So, I've been inspired by
bodyrock.tv and followed Zuzana's advice to follow the Eat Clean diet. For the most part, I've done a really good job of following the small portions and eating primarily clean meals. Clean meals simply means the ingredients are all healthy for you. Mostly I've been eating lots of fruits and vegetables, pitas, hummus, and meats.
I have fallen into a couple staple meals from this diet. My favorite breakfast is oatmeal with cut strawberries and blueberries. It is even better with raspberries, but they're so dang expensive, so I keep that for special occasions. Sometimes I go above and beyond and add a scoop of wheat germ. It does very little to improve the taste, but it is supposedly a super-healthy addition.
My favorite lunch is a pita sandwich. The pita sandwich is made by cutting the pita around the edges so that pita splits into two layers. I put hummus on one side, and top with sprouts, tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions, and lettuce. Sometimes I use a spread similar to hummus, but made from split peas. It's a nice way to mix things up. When I'm really in the mood for something special, I use the red pepper hummus spread and the pea spread. OH! and I also cooked a turkey burger to put on my pita and that was fantastic.
My favorite snack is hummus and pita. It takes no time to just grab the hummus out of the fridge and cut up a pita. This is great for when I'm really hungry, but not ready or in the mood to prepare a real meal. I probably eat more hummus than I should, but I just love the garlic. It is very satisfying.
I have two favorite dinners that I've tried. I made a dish of healthy lasagna. I made ground turkey for the meat which turned out perfect. I used half store bought spaghetti sauce with my own fresh veggie combo of tomatoes, garlic, and onions. I also sliced up some yellow squash. The noodles were made from special whole grains. Finally, the cheese concoction was made of no-fat cottage cheese and a couple of eggs. I sprinkled a light layer of mozzarella cheese too. This was the best lasagna I've ever had. I still have several servings frozen and waiting for a good excuse to eat them.
My other favorite dinner is Bok Choy stir fry. I got this recipe from the Eat-Clean book, and found it so tasty I made it several evenings in a row. The sauce is really good, light, and simple to make. It is just a mixture of ginger, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, and dry sherry. I've made this stir fry with a couple different combinations of veggies and meats. Bok Choy was new to me. It is different--it really has no taste, and is kind of like celery, but without all the strings. It also seemed to keep fairly well in the fridge. I added some ground turkey to it one night, and that was good. I have some left over tofu and will probably make this stir fry again soon.
I still have a sugar tooth, and it costs me. I LOVE the Bolthouse Farms
drinks. I am so addicted to these. I drink the perfectly protein drinks because much of the time, I've not been eating much meat and my only source of protein is usually the hummus. The drinks are expensive, so I'm trying to limit my servings, but I don't know if I can. I know they're supposed to be all natural with no bad additives, but they contain too much sugar, so I might have to bite the bullet and stop spending my money on the drinks.
I really like the meals that fit into the clean eating diet, and I like eating more frequently and smaller portions. I have even seen immediate benefits from the diet. In a month, I have lost a solid 5 lbs. I have slipped up here and there as necessary (Wedding, NYC, Weekend fun w/ Eric), but overall I think I am sticking to it pretty good.
The downside is that I feel like I constantly have to go shopping. One day I run out of fruit, another day I'm out of veggies. It's hard to monitor how much food to get for one week, and how long the fresh fruits and veggies will last in the fridge. I throw out too much, yet I'm still running short on food. In some ways the diet is cheap (oatmeal was less than $5 from the bulk store and it is going to last me months), but in other ways it's really expensive (fresh foods and specialty items). I hope that as I continue with this diet that I will get the hang of coordinating shopping and meal planning.
