What do you do for clean eating?

J

Jilliana22

Cathlete
I keep reading these posts on "clean eating," and I was wondering what it was. Is it just making little adjustments to your diet like i.e. giving up junk foods and whatnot. I did check out the 12 week challenge that was posted but some of that stuff seemed a bit extreme for me and I know I couldn't follow it. I'm trying to lose weight (aren't we all) and the diet I'm on right now isn't from a book or anything its just a combination of information that I've read, put together, and kind of came up with my own thing. I've cut out all junk, fat, and high calorie & fat foods. I substitute with either low-fat or fat free if I can. I've upped my fruits & veggies, and decreased the amount of meat I eat a day, (dinner being the only meal that I will add meat to)and even then its no more than 4oz. Sample day menu:

Breakfast: Bowl of Total or Oatmeal
Midday snack: Fruit smoothie consisting of (1% milk I don't like the taste of skim, fat free yogurt and about 3 servings of fruits of choice.)
Lunch: 1 can of soup & sandwich, or salad & sandwich, or 1 can of turkey chili w/fat free crackers
Dinner: Stir-fry, (I use Pam) on top of white rice (I've never tried brown rice not sure if I'll like it, would hate to waste food and money like that)
Snack: Fruit or 1 scoop of sherbert ice cream (Only if I start having late night cravings)

My dinner meals change everyday but I try to at least keep breakfast & lunch the same so to get a running idea of where my calories are. Plus, I keep dinner as my largest meal since I work graveyard and its the most tempting time of the day that I get my junk food craving and want to go hit the vending machine here at work.

Please let me know what you think and what you do in your diets, I checked out the forum everyday and you gals (and guys) are very well informed so I would love to read you advice or comments. All critiqing is welcome.

Thanks,

C.J.

P.S. I usually workout 5 days a week M-F with the weekends off. I usually do anywhere from 30-60mins of cardio; and depending on which strength tape I use Cathe (MIS), Firm, or Charlene Prickett. I'll get in another 30-60mins of weights, but right now I'm only strength training 2-3x a week.
 
Hi Jilliana,

Your 'clean eating' sounds fine, better than my clean eating, you have put me to shame ! It is roughly what I try and stick to, I keep dinner and breakfast more or less the same, have a low fat yoghurt mid morning, and a piece of fruit mid afternoon, with a dinner in the evening. I am a vegetarian so I cook a vegetarian meal in the evening. But it sounds OK, just be careful of extra calories in drinks, such as milk and tea in coffee. But on the whole, well done ! :)

Anna
 
Thanks for answering Anna I really appreciate it. I had hoped to get more responses from the forum. But one is better than none.

- C.J.
 
C.J

I will add: I eat a high fibre breakfast with soya milk and a cup of tea. Mid morning breakfast bar and fruit, lunch is a organic salad, olive roll and yet more fruit, dinner chicken or pasta (2 nights a week I have started going vegatarian to cut down my meat intake)drink lots of water.

I take in supplements Glusamine & Chronditrin, iron tabs, cod liver oil & vitamin e.

Thats my clean diet.

Babs
 
I have given up on diets!!! They are just so frustrating. I have just been concentrating on eating the healthiest that I can. I try to eat alot of protein, fruits, and veggies. For breakfast everyday I have a 1/2 c. of Fiber One, w/ 1/3 c. of oatmeal, 1 T. Flax seed, 1 T. of pumkin seeds, and a 1/2 of a banana. I mix up a serving of protein powder the night before, and stick it in the refrigerator, and use that instead of milk. I haven't weighed myself lately, and right now is TTOTM. I hate weighing, it always upsets me. Maybe someday soon. I have tried to follow diets forever, and I am just totally burned out on them. I eat these fudge bars for my sweet treat. They are no sugar added, and only 45 calories per bar. They are good!!!
Lori
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Oct-11-02 AT 01:51PM (Est)[/font][p]I'm pretty fanatical six days a week and on the 7th day it's a free day and I INDULGE! I take my free days seriously! But the other six days I try not to eat any processed carbs. I occasionally eat Ezekial bread and WW pasta but that's not the norm. For carbs I eat: potatoes, yams, regular oatmeal, cream of wheat/rice, brown rice, fruit, veggies. For protein I eat lean meats (chicken, turkey, beef, Cottage cheese, egg whites). For some people, they find it too extreme. But it works for me and it's a matter of how bad I want "it"; how bad I want to be at goal. I never do without yet I can maintain my goal weight/size and feel good where I'm at.

Colleen
 
My diet consists of lean protein - white meat chicken and turkey, sometimes tuna - and mostly low carb veggies - squash, carrots, green beans, English peas. Snacks are veggie chips, nut butters, sunflower and pumpkin seeds.

No sugar, nothing processed, no dairy or grains, no egg. Basically, it's similar to the "paleo diet."

It would be considered pretty extreme by most folks. I'd say the best things to do for a clean diet are cutting out, or at least cutting back on, sugar, white flour, processed foods with hydrogenated fats, and fried foods. Cutting out regular soft drinks will eliminate a lot of sugar and caffeine.

Angela
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Oct-11-02 AT 02:54PM (Est)[/font][p]I pretty much follow a whole-food vegan way of eating (I don't call it diet, to not confuse it with a temporary way of eating to lose weight).

About white vs. brown rice. You can help change your tastes by gradually phasing into the brown stuff. First mix 2 parts white with 1 part brown (or less). You'll have to either cook them separately, or work on timing so that you cook the brown rice for a while before adding in the white.

ALso, there are several types of brown rices, and you might like some more than others. I think long grain is usually easier to start with. Or even brown basmati, which is a bit sweeter.
 
I'm a really lazy "cook" and tend to eat the same things over and over again. This would drive most people crazy, but like I said, I'm lazy.

Just about every morning I have 3/4 cup Fibre 1st or 1, garnished with a bit of Raisin Bran, 1 tbl flax seed, and Kashi Go-Lean cereal. I prepare it the night before after I've prepared the salad for next day's lunch and take the cereal to work and eat it with vanilla light soy milk.

For a mid-morning snack, I have a few grapes.

I go to the gym on my lunch-hour and have an apple and a chocolate macadamian specialty coffee when I get back to the office.

For lunch, a very large salad consisting of baby spinach, mushrooms, red pepper, zucchini, cucumber and 1 tomato. I put 3 tablespoons of fat-free dressing on it. Or a hi-fibre bean soup (today it was President Choice TGBT Black Bean (delicious!).

My first course for dinner is always the same -- steamed baby carrots, cauliflower, brocoli, bean sprouts and mushrooms. I also have extra mushrooms on the side with soy sauce -- love mushrooms! For the second course it's a whole egg (limited to 2 per week) and hot oatmeal with fresh blueberries; or light popcorn (hey, I got my veggies in, right?), or a homemade chicken fajita sandwich. I don't use any added fats (butter, olive oil, etc.) but just started taking a salmon-oil pill every day because I'm not sure if I'm getting enough fat in my diet. Oh, and I definitely cannot live without CoffeeMate light, but I measure it out carefully.

I never eat cheese (not calorie-worthy), and very rarely eat pork or beef. I do love hamburgers but try to make my own with 1/4 lb lean ground with a mushroom filler to bulk it up. That's maybe twice a year.

My dinner veggies are all cut up on Saturday morning after I visit the market so I don't have to worry about cutting them up during the week. I go through about 2 or 3 cauli's and 4 broc's a week.

I get my chocolate fix with good, old-fashioned cocoa (not the pre-packaged kind), mixed with hot skim milk. That way, I also get my calcium in. I haven't bought a chocolate bar in oh, approx. 5 years, since the cocoa takes care of my cravings.

Oops! Gotta leave work now! Bye!

Patricia

P.S. Please excuse any typos. No time to check!
 
I try to eat the healthiest I can. I don't look at it as a diet but my way of living. I eat probably 45% protein,40%carbs and 15% fats. I used to obsess over what I ate now I just do the best I can. I write down the night before or during breakfast my meal plan for the day. I try to stick to it as close as I can. I took off 30 pounds 14 years ago and have kept it off this way. I try to eat fruits and veges and have started cutting down on the breads and pastas. I eat chicken,fish and lean beef and venison.
You're eating pattern looks great to me! I would at least try the brown rice though. It's really not bad. My daughter even prefers it over white(she's 5! :) )
Keep up the good work. Your discipline will pay off. My girlfriends used to ask me after I lost the weight how I did it and I said with the 3 D's "discipline,determination and diet".Ya just have to have faith! ;-) Susan
 
All I can say is wow! I don't know how you ladies do it. Susanz, I love that 3 D's advice. I have the determination and diet part down. Its my discipline that needs work. Why is you never really notice just how many food commericals there are on tv until you go on a diet. I keep seeing McDonalds, Burger King, Chilis, Checkers, etc. and before I know it my stomach is grumbling and this insane craving for fast food takes over. Perhaps, I should stop watching tv. Kathyrn, I will give the brown rice a try, and up my veggie intake to see if that will counterbalance my food cravings.

-C.J.
 
Believe it or not, after a while you tune the fast food advertising out. I can't remember the last time I had a burger and fries. I read that fries and donuts were about the absolute worst foods you could eat. I used to love McD's fries, but I don't miss that stuff much any more.

Angela
 
Hi C.J.

My philosphy on eating is to eat as much natural and whole foods as possible.

I eat whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, yogurt, skim milk, light cheese (that's really the only light stuff that I eat), veggies, no fruit (I'm allergic, to fresh and cooked fruits), whole wheat pastas, whole wheat / grain breads with at least 4 grams of fiber per slice or I don't eat it, mostly nut and fruit oils and as much real stuff as possible.

I do eat butter, but my family of four goes through about 1 pound every six months. I do eat mayo, but usually only during the holidays for deviled eggs. That goes for the eggs too, usually only during the holidays unless I'm craving them. I do eat salad dressing, once a week on a salad. I do eat some meats, but not too much, maybe three times a week.

I make most of my own foods. I love making spaghetti sauce in my slow cooker. That is just so awesome with the whole wheat pasta.

I do love trying new foods and I love spices. The spices in my kitchen made my mother stand still in awe.

I eat only twice to three times a day. I tried to do the six mini meals and I got very ill from it. My digestive system just had an absolute fit. I thought a couple of times that I was going to die. So I tried five times and it still made no difference. I went back to my old eating habits which I've had ever since I can remember ... lunch, dinner, and sometimes breakfast at 2:00 AM. I don't know why I wake up in the middle of the night out of a sound sleep except I cannot sleep on an empty stomach. I've never been able to do that.

There is no diet for me ... it's mine and it works. I feel great and I love it when people spit coffee all over when I tell them how old I am. One person asked me if I ever get carded? I'm 39 years old. I love it!

Just my goofy clean eating diet.

Keta. :D

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