How do YOU eat?!

lots of protein,
Medium good carbs and fiber
low fat,sugar and salt

I eat whatever I want and just stay under my allotted calories for the day.

I have read a lot of people have had success with eating clean, but if you are going to change your diet please make sure it is a change for life! As soon as you drop it, you run the risk of gaining again.

That's why I decided to just focus on calories anyway. I know that I could personally never do clean eating or paleo or keto or anything else for life.

This. I have cleaned up my diet a lot, but still eat out and have a cookie every now and then. I HAVE to have meat since I started lifting heavy, so being a vegetarian is not something that I could fathom right now.

I try to eat as little processed food as possible, whole grains and veggies everyday. Beside that it's mostly a question of staying under my cals and keeping within my macros 80 % of the time

I eat what I want within my calorie allotment. I could never eat "clean" forever. I think I'd die haha! Just kidding. I like ice cream, mac and cheese, Italian food, etc. too much. It is a lifestyle you're after so eat how you would want to eat the rest of your life. Though, I eat fairly well throughout the day.

I track my calories and macros and then eat anything I want that fits.

Why can't people post actual replies? It isn't cute or funny when someone just wants help. Idiots.

I am trying to eat "clean", since I've realized doing low carb or low fat isn't going to work for me. Just healthy, balanced foods.

Bump! Totally agree. Post something value or don't bother. Go to the Chit, Chat section if you want to waste time.

Eating for me:
* Yep, still lots of meat for me but lots more chicken and fish than I used to.
* TONS of veggies. I try to get them in every meal... spinach on a sandwich, in an omlette, etc.
* LOTS of fresh fruit, too.
* Pretty much cut out all grains at this point. REALLY helping me during this phase of losing the final 10 lbs.

Good luck and great question!

Just trying to figure out how everyone else is dieting... I'm currently researching CLEAN eating...but either with or without actual meat.

You use the term "dieting" so presumably you want to lose weight. In which case, eat clean or dirty, it doesn't matter. If you eat more than you need, you're going to put on weight. If you eat less than you need, you'll lose weight.

If you want to be more healthy then eat healthy food. You can lose weight eating clean; you can put on weight eating clean. My 3 month plan is to put on weight eating fairly clean... The last year was spent losing weight fairly clean.

You have to ask yourself the following: would you rather weigh twice as much but be healthier or half your current weight but eat the same crap?

Exercise including lifting weights will change your body composition. It depends on whether you want to look like an athlete or just look like a slimmer version of your current self. A slimmer version of my 2011 self would have left me with a smaller but still flabby tummy and skinny everywhere else which is why I lifted weights and trained like an athlete. You need to decide if you just want to lose weight or change your body composition. What if you weighed more but looked amazing?

Head ****, isn't it? :laugh:

Daily: Fuits, veggies and meat mainly chicken.

Weekly: red meat once or twice same for bread..lots of chicken, fish at least once a week. Oh and bread maybe 3 times a week. I don't eat lots of dairy.

Drink tons of water..maybe a coke on the weekends. Pretty boring meals really.

Whatever I want when I want... yeah, I don't eat "clean". Not trying to lose weight.

I don't fret over every single macro nutrient, for me life is too short and that's too limiting.

However...

For years I have tried to avoid buying processed stuff in the supermarket, fresh meat, no junk in sausages, good quality mince etc.
I also very rarely eat chocolate, I don't eat crisps (or potato chips if you're from the US) and I don't eat biscuits (cookies).
I've also tried to cut down on the amount of bread I eat. Same goes for cheese. Which is a struggle as I love extra mature cheddar...

I also cut out sodas years ago and mainly drink water or when i get bored with water, fruit juice that is not from concentrate, and has nothing added. But I do have a coffee or two during the day.

I make sure to eat breakfast, I don't like anything artificial like pop tarts or sugary cereals. I have either 2 slices of toast or unsweetened museli or failing that bran flakes. But mostly just toast.


I tend to eat my largest meal for lunch, and I do eat out a lot, but I try and go to quality places or places that serve simple stuff.
So here in the UK I might go to Nandos for grilled chicken and a small rice. Or handmade chicken wraps with a small portion of home style chips (fries). This is handy as I can be sociable at work as everyone else eats out too. If I'm at home for lunch at the weekends I may make a stir fry or something.


I eat my evening meal no later than 6:30pm, and that's either sandwiches and a couple of fat free yoghurts, or home made grilled chicken wraps with plenty of salad, or soup from the supermarket refrigerator with a couple of bread rolls. Or if I haven't had time to shop then a low fat ready meal. In the UK we have good product labelling so I make sure I buy fresh ready meals that are not too high in salt, fat, calories etc.

If I feel hungry by say 9:30 then I will eat some low carb protein bars (friggin expensive!)


This is a lifestyle I can maintain and compared to the one I had which was carb heavy, had sodas, a chocolate bar per day, and WAY too much takeout (2 or 3 per week late in the evening, like chinese, a whole medium pizza hut pzza or indian curry) I think I'm doing way better. I have more energy and I sleep *way* better.


If I was making it too complicated and restricted while it might be even healthier, I'd never stick to it...

Oh and just to add: I do count the calories.

I love the Curves approach...strive for fruits or veggies with every meal...there's lots of ways to "sneak" them in. Also, they don't tell you to do low carb, but strive for high, lean protein...your fish, boneless, skinless chicken and turkey, and for your steaks, look for "loin" in the name, (and I think "round") with ground beef, look for the 93% lean or above. Since ground beef is so expensive, and it's very hard to find it that lean, I take the regular fatty kind, and rinse it off in very hot water, and pat it dry...doing that makes it about 95% lean! Of course, that doesn't work for cheeseburgers, but you could do turkey burgers, they're not bad, really. I also love the brown n serve turkey bf sausage links. If you follow their approach, it sort of ends up being low carb. They also tell you to do whole wheat, instead of white breads and pastas, but be careful, a lot of foods say whole wheat, but they're not really. Look for 100% whole wheat. I know it's a different taste, but you get used to it after a while. It's really much better for you.

Why can't people post actual replies? It isn't cute or funny when someone just wants help. Idiots.

I am trying to eat "clean", since I've realized doing low carb or low fat isn't going to work for me. Just healthy, balanced foods.

Because the same "actual replies" have been used time after time and still people speak of this clean eating...as if it were a real thing.

Here's an actual reply.

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Quote from Layne Norton

"I find the whole idea of ‘clean eating’ pretentious. What exactly defines a food as ‘clean’? Do you spray windex on it? Rub soap on it? I find it a bit preposterous. I’ve been in debates with people promoting ‘clean eating’ but when I ask for a specific scientific definition of what makes a food ‘clean’ they are silent. I think the restrictive diets where you can only eat a half dozen or so foods are not only unhealthy because they don’t give you a diverse intake of nutrients but I believe they promote eating disorders and binging. I see people who ‘eat clean’ during most of the week and then binge on cheesecake, ice cream, and donuts because it’s a ‘cheat’ meal. Oh yea… that is way healthier than eating ‘unclean’ foods in moderation to a hit a specific macronutrient target. *rolleyes* Now that said, I do believe that many IIFYMers (I find it funny that something myself and others been promoting for years gets an acronym attached to it and is now this ‘new’ way of eating LOL) actually go too far in one direction. Most people who origionally promoted targeting macronutrient intakes instead of obsessing about food choices actually eat ‘clean’ foods 95% of the time, we just don’t agonize over having a homemade burrito with a low carb wrap or some reduced calorie ice cream. We see the value of a controlled intake in order to prevent uncontrolled binging. But I do see IIFYM followers who eat as much sugary, high fat foods as they can and wear it like a badge of honor. That is not the point. If you are following a macronutrient intake that is friendly for body composition you will be eating a lot of ‘clean’ foods by default because you will not be able to hit a protein, carb, fat, and fiber intake conducive to body composition improvement if all you eat are high sugar/fat foods. The point is it’s ok to have these foods in small amounts if you are still hitting your goal macronutrient intake."

http://www.shreddedknowledge.com/home/a-talk-with-the-doc-dr-layne-norton/

I eat what i want, and that involves chocolate and crisps, however i have been opting for veg with dinner rather then sugary baked beans etc... i hope as time goes by i will opt for healthier foods, and cut back on the "bad" stuff,

I try to eat as "clean" as possible but clean to me just means foods that are as close to their original form as possible and not completely processed crap. I haven't eliminated anything from my diet but focus on eating whole, nutritous, healthy foods. Try to stay away from white sugar/flour (but still have my daily flavored creamer).

When I eat grains I try to make them whole grains. Nothing but 100% whole wheat bread enters my house.

I didn't completely change my diet which is why (IMO) I have been successful with sticking with it. The one big change is that I stopped looking just at calories when planning my meals and started focusing in on my macros. This resulted in a lot more protein consumption! I've learned that eggs aren't bad for you and are, in fact, a great addition to a healthy diet.

Just remember that whatever you choose to do you want to be able to sustain it throughout your weight loss journey and more. It's all about making smart choices, paying attention to portions, and not denying yourself something just because it's high calorie/high fat. I don't know about you but I want something even more if I tell myself I can't have it.