Clean eating, Paleo, etc.

[SuzySunshine]

Ok gang, who does this kind of stuff - who eats healthy and have you noticed a huge difference? Also have you give up gluten even when you didn't have to, have you noticed a difference?

DH & I were both sick Monday, it was a gastrointestinal thing and I finally feel normal this morning. But for the last 4 days I've been gassy, bloated and just terribly uncomfortable. Its made me realize how unhealthy we eat. So I didn't grocery shop this week, I've cleaned out the pantry of crap, I've told the kids I'm not buying a lot of their crap snacks anymore. I'm finding "clean" recipes for a lot of their snacks so I can make them myself.

I have the cookbook Against All Grain which is paleo. Clean eating of course is different.

ACK! I want to pick something and just go but I'm so confused. I do all of the shopping/cooking the family can't complain, right? Who can help me make a choice?

[Phoebe]

I did a clean eating challenge through Crossfit last year and I lost 11 lbs in 6 weeks. I had more energy and felt healthier overall. It takes a lot of prep and my family, mainly my husband wasn't on board with the diet. I mostly cooked clean eating meals and made little changes for me. I am not as strict now, mostly out of convenience sake, but I still try to follow the concepts. There are tons of websites and recipes out there on blogs and Pinterest.

[BonBon]

I got started after my anaphylactic reaction to chickpeas. Tests revealed allergies to wheat, corn, soy, legumes. That's almost the paleo diet, so that's why I ever started it in the first place. By eliminating that stuff, I found that I'm pretty sensitive to wheat as are two of my kids. I don't know if it's the gluten or another component, but it gives me nasty eczema and my kids have GI issues. (I have not tested them for celiac) I shy away from "gluten free " products because they're not as good as the real thing so we've never tested if it was wheat vs gluten. (we just eat the real thing and suffer the consequences...)

I would probably start small. Maybe go to a whole foods based plan, and if you continue to have issues, go from there?

[Thirteen]

Me! More later...


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[bobk]

I've flirted with low carb for a long time now. It's really hard to stay with it. I generally try to avoid things with sugar and flour. Sugar gives me heartburn and fuels a need for more sweets, while lots of flour products make me feel tired. I can't say I've noticed any weight changes. I've always been fairly thin and don't have a functional scale.

[ladymoreta]

Phase 1 of South Beach is no sugar and no grains. I can't say I feel any better on it; mostly I just don't have much energy. But it really helps kick off weight loss! After those 2 weeks, I can add back in a little fruit and one serving of whole grains per day. The weight loss slows way down, but I have energy to work out, so I feel much better.

[spotty_dog]

If you need a big change, then maybe doing the Whole 30 and seeing how you feel would be good. My friend did that with her family of 5 kids and was pleasantly surprised how the kids adapted and how everyone felt so much better at the end. She has an autoimmune disease and has chosen to stay off of gluten, saying she feels the difference if she eats it.

I would say in our family we try to eat fairly "clean". Lots of whole grains, lots of veggies. I think it's important to define for yourself what "healthy food" means, and then try to stick close to that one definition. IMO, the paleo diet or anything else that shifts the macronutrient balance from carbohydrate to fat *can* be healthy. The problem is that it's incompatible with a traditional carbo-based eating style. So as soon as you "fall off" and/or start going back and forth like I'm prone to do, you're eating remarkably *un*healthfully. What I've found is that for me, in order to do something I can stick with (because I see the research behind it and the justifications and they make sense to me), I like Andrew Weil's approach to nutrition and Mark Bittman's method to implement it. Moderate portions of low-GI whole grains, small portions of meat with good fat profiles (grass-fed beef, wild-caught salmon), and lots of veggies -- especially dark leafys and cruciferous.

[SuzySunshine]

See I've also thought about doing the 100 days of real food, something less drastic - less processed crap. To many choices, no one solution....

I appreciate all of the stories though, not sure what we'll try first.

[zentrisha]

I did Paleo once. Couldn't poop for 2 weeks!

[Thirteen]

I did Paleo once. Couldn't poop for 2 weeks!

Cruciferous, leafy greens are your friend.


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[Pollyanna]

Dh and I are moving to a more nutritarian diet. Read "Eat to Live" for more information. Three meals a day, no snacking, plant based, very little meat. Then we will modify to make it work for us but still maintain its integrity. Kind of a "blue zone" way to eat not really a diet.
Dh already is at a low BMI, but I need to work in that. Basically we want to eat simply in a way that can be maintained for life and not "diet".

[BonBon]

To many choices, no one solution....

Considering that we've basically invaded and thrived just about every square inch of the planet excepting Antartica, there are very few diets that don't work for humans. I think the key is dumping all the stuff in the center aisles. Probably any one of what you've mentioned would work for you.

[Michele]

I've always thought that if I can make it at home, it's better for me than if I buy it made. Including, especially?, brownies, cookies, etc.

Right now I'm trying to do a high protein mostly vegetarian diet. I'm aiming for 100g of protein a day. I don't really cook for the kids right now, so I can sort of make my own meals. It might not last. But it's what I'm working with now. Oh and counting calories. Back to counting calories.