28 Day Clean Eating Challenge

Are you familiar with Clean Eating?  If not, you should be.  I’ve probably tried every diet out there from Atkins to Nutrisystem all with little to no long term success.   A couple of years ago I discovered Tosca Reno’s Clean Eating approach.  Basically it calls for eating fresh wholesome whole foods.  If you are trying to lose weight or become the fittest you can be – clean eating is the way to go.  Unfortunately, you can’t out train poor nutrition.  You can workout from 6 am to 6 pm but if your fueling your body with garbage you are wasting your time! 

Here is Clean Eating in a nutshell – eat fruits and vegetables, unprocessed whole grains, organic meats and choose foods that have ingredients you can pronounce. 

If this sounds like it might be right up your alley be sure to check out Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Diet.  I hate the use of “diet” as “diets” are typically short term and thus hard to sustain.  This is a lifestyle change.  Some of you may already be living it - some of you may be ready to jump in and make a change for the better.  

For the most part, I personally follow the principles pretty closely but lately with work and life I’ve found myself falling into old habits.  So the other day I picked up Tosca’s newest book "Eat Clean Diet Stripped".  It’s great for a review of the basic principles and offers up a 28 day menu plan.  The book also focuses on how important nutrition is,  the importance of being prepared, and our fear of success.  Yes, you heard me right – fear of success.  Not fear of failure.  This seems to occur with women all too often.  I’ll be hitting all of these plus the highs and lows of “dieting” during the next 28 days – stay tuned! 

Check out all the fitness and nutrition tips and tricks here.

Ch Ch Ch Chia!

No… not the pet chia.  Well not really.  Chia is the cousin of the chia plant (pets).  I first heard about chia seeds from reading Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Diet book.  While that was sometime ago, I just recently picked up a bag at PCC.  I'm addicted!  Chia seeds are packed with fiber and omega-3's.  They are tiny gray-black seeds -that I often find stuck in my teeth hours later - that you can eat on their own right out of the bag or throw them in smoothies or cereal or yogurt.  I think they have a bit of a nutty taste, but very mild.  Almost like you are eating sesame seeds.  One serving of chia seeds contain 4.2 grams of dietary fiber, mostly insoluble which is great for stabilizing blood sugar levels.  No more ups and downs!  It keeps you feeling full because it absorbs so much of it's weight in water.  I guess you can use it as an egg substitute too!  For now though I'll just stick to dipping my spoon in :)  

Try it out and let me know what you think! 

Jen

What I've Been Eating the Last 3 Days....

Since it's been days upon days of cold weather around here (complete with snow!) I've been relying on this fabulous recipe from the January issue of Clean Eating Magazine.  If you aren't familiar with the magazine, it focuses on recipes and articles based on the principle of Clean Eating.  Basically it is a lifestyle approach to eating food in it's most natural state.  If you like this recipe you will love the magazine.  

This is a new twist on the classic chili - Thai Chili.  Don't be alarmed by the use of bulgur - tell your husband it's ground turkey and he'll never know the difference!  Of course, if you just can't handle a meat free dish, it does taste great with ground turkey too.  Try it out and let me know what you think! 

Thai Chili 

Source: Clean Eating Magazine - January 2011

At The Grocery Store:

1 1/2 tsp red curry paste

1 tsp ground cumin

4 C low sodium vegetable (or chicken - I've used both!) broth, divided

1/2 C uncooked bulgur

1/2 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed (2 C)

1 large green bell pepper, chopped (2C)

3 C cooked kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 C light coconut milk

2 C jarred tomato puree/paste (I used 1 can of paste and 1 can of chopped tomatoes whizzed in the blender)

2 scallions, chopped

Fresh ground pepper to taste 

Get It Done in Less Than 30:

In a 4 qt pot, add curry paste, cumin and a bit of broth.  Mash mixture and stir until paste is no longer in lumps.  Add remaining broth, bulgur, potato and bell pepper.  Set over high heat and bring the mixture to a boil.  Cover tightly, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes. 

Add beans, coconut milk and tomato paste to pot and stir.  Cook, uncovered, for 7 minutes, until the bulgur is tender and chili is thick.  Stir in scallions and black pepper and serve.  

Serving Size: 2 1/2 C

Calories: 341

Total Fat: 5 g

Sat. Fat: 6 g

Carbs: 68 g

Fiber: 17 g

Sugars: 13 g

Protein: 17 g

Sodium: 412 mg