Clean Eating

LindsayB2217

Ok, So I've begun my research into clean eating. I like to have my facts straight before I begin something that's going to be a major change in my life. For those of you who are clean eaters I know it suggests eating clean almost 100% of the time. How many of you follow this? 

What are some good recipe's you've tried?

When you started did you just like dump everything in your kitchen?

And what success have all of you had?

My problem area is my stomach and I often feel weighed down! I chose clean eating because i have a REALLY bad sweet tooth and it would make sense that this would be a reason why I'm struggling losing weight even when I stay within my calorie goals! 

Anything else I should know? 

PeonyPrincesskdd

Well for one, I don't have a lot of food in my cupboards and pantry.. so there was nothing to throw out.. anyway I plan out all my meals for the week and browse eatingwell.com for recipes and I come on here for recipes.  There is a thread if you scroll down called Healthy Recipes and someone mentioned Unstuffed Cabbage and Veggie Lasanga.

Clean eating to me is basically a lot of fresh ingredients and pure foods.  The cabbage for example is home made with fresh cabbage and ground meat and onion and some spices etc.  It's naturally.  Not from the freezer section, no ingredients from a can etc. no added msg, sodium etc. 

I've actually been a somewhat clean eater for life I guess.  Not 100% of course.  I recently started being more serious about it.

I've always never ate white bread.. I grew up with wheat bread..

Clean includes nothing white basically.  No sugar, no white flour, no salt or in moderation.  All white in moderation but no white breads, no white flour tortillas eat corn instead.. it is a hard journey though because they say home made pizza is healthy but you would have to make your own dough with whole grain flour to be considered "clean" because a clean eating diet does not recommend "White" flour etc.

The easiest way to get into a clean eating routine is to gradually get into it. 

Start with a whole grain/wheat cereal with skim milk... eggs and toast are great breakfast items.. salads are a great staple to have it lunch.. add grilled chicken, chick peas, veggies etc. 

Dinner is basically a chicken, fish, lean meat such as pork, ground turkey.. and veggies like I have been buying collard greens recently.  and a whole grain such as 1/2 cup rice, or 1 cup pasta, or quinoa etc.

You will learn something new everyday.  Just do it one step at a time.

KerriCornell

Don't forget about sugar.   So many of us are sugar addicts and don't even know it.  When you read labels make sure what you are consuming has no more than 9 grams of sugar in it per serving (try shooting for 5g or less if possible).

Also, your meals should be high in protein.  Eating cereal as a meal is a big no-no unless you are eating something like Kashi that contains 15g of protein in a serving.  These are basic rules for a low glycemic diet.  The theory behind it is that if your glycemic index is stable throughout the day (by eating 6-8 small "clean" meals) then you will feel full and thus not over eat.   Aside from helping you lose weight... its just plain healthy!

Good luck