Clean Eating

I've had a lot of people ask about my diet and workout plans since I've been losing weight and all that fun stuff. So I decided to create this little post, update it when I can, and just send them here whenever they ask. Makes things easier for me at least.

In March I started a clean eating diet. Honestly though, for me it's not a diet. It's a lifestyle. It's been fairly easy for me but I have had a lot of motivation lately. I would have never been able to do this in college lol. When I first started I was really strict on myself. But since I've pretty much gotten to my "goal weight", I've started to cut myself some slack and let myself live a little.

Clean eating is everything fresh and natural. Nothing processed. Nothing out of a box. Nothing you have to microwave to cook. Although I have microwaved veggies to steam them up real quick. But you know what I mean. Fresh fruits and vegetables, grilled/baked chicken, nuts, fish, beans, eggs, cottage cheese...etc.

It's very simple people. It's just a matter of having the willpower and motivation to really do it.

There are some tips and tricks and things I've just motified for myself that I will fill you in on throughout the post. But for starters, I'm just going to start with what I eat on a daily basis.

Breakfast (one of these):

• cottage cheese (small bowl) with fruit (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries strawberries, fresh cherries) You can do any fruit but those are my usual morning fruits. I dont put a limit on the amount of fruit I eat. BUT, I eat all my fruit before 2 o'clock. After 2, it's vegetables or almonds if I snack.
• cereal - The only cereal I eat is Fiber One Original. I eat this because I need a lot of fiber in my diet. The bonus is it's probably one of the best cereals out there. The key to cereal is you want high fiber and protein and low sugar. Kashi Go Lean is a good brand as is Fiber One. Just watch the sugar. Ideally I dont think cereal is a great breakfast, but it is a quick way for me to get the fiber I need. I like to add a banana to my cereal.
• ..with my cereal I drink soy or almond milk. There are some really good vanilla flavors. This is a mix between my personal preference of no dairy but it's also a plus because dairy has a lot of fat. Dairy is good for you, just watch it.
• eggs and vegetables. This is my weekend breakfast since it takes a bit longer. I'll usually make an egg and veggie omlet or just scramble everything together. 2 eggs and the veggies I typically have on hand are bell peppers (i buy all the colors), onions, mushrooms, spinach, squash, and zucchini. I just cut up whatever I feel like having. I dont have a limit on the amount of veggies I have. Just spray the pan with nonstick spray, cut the vegetables up and throw them on the pan till they brown. I usually start cooking all vegetables except spinach first. When they're almost finished I will set them aside and then cook the eggs. When the eggs are about done I add the vegetables to them and then the spinach. The spinach doesn't take long to shrivel up, that's why I wait.
• oatmeal - You should really eat the Quaker plain oats. The kind in the cylinder container, not packets. It is 100% whole oats, nothing added, nothing processed. It's the best for you. You can even add some cinnamon and a little sugar. I eat the smallest portion on the container because oatmeal fills me up. I think it's a cup of oatmeal? Anyways, I'll eat that with some fruit if I'm not too full for the fruit (I also have coffee).

This is about all I do for breakfast. It's safe and it's what I like. Some other things though are yogurt, toast with almond butter (good for a post workout snack too)..and add some fruit to whatever.


Lunch:

Again, I usually make all of my own meals. Occassionally I will follow a recipe but usually I just don't have that much time. I know what's healthy so I'll just throw stuff together. Sometimes it can be plain and boring but it gets the job done.

• salad - I use only spinach. You can mix other greens in too but just make sure you're not only using iceburg lettuce. That's pretty nutritionless. I add all kinds of vegetables, just whatever I have on hand or feel like eating. Tomatoes, cucumber, bell peppers, carrots, squash, zucchini...etc. I like to add fruit sometimes. Strawberries, mangos, or raspberries. If I add fruit, I like to add pecans also. If I had chicken for dinner the night before, I'll add some leftovers to the salad.

          I dont typically use dressing. I've gotten use to salads without it. That's not very normal though so I recommend an oil and vinger or a balsamic vinegar. Just use very little. You dont need a lot when using oils.

• steamed vegetables and grilled chicken/fish - Since I'm at work during the week I like to have the meat cooked and ready to be reheated for lunch. So usually I make extras at dinner and have it for the next day's lunch. I'll steam any vegetables I have. Broccoli, cauliflower, squash, zucchini, bell peppers, or if I have time I like to grill some green beans or asparagus with mushrooms. That's mainly a dinner thing though. When I say grill, I mean the stove. I just put it in a pan with some extra virgin olive oil and cook it till it's brown or tender. Salt and pepper to taste.
• tuna - If I don't have any chicken or fish from the night before I will grab a can of tuna. I will add it with steamed vegetables or a salad or a tuna sandwhich. I dont add mayo to my tuna. I'll either just add pickle relish and S&P for the sandwhich or do a little mexican version and add S&P, lime juice, fresh cilantro, and fresh pico. Mix it all up and put it on a tostada. Yum.  
• There's a sandwhich from Pinterest that I'm obsessed with right now. It's toast, hummus, smashed up avocado, and grapes. Sounds weird I know but it is really good.

This is the type of stuff I eat during the week while working and bringing my own lunch. I'll go out to eat if it comes up or have other stuff that someone else might cook but I just watch what I eat when doing so. Always choose healthy options and dont overeat.


Dinner:

For dinner I will either make my own and it is usually cooked vegetables with chicken/fish or I will occassionally have dinner with my mom and Parker. Sometimes she cooks healthy, sometimes she doesn't. If she doesnt, I may eat a little bit but then fix me something else on the side. I dont eat a lot at dinner. I workout in the evenings and drink a protein shake afterwards so that fills me up. I do eat though, just not a lot.



When I cook vegetables, I season them and either steam them, bake in the oven, or grill them over the stove. I very lightly coat them with extra virigin olive oil, season them and then cook till they are browning.

Roasted Green Beans (I didnt use parmesan)
http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2009/01/recipe-for-roasted-green-beans-with.html

Asain Grilled Green Beans (I do them in the oven or stove)
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Asian-Grilled-Green-Beans

^both of those could also be done with asparagus.

Something I just made up...
Cut up squash and zucchini into slices. Dab them with extra virgin olive oil on both sides and line them up on a foil lined baking sheet. Sprinkle them with any seasoning you like and broil them for 10 minutes. I like to use a Tonys type of seasoning.

Sweet Potato Fries
http://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/guaranteed-crispy-sweet-potato-fries-sriracha-mayo-dip/

Superfood Salad (I dont call it this but it's what the original recipe does) This is a good recipe that you can change things up. I've never used the pomegranate things, sometimes I use mango instead of orange, I've only used the dressing once, sometimes I've added a can of rotel. It's really easy and you can kinda just add whatever.
http://iowagirleats.com/recipes/superfood-salad-with-lemon-vinaigrette/


This is where I got the idea for the sandwhich I mentioned earlier. I dont use brie and instead added hummus.
http://kitchenlabproject.blogspot.com/2011/03/brie-grape-avocado-grilled-sandwich.html


Okay those are just some recipes that I've tried and liked and they're easy. I get all my recipes from Pinterest, FYI.

Snacks:

• Fruit (there are tons of different fruits out there. Just walk around the produce section and check everything out)
• Bell peppers, carrots, cucumber, tomatos with hummus
• avocado with S&P, maybe on a piece of toast
• almond butter with a banana
• hard boiled egg
• almonds

This is really easy to do, you just have to have the motivation to do it and make the time to make everything.

• On the days I workout, I eat a lot of protein. Chicken, fish, eggs, almond butter.
• Dont eat fruit after 2 pm
• Drink only water and coffee (as black as you can get. i only use sugar)
• When buying bread, make sure the first ingredient is 100% whole grain wheat. Nothing enriched or modified or whatever
• Eat dinner 2 hours before bed
• Drink a lot of water
• Exercise of course. There are tons of workouts on Pinterest that are good and you can easily do from home.
• Dont overeat! Give yourself smaller portions. Eat a few bites and then do something. Walk around. Think about how much more you really need to eat.

I'm sure I've missed stuff but this post took me a few days to write and quite frankly I'm sick of it lol. If you have any questions you can ask me!