Last year while I was on the site I use to track my calories for weight loss, several people were posting about clean eating. I didn't think too much about it honestly, I figured it was just another fad, and that isn't my deal. When I started this whole weight loss/healthy thing I said it had to be something that I could do everyday and eat normal foods doing it. Well I have accomplished so much more than I thought I ever would back in May of 2008 when I first started this. I never thought I would weight what I do or that I would be as small as I have become. That said I still have another 5 pounds to go though I would be perfectly happy with 3.
So, clean eating. This may not be a new thing to many people, and it is not a new concept as I really grew up eating rather cleanly. Now though it is a choice that I am making for myself and my family to be more aware of what we eat and were it comes from. To me it is eating whole foods. Eating foods that aren't processed. Making as much as I can myself from scratch. By passing "convenience" foods for something that I can make myself. That being said.....there are things that I still buy so no one would really consider my diet to be clean, but really as this time it is as clean as it is going to get.
Other definitions that I hear are, no refined sugar, carbs, ect. Making sure food is local, organic when possible, not out sourcing, and while I don't have a problem any of those things. I don't have the money to always buy organic and honestly when I am at the grocery store and the non organic looks way better than the organic stuff what do you think I am going to buy. I grew up on a farm, we use sprays here. I know what spray is, that yes it is not always the best for you, but sometimes it doesn't harm you either.
Today I am going to cover the processed foods that I buy and why, and what requirements that they need to have in order for them to come home with me.
-Bread: has to be 100% whole wheat and have a fiber content of 5 grams or more. I haven't yet mastered the art of sandwich bread.
-Hummus: sometimes I just run out of time. When I buy hummus it has to have the fewest ingredients as possible, right now I really like the eating right red pepper hummus from Safeway. It tastes good, the sodium content isn't to high, and it is low in calories.
-Butter: I buy unsalted butter rather than margarine or spreads (though I still have margarine in the house for those special recipes).
-Canned tomatoes: The tomato products that I buy have no salt added to them. This really cuts down on the sodium in a dish, this also gives me the opportunity to add the salt as I see fit to. Next year I am planning on canning my own tomatoes, it's a plan it might not happen.
-Pasta: I still buy regular pasta. We only eat it once a week and I have tried the whole wheat several times and I am sorry I just can't do it.
I do have a stock of soup on hand, they aren't heart friendly, low sodium, they are more for when we don't have power and I need something warm and fast that takes little work. This happens at least a few times a year. In 2008 we didn't have power for a week.
-Cereal: I eat oatmeal almost every day. I buy the old-fashioned Quaker Oats. It really only takes minutes and they fill you up for hours.
There are many other things that I buy and have on hand, but those are for hubby and the boys. I pack lunches every day and while I am getting them to eat cleaner it takes time. I look at it like a marathon rather than a sprint. A new thing once a week, making small changes here and there is what really counts.
Next time meats, fish, and shellfish.
How about baking? When you make bread or other things do you do whole wheat flour, white flour, or a mix? I have a few bread recipes I will do with all whole wheat, but they just tend to be much heavier. I usually do about 50/50, or maybe about 2/3 white to 1/3 wheat, depending on the recipe.
ReplyDeleteJen~
ReplyDeleteWhen I buy bread it is whole wheat, but when I make bread I use unbleached white flour. I have been trying a few bread recipes with whole wheat flour(or a combination), I just haven't found one yet that I really like. They all seem a bit heavy, so I am still searching. If you have a great recipe that you are willing to share that would be great.
As for my other baking I use cake or unbleached white flour. Since they are desserts they are eaten in moderation so a little bit here and there isn't a big deal (at least not to me) I have talked with people who are all or nothing, and I am not one of those people. I am a everything in moderation person.
The other thing is that Hubby doesn't like wheat bread. I am trying to convert him(have been for years), but it that isn't working so well. I make bread twice a week, once for spaghetti night and the other for pizza. I figure a little bit of white bread isn't going to hurt me.
~Heather
I've heard some about this, and while I find it interesting - the best I've always done is cooking basically from scratch. We don't eat out fast food - I cook family dinners nearly every night and on the night that I don't - it's pizza night. Honestly, there are some healthy things that my family won't eat because they simply don't like it. So... I'll stick to doing the best I can which is good enough for us.
ReplyDeleteAs for weight loss, I can say it's a heck of a lot harder when one is in a desk job or drives 6 hours a day (when he commutes to the city 3 days a week). One virtually has to eat very, very little to no food to counter-react the affects of sitting at a desk job. I feel like I do really well - I'm not skinny like I was most of my life, but I'm in shape, walking religiously 3 miles a day nearly every single workday all year long - through ice, snow, rain - you name it.
I guess the key is, doing what is right for each person and just doing the best we can because nothing in life is guaranteed, not even tomorrow.
Blessings always,
Linda
Oh - I forgot to mention, my husband will NOT eat anything but white bread either. There's no way I can convert him. I don't eat bread, because I don't eat sandwiches, except for the occasional piece of garlic bread on an Italian night. :)
ReplyDeleteI also run into the same problems while trying to follow Clean Eating...without a large grocery budget, buying local and organic can be hard! And it also depends on where you live...I am in a very rural area and we do not have a great local selection or competition to drive any of the prices down--$14 for some organic chicken breasts?! Sorry, I'll buy the $6 pack at Walmart! LOL
ReplyDeleteAs for the pasta, have you tried Barilla Plus? I am not a fan of whole wheat pasta but this stuff is multigrain with nothing enriched and when I use it nobody complains about it tasting weird or different.