Clean Eating: When, How Much, and What to eat

When 

I was brought up to eat 3 meals a day and this was a hard habit for me to break.  It takes 21 days to break a habit, so for the next 3 weeks set a timer on your phone or watch to remind you when to eat.  For instance, I usually eat my meals at 7 am, 10 am, 12:30 pm, 3 pm and 6 pm.   Set your timer for similar times (depending on when you wake up) and plan your meals for these times.

I like to eat my Starchy Complex Carbohydrates earlier in the day when I'm more active.  I usually have oatmeal for breakfast and then rice, quinoa, or pasta with lunch.  Occasionally, I will eat a SCC with my dinner, but often I will opt for a vegetable instead and then save the SCC for lunch the next day.   This is one of the ways that I adapt what I make for my family to meet my requirements.  Also if I'm going to workout in the evening, I might eat another SCC for my afternoon snack.  

How Much

Remember portion size too!  Here's a great video by the Clean Eating Queen, Tosca Reno.

 

What to eat

One of the Clean Eating Rules is to pair lean proteins with complex carbohydrates.   

When you combine LP and CC every three hours, 

you are encouraging your body to burn fat and boost your metabolism.  

Lean protein: 5-6 servings daily

Starchy Complex Carbs: 2-3 servings daily

Complex Carbs from fruits and vegetables: 5-6 servings daily

Healthy Fats: 2-3 servings daily

Lean Protein:  

• Boneless, skinless chicken or turkey breast
• Egg (I eat the whole egg, because those yolks are packed with nutrients)
• Fish such as salmon and tuna
• Shakeology
• Tofu
• *Nuts such as unsalted cashews, peanuts, almonds, walnuts
• *Hummus
• Cottage Cheese
• Greek Yogurt (plain with no fruit on the bottom)
• *Nut butters
• *seeds such as pumpkin, sunflower, chia
• Beans of all kinds
• *Avocado

*Healthy fats.  These can be confusing- are they a protein or a fat???  I count nuts, seeds, avocados as both a fat and a protein.  What does that mean?  It means that if I eat almonds and an apple for a snack then I count that as my LP+CC, but it's also uses up one of my servings of fat for the day.  

Other healthy fats include olive oil and coconut oil.

Complex Carbs from fruits and vegetables:  

• Carrots
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini
• Celery
• Tomatoes
• Green Beans
  
• Peas
• Asparagus
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Apples
• Cherries
• Grapes
• Peaches
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Oranges
• Pineapple
• Pears
• Raspberries and blackberries
• Mushrooms
• Peppers
• Brussels Sprouts
• Leafy Greens
• Spinach

Starchy Complex Carbs:  

• whole grain bread
• oatmeal
• whole grain pasta
  
• brown rice
• couscous
• *quinoa
• whole grain tortilla
• *teff
• bananas
• potatoes

*Also tricky.  Some SCC are also high in protein, such as quinoa and teff.  I do the same with these as fats.  I may have quinoa(LP) and blueberries(CC) as a pre-workout snack, but I count the quinoa as one of my SCC for the day and add in some nuts for a little more protein.  

Here's some more info 

Carbohydrates.

What I Eat

What is Clean Eating

Clean Eating Basics

Carbohydrates

I instructed my challenge group to eat 5-6 small meals daily, pairing a lean protein and a complex carbohydrate.  I soon realized after several questions, that I had been very vague by saying this.  What I should have said it to include a fruit or vegetable with each meal, pairing it with a lean protein, and to limit starchy carbohydrates to 2-4 servings daily.  Eat at least 4 vegetables with a low Glycemic Index each day.  For more info on Glycemic Index, check out What is the Glycemic Index? 

So what are carbohydrates?  

Carbohydrates come in two forms: simple and complex.  Simple carbohydrates (SC) include processed starches, fructose and refined sugar. SC are digested quickly into glucose causing spikes in blood sugar. Most SC are empty calories because they contain few nutrients.  Complex carbohydrates (CC) include whole grains, legumes, vegetables. CC are nutrient dense and when paired with a lean protein help to keep you fuller longer while rebuilding muscle.  CC are digested more slowly, causing glucose to enter you blood stream more slowly and help to maintain a more even blood sugar level.  

Fruit and Other Natural Sugars

Fruit, honey and milk products are SC.   However, these are whole foods and are considered clean.  I

recommend eating 2 servings of  fruit per day.  Not only are they delicious and satisfying, they are nutrient dense.  I do use honey, pure maple syrup and other natural sugars in small amounts nearly everyday.  There are many recipes for breads and even clean sweets that you can replace processed sugar with honey (add 1/2 the amount called for).  Honey is still high in calories, but it is a far better choice.  I drizzle about 1/2 Tbsp of pure maple sugar on my Pumpkin Protein Pancakes.  

Starchy Carbohydrates

Starchy carbohydrates include bananas, potatoes, rice and grains, pasta, and breads.  These carbohydrates are all full of nutrients such as fiber, calcium, iron and B vitamins.  Many people try to avoid starchy carbs when dieting.  However, since clean eating isn't a diet, I recommend eating them in moderation.  Keep the proper portion sizes and keep it to 2-4 servings of starchy carbs per day.  If trying to lose weight, aim for only 2 servings.

  

Oats:  I buy oats in the bulk section.  I use them in my meatloaf, meatballs, for cereal, granola bars and I grind it to make oat flour.  Usually oats are the only grain that I eat in a day.  This is due to my own preference.  I would rather get my starch carbs in the form of fruits and vegetables.

Brown Rice and whole wheat pasta are other great clean starchy carb option.  I switched over to brown rice

and whole wheat pasta several years ago.  The other day I was putting pasta in a pot to boil and my son said "Gross, why are you using brown pasta?"  I told him that I had been using it for years and that I hadn't bought "white" pasta for a very long time.  He had never noticed.

  

Flour:  Replacing processed white flour for wheat may seem daunting, but overtime you and your family will adjust to it.  I have white flour in my food storage, but I haven't used it for several months.  I have even been putting all wheat flour in my cookies lately.

Bread:  Not all breads are created equal.  Once again, it is important to read the labels.  Just because the packaging says whole wheat, doesn't mean it isn't processed.  The best bread I have been able to find is Harper's Homemade Honey Wheat.  The very best option is to make your own (which I don't do because I would eat the entire loaf).