Eating

naynay

naynay

Cathlete
I can't seem to eat clean!!!!!!!!!!!!! I try but after I get home from a soccer game or something I am ravenous and HAVE to eat something so sweets and junk food really appeal to me. I think the longest I have gone with eating healthy is 4 days sad right. How can I stay motivated to eat healthy???????????????????????????? Please HELP:eek:
 
Sounds like you need to bring a snack along with you. some almonds, protein bar, piece of fruit.

I'm still struggling with eating clean, but I find it helps to experiment with different spices and finding healthier substitutions for my favorite foods. Check all your favorite restaurants ahead of time and know the calorie counts and plan what you should order at each of them so you aren't tempted to order something unhealthy.

It's Cathe's job to be fit, so eating clean is just part of it and probably keeps her motivated. Cathe has been doing this for what 20 years? After so long it's just second nature to her.
 
Hi girlfriend! :)

I will say you have the same problem I did! First, you must be eating every 2-3 hours...PLAN for it! You know the saying, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail"??? Well, with clean eating, it is rule #1.

One recommendation I will say is to purchase an Eat Clean Diet Book from Tosca Reno, and maybe a few Eating Clean magazines. They will help stimulate your ideas for snacks and meals. Eating 6 times a day is difficult, some meals are like mini-meals, or snacks so to speak. I like to keep snack size ziploc baggies filled with one serving each of nuts, so I don't go overboard and eat 500 nuts in one snack. Toss several of these baggies in your car, along with shakers filled with a scoop of protein powder (my fav is BSN lean protein), whole wheat crackers, homemade trail mix etc. I always always carry fresh fruit in my purse now...usually is 2 apples, but sometimes it is oranges or plums.

This way you are wanting to eat the paint off the wall when you walk through the door at night. Your body should never be that hungry, put your food on a SLOOOW drip into your body...you must learn about portion sizes and clean food.

One of my newest and BEST tricks - as soon as we get home from school, I make all of us a faux - milkshake with protein powder. I mix it up and let the kids dictate flavor. One of my favorites is a german chocolate cake milkshake - use a scoop of BSN chocolate coconut candy bar protein, water, 1/2 spoon of RAW virgin coconut oil, and a sprinkle of organic unsweetened coconut....oh my gosh.... absolutely the bomb!
Another great mixture is vanilla BSN protein powder, coconut oil, coconut, and Pineapple -- tastes like a pinacoloda...INSANE!!

I find that this "snack" at this time really helps to prevent my eating dinner as I make it, and it curbs my appetite during and AFTER dinner.

After dinner, I have replaced my usually sweet snack with tea...I know it sounds like an unequal swap, but.... there is something very tranquil and peaceful about looking forward to that tea. My fav here is HONEY GINSENG Green Tea by The Republic of Tea...and I add a spoonful of honey to sweeten it...love love love!!! :D

I go to bed early, around 8:30pm...so usually I don't deal with munchies at night. But, a terrific snack at night is a half bowl of oatmeal with a half scoop of protein powder...or just mix up another protein shake. Remember it is good to go to bed without a big glob of food laying in your belly. ;)

You will find what works best for you. But don't let your body get ravenously hungry...you are setting yourself up for failure.

I would also recommend signing up on a fitness blog...or cathe's forums...somewhere you are accountable for your diet. I like to check in somewhere to keep myself on track. Keeping a journal is also a great thing...you will be shocked at how much you are eating and when...it is a hard habit to get into but well worth the investment of time and energy.

I have actually been taking pictures of some of my meals and posting them on my facebook page...I talk about my workouts, etc there. Tosca Reno's forums are another great resource.

Remember, Rome was not built overnight...you must be patient with yourself and enjoy the journey!!! If you have weight to lose of just wanting to firm up, I highly recommend taking a before pic of yourself and hanging it in your pantry...along with some pics cut out of mags of women's bodies you want...great great inspiration!

Also, you must be positive!!! Know that your body will change and invision it doing so!

I hope that helps a bit!
xx, Denise :D
 
In addition, I would suggest eating better in increments. If you try to cut the fun stuff out cold turkey, there's a good chance you're going to snap and binge at some point.

I started with one meal. One meal was clean while the other two consisted of my old, regular diet. Over a period of weeks, I moved on to two clean meals, then two clean meals and a healthy snack, then three, etc.

*Edit: I wrote "healthy snake" instead of "snack"!! :D !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't eat healthy snakes! That's bad.
 
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I highly recommend adding green smoothies to your diet. If you have access to a high-powered blender, you can quickly whip up a tasty, healthy snack that will satisfy both your craving for sweets and your body's need for vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. There are a lot of videos on youtube showing how to make them. I find it best to start out with a higher percentage of fruit and less greens, then as your tastes adapt, you can add more greens.

A basic recipe would be something like 1 frozen banana (buy the really ripe bananas that are often sold for cheap in bags, peel and break into pieces and freeze), 1 -2 cups frozen fruit, 1-2 cups water, a few leaves of kale or romaine lettuce. Add stevia or agave nectar to taste. If it tastes too 'green' to you, add some lemon or lime juice.
 
kathryn said:
I highly recommend adding green smoothies to your diet. If you have access to a high-powered blender, you can quickly whip up a tasty, healthy snack that will satisfy both your craving for sweets and your body's need for vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. There are a lot of videos on youtube showing how to make them. I find it best to start out with a higher percentage of fruit and less greens, then as your tastes adapt, you can add more greens.

A basic recipe would be something like 1 frozen banana (buy the really ripe bananas that are often sold for cheap in bags, peel and break into pieces and freeze), 1 -2 cups frozen fruit, 1-2 cups water, a few leaves of kale or romaine lettuce. Add stevia or agave nectar to taste. If it tastes too 'green' to you, add some lemon or lime juice.
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That sure sounds yummy Kathryn!!! Great recipe! I need a vitamix! :eek:)
 
naynay said:
I can't seem to eat clean!!!!!!!!!!!!! I try but after I get home from a soccer game or something I am ravenous
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bring a healthy snack with you! preferably something high protein like yogurt, cottage cheese, nuts, couple slices of turkey, etc.. the protein will sustain you until dinner.
 
Thanks everyone I will try those things. Hope fully in a couple weeks I will have my eating under control:)
 
snack packs do help

I plan. I don't always make the grade though and I'm learning to not beat myself up about it. I think what everybody else has already said is true. If you plan your meals you should be ok. For example, today I had a job fair to go to in the morning so I had left overs on the menu. I had a grapefruit and peanuts as a snack. Breakfast was left over steak. Lunch was left over whole wheat pasta, 1 cup of left over broccoli, and some more steak. Because everything was already cooked I did not feel tempted to stop for something from a restaurant on the way home. I knew it would be faster to just drive home. That is not always the case. Sometimes I know I will be out and I pack a cooler with fruit, even dark chocolate, carrot sticks, roast chicken, cheese, and something home made like a muffin or slice of bread. That way I have tasty things with me and I don't every really have a chance to be hungry. I am sticking to home made steel cut oatmeal for breakfast but the trick is I make it once a week and just reheat in the microwave. I hope that helps :)
 
Chocolate fix

I'm a chocoholic. But to keep from the snickers, milkey ways and etc.... I made homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. They are low sugared, high fibered and with chocolate. For my breakfast every other day, I eat six to eight dark chocolate Ghirardelli's chips into my oatmeal with nuts. Eating the oatmeal for breakfast carries my stomach for two hours before I need a snake. V-8's little can. Yum!
 
naynay said:
sweets and junk food really appeal to me.
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grab a protein bar! there are lots on the market that taste just like candy bars - i personally love "pure protein" brand but there are many. pure protein has 180 cals and 20 grams of protein. there's also "premier nutrition protein" that is 270 cals and 30 grams of protein. both taste really good and stave off hunger for quite a while. satisfies sweet tooth too.
 
I have been eating protein bars but ran out and didn't have any. I LOVE the chocolate mint zone bars. Also what are good types of carbs I know fruits and veggies but any thing else?
 
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good carbs: unprocessed whole grains like brown rice, oatmeal, bulgar, whole grain bread and whole wheat pasta. also beans, nuts & seeds.
 
Many many great ideas here. I have seen on one of the other forums that there is a protein pudding out there - one of the standard protein powder brands, possibly BSN. That would make for a great sweet tooth breaker !

Haven't tried it so can't comment on that, but I think BSN dessert protein powders are wonderful. One of my favs is Cinnamon bun - love it in my coffee on the weekends ! Yum !
 
Planning is my weakness! I have never done menus and I haven't a clue how to start! Should I plan a whole week on the weekend and follow that? or do you do it day by day? I'm so used to deciding what to eat a couple of hours before each meal that I'm having a lot of difficulty getting that part right!

I rarely have cravings (except when my husband eats M&Ms right in front of me like last night), but I am better now about not minding it much. Right now, my biggest craving is salt and vinegar potato chips! I just LOVE them, but I have to be in the right mood!

Anyway, if anyone has any good suggestions about meal planning, I'm all ears!
 
Have to chime in here... another 'trick' drink water. It's amazing how often water satisfies my perceived hunger. I used the hydracoach for a few weeks to help me create the habit. (It measures your intake and lets you know when you've hit the goal.)

The hydracoach, like keeping a food journal or tracking food online, helps you be hyper focused for a bit. This helps ingrain the new behaviors until they become automatic.

Until you've ingrained the behavior - it'll feel hard. Once the new neural pathway's been imprinted on your brain - through focus and practice - it gets easier and easier, much more automatic.

Good luck - you can do it!
 
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