Eating Clean - Do you do it?

[LSmith]

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[KimR]

For the most part I do. I eats lots of fruits, some vegetables (I need to do better here), and lean meats for protein. I never eat fast food - I just don't like it, but we do go out to eat twice a week. My biggest downfall is with cocktails when we go out....holy cow, have you ever looked up the number of calories in a margarita???

I'm careful about what I eat; however I have 2 rules: If I'm hungry I eat and I also allow myself to give into cravings (without overdoing it). I've found these last 2 rules prevent junk food binges and honestly, what's the point of living a long life if I can't enjoy myself along the way?

 

[summerblue]

We do not eat anything that contains artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners or preservatives. We also raise our own beef, chicken and eggs. We actually follow the Feingold diet, it is helpful because they have done the research. You would be surprised how many foods that "read clean" actually are not. This is because preservatives like BHT and tbhq can be used during processing leaving trace amounts and then not have to be labeled as containing them.

It was a little overwhelming at first but I will do prep work on the weekend for my meals throughout the week. It has made a difference in our and our kids health since changing our eating habits. It has especially been beneficial to my dd whom has adhd, our desire to not medicate her is the reason we went to this diet. The teacher actually saw such an improvement that she asked if we had changed our minds and decided to give her medication, I told her no, we just eliminated all the junk from our diets.

 

[NY Disney fan]

I have been a Tosca Reno fan for many years and have tried to eat clean and this is what I've learned from trial and error:
1.) you must pack your food wherever you go. Don't even try to eat clean on the run unless you have food on you.

2.) You can only eat clean 70% (or so) of the time. Trying for 100% is like a slow death.

3.) The more you do it the easier it gets.

4.) Staying busy takes your focus off obsessing over food.

 

[NY Disney fan]

Is this considered "eating clean"??

-I read labels of everything. I don't buy anything that contains artificial colors, flavors, ingredients. I rarely buy anything with preservatives.

-I mostly cook crockpot meals for our family, but we do keep some boxed and frozen meals around the house for quick meals, but we always organic &/or from Whole Foods (i.e. organic mac & cheese, Whole Foods frozen meatballs & frozen mini waffles)

-I gave up Diet soda's, etc.. (though I do treat myself to a Diet Coke on infrequent occasions)

Is that considered "eating clean"?

Eating clean means eating whole foods. Nothing that comes from a box or can.

 

[LisaR]

Our family's diet is plant-based.

Eating clean for us means no meat, poultry, eggs or dairy. No processed foods and rarely sodas for the kids. When we are not travelling we cook everything from scratch. I spend one day a week chopping vegetables, peeling garlic and making at least five meals ahead of time for the week.

Breakfast is usually oatmeal with various fruit toppings. On weekends I make chickpea pancakes or tofu scramble with homemade hashbrowns.

Lunches that the kids and husband take to school and work could be a veggie wrap with hummus on wholegrain flatbread. The veggies could be shredded carrot, kale, avocado, red peppers, apple, cilantro etc. Another favorite is Quinoa Salad with Roasted Beets, Chickpeas and Orange. I started making the quinoa in a rice cooker, which is so much easier. We love tabbouleh and couscous salads too that are quick and easy to throw together. Aztec Bean Salad is also excellent as a lunch or side dish.

For dinner we eat Vegetable Shepherd’s Pie, Mexican Black Bean Corn Soup, Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos, lasagna layered with zucchini instead of noodles, quinoa or vegetable chilli, vegetable sushi rolls, spring rolls. Sometimes for dinner it will just be roasted vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, beets, brussel sprouts, and parsnips with parsley, onion and garlic thrown in. I rarely cook with any oil.

Snacks in my house are things like apples, clementines, bananas, berries, pomegranates, oil free hummus with cut up veggies.

There is a farmer’s market directly across the street from my house, in the park, one day a week and also a grocery store two short blocks away.

We have many vegan restaurants in Toronto so we occasionally eat out or order in. We can order vegan Indian, Chinese, Thai or pizza with vegan cheese.

We travel a great deal and I always try to book a room with a kitchenette so I can prepare some of our food in the hotel. We will seek out vegan restaurants but more often than not we will find a Whole Foods and make a meal from their salad bars or deli.

Sounds just like us! No oil, almost identical foods, hotels with kitchens or condos when we travel, and Whole Foods salad bars instead of restaurants.

Unfortunately, we don't live in an area with vegan options. The few things we do have are generally loaded with oil so we rarely eat out. When we do, we find Thai food to be the best option around here. We can get rice and steamed veggies, but I don't find eating out to be even remotely pleasurable so I only do it when we don't have a choice (friends or relatives in town).

I seriously recommend the chopper I mentioned above. Cuts my time in half! Mine broke a few weeks ago and I went back to my knife (excellent quality). I finally picked up a new one at Bed, Bath, & Beyond ($5 off coupon) and I can't believe I went weeks without this thing. It makes chopping veggies so quick and I love the uniform pieces.

 

[aprilchem]

Eating clean means eating whole foods. Nothing that comes from a box or can.

From what I've read, the "eating clean" fad also means minimally processing the food you make at home as well. So even though I grind my own wheat, bake all my own bread, cook nearly everything from scratch, don't use any artificial flavors, colors, etc., our family would not be considered "clean" eaters. I use my crockpot a lot (which apparently doesn't qualify us as clean because of the extended cooking) and I love side dishes like mashed cauliflower (which is not "clean" because you steam the cauliflower, mash it, and bake it).

Maybe not all people consider it that way, but when I looked it up (just because I was curious), most of the legitimate website (not people's personal blogs) defined it that way.

 

[LisaR]

From what I've read, the "eating clean" fad also means minimally processing the food you make at home as well. So even though I grind my own wheat, bake all my own bread, cook nearly everything from scratch, don't use any artificial flavors, colors, etc., our family would not be considered "clean" eaters. I use my crockpot a lot (which apparently doesn't qualify us as clean because of the extended cooking) and I love side dishes like mashed cauliflower (which is not "clean" because you steam the cauliflower, mash it, and bake it).

Maybe not all people consider it that way, but when I looked it up (just because I was curious), most of the legitimate website (not people's personal blogs) defined it that way.

I never knew that. I definitely don't eat clean based on that definition! In my circle of friends, we define eating clean along the lines of avoiding prepacked foods and preservatives, and cooking food from scratch. We don't have a refrigerator full of condiments and jarred sauces or cream of whatever soups. My crockpot alone apparently takes me out of the clean category!

 

[LSmith]

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[LSmith]

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[lakelandgal70]

We have been eating 80-90% clean although my hubby is probably closer to 100%. We have been doing this for a month now and both of us have lost close to 10lbs. I read the book Whole30 from a recommendation from actually a post on here. I am so thankful for that persons post! It has changed us. We haven't done the 30 day challenge yet, we start the 4th of next month, but we are weaning ourselves that way so it won't be such a shock. Basically it is lean meats,veggies, fruits, and nuts. No sugar, dairy, gluten, grains. Just making small changes has helped lower his blood sugar in normal ranges. Just couple months ago they were over 200. So after the 30 days you add back each group to see how it affects you and then you decide if it is worth it or not to have it in your life. I already know how some of the stuff affects me and may have it once in a great while but am committed to this lifestyle.I highly recommend reading the book and checking out their website. Just google Whole30 or Whole9.

 

[AllisonK]

We have been eating 80-90% clean although my hubby is probably closer to 100%. We have been doing this for a month now and both of us have lost close to 10lbs. I read the book Whole30 from a recommendation from actually a post on here. I am so thankful for that persons post! It has changed us. We haven't done the 30 day challenge yet, we start the 4th of next month, but we are weaning ourselves that way so it won't be such a shock. Basically it is lean meats,veggies, fruits, and nuts. No sugar, dairy, gluten, grains. Just making small changes has helped lower his blood sugar in normal ranges. Just couple months ago they were over 200. So after the 30 days you add back each group to see how it affects you and then you decide if it is worth it or not to have it in your life. I already know how some of the stuff affects me and may have it once in a great while but am committed to this lifestyle.I highly recommend reading the book and checking out their website. Just google Whole30 or Whol

 

[mombrontrent]

For those vegans who don't use oil can you please explain your reasoning behind this decision. I really am curious. I feel that I give up a lot already and I'm not willing to give up on sugar, fats and grains as well. It's not that I am consuming a lot of these things but I do love to bake. Vegan muffins, cakes, cookies ect. are all part of our diet and I do make them fairly healthy using a lot of natural sweeteners (agave, male syrup ec.t) and whole grains and use applesauce for some of the fat. However I do use coconut oil, vegan margarine, and especially olive oil in my cooking.

I truly feel my food would not taste as good without a little oil or sugar. Besides as it is I have a hard enough time maintaining a decent weight and am technically underweight as are my daughters. I feel like it would be a struggle to stay healthy by eliminating oil/fats from our diet. Don't we need some fats?

 

[pampam]

I feel one of the keys is to prepare extra meals for the freezer. Then, when things are rushed, it is as convenient as a frozen tv dinner, but of course everything is homemade.

We eat no grain, sugar, potatoes, and very limited dairy. It is mostly veggies, fruit, nuts and some meat or poultry. My crock pot is used a lot, and I make a lot of casseroles and divvie it up for the freezer. On the weekend i will made a hot dinner with meat and veggies, but during the rush of the wekday, it is usually soup, chili,(with dried, not canned beans) casseroles or left overs.

I make my own ketchup, barbecue sauce, canned fruit, etc. You would be hard pressed to find processed foods in our home. I do however have a couple of cans of canned tomato juice, and a few cans of mushrooms around. But that being said, I have 2 freezers full, plus the fridge freezer, and a pantry full of home canned tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, stewed tomatoes, salsa and honey as well as jars of dehydrated mushrooms, tomatoes, garlic, onions, red and green peppers, fruit leathers, bananas, strwberries blueberries etc. I am a stay at home mom, and I truly believe it doesn't take too much time. The autumn is busy, with canning and preserving, but after that I'm not too busy.

 

[LisaR]

For those vegans who don't use oil can you please explain your reasoning behind this decision. I really am curious. I feel that I give up a lot already and I'm not willing to give up on sugar, fats and grains as well. It's not that I am consuming a lot of these things but I do love to bake. Vegan muffins, cakes, cookies ect. are all part of our diet and I do make them fairly healthy using a lot of natural sweeteners (agave, male syrup ec.t) and whole grains and use applesauce for some of the fat. However I do use coconut oil, vegan margarine, and especially olive oil in my cooking.

I truly feel my food would not taste as good without a little oil or sugar. Besides as it is I have a hard enough time maintaining a decent weight and am technically underweight as are my daughters. I feel like it would be a struggle to stay healthy by eliminating oil/fats from our diet. Don't we need some fats?

I believe everyone should eat what they are comfortable with. I never try and convince anyone that my way of eating is the right way. I believe in the way I eat, but it isn't for everyone. That is my disclaimer just so you know I am not trying to convince you of anything!

I don't use oil because it has zero nutritional value. It is the same reason I don't eat Twinkies. In actuality, Twinkies contain 2% calcium & iron and 1 gram of protein which is more nutritional than any oil on the market! Oil is nothing more than fat. We absolutely need fat in our diet. I personally subscribe to the belief that we need a low amount of fat not the large quantities that most people take in. Fat is in all of the grains I consume and there is a large amount of fat in nuts, seeds, and avocado.

I like this article:

http://www.jeffnovick.com/RD/Articl...nk_Food__Dont_Go_Cuckoo_Over_Coconut_Oil.html

Again, I don't really like to say too much on this topic. I'm happy with the way I eat and I am not trying to change your mind.

 

[lisaviolet]

No. And zero desire.

But, no sarcasm, I bet you guys feel fantastic. But not for me.

 

[lizabu]

Eating clean means eating whole foods. Nothing that comes from a box or can.

I never knew that. I definitely don't eat clean based on that definition! In my circle of friends, we define eating clean along the lines of avoiding prepacked foods and preservatives, and cooking food from scratch. We don't have a refrigerator full of condiments and jarred sauces or cream of whatever soups. My crockpot alone apparently takes me out of the clean category!

This is my definition of eating clean too. No mystery ingredients.

 

[LSmith]

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[mombrontrent]

Thank you LSmith and LisaR for answering my questions. I do agree that we get fats from seeds, nuts avocado ect. We do eat quite a bit of these things. I love cooking and baking and will continue to use my small amounts of delicious oils and sweeteners because well, it just tastes good and we are thin and healthy! I've already given up on cheese for goodness sakes

 

[Dancind]

We don't eat vegetable oil, canola, seed oils, etc. But we eat plenty of coconut oil, avocado oil, duck fat, grass fed butter, grass fed tallow, and olive oil (not heated). Trying to balance the Omega 3's and 6's in our diet.

DH was getting a bit senile, showing signs of early dementia. Got him to start adding coconut oil to his coffee every morning and he's back to his old grumpy self. The brain needs cholesterol, and you get it from food. Take all the fat away and bad things start happening.