Good eating challenge

[Tallchick]

I am sick today so I don't know how today is going to go. But I will use any excuse to treat myself to something will make me want to learn how to stick my finger down my throat until it comes back up and then I come back to my senses and wonder what the heck is wrong with that picture. Remember when George Costanza thought his current girlfriend was vomiting all her restaurant food and his only concern was his paying for the meal and then losing the money? Ha, Seinfeld. Miss it.
In my defense I ate really well yesterday and I even took my daughters and a couple of their friends to Leatherby'a (increible ice-cream made at the restaurant) and I didn't even beg my kids to let me have a sip or a scoop or take the whole thing from them. But later I realize that I was getting a cold and ate a couple of granola bars (peanut butter of course, why go half-way on anything, even if it is bad for you). But hey, every time I wanted to grab something sugary I remember that I had to honest on this post.
So, there, what is up with you dedicated good eating people? I wanna know!!!!
Kate

 

[August]

Hey, Kate,

That's too bad that you're coming down with something. I hope it's not Michele's 24-hr flu!

Wow. I don't know if I could make it to an ice cream place and not have any. That's pretty good. I went to a going-away party last night, paid $30 and drank a glass of water and had a few pieces of lettuce with half an egg white on it x(. The rest of the food there was fried or oiled or just plain out wrong! (Not to mention that I had had my planned meals for the day at that point so... )

Weighing in once every week on the same day and writing it all down has been an incredible inspiration for me. The thought of having to write down bad food in my journal, or doing my weekly weigh in knowing that I won't be getting a better reading than the week before totally stops me from eating crap!

How's everyone else doing?

 

[gym_mom]

Kate - I hope you feel better!

August - you are stronger than me - lettuce with an egg white? I'd have given in for some chicken at least.

OK - so my first day at trying to eat really clean was NOT a success. I did my standard breakfast and that was fine. It was lunch that did me in. We had a board meeting at work and our admin person ordered Panera Bread sandwiches. The sandwiches came with a great salad (I had a huge helping with only a little of their dressing). But I also had a half roast beef sandwich - I took off the cheese, but there was some seasoned mayo on it. The bread was fantastic, but was it ok to eat? I had planned on bringing in some fruit from home for after lunch, but I forgot. I ended up eating an entire cookie from their cookie tray. That I know was not good.

For supper, I had leftover pasta with chicken. A cup of grapes (good) and my favorite, a fiber one cookie (bad).

Now, I warned you that I'd have lots of questions - what kind of carbs/starches are good? Are whole grain breads ok? How about pasta? My DH and DD won't eat the whole wheat pasta, but they'll do the Barilla Plus, it has more fiber, but isn't whole wheat. Is that OK? Rice - brown, long grain, wild? And is Fiber One cereal ok (without the chocolate of course)? I know it's high in fiber, but it also has artificial sweeteners. Not sure if those sweeteners make it bad.

This is going to be harder than I thought.

 

[August]

Hi, guys,

I was finished with all the meals I'd be eating for that day that I had planned and written out, so it was easy not to give in. The only reason I ate the lettuce and half an egg white was because all the guests at the party were worried about why I wasn't eating anything and they kept offering to serve me stuff! I was being bombarded with niceness! So I figured if I had something on my plate, they'd stop. And they did! As for not giving in to chicken - all the chicken they had that night was fried, and that wouldn't float my boat even on a cheat day, so it was easy passing.

Now, a cookie from a cookie tray - THAT would have taken some major concentration for me!

I'm a former HUGE, HUGE chocolate eater. Like, all my friends know me as Chocolate-cookies-cakes-brownies-eating August. I could really pack it down, and being one of the lucky, I could maintain a fairly good figure (clothed, that is ). But now I'm completely inspired to change my old routine and get the best body I can. I've never been more into fitness and health in my life (I'm 36). I love it!

Now, as for your clean eating and what's good and not so good - it really depends on what your goal is. There are lots of degrees of "clean eating" but it seems the most basic is to stop eating processed foods and cut the whites from your diet. That would mean cutting out white rice, white bread, white pasta and all that sugar. For a good start, you would want to replace those things with the examples you listed like whole grain products.

You'd be making efforts to eat as close to nature as possible - this is where many people stop eating even the whole grain breads, cereals and pastas since they are processed.

Ultimately you'll want to figure out what your goal is - Do you want to "eat clean" in order to be more healthy in general? Are you wanting to "eat clean" to lose fat or to gain muscle? To what degree of "eating clean" would get you to your goal?

As for good kinds of carbs/starches, here's a quickie list:

Good Carbs
Fresh veggies
Fresh fruits
Oatmeal (unsweetened)
Yams / Sweet potato
Brown rice
Barley
Beans / Lentils


Once you get a good grip on some basic nutrient info, it's not hard, so don't give up! I knew NOTHING about healthy eating until a little over a year ago - sheesh, I didn't even know that veggies, fruits and sugars were carbs!! I did a lot of reading and a lot of research,...and I rid my kitchen of all whites/processed foods.

Just the fact that you are aware of what you're eating and being conscious to make good choices is a fantastic beginning!

And as I mentioned, if you really want your daily food intake to be a success - it's vital that you write down what you're going to eat at least the day before - it will not only give you the incentive to stick with your program - it's just a plain-out sure-fire plan.

Man, that was a mouthful. ;-)

 

[gym_mom]

Thank you August for all that great info. And I have to agree, I would have passed on the fried chicken too.

I've been on WW for the past year (lost 48 lbs ). I'm most amazed at the change in my attitude about eating. We tend to eat out quite a bit. I used to look at the menu at all the things "I can't have". Now I look at all the things I don't want. That is a pretty incredible change for me.

My goal is to get rid of those last little pockets of fat - you know, the kangaroo pouch and droopy drawers area. Now that I'm at my goal weight, I'm focusing on how I feel about myself and those two little pockets of fat still bug me. I used to be better at planning ahead, but I've got myself into a routine where I almost always know what I'm having ahead of time even though I'm not writing it down. I'll have to go back to doing that.

WW got me started on the fruits and veggies plus it helped me move towards more whole grains in my breads/pastas/rice. Only challenge I've had is the family - I made brown rice once and both DH and DD tried a few bites and then refused to eat it. The second time I made it, they flat out refused dinner and went out to eat, so I got the hint. Now I make wild rice which they like and I figure it's better than the white stuff.

OK, so after reading your post, I'm thinking that, despite my bad day, I'm generally eating clean about 70-80% of the time. First thing I'll focus on is cutting back on those sweets I love, even if they are only one point according to WW.

 

[megadoo]

Hi ladies,
I was just reading your posts, and it all sounds interesting. Clean eating has been hard for me, but I am trying. If you don't mind I would love to join this check in. It just may be what kicks my butt in gear. Alot of good info so far!!
Thanks

Maeghan AKA megadoo

http://www.3fatchicks.net/img/bar072/slider-but3/lb/203/145/159/.png[/img] [/url]

http://www.picturetrail.com/megadoo2

 

[August]

Hi, Gym Mom, (and hi there, Megadoo!)

48 pounds?! Pardon my previous post! Well sheesh, you definitely have a grasp on the micronutrient knowledge! That is absolutely wonderful. Congratulations to you!

What you wrote about looking at a menu and going from seeing "things you can't have" to seeing "things you don't want" is so spot-on. It's the same situation, just a different attitude. How much simpler could it get, right?

Our goals are similar. I'm also at my ideal weight but I want to lessen my body fat % (and get rid of pooch). I always schedule work-related things I need to do and I always get them done because I love to cross things off my list. Calculating foods out on fitday and writing out my next day menu is new for me (well, about a year, but really seriously doing it for the past couple months), and although it's somewhat of a pain in the butt, keeping the journal is really, really keeping me on track. It amazes me that I'm actually turning down foods that I would have had several servings of without even thinking about. Up until a month ago, I was eating chocolate EVERY day. The thought of not having chocolate in my kitchen made me feel uncomfortable! I can't believe I don't have any here anymore. And I don't even miss it.

Hey, for your sweet tooth - did you see Mattea's recipe for Healthy Butterfinger? If you do a search on it, you'll find it. I've been doing the lazy man's version by just putting a little organic peanut butter on a date (dried fruit - not a guy, heh }( ). You wouldn't believe how delicious it is.

Yes, it does sound like you're eating clean. I'm doing BFFM right now and eat every 3 hours - it's for helping to keep your metabolism high. And you'll want to eat some protein when you're eating carbs...never eating carbs and fats together without your protein. You probably already know all this!

I can see how it would be very hard to keep on a program when there are other people involved who aren't on that program! I don't eat much brown rice (I mean, I don't eat much rice in general - *no jokes from you, Kate!), but I know some brown rice I eat has been hard and rather "crumbly," when other times it's soft and yummy. Could it be from different ways to prepare it? I wonder if putting more water in it, or letting it soak some before cooking it would soften the grain so that it would be a bit more similar to white rice? Or perhaps a half and half version to wean them?


* I've scheduled in a cheat meal a week and have ended up having business dinners happen on all of those days...and I ended up eating rice for my cheat...such a boring cheat!