clean" and "dirty" is really too strict and it's pretty unrealistic. Everything you eat has some stuff you probably don't want in there, unless you're eating organic and home made stuff only. All packaged goods, all non organic veggies, all meat and dairy unless otherwise specified has got preservatives and pesticides. The only way to truly avoid them is to buy organic and look very carefully about the preparation and ingredients of things you're eating.

    Since this is impossible for most of us due to time/money/access, be more forgiving of yourself and just try and get more organic veggies and lots of water in your diet. That's a good step in the right direction.

    Food isn't dirty, it's not scary and bad. Your body isn't gonna croak from eating non organic or processed stuff. You're much more likely to have health problems from a bad diet.
  • sunsnstatheart
    sunsnstatheart Posts: 2,544 Member
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    I do not think 100% clean eating is necessary.

    Depends what "necessary" means. To lose weight? Nope, not necessary. To be as healthy as you can possibly be? Absolutely necessary.
    That is why my breakfast had some clean Guinness and some clean Fine Scotch and a nice cigar! hehehe

    All things I love! Just got a nice bottle of McCallan 17. Hey, if you are gonna cheat, I'm convinced a nice single malt is much better for you than some made-in-the-lab energy bar with 19 ingredients. That and a nice Partagas Series D.

    Finally! some sanity is inserted into the debate! I'm going with Lagavulin and a nice R&J torpedo.
  • Topher1978
    Topher1978 Posts: 975 Member
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    I do not think 100% clean eating is necessary.

    Depends what "necessary" means. To lose weight? Nope, not necessary. To be as healthy as you can possibly be? Absolutely necessary.
    That is why my breakfast had some clean Guinness and some clean Fine Scotch and a nice cigar! hehehe

    All things I love! Just got a nice bottle of McCallan 17. Hey, if you are gonna cheat, I'm convinced a nice single malt is much better for you than some made-in-the-lab energy bar with 19 ingredients. That and a nice Partagas Series D.
    Nice! I don't consider it cheating. I don't really limit many foods, only portion sizes. I do try to eat healthier, but I will have what I want. I limit my red meat, partly for fat content, partly for budget. When I start hunting next season, red meat will be a menu mainstay, though ;-) Can't get cleaner that 100% organic wild killed Bambi!!!

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