6 Tips for Clean Eating

Getting cleaner foods into your body will help you get leaner and healthier.  

Where to begin?  Start with these tips:

Red Fire Farm carrots really do taste amazing!

1. Shop the perimeter of the store – skip the aisles of packaged, canned, and processed foods.  Whole nuts, oats, and brown rice are a few exceptions.  You can only eat what you buy, and if you shop for clean foods from the start, you'll make clean eating possible and easier then saying "no" to other junk.
2. Freezer friendly finds – try new vegetarian burgers, fish/shrimp, steamer bagged veggies, and ripe frozen berries.  Skip the freezer entrees, Haagen-Dazs and fast-food knock-offs like freezer fries.  And try my favorite freezer veggie:  soybeans in the shell, or edamame.
3. Join a CSA or shop the farmers markets – prepare to spend a little more on local organic foods to eat truly clean.  Cook and appreciate kale, spinach, and raw gems like real, earthy-sweet carrots.  A great Boston based CSA is Red Fire Farm and www.localharvest.org will help you find other CSAs.  
4. Clean those fruits and veggies – take 10 minutes after shopping to rinse, chop, and make-ready your veggies.  Drop them into plastic boxes or baggies and leave them on the top shelves of your fridge.  Then in a hurry you can just pop them into your bag for easy snacks.  Or just streamline the evening meal prep by having it all ready to cook or eat raw.
5. Focus on whole grains and short ingredient lists – foods that are best for you will have fewer than 10 ingredients and all they won’t read like a chemistry book.  Even CLIF bars have 20+ ingredients.  Why not try to make your own?  If you can’t pronounce an ingredient, or your grandmother had never heard of it, then you probably shouldn’t be eating it. 
6. Alcohol and sweets really should be treats – and not every day is a “special day”.  Think of your diet as the building block of your healthy life, and ask “what would an athlete eat before competing?” and if they wouldn’t eat it or drink it, then why should you.  After all, you are planning to workout hard tomorrow, right?  Another great post-race meal may be waiting for you...

Lobsterman Triathlon post-race healthy feast

Tuesday's ritual -- Mystic Marauders

5:20am and my phone chimes to wake me.  I strip down and dress into the clothes I'd laid out last night:  swimsuit first, then cycling shorts and top.  I use the bathroom and quickly brush teeth before heading down to bike over to the Wheelworks shop near Davis Sq.  

5:45am and six of my teammates greet me.  All carry their backpack or string-sacks stuff to the brim:  wetsuit, towel, and cap with goggles folded in and secured for the ride.  We head out for a 13-mile ride out of the city and into hills around the golf course at the Winchester Country Club.  

The workout seems to run like clock-work and we arrive at Sandy Beach for our swim.  Yes, it's early still, but the weather is already warming up.  (One friend Beren noted on FB:  I prefer cold - you can always put on another sweater to get warm, but if you're nekkid and still too hot yer outta options. =) ).  That's so true!  And that's why I like to workout early in the summers -- Beat the heat, take a swim.   

I look and see that the swim ropes are up and the beach has been combed by park staff, removing most of the leaves and debris from last fall and recent gully washers.  It's lovely and yet dotted with pollen and living 'stuff' -- green and gooey, alive and kicking (or rather, swimming).  I spot some goose poop (yes, the Canadians are back) and decide to place my flip-flops a few feet farther away at the water's edge.

Then we swim.  Two by two we buddy up and head out for the first buoy.  We get back to the beach about 25 minutes later and start to peel off the wetsuits.  Unlike the photo below, which was taken on a much colder day after a swim in much colder water, today's weather was perfect:  65-70F and bright.  More smiles than shivers!

Following the swim, we gab about summer racing plans and don our gear for the ride home, stuffing the wet wetsuits back into our packs.  It's wonderful to hear how everyone enjoyed the water, felt good on the hills, and keeps learning from the others.  (My friend Dave said that Sierra was giving him training tips on timing his breathing while swimming, and that's exactly why we train together.  We keep each other safe and help each other out, each striving to improve a little each time.  This is why and how training groups work!)  We also keep each other safe through numerous stop lights as we make our way back to Davis Sq, now in the heavy morning traffic.

7:30am and I arrive by bike over to a client's house -- I've been training her for a little over a year.  She knows I'll arrive a little water logged, but she's ready to train hard in her bi-weekly Tues AM session.  So I take her through new back/ab strengthening moves on her Swiss ball, have her try out a few balancing and hip lifting moves on the ball (Knee Tucks and Diver's Pikes) and then get out the resistance bands.  Imagine this move in someone's living room... we did that!  

We did a lot more, too.  From the easy crunches and plank holds to the complex Turkish get-up's, we got through her whole body routine in 55 minutes.  And my work is done for now, it's 9am and I'm back home for breakfast.  Whew!

Here's a tip:  Get your workout done early.  Beat the heat, break a sweat, and then get food.  

Most bodies love to run a little on empty before topping off the tank.  Enjoy the clean burn of an early workout! 

That's my typical Tuesday morning...and it just gets better from there.

Spring Smoothies

Few food options rival the smoothie for simplicity (no cooking, no chewing), deliciousness (fruit, ice cream), and versatility (it's a meal, snack, or dessert). Indeed, it’s as close to a perfect meal as you can get. The only problem: Duplicating juice-bar results at home.  Try some of these nutrient-packed smoothie ingredients that will juice your brain, build muscle, burn fat, and strengthen your heart in less than a minute. Just throw them in a blender, hit liquefy, and start slurping. It’s that simple. 


And for even more great ideas, check out TheMen’s Health Smoothie Selector online, 

Raspberries

High in antioxidants, and bursting with fiber, manganese, and vitamin C, these berries will keep your heart and brain in top shape.

Mango 

With abundant Vitamins A and C, mangoes also add a healthy dose of beta-carotene, which helps prevent cancer and promotes healthy skin. 

Orange and Citrus fruits

OJ has vitamin C, and pineapples contain bromelain, a cancer-inhibiting, inflammation-reducing enzyme.  These all make citrus fruits golden and great ingredients for your smoothie!

Dairy delights and Protein punches -- Milk or Whey

Then add, either Milk, Water, or that devilish combo of the latter two, Whey protein!  1% Milk has calcium, protein, added vitamins and almost none of the fat.  Whey protein has essential amino acids help pack on the muscle—making whey the best friend of athletes and gym rats alike.


For more smoothie ideas and nutritional info, search for your favorite smoothie ingredients or see the smoothie selector tool (with over 30 recipes!) brought to you by Rodale/Men's Health Magazine:   http://www.menshealth.com/smoothies/ 

Small meals and Your appetite

Appetite tells us when to eat, and when working well, how much to eat or when to stop. It works well when we eat natural, filling foods at a slow and measured pace. But it doesn't work so well when processed and calorie-dense foods rather than nutrient-dense foods take center stage. Given today's culture and conveniences, in just 10 minutes you could scarf down a variety of foods to satisfy hunger. For example, it's easy to feel full after eating two whole carrots (150 calories) or you could get a similar satisfaction from eating a jumbo-sized box of fries (1,150 calories). Either way, the appetite is satisfied but with a very different calorie and nutrient content.

Meal timing also plays into appetite. Eariler and frequent smaller meals are easier for the body to use as fuel during exercise. It makes sense for most people dieting to lose a weight to 25% of their daily calories in a larger breakfast. This controls appetite and reduces hunger throughout the day, resulting in lower overall calorie intake. Meals every 3-4 hours will also require more energy to digest than the traditional 3 meals per day format. There is also evidence from weight loss studies that suggests that people usually eat less overall when they eat often, so it's a win-win.

Finally, developing a healthy appetite using frequent, small meals should be easy and appetizing. Consider a few high-nutrient, very satisfying appetizers. This list of 5 foods have at least two high-satiety foods that can fill you up on healthy combinations. Eat one about 10 minutes before your next meal to fill up early, or have 2-3 as a meal combination for fullness. These recipes were recetnly published in Triathlete Magazine (See triathletemag.com article by M. Fitzgerald from May 2009).

These all come it at about 150 calories. Try a few!

Spinach & Avocado/Tomato Salad

1 cup Spinach + 1/4 cup Avo's and Tomat's

with 1 tsp olive oil dressing

Crackers & Low-Fat Cheese

4 whole wheat crackers + 1 oz. cheese

Lentil Soup

1 cup as prepared by Amy's Organics or homemade

Asparagus & Almonds

4 spears steamed + 1/8 Almond slivers and Parm Cheese

Baked Fries with Rosemary

1/2 cup of potato slices baked at 450F for 30 mins

with olive oil spray and rosemary and S&P before baking

Mid-day quick meal

It's all too common to rush through lunch. I used to do it while I was a scientific consultant; I still do it now as a trainer. Sometimes clients keep me too busy at the gym, and a quick 45 minutes at home is all I have to prep, eat, and dash back to the next client.

Summer is a prime time for veggie-based lunches. Today lunch was heavy on the zucchini and light on the bread. I used cottage cheese and deli turkey as my primary protein sources because that's just what I was in the mood for. The simple sandwich was about the same size as the bowl of microwave-steamed zukes/tomatoes/parsley/parm. In total this was about a 600 calorie lunch. Some of the chilled extra veggies later made a nice afternoon snack.

Eating on the patio is a great way to enjoy healthy food in the summer!

Sunny's Top 5 Nutritional Tips

I check labels and make informed choices about what and when I eat. But nobody's perfect, and sometimes I slip up ... a lot. See my Saturday log and how bad it got? I used to log my diet daily, even hourly to see what my hunger triggers and relievers are. Now I think a little longer term and have come up with 5 tips for better nutrition.

Here are my top 5 tips to drop 5 pounds with fewer calories and minimal hunger:

1. Drink water. 2 liters daily, at a minimum. Start with a tall glass 12oz before every meal and another glass with snacks. Add more water by drinking every 5-10 minutes while working out whether with cardio or with strength. Yes, you'll pee more but you'll also feel full more quickly and feel hunger less often.
2. Get green. Rethink snacks and look for veggie options like cucumbers with s&p or mustard, leafy green salads, steamed broccoli with a sprtiz of lemon. These are not on the shelves at CVS or Shaw's so you'll need to use pre-pack your snacks. Invest in ziploc baggies which microwave easily and small plastic boxes that won't leak.
3. Grains keep giving. Complex carbohydrates are slow burners that are perfect workout fuel. Whole grain bread and barley or whole grain couscous salads will leave you full for hours, especially if eaten with a tall glass of water. The darker, chewier, and less processed grains are best. Try cooking a new/old grain like quinoa today!
4. Nix sugary snacks. Fruity yogurt, begone! Unless you add the blueberries yourself, you're getting more corn syrup and sugar than goodness from fruit-included yogurts. And check the labels on so-called diet or nutritional bars also. Rice and cane syurp are common additives that only add quick-burn sugar to your diet. Use sparingly if at all.
5. Keep one treat. In all things, balance -- if you too strict, you'll likely really fall off the wagon quickly. Follow the above guidelines 90% of the time and indulge a little, daily with your free 10% of the time. If you allow for a little 100-200 calories "fudge" factor you can more easily keep the rest of your diet squeaky clean.

That's the recipe for contentment and success! I use this to drop 5 pounds almost every summer and usually within just a few weeks. It takes cooking and packing meals, plus snacks, and several large water bottles, but it's very doable. You don't need to write it all down, but it helps -- just keep it real and honest. It's that hard look in the mirror that makes us able to see what's real, and grow from it.

Drop me a note at sunny@sunnydayfitness.com if you want to know more about a nutritional lifestyle for weight loss or healthy weight maintenance. I look forward to hearing from you!