Help with clean eating!

angie_mitchell

angie_mitchell

Cathlete
Hi,

I didn't really know where to post this because there doesn't seem to be a designated forum for eating so I thought I'd try here - I'd love anyone's help.

I just started to think about clean eating and switching my whole family. Our eating has been out of control recently and my husband and I have been working out for years with no real results. I'm tired of it. I am ready to make the real change. Our kids eat typical kid junk and I just don't want to raise them that way (they are 2 and 3 so young enough to still make the change!).

Anyway, I got Tosca's books (diet/cookbook) and read through those last night. I also got the most recent copy of clean eating magazine. I found Tosca's "diet" to be more strict than that of clean eating mag. I also noticed that Tosca recommends Ezekial products while clean eating mag mentions more kashi and annie's products.

Here are my concerns. I really really really dislike tomoatoes (at least fresh ones) and a LOT of the recipes seem to include them. Can I still do this? Also, I'm going to have a hard time convincing my husband not to eat "real" red meat and switch to things like ground turkey and such. He also really hates fish so that will be hard to just have basically chicken, turkey, and tenderloin. I guess we'll throw in the occasional lean top sirloin or something as well and maybe a shrimp meal - and he will do sushi so that helps I guess.

Also, are boca and morning star products considered clean? I guess I'm walking the fine line between vegetarian (which I don't want to do) and clean.

My kids eat (and love) the horrible kid basics - hot dogs, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, pbj. We've recently switched to annie's mac and cheese but how do I do the other things naturally or what do I give them for lunch? They also love waffles (eggo) for breakfast with butter. Would I be okay to switch them to kashi waffles with almond butter?

I'm really overwhelmed and so desperately want to make the change, not just for me but for my whole family! I feel like I need a few staples just to get me started!

Thankfully we have a trader joe's and a whole foods here but in about 3 months we're moving to France. In a way, I think this might be easier becuase of all the fresh food markets but I'm still a bit nervous.

Also, I've been buying boxed risotto in the natural food section at fry's but I'm assuming (as Tosca says) if it comes in a box, it's probably not good.

Okay, this has gotten long enough. Just really looking for some support here. Thanks so much for any responses!

angie
on the road to my new life...
 
I've never read Tosca's book so I can't comment on the content.

I have older kids and the struggle I have is that they bring the crap food home!
They won't eat my meals for the most part.

What I do to promote healthy snacking is buy a ton of fruit and carrots. They are willing to grab those for snacks. I also leave small bowls of nuts on my counter. Usually cashews and almonds. They grab those too.

I REFUSE to buy any soda in the house!

Breakfast is a challenge. I eat eggs/oatmeal myself. My guys will eat oatmeal. I buy strawberry shredded wheat cereal. I know it has sugar, but at least it's better than Lucky Charms! Cheerios is not too bad either.

Maybe you can get your kids to eat cottage cheese and fruit for breakfast?

Apples and peanut butter are wonderful!

I can't eat ezekiel bread. It tears my stomach apart. I usually buy oatmeal bread from the Health Food Store and needs to be refrigerated because it has no preservatives. Be careful of Trader Joes. They have a lot of fake healthy food!
 
Food that claims to be healthy, but when you read the ingredients it is nothing more than over processed food. Don't get me wrong. Some are better than others. For example....Subway sandwiches. They are processed meat, processed bread, and the condiments are loaded with sugar. It is a better choice than a Big Mac.

Learning how to read labels takes time. I know! It has taken me a lifetime to figure it all out.
 
Try to get the most un-processed food you can find. Think fresh. Your hubby does not have to give up red meat. Grass fed beef is the best and is very low in fact and contains good for you fat. Do an internet search for grass fed beef; or deer or antelope or elk. These have no antibiotics and are not fed the typical grain, which includes corn, corn is a grain not a vegetable, which causes all kinds of health problems. Good for you to make the healthy switch. Just do the best you can and will notice a huge difference.
 
I LOVE grass fed beef! I could never give up my red meat.
Oh, try bison burgers and steaks! I think they have bison brats too!
 
I have Tosca's book. I'm not a fan of it to be honest. I went through the same situation with my family. I have 2 kids 5 and 7. First off bravo to you for wanting to make the change. You are right about the advantage you have of your kids being young. As much as kids make us think that we are going to starve them to death if they don't get what they want they will not starve themselves. My problem with diet books is that they make us feel compelled to follow everything that they say. That is not necessarily a bad thing but I don't feel that is realistic. What has worked for me for the past 4 years is making changes slowly. Since I am the cook in the kitchen I changed ingredients on the family. When I made spegehtti I added veggies and did half whole wheat pasta. When I made mac and cheese I made it from scratch or bought annie's and would put carrots that were chopped up really small or blended in. I always had fruit available. For chicken nuggets I either made them myself or bought them from Whole Foods organic. Make the changes but do it slowly. I love white rice but I would make half white and half brown. I've offically got the family eating about 90% clean. I still drink coffee and like drinking Enviga/Diet Coke. My general rule of thumb for eating in our family is if the ingredients are all natural and have been around for the past 150 years then chances are it is okay. I know that this is not the definition of "Clean Eating," but it is the rule my family lives by. I don't deprive my family from ice cream I just make sure that we have small portions and that we stay active. Good luck Angie. By the way, you are sooo lucky you get to move to France!!!
 
Hi Angie,

I think it's great that you are switching to a clean diet. You will feel and see the difference, guaranteed! My advise would be not to consider it an all or nothing diet, consider it a change that you can quickly make in some areas and slowly in other areas. For example, my kids love fruit and salad, so that's easy, but when I made their favorite pancakes with whole wheat flour, they threw a fit. Now I'm sneaking an extra tablespoon or so of whole wheat flour into the pancakes each time I make them and slowly getting them used to it (without them knowing, if they catch me, it's over, they won't eat it). See what you can get away with and make those changes right away. Take it slow with the things that are harder to change. When I made turkey burgers for the first time I put A-1 in them to try to make them darker, and nobody noticed until I told them. Then over time I left the A-1 out so it would be cleaner, now they're used to them and don't say anything. I found it pretty easy to change from hamburger to ground turkey for everything from meatloaf and spaghetti, to nachos. Once my family got used to the lighter color, they could hardly tell a difference in taste.

Please, please don't make the mistake of thinking that if you can't eat as clean as Tosca says that you can't change your eating habits. Every little change that you can make will be healthier, the things that you find hard to change, just take them a little slower. Good luck!
 
Hi Angie,

I have been slowly converting my diet over to a clean one over the last couple of years. I made changes gradually and saw wonderful results. DH still likes a lot of processed stuff so once a week I compromise and we eat something out that is bad for us. It helps me to stay on track the rest of the time. I don't have kids so I don't have to fight with them. Start gradually to give yourself and your family time to adjust.

Colleen
 
What is clean eating by the way?

I used to think that clean eating was close to vegeterian eating. Which is not my way of eating (not with 2 young sons, a spouse with a taste for traditionnal food - meat, potaotes, vegetables - and a love of chocolate chips cookies!!!

But, as I was reading this thread, I'm starting to think that clean eating is eating as less processed food as possible and to try to follow the canadian (or US) food guide (or now it's a pyramid I think!). So if I cook often from scatch, eat whole grain bread and pasta and things like unsweetened juice, I'm not that far off? (I hope the answer is yes!)

Nathalie ;-)
 
Hey Angie! As a Mom of 3 girls trying to teach them healthy habits, here are a few things that have worked for me. For one, NO soda, and limited juice (and then only 100% fruit juice, NONE with high fructose corn syrup- HFCS, which I really have tried to eliminate from our house!). My girls love PB & J sandwiches, so I buy whole grain bread (Arnold's brand 100% whole wheat w/ no HFCS) w/ natural PB and all fruit spread (regular jelly is again loaded w/ HFCS). If we do have a cookout or something, I buy the Hebrew National hotdogs w/ whole wheat hot dog buns. My girls snack on lots of fruit, yogurt, or an apple w/ PB. They also love string cheese, cottage cheese, etc. I buy all natural cereals (see the cold cereal thread- Barbara's bakery and Nature's path make organic cereal w/ less sugar and more fiber). They love veggies and especially love to dip them in ranch dressing. ;-) They also love oatmeal for breakfast which also is my favorite. Another easy way to get in the fruits is to make a smoothie- milk or soymilk w/ fruit, yogurt, and I add 1 T. ground flax (they never notice!).

I switched to whole grain pasta (I like the Barilla Plus and make their mac n cheese w/ that), brown rice, and no white products. We still eat beef (we get ours from a local farmer), lean pork, lots of chicken, salmon, etc. I make them healthy french fries from potatoes quartered and drizzled in olive oil & sprinkled w/ seasoned salt, etc. You can make your own waffles or pancakes in a big batch and then freeze them- there is even a whole wheat Aunt Jemima that you can use for an easier version. Also check your stores for the natural/ organic section. (I like Kroger & Meijer if you have either or them)

I pretty much just make old favorite recipes over by using healthier ingredients. You can make healthier versions of things like pizza, tacos, chili, etc. Let me know if you have any questions! It helps that my dh has really gotten on board with eating healthy also!
 
I really agree with all the comments here about making changes slowly, especially if you have kids. I would recommend you read Dr. Oz's books (he's often on Oprah!).

France? Oh Lord, I'm so jealous. Will you still check in here after you move? I'd love to hear all about what living in France is like.
 
>Hi Angie,
>
>I have been slowly converting my diet over to a clean one over
>the last couple of years. I made changes gradually and saw
>wonderful results. DH still likes a lot of processed stuff so
>once a week I compromise and we eat something out that is bad
>for us. It helps me to stay on track the rest of the time. I
>don't have kids so I don't have to fight with them. Start
>gradually to give yourself and your family time to adjust.
>
>Colleen

Colleen,

That is the best way IMO. Hey, I love the processed stuff too! Who doesn't?
I've been following Precision Nutrition eating guidelines that you only have to be 90% compliant. So out of 42 small meals, I can have 4 SMALL cheats throughout the week.


You really don't have to eliminate any food completely. Cover all your nutritional bases and you can indulge a little here and there. Unfortunately, the average American eats the total opposite.
 
Wow! Thank you all so much for your replies. This has been so helpful for me. I tend to blow things out of proportion and realize that I have to take things a little more slowly!

I probably will continue to check in here after we move. It's a great support forum! Everyone is so inspiring. The next few months are going to be a little hectic around here. We will probably take two trips to France to check things out/find a place to live, etc. So, I'll need some motivation to keep going.

Jess, I would love to hear how you make your mac and cheese. What kind/ how much cheese do you use? I don't see a reason to buy Annie's if I can make it myself. And somehow, that brand doesn't reheat very well so I feel like I'm wasting it because my girls never eat a whole box. I saw that you're a bb coach. I used to spend a lot of time on those boards while I was doing the X. Unfortunately, I didn't really get into it. Tony wasn't quite my style. I've definitely found a better niche with Cathe! Saw that you were from IL - I'm born and raised in the northwest surburbs and went to U of I in Champaign. Now we're sweating it out in AZ summer heat! :)

Nathalie, I think you are on the right track with clean eating. It's really not so much vegetarian (although some people push it there because they are wanting more low fat options and some are just grossed out by meat). But, really, it's simplistic, all natural cooking rather than processed food with lots of sugar and preservatives.

Janie, how are you making your own chicken nuggets? This is one of my kids most favorite things.

Also, do you all buy natural/organic chicken? With as much chicken as we'll be eating I just feel like that's going to get so expensive!

Also, my DH LOVES LOVES LOVES butter. I started making him use organic but he still uses it in large portions! (In some ways, I don't get on his case too much - he's always been really thin and in decent shape). But, is there something better that I should be trying to convince him to use? And, if I give my kids kashi waffles (or does anyone have a good home-made recipe?) what can they put on them instead of butter?

Okay, enough of my questions. Thanks again everyone. My fridge is starting to be cleaned out of all its nastiness and this weekend will bring in all good/new food. Amazingly enough, we aren't going to any holidy parties this weekend to sabotage my efforts!:7

Have a great 4th everyone and thanks again!
angie
 
FYI there is a check in for clean and tidy eating on the check in board.

The gals over there are awesome and very supportive. You might want to check it out.

Jenn
 
Re: Tosca Reno's books.
Be cautious with some of the recipes. There are some that have more than 1000 mg of sodium per serving!
 
For 'clean eating,' think of healthier choices.

For food preparation, prefer steaming, baking, sautéing in water (or in cooking sherry or another liquid. Cooking sherry or cooking wine gives a nice mouth-feel that is similar to fat in its consistency), or using less oil and mixing it with another liquid. Avoid oil frying, deep frying (especially), grilling and broiling (the high temperatures produce acrylamides, which are unhealthy).

Replace processed foods with their less-processed counterparts (ie: instead of white rice, 'wheat' flour, white pasta, choose brown rice, WHOLE wheat--or sprouted whole grain--flour, whole grain pasta. or even better, use whole cooked grains).

Limit packaged foods (some exceptions might be unsalted beans, which make things easier), and when you do buy packaged, read the ingredients label, and don't buy anything that you couldn't make yourself with real food items in your kitchen. I also like to limit packaged carbohydrates to those that NATURALLY contain at least 2 grams of fiber per serving--that cuts out most crackers, chips, cookies, etc.

Really emphasize veggies, especially dark green ones.

As a good first step, I highly recommend avoiding all foods make with high-fructose corn syrup/sweetener, and those made with transfats (containing hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated oils--look for these oils on the ingredients label, not the front of the package: some foods are labeled 'trans-fat free' or "0 trans fats' but still can have up to .5 grams of trans fats per serving). Just avoiding these two will make anyone's diet healthier immediately. I'd also recommend avoiding artificial sweeteners of any kind (including Splenda).

As to some of your specific questions:
Boca and Morningstar would not be clean, IMO. They are highly processed, and contain soy protein isolates/concentrates, which are questionable. They might be preferable to some other option, but clean they are not.

Like Tosca, I consider Ezekial products to be clean. Annie's products? Not so much. Kashi? Depends on the product and the ingredients (though I still resent Kashi for their bit of dishonesty years ago, when they stated on their label that their ingredients were 'organic'--I guess THEY meant, 'not-inorganic' like rocks--but they didn't ues organically grown ingredients).

If you don't like tomatoes, you don't have to eat them (at least not raw--the good thing is, the lycopene in tomatoes is more easily absorbed when they are cooked). If a particular recipe uses a lot of tomatoes, you could omit them, or try substituting with chopped red (sweet) peppers.
 
>For example, my kids love fruit and salad, so
>that's easy, but when I made their favorite pancakes with
>whole wheat flour, they threw a fit. Now I'm sneaking an
>extra tablespoon or so of whole wheat flour into the pancakes
>each time I make them and slowly getting them used to it
>(without them knowing, if they catch me, it's over, they won't
>eat it).

Sherri,
Have you ever tried whole grain barley flour? It's sweet, like white flour, and not as 'heavy' as whole wheat flour. Easier to hide, and you can use more of it vs. white flour as it won't be such an obvious substitution.
 
> I'm starting to think that
>clean eating is eating as less processed food as possible and
>to try to follow the canadian (or US) food guide (or now it's
>a pyramid I think!). So if I cook often from scatch, eat whole
>grain bread and pasta and things like unsweetened juice, I'm
>not that far off?

I think if you ask 100 people, you'll get 20 different definitions but, yes, it's pretty much eating unprocessed foods (though fruit juice isn't a particularly good choice: it's very high in sugars, natural though they may be. A better choice would be the whole fruit, or rarely drinking juice and mixing it with more water to dilute it a bit).

I don't think the Food pyramid is the best guideline. It's too heavy on starches (even though they may be whole grain) and doesn't emphasize veggies and fruits enough. I'd go more along the lines of Dr. Fuhrman's food pyramid for nutrient-dense eating: bottom tier vegetables (half cooked, half raw), next tier shared between fruits and beans/legumes; third tier up whole grains/raw nuts/seeds; next tier: fish/fat-free dairy (twice weekly or less); next tier: poultry/eggs/oils (once weekly or less); top tier: beef, sweets, cheese, milk, processed foods, hydrogenated oils (rarely).

Dr. Fuhrman also notes the foods highest in nutrients per calorie (green veggies, all raw vegies, beans/legumes, eggplant, mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers, fresh fruit) and those lowest in nutrients per calorie (flour, oil, sugar). Emphasize the former, limit the latter.
 
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