What is clean eating?

Clean Eating 101

• The main principle of clean eating is to eat foods in their most natural state, and avoid processed foods including white flour, sugar, frozen meals, artificial sweeteners, and anything with words that you can't pronounce on the ingredient list. 

• Eat every 3 hours. This means breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, and another snack only if you feel you need it. 

• For each meal or snack, always "partner" protein and complex carbohydrate. This keeps your metabolism working at its most efficient level all day long. Choose lean proteins and avoid pre-packaged meat products like lunch meats or  hot dogs. Rely on fruits, vegetables, and whole grains for your carbohydrates. 

•  Your body needs fat! Eat  3-4 servings healthy fats each day, like avocado, raw nuts, seeds, hummus, feta, and goat cheese.

• Drink lots of water. Calculate half of your weight in pounds, and that's the number of ounces of water you should aim to drink each day. 

• Become a label reader. Generally speaking the fewer ingredients in the list the better. Don't be fooled by breads that say whole wheat, often they do have whole wheat, but they also include many other ingredients, such as white flour and sugar. Ezekiel sprouted grain breads are one of my favorites that can be found in the freezer section in the grocery store. 

• No one is perfect, and this lifestyle is only sustainable for me because I do indulge in one cheat meal each week. This means one meal of anything that I want with no guilt. However it's not a cheat day or an all you can eat extravaganza. Keep your portion size in check as you enjoy your food:)
  

Day one of three day refresh

Day one was a success! I had my four drinks, I'd like to call them shakes, but the only one that's really a shake was the morning Shakeology. The fiber sweep was more like drinking what I imagine Metamucil to be like. Not bad tasting, but drink it quick because it gets thicker as it sets. Vanilla Fresh was also easy on the palate, and I used the Magic Bullet to blend it, but it didn't get thick like the usual shakes do. I did miss the almond milk that I usually mix with my shakes, so for my second Vanilla Fresh I added a little cinnamon and nutmeg for some excitement. Ha ha!

My lunch was a spinach and peach salad that I topped with some olive oil and white balsamic vinegar. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. That's also true for the tomato slices with humus that I had for snack and the lemony green beans for supper. It's amazing how you learn to appreciate the actual flavors of real food when you cut out all the junk.

It's now 9:00pm, and I feel fine. So far no gas or other GI issues. I did my PiYo sculpt workout this morning, walked the dog, did some yard work, and walked to pick up Trevor from daycare this afternoon. My point is that I had a fairly active day without feeling like I was going to faint or pass out. Did I feel hungry? Yes. I was hungry before each meal, then not so much afterwards. Did I want to eat the cheddar cheese cubes that Trevor left on his plate from his dinner? Yes. I also wanted to chew a piece of my Pur Gum this afternoon, but I resisted. Whenever I was faced with these temptations and choices, I had a few thoughts that pushed me through:
1. I can do anything for three days.
2. I spent my money on this program and am only cheating myself if I don't stick to it.
3. I want to see real change in my after photos.
4. If I can't make it through the first day, then I am in trouble!

I've still got a few things to do tonight, but hope to get to bed before hunger strikes. I'm really looking forward to my chocolate morning shake tomorrow:)

Aunt Holly can we make brownies?

I love when my nieces come to visit! As they get older and have lives of their own, it's something that happens less and less frequently. One of our traditions has always been to get something cooking, however in the past it was usually something not so healthy. Of course I didn't want to disappoint when they asked if we could make brownies, so I pulled up the recipe for my favorite healthier double chocolate cookies. The kids didn't really care what we were making, so long as everyone got a turn! Seems like they might be bringing more than just fun memories home this time, maybe a recipe for some yummy treats will go too!

Here's my answer to that age old question... What to do with the leftover brown rice from Chinese take out? I chopped up a zucchini, red bell pepper, and onion and sautéed it in a bit of butter (I know it's not completely healthy, but a little goes a long way). Then added some frozen shrimp that needed using followed by the brown rice and a little sauce that I whipped up with low sodium soy sauce, garlic paste, and chili paste. In the end I topped it with some fresh lemon juice. This dish was a real winner! And guess who decided that he loves shrimp? ;)

Spaghetti is good?

Spaghetti Squash is good, and I can't believe it took me so long to give this a try!  It's so super fast and easy, and totally allows me to fulfill my pasta cravings. OK, I admit, I'm really more into the sauce anyway. But still, this is great. Just cut the squash in half, dig out the seeds, or have your helper dig out the seeds, and put it in the microwave for 14 minutes. After that be careful cause it's hot, and use a fork to scrape out the "spaghetti" and top with whatever sauce you like. Tonight I used a clean tomato basil spaghetti sauce with a little parmesan. Everything is good with parmesan cheese. Bill was hesitant to give it a try, but he honestly did like it, and so did Trevor. So excited to have another vegetable that he will eat. Since I didn't make any meatballs or protein to go with dinner, we had a little Greek yogurt with peaches for dessert. Well maybe some of us had a few chocolate chips in our yogurt, but hey, whatever it takes;)

For the person who has everything...

    What do you bring when visiting a family who has everything? Homemade healthier cookies! I know I have mentioned these before, but I just love them so much, I can't resist doing a blog post about them. What makes them healthier? They are considered "clean" because the ingredients are mostly unprocessed, except for the half cup of chocolate chips. Instead of sugar, flour, and butter, they are made with coconut sugar (less processed than regular sugar), cocoa powder, and almond butter. I would never claim that they are low fat, but they are better for you than many other treats. Good warm or even refrigerated the next day, if they can last that long. Making them requires a bit of an arm workout because of the stirring, and the recipe only makes about a dozen (probably a good thing). However they are totally worth the effort. You can find the complete recipe at http://paleomg.com/soft-chewy-double-chocolate-cookies/

Yes... More Kale please!

Here I go getting creative in the kitchen for my mid-morning snack! In my efforts to embrace Kale and get lots of good protein into my diet, I had a little fun with sautéed kale, pine nuts, and raisins later mixed with eggs and a little parmesan cheese. This checks off lots of boxes for me, and is totally yummy:)