Clean Eating

[shock_and_awe]

I started a workout journal, but what I really need to work on is my diet. I realize from reading here that I'm never going to get where I want to be until I learn to make clean eating a part of my lifestyle, instead of a "diet" that I don't/can't/won't adhere to. I'm starting this so I can keep track of how I eat, see what changes I need to make, and to stay accountable.

I'm 5'8, 137. 25% bf. I have some nicely shaped muscles, but you would never know it since they are hidden under a layer of jiggle.

[shock_and_awe]

Considering following this:

Breakfast options:
1) 1 ? cups cooked oatmeal 1 egg hard boiled or scrambled
2) 3 egg white omelets w/ spinach and tomato, 2 pieces turkey bacon
3) 1 cup low fat cottage cheese 2 slices tomato 1 English muffin
4) 2 hard boiled egg whites, ? English muffin, 2 slices turkey bacon
5) 1 english muffin, 2 slices turkey meat, 1 scrambled egg,1 slice swiss or provolone cheese
6) 3 scrambled egg whites w/ 1 cup mixed veggies and 2 tbsp salsa
7) 1 chopped up chicken breast 2 scrambled egg whites (one yellow) 1 cup mixed veggies, ? English muffin light spread of butter
8) 2 scrambled egg white 2 pieces chopped turkey bacon, 1 tbsp of salsa in a low carb wheat tortilla


(If you eat the yellow of the eggs, limit yourself to 2 yellow per week only.
Try to stick to egg white only).
It’s OK to have coffee or Tea, but don’t add sugar. Drink at least 6-8 glasses of water per day.

Lunch options:
1) 1 turkey roll up made w/ 2 slices turkey meat, fresh spinach, mustard and one low carb wheat tortilla (add any veggies you like)
2) Mixed green salad w/ tuna or turkey meat on top, 2 tbsp balsamic dressing
3) Spinach salad w/ 1 chopped chicken breast 1 crumbled piece turkey bacon 1 chopped hard boiled egg, 2 tbsp balsamic dressing
4) Turkey spinach roll ups, w/ 4 slices turkey deli meat, hand full of fresh spinach on top, sprinkle 1 tbsp miso dressing in each roll, roll them up and enjoy
5) 2 grilled fish tacos w/ low carb corn tortillas and ? cup fresh shredded cabbage in each, 2 tbsp salsa in each (NO MAYO)
6) 1 baked or BBQ chicken breast and 2 cups steamed frozen veggies
7) 8 oz of baked fish and 3 cups mixed green salad 2 tbsp dressing
8) 3 cups mixed green salad w/ cilantro chopped, 1 BBQ chicken breast chopped,
2 tbsp BBQ dressing
9) 1 turkey burger w/1 slice of cheese, pickles and relish 1tsp ketchup and mustard
10) 6 pieces of tuna sushi roll 2 slices of turkey meat

Dinner options:

Dinner will be the easiest meal to prepare because it will always be made up of vegetables and proteins.
All protein at dinner will be baked, broiled, or BBQ.
Try to stay with the light colored proteins, like chicken, turkey and fish.
Veggies will be the largest portion on your dinner plate. Frozen or fresh veggies are the best. They can be steamed baked or made into salads.
The only starch at dinner would be small amounts of rice or grains. The best starch carbs are couscous, wheat or wild rice. Try your best not to eat any starch at dinner.




Drinks:
Try to drink at least 2 liters of water a day. Stay away from soda and juice (too much sugar).
Ice tea and coffee are ok in moderation

Multi Vitamin every day! If you need some, Cosco has a great multi vitamin mineral you can take.
You also need to be taking at least 1,300 mg of calcium per day (mandatory)!

My friend gave me this as a sample to help plan meals, how does it look?

[MiaFey]

Good luck I'll be following!

But you know, what you ahd so far isn't good at all if you want to cut down fat. But hey - Who am I to say anything? I had a ****load of carbs last week-end... *hides*

[shock_and_awe]

Of course my darling SO brought home three bags full of snacks, candy, chips, sugar cereal, etc.

Meal 1: an apple, 1 cup oatmeal
Meal 2: 3 scrambled egg whites, one yolk
Meal 3: after workout protein shake
Meal 4: ground turkey, green salad.
Meal 5: carrot and hummus

I forgot to throw the frozen chix breats in the fridge to thaw, so I doubt they'll be ready by dinner.

[twinnett]

Good job resisting the snack foods! That's tough!!

[Verti-gal]

Originally Posted by shock_and_awe

Of course my darling SO brought home three bags full of snacks, candy, chips, sugar cereal, etc.

Meal 1: an apple, 1 cup oatmeal
Meal 2: 3 scrambled egg whites, one yolk
Meal 3: after workout protein shake
Meal 4: ground turkey, green salad.
Meal 5: carrot and hummus

I forgot to throw the frozen chix breats in the fridge to thaw, so I doubt they'll be ready by dinner.

Congrats on starting a journal and deciding to eat healthy. Your friends advice and meal suggestions look good as for as nutrient combo go.

But, I'm looking at your meals noticed that there's no protein in meal 1 and no carbs in meal 2.

There are some great resources on this site that can help you set up meal plans and combinations so your getting the right nutrients at the right times. When I first started it really helped me to learn about protein, fat, starchy carbs and fiberous carbs and their benefits and what the best way to eat them is.

You will want protein with every meal. Starchy carbs early in the day and fiberous carbs later in the day. And your fat spread out through your meals.

[vanillabn]

Glad you decided to start a journal!! I'll be following along as well

[shock_and_awe]

Originally Posted by Verti-gal

But, I'm looking at your meals noticed that there's no protein in meal 1 and no carbs in meal 2.

You will want protein with every meal. Starchy carbs early in the day and fiberous carbs later in the day. And your fat spread out through your meals.

Doesn't oatmeal count as protein? 1/2 cup has 10 grams of protein.

[shock_and_awe]

Thursday macros- 14/72/14%, way too many carbs, not enough protein, and too much sugar.

Friday's Nutrition
Meal 1: 1 cup frosted mini wheats (eaten while I was half asleep, oops)
preworkout: British muffin (160cals 11/72/17)
Meal 2: morningstar pizza buger (120 cals 45/33/22)
Meal 3: scrambled egg whites and an apple

[MiaFey]

O.o 72% carbs?! WHOA! Hahaha! That's a lot indeed!

[shock_and_awe]

Saturday 6/28/08
1- plum
2- 2 pancakes, eggs, 2 bacon, bite of ham
3- sauteed chicken breast with caramelized onions, brown rice
4- about 10 sugar cookies
5- chix/onions/rice

I may not be up to a full body workout today, so I'll try to do 20 minutes on the stairmaster. (didn't end up working out at all, I just stretched)

[amj0883]

What kind of oatmeal do you eat that has that much protein???

[shock_and_awe]

Originally Posted by amj0883

What kind of oatmeal do you eat that has that much protein???

1/4 cup dry steel cut = 5g
I eat 2 servings of it.

[shock_and_awe]

It's not letting me edit it again to add the rest of what I ate.

Originally Posted by shock_and_awe

Friday's Nutrition
Meal 1: 1 cup frosted mini wheats (eaten while I was half asleep, oops)
preworkout: British muffin (160cals 11/72/17)
Meal 2: morningstar pizza burger (120 cals 45/33/22)
Meal 3: scrambled egg whites and an apple
"Meal 4": a handful of junior mints and whoppers
Meal 5: roast chicken and potatoes

[shock_and_awe]

Sunday

1- oatmeal with apples and milk, 2 cups coffee with milk and sugar
2- chicken and rice
3- one slice pepperoni pizza, 2.5 andes mints
4- 2nd slice, candy

It sucks seeing how often I eat junk, but it is making me more motivated to clean it up. I have really sore calves- it hurts to walk. I realized I've been ignoring my calves in my workouts, so I did 3 sets of 30 calf raises on each side (no weight). I'm still sore two days later.

[MiaFey]

Originally Posted by shock_and_awe

Sunday


It sucks seeing how often I eat junk, but it is making me more motivated to clean it up.

As long as you stay motivated, the rest will be following soon Hang it on!

[shock_and_awe]

Monday June 30

1- malt-o-meal, the box says 10g protein, 27g carbs, 260cal.
2- ground turkey and rice


I did a great full body workout, and I'll probably go back to take a low impact cardio class.

[shock_and_awe]

Okay, I'm back.
I am having a lot of trouble eating enough protein. I'll eat something like oatmeal or spinach or a british muffin with 10g of protein and then enter it into nutridirary and it's mostly carbs. It's frustrating. My meal will have some protein and then I see other people eating 30-40g in each of 5 meals!

[AbramsAM]

Originally Posted by shock_and_awe

Okay, I'm back.
I am having a lot of trouble eating enough protein. I'll eat something like oatmeal or spinach or a british muffin with 10g of protein and then enter it into nutridirary and it's mostly carbs. It's frustrating. My meal will have some protein and then I see other people eating 30-40g in each of 5 meals!

Hello

Great job weighing and logging your food here and with nurtidiary!
In regards to your low protein, I thought I would let you know what helped me early on while I was just learning about macros and distributing my cals. - I began to pay attention to always have a complete source of protein with every meal. Having some protien from my oatmeal, or from cheese, peanut butter, etc. - that didn't count. I put a post it on the fridge of complete sources of protein and made sure I had some for EVERY meal. Then I started using that as the foundation for building more complete meals with the macros I wanted. But if you are going to want to be strong, maintain muscle, build new muscles, etc. You need your complete protein sources!

Just some food for thought!

[Verti-gal]

Originally Posted by AbramsAM

Hello

Great job weighing and logging your food here and with nurtidiary!
In regards to your low protein, I thought I would let you know what helped me early on while I was just learning about macros and distributing my cals. - I began to pay attention to always have a complete source of protein with every meal. Having some protien from my oatmeal, or from cheese, peanut butter, etc. - that didn't count. I put a post it on the fridge of complete sources of protein and made sure I had some for EVERY meal. Then I started using that as the foundation for building more complete meals with the macros I wanted. But if you are going to want to be strong, maintain muscle, build new muscles, etc. You need your complete protein sources!

Just some food for thought!

Great advice. You need some meats here or other complete proteins. The ground turkey and chicken are great choices. Oats and spinach are carbs that just happen to have some protein in them, but not enough to consider them a protein source.

[shock_and_awe]

Thank You, that helps a lot.

Today I did:
Lat Pulldowns 50- 60 lbs. 3 X 12
Chest Press 30 lbs. 3 X10
Overhead press shoulders 10 lbs 2X10 (that's all I could do)
Front squats 20 lbs 3 X 20
Tri Pull downs 10 lbs 3 X 20
Biceps 20lbs 3 X 10
Calf raises body weight, 2 X 20 on each side

I did 20 minutes of HIIT on the elliptical yesterday.

It's been a few weeks I hope I didn't overdo it.

[amj0883]

I'm glad your back

[shock_and_awe]

Originally Posted by amj0883

I'm glad your back

Thanks, I'm glad I'm back, too. I forgot the deadlifts I did yesterday in my list. I did them with 25 lbs in each hand. I am sore today, but I'm glad to be back at it.

[shock_and_awe]

Friday July 18
Meal 1- plum, 2 servings of malt-o-meal (260 CAL, 1 fat, 10g protein)
Meal 2- ground turkey, broccoli,
Meal 3- 2 egg white French toast on whole wheat English muffin
Meal 4- small ground turkey, rice
Meal 5- tomato salad with mozzarella

[shock_and_awe]

I am still really sore from thursday; there is no way I can do my weights today. I will do some easy cardio and streches.

Saterday July 19th
M1- egg white and whole wheat english muffin
M2- chicken and onion, garlic and zucchini
M3-

[shock_and_awe]

^ you only have a day to edit?

Oh well here was yesterday:
M1- 2 egg whites, whole wheat english muffin
M2- turkey and rice
M3- broccoli and chedder cheese (I'm not sorry)
all afternoon I ate flavored rice cakes. by the dozen.
M5- meatloaf and rice

I did 15 minutes cardio. I worked out thursday and my legs are still hurting from the straight leg deadlifts. I really want to stick with full body workouts for now so I'll do cardio today, or take it off, and by tomorrow maybe I'll be able to do weights again.

Sunday
M1- turkey and rice
M2- chix and veggies

[perf_ckt]

i am struggling with eating properly at the moment, let alone eating clean. so ill be following your journal for tips and support.

[shock_and_awe]

Originally Posted by perf_ckt

i am struggling with eating properly at the moment, let alone eating clean. so ill be following your journal for tips and support.

I'm hoping to get the the point where I don't have to work at it. It seems a long way off. I try to make the best decision I can at every meal, and if I say eff it, to give myself permission to eat what I want and not beat myself up about it. Otherwise I feel deprived, and end up going overboard and eating way too much. I don't want to get stuck it a starve/purge yo-yo diet hell.

[shock_and_awe]

I can barely remember what I eat from day to day.
July 20
M1- turkey/rice
M2- chix/veggies
M3- enormous salad w/ balsamic and olive oil
M4- celery and hummus
M5- beef tacos
midnight snack- dark chocolate bar. yes, a whole one.

July 21
M1- 6 grain cereal with diced apples and milk, coffee and sugary flavored creamer
M2- turkey and rice (the last of it thank goodness I was sick of it)
M3- post WO chix and veggies
M4-
M5-
So far about 740 calories (21/46/33%)

I worked out today, too.
I did a short warm-up and stretched then
Assisted pull-ups warm-up set on 130 X 16
set on 120 3X16
Dips 120 3 X 12
Bicep Curls 12 X 3X10
Upright Rows 5 x 2X10 (shoulders are weak)
Squats 12.5 DBs 3X20
Straight Leg DL 12.5 DBs 3X20
Calf Raises 60 on each side

[AbramsAM]

Happy Monday

Originally Posted by shock_and_awe

I can barely remember what I eat from day to day.

Do you pre-log your food, or log it after you eat it?

I bought some dark chocolate today, it was on sale