Eat Clean-Eat Real Food

Believe it or not, 2010 is coming to a close. I have never been a big proponent of New Year's resolutions. However, I like to think that I am always on some quest (although sometimes misguided) to better myself. I like to think that the best time to make positive changes is always NOW, not on January 1. If you know you want to do better and be better, why wait until a date in the future?

In some ways, I have found myself in a rut lately--maybe since Thanksgiving. When I say in a rut, I am referring to my exercise and eating habits. Today I have been thinking about revamping how I eat. Although I am continually on a half-hearted effort to lose weight, I think it's time to make a different plan. Instead of focusing on the scale, I want to focus on my energy level. I could stand to lose a few pounds, but more importantly I think that sometimes I sabotage my energy by eating stuff I know I shouldn't eat.

Mostly, I am speaking of sweets. If I could reduce the amount of sugar and white flour I consume, I would feel a lot less sluggish. I know this because I've done it in the past. Cookies, cake, and candy...even if very small amounts, make me feel like crap. I tend to think I am more negatively affected by sugar and white flour than most other people. I also think they are addictive substances for me. I say this because I will eat four huge frosted sugar cookies--even though I don't even want the last three. I eat them anyway, and they don't even appeal to me. I can't explain it. I've never been addicted to drugs or alcohol, but I can only imagine it's something like this. You don't really want something and you know it will make you feel like crap, but you consume it anyway.

So, I won't say I am giving up sweets--because I don't believe in "swearing off" certain foods or food groups. I will say I am greatly reducing the amount of sweets I consume. If I eat sweets, I can't stop. If I don't eat sweets, it's actually less of a struggle. I have been doing some reading on being addicted to sugar, and I think I am.

There is a diet out there called the Eat-Clean Diet. It's a common sense plan. I don't intend to follow it like a Bible, but I like some of it's components and it made me think. Basically, you eat protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs. It's real food. Very little refined sugar, very little white flour. I looked at some of the recipes on the website. Lots of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, oats, wheat bran, wheat germ, flaxseed. Real food. Not the fake food I am used to at this point.

My goals are to eat sweets only very rarely and avoid what I would call "fake food." I eat some things that are low calorie, but also have little nutritional value. I need to knock that off. The Eat-Clean Diet suggests you give up alcohol and soda. I am NOT giving up alcohol. I say this not because I drink a lot, but because I drink a little. I probably don't even have a drink once a week at this point, so I don't think that whether or not I give up drinking will make a big difference. If I want to have a couple of drinks with friends occasionally, I will. About soda...I drink only diet pop. I shouldn't even drink that. There's nothing natural about pop, diet or not. Although the soda I drink has no calories, I know it's not good for me. However, I am not willing to give it up at this point. I am willing to drink more water (along with my diet pop) at this point.

Since Bill moved to Denver for the year, I have been eating a lot of a few things---like frozen waffles. I have decided that I can still eat my frozen waffles. Tonight I made my own waffles for freezing. They are a healthier version. I modified a recipe I found. Here is what I did:

Oat Waffles---

2 cups whole wheat flour
4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon Splenda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon wheat germ
2 tablespoons wheat bran
1/2 cup Egg Beaters
1/4 cup oats
2 cups fat-free milk
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (not imitation)

In a bowl, combine 1st 6 ingredients. Combine Egg Beaters, milk, oil, and vanilla in another bowl; stir into dry ingredients until combined. Bake according to waffle iron instructions.

This made enough waffles for every morning this week, and I am freezing them. I put one in the toaster tonight and it came out perfectly. I would also think about using the same recipe in the future and using some raisins, blueberries, dried cranberries or something like that in the batter. This is definitely a heartier waffle than I am used to. Probably more calories, but tastier and also more filling.

I also made some muffins tonight. Again, I made some experimental modifications to the recipe. Here goes:

1 cup oats
1 cup cinnamon applesauce
1/2 cup skim milk
1/3 cup Egg Beaters
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
2 tbsp + 1 tsp canola oil
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup wheat flour
any dried fruit???

1. preheat oven to 350.
2. combine oats, applesauce, milk, eggs, flexseed, and oil in bowl.
3. combine other ingredients in another bowl.
4. make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients into it.
5. stir until ingredients are combined.
6. use batter for standard muffins or mini-muffins.

I made mini muffins. To be honest, they could be better. I like them with a little spray butter (which is an example of the fake food I am trying to give up). However, I was planning on adding about 1/2 cup of raisins, but I didn't realize we were out of raisins. I think it would also be good to add dried cranberries or blueberries--or dried cherries would be really good although they are expensive. So, if you try making them, make sure you have some dried fruit to put in there. Otherwise, you may find them a little...boring.

Well, that's the beginning of my "Eat Clean-Eat Real Food" campaign. I am hoping I can continue to try some recipes and work on modifying some existing recipes so I can eat stuff I feel good about. I am also going to pay attention to how what I eat affects my energy level.

Bill and I were in Las Vegas last week to watch college basketball. This was a great reminder to me that when I eat crap, I feel like crap. Of course, NOT eating crap in Las Vegas is difficult--although not impossible. I have eaten very little of nutritional value in the last week, and my energy level is virtually non-existent. Go figure.

As for our trip to Vegas, it was a lot of fun. Our team won the tournament, which was fantastic, and we also enjoyed some Vegas fun, such as the strip, a tremendous buffet, and the Freemont Street Experience. I admit that we are not really Vegas people. Bill only gambled away $14 in the four days we were there, and I didn't gamble at all. I also only had three drinks the whole time we were there. We did make it out to the Hoover Dam. We also toured a chocolate factory that had the largest cactus botanical garden in the world (I think). A highlight was getting to see an old friend who I met in my undergraduate days. She is now working at UNLV.

Although it was fun, it's good to be home, even though home has 8 inches of snow. It really isn't that cold here now--it's in the 20's--so I have no right to complain about our weather. Ahhh, Iowa in the winter...when 20 degrees is warm...I am a native Midwesterner.