Clean Eating...

flcaoh
flcaoh Posts: 444
edited September 19 in Food and Nutrition
I have unconsciously been eating 'cleanly' since I really started to get serious about logging my food about a month ago. I quickly realized that I could eat much more if I ate healthy - lean meats, vegies, fruits, very very little processed food, etc.

I decided that if it's in a box and has preservatives in it, I will do my very best not to consume it. I cannot even begin to explain how much better I feel. I have incredible amounts of energy. My days are long (4am-10pm) and before I was exhausted and sneaking in cat naps when and where ever possible. Now I go non-stop until 10pm.

For those of you contemplating it... do it. My grandmother eats very healthy and she once told me that if she knew her great great grandmother wouldn't recognize it, then she doesn't eat it. She is 74 and looks incredible.
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Replies

  • flcaoh
    flcaoh Posts: 444
    I have unconsciously been eating 'cleanly' since I really started to get serious about logging my food about a month ago. I quickly realized that I could eat much more if I ate healthy - lean meats, vegies, fruits, very very little processed food, etc.

    I decided that if it's in a box and has preservatives in it, I will do my very best not to consume it. I cannot even begin to explain how much better I feel. I have incredible amounts of energy. My days are long (4am-10pm) and before I was exhausted and sneaking in cat naps when and where ever possible. Now I go non-stop until 10pm.

    For those of you contemplating it... do it. My grandmother eats very healthy and she once told me that if she knew her great great grandmother wouldn't recognize it, then she doesn't eat it. She is 74 and looks incredible.
  • Cassia
    Cassia Posts: 467 Member
    hey
    I have just started really focusing on clean eating also!
    I really like that saying "if your great great grandmother wouldn't recognize it..."
  • WendiL
    WendiL Posts: 4 Member
    This is encouraging. I tend to eat on the fly and I know that's no good because of all the additives. I've done fairly well since Tuesday.
  • barbiecat
    barbiecat Posts: 17,269 Member
    I've been sticking to clean eating for awhile now and I think the only thing my great grandmother wouldn't recognize is "Eggbeaters" I' having a tough time adding real eggs to my food because of the cholesterol
    I guess it's progress, not perfection. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

    I get more food per calorie, more energy , and a lot less sodium.:bigsmile: :bigsmile:
  • CALIECAT
    CALIECAT Posts: 12,530 Member
    Me too. This old granny been eating clean now for a week and enjoying every moment of it. I have been listening to Barbiecat. she has it down pretty good.
    Caliecat:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:
  • flcaoh
    flcaoh Posts: 444
    I've been sticking to clean eating for awhile now and I think the only thing my great grandmother wouldn't recognize is "Eggbeaters" I' having a tough time adding real eggs to my food because of the cholesterol
    I guess it's progress, not perfection. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

    I get more food per calorie, more energy , and a lot less sodium.:bigsmile: :bigsmile:

    Sodium is another problem I used to have. Looking back at my food diaries I was appalled to see that I often had 5,000 and sometimes over 6,000mg of sodium daily. Now, without ever trying I easily stay under 2000.
  • I "1/2" clean eat...lol try my best to not lean toward the processed stuff but Im so busy I end up grabing a togo bowl of Healthy Request soup...I consider that processed. What do you eat? Do you make it more interesting than just the basics?
  • CALIECAT
    CALIECAT Posts: 12,530 Member
    Off to the country at my daughter house for a Easter Dinner..
    Plan on a ood clean eating today. get back with you toniht.
    Calicat
  • CALIECAT
    CALIECAT Posts: 12,530 Member
    I "1/2" clean eat...lol try my best to not lean toward the processed stuff but Im so busy I end up grabing a togo bowl of Healthy Request soup...I consider that processed. What do you eat? Do you make it more interesting than just the basics?

    the ww core added soup to their program As long as it was not creamy. You should be just fine. It does have a lot of sodium in it tho need to watch that.
    Caliecat.
  • CALIECAT
    CALIECAT Posts: 12,530 Member
    I had a very clean eating at the family gathering yesterday.
    Had a big veggies salad with lots of fresh veggies with apray ranch dressing. And fresh strawberries for dessert. Very satisfying Dinner.

    Caliecat
  • CALIECAT
    CALIECAT Posts: 12,530 Member
    another day of clean eating!!!!!!!!!!!!Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I feel so good

    :love: :love: :love: :love: :love: :love: :love: :love: :love: :love: :love: :love: :love:
  • lisavvip
    lisavvip Posts: 6
    I used to eat clean and took 6 months off from it. I'm back! After just a week of clean eating, my body is retaining less water & I've lost over an inch from my waist!

    I forgot how GREAT I feel when I'm fuelling my body with great foods. I never feel hungry or deprived either.

    Any tips for snacks on the go though? Raw seed/nut bars with no sugar? Things that won't go bad would be best...

    Thanks!
  • I'm back onto clean eating as well, and well, one thing is for sure , it works and makes you feel great !!!
    :happy:
  • AwMyLoLo
    AwMyLoLo Posts: 1,571 Member
    It is amazing! I have lost 3 pounds since I joined this site and was thrilled with how I was starting to look. After a weekend of Easter get togethers, I looked worse than before! But, I really think that had a lot to do with sodium! My Fiance doesn't understand how I can eat boiled chicken and brown rice, or toast with no butter, and I tell him how much BETTER my stomach feels. I have ALWAYS complained about being bloated, and I have found myself complaining a lot less since I am eating clean foods on a consistent basis. It's just great!
  • CALIECAT
    CALIECAT Posts: 12,530 Member
    AWMYLO

    Clean eating is tge only way to go. Keep it up.

    Isn't that a cute little Jack Russell. My Sammy is the apple of my eyes and he just love hot dogs.

    Caliecat
  • barbiecat
    barbiecat Posts: 17,269 Member
    :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

    Last night Jake was reading a recipe to me that came home with him from a health screening appointment. He started by saying that it was 370 calories a serving and then read the ingredients which included brown sugar, corn meal, maple syrup, white flour, buttermilk, and turkey. Before I had a chance to respond, he had already decided that it was not a good choice with all the extra stuff because we could have a whole lot more food eating the way we do.

    Our dinner last night was a big salad with a bunch of different veggies and spray dressing, half a sweet potato, fresh cauliflower and a 100 calorie serving of salmon----almost too much food for just over 400 calories.:bigsmile:
  • AwMyLoLo
    AwMyLoLo Posts: 1,571 Member
    AWMYLO

    Clean eating is tge only way to go. Keep it up.

    Isn't that a cute little Jack Russell. My Sammy is the apple of my eyes and he just love hot dogs.

    Caliecat

    YEP! That's my Lolo. (Her name is Lois). Love her to death! Your Sammy is a cutie too! :smooched:
  • Cute !!!! Now I need to figure out how to post a picture of Skittles.. my wild and crazy Rat Terrier !! :happy:
  • Cindysunshine
    Cindysunshine Posts: 1,188 Member
    Hi everyone, I am curious about this clean eating thing. Could someone please tell me what you eat? I get veggies, meat, what about whole grains? Can you eat yogurt? I would love to try it out. I'm just confused about what is clean and whats not. Thanks, Cindy :heart:
  • CALIECAT
    CALIECAT Posts: 12,530 Member
    Hi everyone, I am curious about this clean eating thing. Could someone please tell me what you eat? I get veggies, meat, what about whole grains? Can you eat yogurt? I would love to try it out. I'm just confused about what is clean and whats not. Thanks, Cindy :heart:

    :heart: Cindy Hi, My buddie. Clean eating is eating Veggies. lean meat, whole grains Some of the things you don't eat is processed food like white flour. lunch meat, etc. Must be fresh meat and lean, lots of veggies. fruits yogurt . which you are already eating a lot of .Brabiecat is really into and I have been listening to her. She has made a beliver out of me.So stay tuned.to this thread And ask as many questions as you want to.
    I have the book by Tosca Reno called The Eat Clean Diet I also has her cookbook. I have had it for about a year and just got started on it after hearing so much from Barbiecat. She is my idol.
    Your friend Caliecat:heart:
  • CALIECAT
    CALIECAT Posts: 12,530 Member
    Thanks flcaoh ,For starting this thread. I like it.
  • Cindysunshine
    Cindysunshine Posts: 1,188 Member
    Thanks Marie. I have the basics of clean eating down I think. I would like to know what clean condiments there are. Can you eat ketchup and still be eating clean? What abour bbq sauce? Salad dressings? I eat clean for the most part now I think. But there are some things that I wonder about. Have a great day! :flowerforyou: Cindy :heart:
  • Phoenixflame
    Phoenixflame Posts: 560 Member
    Well, my go-to salad dressing is a mix of apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, and spices.

    For prebottled stuff, a general guideline is to look at the ingredients list. Can you pronounce everything? If all you see is natural ingredients, then it's much cleaner than, say, certain highly-processed condiments. Of course, clean does not necessarily mean low calories, so don't go crazy with some nifty organic dressing you find at the health store. Always always read the nutrition and ingredient labels.

    But really, I make my own ketchup and dressings. They taste goood!

    By the way, I love clean eating. My only vices are my workout drink (Powerade Zero) and my love of bars and protein shakes. But even then, I go for bars that are "natural" or have very minimal processing, such as Larabars. And my protein powder is pretty natural--it's just flavored whey.

    And I know a lot of clean eaters follow a 90/10 or 80/20 ratio. If you adore Starbucks frappacinos, for god sakes, don't be a martyr--just enjoy them on special occasion. But you may find that you lose your tastes for processed stuff. I know I did! Well, ok, I still dream of white chocolate mochas, but I can make my own much healthier, more natural versions of lots of the crap I used to eat. Like, I GREATLY prefer the "oven fried" (aka broiled) steak fries I make for myself now--they are great French fries, and have none of the greasy crap that I ate for so many years.
  • CALIECAT
    CALIECAT Posts: 12,530 Member
    Thanks Marie. I have the basics of clean eating down I think. I would like to know what clean condiments there are. Can you eat ketchup and still be eating clean? What abour bbq sauce? Salad dressings? I eat clean for the most part now I think. But there are some things that I wonder about. Have a great day! :flowerforyou: Cindy :heart:

    Cindy---The book said look for little or no sugar added. for the ketchup. And I didn't see anything about BBQ. Sauce but i assumed that that would be the same I used the spray salad dressing. I did look at my low carb ketchup and it only has 1 g of sugar compare to 4 g for regular ketchup.. The book said used mustard, vinegar. You can have olive oil.

    hey Barbie and the rest of you. What do you do for condiments? I'm just reading out of the book.

    Caliecat
  • barbiecat
    barbiecat Posts: 17,269 Member
    Hi Everybody, :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

    This is for anyone who likes the concept of clean eating but isn't quite sure what it means.
    I got it off the Clean Eating Club Thread:


    What is clean eating?
    The 80 Percent Principle

    In a nutshell, eating clean is the practice of eating whole, natural foods. These include fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and complex carbohydrates. It also means staying away from the junk that typically makes up the Standard American Diet (SAD). These types of food include man-made sugar, bad fats (hydrogenated and trans-fat), preservatives, white bread, artificial sweeteners, and any other ingredients that are unnecessary. An easy way to remember whether a food is clean is: If man made it, don’t eat it. (Try buying as many foods as possible that contain only one ingredient.)

    According to physique experts (fitness models and body builders), the body is a product of 10 percent genetics, 10 percent exercise, and 80 percent nutrition. That means that in order to improve the way we look and feel, the most important thing that we can do is focus on nutrition!

    Anyone who wants to eat cleaner can develop some or all of the following habits:

    * Eating 5 to 6 small meals per day
    * Eating every 2 to 3 hours
    * Combining lean proteins with complex carbohydrates at every meal
    * Never skipping a meal, especially breakfast
    * Eating whole foods
    * Eating healthy fats
    * Drinking lots of water
    * Eliminating refined sugar and processed foods
    * Eliminating alcoholic beverages (another kind of sugar)
    * Carrying a supply of healthy foods when away from home
    * Making healthy choices when dining out
    * Sticking to reasonable portion sizes at all times
    * And exercising for both fat loss (cardio) and muscle gain (strength training).

    (Adapted from http://www.eatingcleanworks.com and the Eat-Clean Diet books by Tosca Reno)


    I claim progress rather than perfection in my journey toward my clean eating goal.
    :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:
  • CALIECAT
    CALIECAT Posts: 12,530 Member
    Thanks barbiecat, That will help me and I am sure is will help others here. Keep the information coming.
    Caleicat
  • Cindysunshine
    Cindysunshine Posts: 1,188 Member
    Barbiecat thanks a bunch! That is great information. :flowerforyou: Cindy :heart:
  • Not sure if it's been listed here or not but there is an awesome magazine out as well called Clean Eating. Love it ! And I finally got my cute rat terrier's pic up in my profile pic :) Cut her kind of short, but hey, she's there :):tongue:
  • CALIECAT
    CALIECAT Posts: 12,530 Member
    Good morning all. I am ready for aaother day Of clean eating. . I will make a trip to the health food store to see what I can find. I do want to pick up some bread, .some grains. It is just a small store and really do not carry much. Be back with you later.
    Caliecat
  • CALIECAT
    CALIECAT Posts: 12,530 Member
    Here is the pumkin hummus recipe from the Eat-Cleam Diet cookbook and I also posted it in the recipe thread.

    Wed 04/15/09 01:54 PMI will attemt to post the pumpkin hummus recipe. It is from the book the eat clean diet cookbook.. I think you would have to get used to the taste. It tasted pretty good to me. But I like Punpkin. It said you can used fresh pumpkin, sweet potatoes, butternut or acorn Squash cooked.

    2 T. tahini
    2 T fresh lemon juice
    1t, ground cumin
    1 t. pumkin oil
    3/4 t. sea salt
    1/2 t ground pepper
    15 oz canned pumpkin
    4 cloves garlic passed throught a garlic press.
    2 T. cilanto

    Preparation:
    place all engredients in a food processor. Process till amooth.
    Spoon into a decorative serving bowl and serve chilled

    Calories 48 per 1 T.
    fat 1 g.
    protein 0.6g.
    carbs 9 g.
    fiber 3 g
    sugar 1 g
    Sodium 77 mg.
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