The Basics of Eating Clean (in a nutshell)

Eat small meals, five to six times a day. This will help satisfy hunger, plus leave room for another small meal in two to three hours. Your metabolism will be on high all day! As a tip, try to keep each meal between 300 and 400 calories and read nutrition labels to give you a hand.

Combine right. Eat lean protein (e.g., fish, chicken, turkey and flank steak) and complex carbohydrates (e.g., whole grains, fruits, vegetables) together at every meal. This super-charged combination keeps metabolism balanced and insulin levels in check.

Portion control. The golden rule: Getting clean food is just part of the full clean eating picture – you have to apply the basic principles of serving sizes, too. Although all food servings are not created equal, Tosca Reno, author of the Eat-Clean Diet states in her book that following these simple rules can help you navigate the right portion sizes for your needs: A protein serving should be the size of your palm; complex carbs from whole grains and starches is the amount you can hold in a cupped hand; and complex carbohydrates from fruits and veggies is the amount you can hold in two hands cupped together.

Progress

Eating Clean has been a life-saver for me. I finally feel like I am in control of my diet and my health. The best part is that I am definitely losing weight, although I don't have a scale, so I can't say how much I've lost. I am just so excited to be seeing results and feeling so healthy.

My birthday is coming up, but we celebrated it over the weekend because Nate is in Vegas all week for work. He got me these 2 books and I am so excited about them.

"Clean" Meals

I just thought I'd share a few of the things I've been eating lately. At first I really thought that Eating Clean would not be very pleasant because typically, foods that are super healthy are not as tasty. But I have discovered a lot of really healthy foods that are also delicious.

BREAKFAST:

Option #1: Oatmeal

Not the instant kind. I make it with cinnamon, vanilla, flaxseed, a little bit of honey, and frozen berries from Costco. It is really good! And a serving of plain oatmeal is 150 calories for a large bowl.

Option #2: Oatmeal Pancakes

These are really good and healthy. I put applesauce and berries on top instead of syrup. It really is good. I promise. I made some changes to the original recipe, so here is my version. I think its better. :)

INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup all-purpose flour and 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup quick cooking oats
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk mixed with about 1 TB lemon juice (equivalent to buttermilk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg

1 tsp cinnamon

DIRECTIONS
Place everything in a food processor and pulse until pretty smooth.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/3 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot. (With applesauce on top.) I also did some with bananas and blueberries in the mix! Yum!

LUNCH:

Option #1: Whole Wheat Pita with Tuna Salad

I make a tuna salad with Albacore tuna, chopped celery, a couple sliced grapes, dried cranberries, nuts, and a little bit of Miracle Whip.

Option :2: Light Egg Salad with Whole Wheat Pita or Bread

Here is the Egg Salad recipe.

DINNER:

Option #1: Stir Fry with Chicken, brown rice, and veggies from Costco

Self explanatory

Option #2: Salmon with brown rice and veggies

Costco has pretty good prices on Salmon. We make it with Johnny's seasoning, lemon juice, dill, etc. There are lots of good recipes out there.

Deep Thoughts, by Ashley

I have been slowly implementing the Eat Clean way of life, which I think is good because trying to change everything all at once is overwhelming. I really believe that "Eating Clean" is the best way you can eat. When you read the book, it just makes sense. Its all about eating as natural and non-processed as you can. And also about eating the right portions. I know that Heavenly Father wants us all to take care of our bodies the best we can. And I believe that this way of eating is the best way I have ever heard of. I know everyone says this, but its really not a diet at all. Its just a more healthy way of eating.

Just think about the way this country is heading with obesity, heart disease, etc. Its really scary. And more than that, I think it is immoral. That sounds a little harsh, but I'm directing this at myself also. It is easy to judge people in the world who abuse drugs or alcohol. We might think, Wow, that's messed up. I would never do that. But what about those who abuse food? It is just another dependency... a method of coping with life, or handling stress. But it happens to be more socially acceptable than drugs or alcohol. I'm not saying that being overweight means you are a bad person or something, because I am just as guilty as anyone else of "abusing food" to some degree. But I just think we should all try harder to take care of ourselves. And for many people, that means getting educated about how to eat healthy, and how to exercise. It is worth taking the time to learn.

It is so frustrating to me when people just accept that they are overweight and stop trying to improve. That is not the way we should live our lives. I completely understand that losing weight is difficult. It takes a lot of discipline and sacrifice. But we should always be trying to be healthy. To just give up and eat crap all the time is not what Heavenly Father would want for us.

I suck

I'm so bummed that I haven't been doing well with this. My motivation goes up and down constantly. Right now, I'm feeling very motivated because I'm sick to death of all of my clothes being tight. Is that the worst feeling or what? Aaahhh!

Update

Ok, eating the same thing everyday sucks, so I'm on to other strategies...

I've been doing not great in the diet area because somehow there have been lots of treats shoved in my face lately. Ok, maybe I'm the one shoving them in my face, but you get the idea. I eat healthy meals, but too many treats.

On a more positive note, I've been keeping up with weight training and running, and I'm actually starting to like it. Running is definitely getting easier. I run for about 30 minutes, and then walk for 20. Running is such a great workout. I can tell it's really effective. I'm going to keep it up, and I think I will enjoy it more and more.

In the healthy diet department- I have been eating a bit too much, but I'm also starting to adopt the Eating Clean lifestyle, which I really think is going to change things for the better.

First of all, I've started eating a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, and I think its a great idea because it really does keep you full for a long time. The author of the book is all about oatmeal for breakfast. Its really healthy, and low-calorie, and you can mix it up by adding different fruits and stuff. I have to admit, it was hard for me to give up cereal for breakfast. My favorite cereals are Special K with Strawberries, Multigrain Cheerios, and Honey Bunches of Oats with Cinnamon, which are pretty good choices, but just not as good as oatmeal. The only real problem with cereal is that it doesn't keep me full for very long at all. So now I really feel like I'm starting my day the right way.

For dinner I've been making Stir Fry, with lots of vegetables, chicken, low sodium soy sauce, and brown rice. I really enjoy it, and it is very healthy.

So if I could stop eating treats, things would be great. Still working on that.

Something new

Yesterday I hosted a small luncheon at my house for a monthly Relief Society group. One of the women that came said she couldn't eat anything because she was on a crazy diet.

So I asked her about it, and she said that actually quite a few women in our ward are on this same diet. This is how she described it...

For 6 weeks, you eat this everyday:

1 grapefruit

1 apple

5 oz. of lean meat

1 cup of vegetables

Ok, that's like 400 calories. Maybe 500 at the most. Wow. So I was thinking, hmm... I think that's called starvation, but anyway... it got me thinking that maybe I really need a strict eating schedule for a while. Not something with extremely few calories, but just something that is a routine so that I don't have to even think about what to eat. I will just have it all planned out. I haven't been eating very well lately, and I know I need a change. I think this will help me get back on track.

So for the next week, I'm going to eat this everyday:

1 bowl of healthy cereal + skim milk = 225 calories

1 yogurt = 100 calories

1 can of Progresso soup = 200 calories

1 apple = about 80 calories

1 Slimfast bar (to help with my chocolate addiction) = 220 calories

1 serving of brown rice with black beans and vegetables = about 250 calories

1 bowl of vanilla almond oatmeal = 160 calories

This adds up to about 1250 calories, which I think is a good amount.

So I will do this for a week, and if it works out well, then I will come up with a new routine for the next week, so that I don't get super bored with these foods. Wish me luck.