Eating Clean vs. Working Out

I agree that eating clean is 80% and takes the most effort. I've been exercising for probably 15 years with hardly any real setbacks yet its definitely more intense the last couple years.

Since eating right takes a lot of planning I try to make it real simple for myself and don't change too much around. I make one casserole dish a week (double recipe) and freeze half right away in little portions. It's balanced with protein, carbs, and it always has vegetables in it. Then I choose one other small meal a week too so this week its mock egg salad made with tofu. 3 meals stay the same from Mon-Friday. That's meal #1,#2 and last meal of the day. Weekends have a little more leeway.

This week it is:

meal #1: egg white scramble with lots of veggies, ezekial bread w/flax oil

meal#1: cottage cheese w/ fruit/walnuts

meal#3: Casserole dish

meal#4: Tofu egg salad on whole wheat wrap

meal#5: steel cut oats with almond breeze
 
If I have a snack in the evening after dinner it's 1/2 grapefruit...always works for me.

If I need a snack in the afternoon its vitalicious 2oz chocolate high fiber muffin w/ herbal tea and a little honey.
 
If I don't eat right I won't see great results like I do if I eat clean. I will fend off weight gain and keep my clothes fitting, etc so long as I work out regardless but when I let my diet go the results certainly do fade....The eating is just so very important IMO! I am not perfect with it and never will be but I try my best and it makes a big difference!:)
 
I have needed to lose 10-15 pounds for the past 6 years. I am very fit and an avid exerciser. I have just not brought myself to the point of being a conscience eater. I eat "clean" most of the time but even clean food has calories and too much good clean food goes into my mouth. For me it is not a clean issue, it is a moderate issue. I simply need to reduce my calories. Maybe someday I get my act together.

Cheryl
 
My diet isn't 100% clean. I can get away with eating a little junk food if I exercise. I can't get away with it if I don't. My diet stayed the same for years. Gradually, I started putting on the pounds. Once I started exercising, the weight started to come off. I'd like to lose some more inches than pounds at this point. I wouldn't mind losing another 5 pounds of fat, but I'm not ready to focus too much on my diet to do it.
 
Eating "clean" has never been something I've made a priority. Exercising and eating in moderation has been enough for me. Of course, I've never had a body like Cathe's - but that's not my ultimate goal. I want to be healthy and in shape, of course....but nobody cares if I have a 6-pack. The people I care about would rather have me go out for wings and beer with them once in awhile. And I can get the definition everywhere, and still have some pizza once a week.

I don't really have the time or the attention span for all that.
 
Eating "clean" has never been something I've made a priority. Exercising and eating in moderation has been enough for me. Of course, I've never had a body like Cathe's - but that's not my ultimate goal. I want to be healthy and in shape, of course....but nobody cares if I have a 6-pack. The people I care about would rather have me go out for wings and beer with them once in awhile. And I can get the definition everywhere, and still have some pizza once a week.

I don't really have the time or the attention span for all that.
 
"nobody cares if I have a 6-pack". I love that statement! I am going to post and just chill out.

Cheryl
 
Hey Terri... have you not listened to Cindy Whitmarsh while doing The Ultimate fat burner???

She says, eating healthy & drinking enough water is 75% of it and the other 35% is working out...

Why can't we just live in a society that being fat is not only attractive but healthy too???

Sometimes I just get so tired of having to be so good to not gain a pound, ugh!
 
I agree that exercise certainly helps with the little cheats that life tempts us with. My exercise schedule has been ingrained for about 10 years now - 1 hour per day - 5 days per week, with mostly Cathe step workouts and it kept me from gaining weight for several years.

Then something happened....I started P90X. I had no idea how huge my rear end was (and the rest of me for that matter) until those darn before pics!!:eek: That's what got the ball rolling for me. I started tracking my calories (which I never did before) and started packing on the muscle and my body started changing for the better. I don't necessarily eat "clean" but I do stay under 1800 calories per day for the most part - I sometimes have pizza and beer on the weekends and go over. But, for me, that's life. I like to drink beer every few weeks and so I do! I eat pizza at least once per week. But, I also eat more fish, veges, fruits, and proteins than I did before and really cut back on the sugar and fats. I'm constantly on the lookout for healthier options in my diet and I drink lots of water.

So, you don't have to be perfect to lose weight and improve your body - just better than you were before. This approach has helped me lose 17 pounds in the past 3 months.:)

Angie
 
Okay Ms.Angie,

Where are those before/after pics! Come on, you can't talk about it without posting a link! ;-) Honestly, you'll have to pry my computer password out of my cold, dead hands if you ever wanted to see any of my before/after pictures! I don't care how good the after pics are either! :D

I hear what you're saying about watching the calories. I guess I don't want to go there since the constant counting would be an obsession for me and make me want to eat more. Right now, I'm getting by with listening to when my body is hungry and full. I'm pretty good at keeping my calories around the 1500-1800 mark even with junk food. But, there are days...
 
Congratulations, Angie! I, too, would like to see some before and afters...

I don't think I've found a combination that works for me yet. I lost about 40 lbs. while on Weight Watchers about 4 years ago, but some of that was due to my thyroid. Now, it's out of whack again and my dosage was increased. And here's where I get frustrated. I worked out 5-6 x/week, an hour a day and strictly ate clean, counted every single calorie, all 1700 of them, and not a pound or an inch came off. My approach now is to follow a nutrition program similar to weight watchers (around 1500 cal) and work out every other day and see what happens. It really shouldn't be this difficult to lose weight. Even DH shakes his head in disbelief.
Terri
 
Hi Ashley-there are alot of people on the boards that eat so much healthier than I do but for me clean eating is subbing a fruit or veggie for the chips I was going to grab or not eating the reeses or 3 muskteers bar 2 or 3 times a week-for me I can't count calories it drives me nuts and I think I'm depriving myself and I psych myself out so I eat whenver I'm hungry (just not after 7 at night) but I make a healthy choice -once you get in the "habit" of it it's pretty easy-good luck--deb
 
Terri,

I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one who struggles with weight loss and thyroid disease. I had my gland removed 6 years ago due to Thyroid Cancer. I have been working my a$%* off for the past few years and still no inches lost or weight lost. It is very frustrating. I have just started to eat very clean and keep my calories around 1500 and still nothing. Maybe it just takes a little longer for those of us with hormone issues. It makes me crazy for as much as I workout (6 days w/Cathe rotations!!) that nothing has been lost, At least I'm not gaining.

Good Luck,
Carolyn
 
I have no problem maintaining my weight by diet alone. Exercise always causes me to gain weight, which, because of many years of brainwashing, makes me depressed, which causes me to eat too much. Despite that, however, I do try to get in some exercise because I think it's important to keep your heart and lungs healthy and to prevent osteoporoisis, etc.

Nancy
 
>She says, eating healthy & drinking enough water is 75% of it
>and the other 35% is working out...

That makes 110% ;-)
 
As much as I hate to admit it, I think eating plays an awfully big part. The experts say it does also. In my case, I eat pretty clean....but do allow myself some packaged food like granola bars and sweets. I have a horrid sweet tooth and I don't feel my life would be any fun without having some treats. I also like to eat and eat well, but I certainly could do with a bit less of a caloric intake. It's too hard for me to go hungry.....as I get really mean. I see what the ladies in Oxygen eat and how they look and that's great......but personally, the sacrifice is far too great for me to want to look like that. I'm not that overweight....only about 7 pounds....but you know how that is. I do shop from the perimeter of the store for the most part...but there's always room for improvement.
 
I've decided to take a "drastic" approach to my diet and eat only about 1400-1500 calories, but with clean food. I love the feeling that working out gives me, feeling less flabby, more "in shape," etc. But I'm beginning to feel that I don't lose weight from working out. It provides me with other benefits, but losing weight doesn't seem to be one of them. So, I decided to cut the calories, and workout every other day with some of my lighter workouts. I'll try this for 2 weeks and see what the results are. It is frustrating. Carolyn, how long have you been dealing with the thyroid problems?
Terri
 
>>She says, eating healthy & drinking enough water is 75% of
>it
>>and the other 35% is working out...
>
>That makes 110% ;-)


Sorry, think I was a little tired last night when I posted that...I believe she says it's 70-30 but I'll have to be sure next time I do the workout... :)
 
Thanks for the kudos y'all but NO before pics ever!!x( OMG! Talk about blubber butt - trust me, nobody wants to see that. Maybe some post pics when I get to where I want to be.:) I have another 10 pounds to go before I get to where I want to be. So, when that happens we'll see........

I really think the weight lifting boosts my metabolism tons! Thankfully I don't have the thyroid problems some of you all have. It must be a real pain. I also think that everyone has their own perfect calorie intake point that burns those cals. For me, apparently it is 1800 cals. But, for someone else it might be a few hunderd cals more or less depending on the person.

I started counting calories on a computer program which is so easy to do. I think the reason I never did it before was because it can get very time consuming doing it by hand. I use sparkpeople.com and it has made a big difference for me. It has also improved my awareness of what I eat and I really watch portions now.

Hope this helps :)
 
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