Lifting and Clean Eating Part IV: My Current Diet

Lifting and Clean Eating Part IV: My Current Diet

As mentioned in Part II, after making the initial changes in my diet and sticking with them for awhile, it became easier and easier to pick less calorie, less fattening foods and I became more and more interested in healthy eating. Once I lost all the weight I wanted to loose and as my knowledge increased, I began making even more healthy changes such as "real" foods vs. processed and artificial sweeteners vs. "real" sweeteners.

 This was a slow process that started with one thing at a time. As we saw fit, healthy and more "real" items were slowly added in to replace less "real" foods. For example:

• We begun getting sprouted bread or 100% whole wheat instead of 45 calorie bread
• I started eating old fashioned oats for breakfast vs. FiberOne cereal
• Began using Stevia based sweeteners vs. Splenda
• Having Larabars, Pure bars, Kind, or Weil bars vs. Quaker 90 Calorie granola bars
• 2% cheese vs. fat free cheese
• More Almond milk, less skim milk
• Natural Peanut Butter vs. things like sugar free jelly
• Greek yogurt vs. popcorn for snacks
• More water vs. crystal light and other artificially flavored zero calorie drinks
• No more dependency on sugar free gum
• I began consuming more healthy fats (don't be afraid of them!!)
• More complex carbs
• More protein
• More balanced portion of veggiesAfter slow adjustments I ended up at these as my current daily stats:
  
• 1800-2200 calories (non lifting days) 2300-2800 (lifting days) … basically, depending on my activity level
• 30-60 grams healthy fat
• 130-150 grams protein
• 140-150 grams complex carbs

And here is an approximate day of eats:
Breakfast: 1/3 cup oats with frozen berries & 2 egg whites, 1 egg w/ hot tea
AM Snack: One or two pieces toasted sprouted/whole wheat bread with a serving of peanut butter and half sliced banana on top
Lunch: Around 1/3 lb of some type of meat and/or eggs (aka some type of protein), with little less than 1 cup brown rice, and some type of veggies
PM Snack: Piece of fruit w/ PB, or Lara bar, etc w/ tea
Post Lifting Shake (if I lift that day and also means stats will be higher that day):
Dinner: Same type of meal as lunch but will less carbs
Before Bed: 1/2 cup cottage cheese with a few walnuts or almonds, cinnamon, and 1 packet of stevia

On top of that, I typically shoot for about a gallon of water a day.

I feel very good about my current diet.  I never feel restricted or hungry and I’m able to build muscle and loose fat at the same time.  And I splurge when needed : ) 

All this being said .... if I can go from McDonald's and Taco Johns (I used to always get a bean burrito with sour cream, small order of potato oles with a side of ranch and of course a medium or large pop) to this .... anyone can do it!!! This is really the last thing I ever thought I'd be doing, but here I am doing it. It's just a matter of getting enough help, knowledge, and motivation to get going and stick with it. And it takes time!

"If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish."
-Sam Walton-

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