How to start eating clean...

Not much of a cook either. I search for whatever I'm craving on the allrecipes.com app. Gradually build your recipe arsenal. You may also need to get rid of ready to eat type foods from your house. I'm not really talking about "bad" foods or trigger foods. I just mean, "hey I'm hungry and there's nothing to eat. Oh look, my hands work , I can cook beans or chicken" etc

I don't think what I do is "clean eating" but here it is. When I go to the grocery store I stay on the perimeter of the store because all of the produce and fresh foods are usually on the perimeter. I don't go through the aisles unless it's something specific I need from my list.

My cart is usually 50% produce, 30% meat, 10% dairy, and the other 10% is odds and ends like spices or rice, etc.

When I get home I cut up all my produce and put in baggies so when I'm cooking they're easier to grab and use really quickly. I usually cook some kind of meat and throw random veggies in with a whole wheat pasta or brown rice..

Just the other day I sauteed chicken breast, zucchini, onion, and garlic and squeezed fresh lime juice over it.. served it over some whole wheat spaghetti and it was awesome!

I started slow with clean eating. I still have white four and white sugar. Just not too often. Maybe like once or twice a month. I have cut out all prepackaged food and fast food. I do not eat anything containing GMO's. It took about 6 months for my family to make the switch. Good Luck on your journey.

100 days of Real Food and My Whole Food Life are 2 sites that I like and use for recipe ideas.

If you really want to keep it simple, then do so.

Buy a food scale. I use this one, but you don't need to. It has a max 11lb capacity and 1g gram accuracy. http://www.amazon.com/EatSmart-Precision-Digital-Kitchen-Silver/dp/B001N07KUE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394039770&sr=8-1&keywords=food+scale

Bake or boil chicken (in parts, drumsticks, breast, thigh, cook faster than whole.) I usually take all the meat off the bones and save the bones for bone broth, which I tend use to make measured chicken soup with basmati rice. If you're baking get yourself a quick read thermometer so you can check the temp to make sure your meat is cooked thoroughly.

Cook some kind of basmati rice. Try not to buy anything that's overly processed or enriched. Soak rice for 30 minutes prior to cooking (rinse if you like, but don't over rinse, some sources say whatever vitamins and minerals in the rice which is not much to begin with are leached out by water) Use a 2 to 1 ratio with water and boil until the water evaporates, about 25-30 minutes OR buy a rice cooker.

Pick 5-6 servings from this pdf http://www.eat-real-food-paleodietitian.com/support-files/Paleo-FODMAP-food-list.pdf that you can eat daily, and buy them. I recommend at least two or three of those been leafy greens or greens. I do a kale, spinach, chard mix from costco and celery. I then eat 2 fruits. As you may have noticed by now, I'm on a FODMAPs friendly diet, if you constantly feel bloating and stomach discomfort, this will help. I usually split my veggies and fruits into two servings, I eat one in the morning and the other later in the day.

Protein powders, find a clean protein powder. I do a 70/30 gemma pea/rice powder with some rice milk every morning along with my veggies and fruits.

Make your own rice milk, cook the same basmati rice with a 1 to 1 ratio of water, soak it 30 minutes as well. Boil until the water evaporates. 2 cups of uncooked rice makes for 1 gallon total. I have a 8 cup blender, I put in half the rice by weight and fill it to the 8 cup mark, and blend for a good 5 minutes. Then I pour into a gallon and repeat with the other batch. If you like some flavoring, I usually put on clove and a tiny piece of cinnamon stick. about inch long 1/4 inch wide with each half gallon.

Don't forget the salt! Eating clean usually doesn't provide you with enough sodium. This was my problem and I experienced really bad effects. Once I added enough salt to my broth and other foods, I was good too go. However, this will require a more accurate scale. This is a very critical item as it will be affected by how much water you are drinking and whether you have some heart conditions.

I know this diet seems very bland, lots of rice and some meats and veggies/fruits, but when you look at the macro nutrients it's a very well balanced diet. In my case it's a bit high on protein, but you can just substitute with more veggies and not as many fruits.

If you want to learn more about nutrition there's a few course on cousera being offered from UCSF. It's actually really good presentation of information and they go over the math.
If you'd like I can also help you calculate your calorie target intake for weight loss as well as macro nutrients.

Measure takes all the guess work out of what you're eating. It's also easier to measure food you prepare than eating out, so it encourages you to prepare your own food.

Hello everyone,
My weight has been a constant struggle for years now and I'm soooooooo ready to start eating and living healthy. The problem is that I don't know where to start. For the past several years we have been eating out daily. I might cook at home once a week and it's not healthy either. I'm 33 years old and I have no idea how to cook or what to cook.

I have found several websites and books and recipes, but it's all so overwhelming. I wish there was one resource I could use to get started and then expand from there.

So how did you start with clean eating? Any advise for how I can start without being overwhelmed?

Thank you!

Well here is the easiest way. Don't buy processed foods. That's it.

You need to cook for yourself, fresh foods. When you buy meat, buy it from a place you know they don't use hormones and the animals are sourced locally - Wholefoods, Trader Joes, etc.

I mean people make this a lot harder than it needs to be. But its not cheap. Its a lot cheaper to eat stuff like mac n cheese in the box, frozen foods. But I make everything from scratch. It really doesn't take that much more time to cook. I precook stuff for the week. Saves a lot of time.

IT doesn't require a perfect spread to do this right. Simple meals with simple ingredients. I make things like:

Baked chicken with zuccini and peppers
Almond Flour Pork Chops with fresh spinach salad (tomatoes, green onions, peppers, capers, little red wine vinager)
steak with kale and mushrooms
fresh broccoli soup (easiest thing ever and tastes amazing)
leek/collaflower soup
beef stew/chicken stew/lamb and ewwing stew

breakfast, eggs with bacon, cashew/almond fl pancakes with fresh blueberries, sauteed tomatos/mushrooms with ricotta cheese on fresh bread

snacks - a little cheese, handful of nuts, a peice of fruit, left overs

dessert - I make all sorts of baked goods mostly gluten free - almond flour scones, coconut flour cake, maccaroons, af muffins, tarts, even made my own icecream...fatbombs..

all this stuff is easy to make...cheap and feeds you all week.

I eat clean and have a ton of foods and recipes. You can add me if you like.

How to start? Simple, buy whole raw foods and cook meals at home.