Learning to eat clean...grass fed beef, Fage and Ezekiel what?

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     Ok. To be honest I had never heard of eating clean before I met Brandon. The first time he used the term I thought it was some weightlifters lingo. I had no idea what it was or even how popular it was in the health and fitness community. I had been told by Scott at my consultation that my trainer would provide me with a meal plan that was specific to my needs. So here we are 6 weeks into my training and although we have talked about healthy eating and what not to eat and eating 'clean', Brandon hasn't given me an official meal plan. So I asked him about it. He explained that because my goal is a lifestyle change and not a temporary diet that I need to take baby steps and learn about good nutrition. He explained that if he simply gave me a clean meal plan I may get frustrated and give up and that would be counterproductive. That made sense to me and so I started asking lots of questions when it comes to food choices and meals. And boy is there a lot to learn! Brandon really impresses me with his knowledge of the science of how the body works and how foods interact with weight loss and training. Although, I wish I could record what he tells me because a lot of times I forget exactly what he said and I end up texting him asking him to repeat details. Over the last weeks I have learned that a lot of what I was doing with Weight Watchers was just learning how to cheat to lose weight. Now I'm learning about good and bad carbs, healthy fats (seriously did not think about fat as being healthy before now), avoiding artificial sweeteners and processed foods and eating more smaller meals than fewer big meals. Brandon talks about food as fuel for your body and when you eat the right foods at the right time you can have success and make progress in weight loss and training.

      So the teacher in me started doing research on my own. Because, let's be honest, the 60 minutes 3 days a week with Brandon is simply not enough time to learn everything. I need a course in good nutrition. Brandon warned me not to believe everything I read (like I didn't know that already being an English teacher) and so whenever I read something he hasn't told me about I talk to him first. Brandon is great because whenever I have a question (which is often) I can text him and he gets back to me as soon as he can and usually with a pretty impressive response. It never ceases to amaze me how much he knows about nutrition or what is the better choice at the grocery store. I've discovered places like Earth Lite (a local health foods store) and Wegmans (a grocery store that carries a lot of health foods). And I'm learning about brands and products I did not know about before. I never even stepped into the organic aisle of the grocery story before.

     During one conversation I told Brandon that I was lazy and had cereal for dinner. He tells me it better have been Ezekiel cereal. I was like 'what the hell is that?' I had never heard of the Ezekiel brand before. He explained how it is one of the healthiest cereals you can get. And there was Ezekiel bread too! Made with sprouted grains. Ok now there's something new I had to learn about. The difference between different grains. And then there was yogurt. I love Greek yogurt but when I asked Brandon about the Chobani yogurt with fruit that I like he wanted to see the nutritional information. And then tells me I'm better off with plain Greek yogurt and if I don't like it plain to add a scoop of protein powder. 'Get Fage 5%. You want the full fat for healthy fats.' What?? I've always gotten low fat or 0% fat. Same thing with milk he told me. 'Whole milk is good. Raw from the farm is even better.' I don't like thick milk. I had spent years drinking skim milk and whole milk felt like drinking cream to me. So he suggested almond milk. Never tried it but this is the year of new things for me so I gave it a try. Loved it. Don't know what I was afraid of. And then there is grass fed beef. Having spent the last so many years believing that chicken and fish were the best meats for healthy living and weight loss I ate very little beef before I started training. Now its a regular part of my daily diet.

     And then there is coconut oil. 'Cook everything in coconut oil. Nothing but coconut oil.' Brandon told me once. When I asked why not olive oil, he explained how olive oil has a low resistance to heat and therefore loses its nutrients when it is heated. Best to use olive oil drizzled on something after it is cooked rather than cook with it. Coconut oil has a high resistance to heat and does not lose its nutrients when it is heated. Plus coconut oil has a lot of other health benefits including weight loss. 

So I now check online for clean recipes and pay attention to labels, avoid sugar, artificial anything, and eat whole grains. I found a clean eating grocery list online and Brandon told me it was a pretty accurate basic list for a beginner. So I now have an idea about clean foods and what to avoid. I'm still learning the 'what to eat when.' But I am definitely eating more healthy. When I have a cheat meal I don't stray too far from clean foods since I usually feel like crap after I eat something that I haven't had in a long time. My husband got pizza one day last week and I decided to have a slice. My stomach was in knots the next day. Probably because I haven't eaten anything made with white flour in in months. And as the weeks go by it is becoming easier to resist the foods I used to eat.

Tricia Ann Pinterest Board Clean eating and healthy living