Your Abs Are Created in the Kitchen! Really!

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Sure, P90X and Insanity were important to my transformation, but I SWEAR it's the change in my eating habits that started last January that changed my body. I had been working out for YEARS, but until I understood CLEAN EATING, my body didn't change.

Don’t just track you’re the food you eat, track the INGREDIENTS of the foods you eat.

For example, my old diet included:

Instant oatmeal: whole grain rolled oats (with oat bran), sugar, artificial flavors, salt, calcium carbonate (a source of calcium), soy lecithin, guar gum, caramel color, niacinamide, vitamin a palmitate, reduced iron, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, thiamin mononitrate, folic acid.

Lean Cuisine: tortilla crusted alaska pollock (alaska pollock, enriched bleached flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, modified cornstarch, tortilla chips (yellow whole corn, vegetable oil {corn, soybean, and/or sunflower oil}), sugar, yellow corn flour, potassium chloride, white corn flour, salt, spices, dextrose, egg white, tomato powder, natural flavor, whey, maltodextrin, yeast, onion powder, leavening (sodium aluminum phosphate, sodium bicarbonate), soy flour, garlic powder, torula yeast, citric acid, corn oil. prefried in cottonseed and/or canola oil), blanched enriched long grain parboiled rice (water, rice, iron, niacin, thiamin mononitrate, folic acid), skim milk, corn, tomatillos, red peppers, water, chile peppers, onions, 2% or less of reduced fat cheddar cheese (cultured part-skim milk, salt, enzymes, annatto color), buttermilk powder, dehydrated sour cream (sour cream (cultured cream, nonfat milk)), modified cornstarch, salt, soybean oil, garlic puree, cultured whey, cilantro, jalapeno puree (jalapeno peppers, salt, acetic acid and calcium chloride), bleached wheat flour, sugar, potassium chloride, lactic acid, spices, calcium lactate

Quaker granola bar: whole grain rolled oats, brown rice syrup, crisp rice (rice, sugar, salt, malted barley flour), sugar, dried sweetened cranberry pieces (sugar, cranberries), semisweet chocolate chunks (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, salt, vanilla), almonds, peanuts, honey, sunflower oil, inulin, whole grain rolled barley, whole grain rolled wheat, molasses, soybean oil, water, glycerin, salt, vanilla, soy lecithin.

TOTAL ingredients: more than 100!

And that is just breakfast, lunch and a snack. Sure, my calorie intake was FINE, but my NUTRITIONAL intake was CRAP.

An example of clean eating and what my normal day looks like now:

Breakfast: Organic steel cut oatmeal, Honey, Almond milk
Snack: Almonds and raisins
Lunch: chicken, spinach, tomatoes, oil and vingar

TOTAL ingredients: 10 - See the difference???

Our bodies aren't meant to eat processed, chemicalized (is that a word?) "food". Diet sodas, fast food, convenience foods, and all that CRAP is horrible for our bodies. Eat clean and you WILL see changes!
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Replies

  • AwMyLoLo
    AwMyLoLo Posts: 1,571 Member
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    Very true! Good post!
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    True dat.
  • mariannekehl
    mariannekehl Posts: 66 Member
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    Wow. I never really thought about that but it sures makes sense to me! Thanks for the insight!
  • CarolHudson11
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    Thank you for that very simple explanation. I've been reading for the last 4 weeks about abs being made in the kitchen, but no one ever explained it in terms I could really "get" (not that I'm a dummy, mind you...but, still!). Great post!
  • Goal_Seeker_1988
    Goal_Seeker_1988 Posts: 1,619 Member
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    Great post! Maybe more ppl will read this and understand clean eating. It took me a while too to understand clean eating as well.
  • FemininGuns
    FemininGuns Posts: 605 Member
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    Nice post and so true!!
  • FitJoani
    FitJoani Posts: 2,173 Member
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    So very true Jillian Michaels once said "Never eat anything a third grader can't pronounce" It is true and for that matter most of us can't pronounce those terms, we don't have a job a Bayer to understand chemistry
  • kristi223
    kristi223 Posts: 78 Member
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    Thank you so much for this post!!!!
  • millermichellelea
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    I feel the same way!!! Eating my steel cut oats right now. I am cooking all of my own food -- no chemicals!!! I feel so much better for it -- and look better! Great post - thanks!!:smile:
  • bigdawg62
    bigdawg62 Posts: 127 Member
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    100% agree, I was doing a lot of marathon training the past few years and was having a lot of trouble losing weight until I eliminated products containing High Fructose Corn Syrup. So read your labels and eat clean!
  • bettyboop573
    bettyboop573 Posts: 610 Member
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    great post....love the comparison example!! I have tried ot cut out so many things to eat clean but i know i can do more :)
  • vraesgame
    vraesgame Posts: 129 Member
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    great post!
  • shorteekay80
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    Wow! That really makes sense. I have to start cooking more meals!
  • sabrinafaith
    sabrinafaith Posts: 607 Member
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    So true! My friend and I were just talking about how every child deserves home cooked meals every night, but so do we! Home cooked meals are healthiest and best for you. Takeout is fine once in a while, but there are so many hidden ingredients!
  • chrissym78
    chrissym78 Posts: 628 Member
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    So very true!
  • free10505
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    Great. I'm going to try to incorporate this into my life.

    3734360.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Nutrition Facts For Foods
  • Shamrock40
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    The one I like is, if it wasn't around when your grandparents were your age, you probably shouldn't be eating it. I do eat some Lean Cuisines (maybe one a week, if that) and use things like cooking spray and some other convenience foods, but I try to keep them to a minimum. Simple is usually best.
  • lindajay3
    lindajay3 Posts: 144 Member
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    what a great post - it's true that we eat way to much processed food these days - Keep it simple!
  • rmeadows71
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    Very true, great post!!
  • Schula03
    Schula03 Posts: 171 Member
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    I am trying to get on the band wagon with "clean" eating, totally get it!!!! Why does it seem harder? Thanks for the great post!:laugh: