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Hey CCer's!! Long time no post....Well, honestly I have been super busy being healthy!!I have been living life and loving life after dedicating myself to being healthier over the past year with my disordered views of eating. I have managed to maintain a healthy weight while learning to love myself on the inside as well as the outside. I have even started writing a book about my love/hate food relationship journey. The problem I am having is that when I start getting stressed with life, relationships, work, and etc., my eating habits take the back burner.

Can someone please tweak this day of food and let me know what you think about my view of clean eating? I could really use the support!! Thanks!!

B- ww toast with sf jelly, coffee with a spash of ff cream, eggbeaters with low sodium ketchup or plain bowl of fiber cereal

S- handful of almonds and water

L- homemade turkey ww wrap with veggies and honey mustard, pretzels on the side with water

S- Kids Clif bar or apple (some fruit)

D- steamed veggies with chicken or salmon (4 oz) and low sodium ketchup with sf jello and ww toast with jelly

S- sf pudding or fruit with water

I also do strength training for 30 min and elliptical training atleast 5 days a week.

Any thoughts? How can I make this better?

LINNNYYYY. <3 Congratulations, and I look forward to hearing more about your book when it gets finished!

But... how many calories are you taking in, hun? Do you know? That doesn't look like much especially as you're working out. Do you know your stats at the moment, too?

i ditto LALA.  also, last time i remember you posting, you were maintaining at an underweight weight, i think.

from a psychologial standpoint, eating/not eating, is your coping method it seems, stressed w/ life, eating falls short.  take time when youre stressed to stop and think about YOU, about eating+excercising.  not having a grip on that will only serve to make you more stressed.

gl

Hey ladies...I'm glad to be back too!

Lala- I think I am taking in around 1400-1600 a day, not too sure because I try not to count still. Mostly working on my healthy fats from nuts and protein from lean meats, as I already eat tons of carbs from whole wheat foods. Any suggestions, I love reading your posts?

Agruskin- I am maintaining at around 120-122 but that is a healthy weight I do believe for someone at 5'7. But I have also made a vow to myself not to weigh daily at any cost but more like once a week or so. And I just turned 23!!! I do agree that I deal with coping through foods. And you are right I should think about me. Right now life is just all so crazy. I am buying a condo, learning to enjoy the single life, letting go of my 5 year bf due to him moving to another state for a job, and trying to balance work and home too. Everything is up in the air, thus why I feel out of control.

About my meal plan what do you ladies think? What should I do differently? I normally give great advice, but not to myself haaa....

Original Post by positivelinny:

Hey CCer's!! Long time no post....Well, honestly I have been super busy being healthy!!I have been living life and loving life after dedicating myself to being healthier over the past year with my disordered views of eating. I have managed to maintain a healthy weight while learning to love myself on the inside as well as the outside. I have even started writing a book about my love/hate food relationship journey. The problem I am having is that when I start getting stressed with life, relationships, work, and etc., my eating habits take the back burner.

Can someone please tweak this day of food and let me know what you think about my view of clean eating? I could really use the support!! Thanks!!

B- ww toast with sf jelly, coffee with a spash of ff cream, eggbeaters with low sodium ketchup or plain bowl of fiber cereal

S- handful of almonds and water

L- homemade turkey ww wrap with veggies and honey mustard, pretzels on the side with water

S- Kids Clif bar or apple (some fruit)

D- steamed veggies with chicken or salmon (4 oz) and low sodium ketchup with sf jello and ww toast with jelly

S- sf pudding or fruit with water

I also do strength training for 30 min and elliptical training atleast 5 days a week.

Any thoughts? How can I make this better?

 B - The sugar-free jelly is not "clean eating" unless it's sweetened with a natural sweetener such as Stevia or agave nectar. Nor is the "fat free" cream - definatley not something you're going to find in nature. Just take a close look at the ingredient label. The toast is fine, as long as you make sure your bread doesen't have HFCS and refined sugar and flour (which most brands do). Eggbeaters aren't exactly "clean" either. They have both artifical colors and flavorings and plus, they're expensive. Eat the real egg and reap the benifits in both your body and wallet.

Also, your breakfast looks pretty small. Maybe try something more substancial like a bowl of oatmeal, dried fruit, and nuts cooked with milk and served with an omlette stuffed with veggies. Oatmeal pancakes are good too, and they are even better served with a little bit of REAL (not sugar-free) maple syrup and almond butter. Using REAL ingredients in moderation is both better for you (less chemicals) and more satisfying.

S - Almonds are great, but on their own, they aren't a very substancial snack. Perhaps you should try adding in a piece of fruit such as a banana, an apple, or a handfull of your favorite dried fruit, and having a cup of cottage cheese or yogurt for protein. Even snacks should be well balanced.

L - The turkey wrap sounds clean, I'd just watch out on the tortillas. Most have hydrogenated oils and other hidden nasties. Ezekiel 4:9 makes wonderful sprouted-grain tortillas in both large and small sizes - they are the best BY FAR for clean eaters. Instead of empty calories and more startch from pretzels (you already have the tortilla) maybe you should try some black beans with salsa and herbs, or another type of bean such as kidney beans or pinto beans. Bell pepper and carrot strips are good for dipping - just make sure to choose salsa instead of ranch dressing or oil.

S - Your afternoon snack looks pretty decent, but there are better bar choices out there other than Clif (Z Bars). They have quite a bit of sugar, and all of it is added; Lara Bars would be a better choice since they are minimally processed, raw, and have only three or so ingredients. Again, I'd reccommend adding in a protein of some sort.

D - The veggies and lean protein sound awesome (maybe add a little more?), but not so much the jello, ketchup, and jelly. Try topping your toast with some heart-healthy olive oil instead and some diced tomatoes and garlic to make "bruchetta".

S - I'd definatley pick the fruit here over jello again. Sugar free jello is nothing but gelatin (animal tendons and skin) and artifical sweetner and flavors. Dairy is great to have before bed since it contains casein, a slow-burning protein that keeps your metabolism up through the night.

Original Post by lalabanana:

But... how many calories are you taking in, hun? Do you know? That doesn't look like much especially as you're working out. Do you know your stats at the moment, too?

 I agree. It doesn't really look like much at all. Besides, aren't you trying to maintain? It takes me at least 2,300 to maintain, especially with exercise.

Your activity, to me, is moderate to very active. Maintaining at where you are now you need to be eating more like 2100 to 2300 calories a day. And your BMI is only 18.9 - when you've recovered/are recovering from an ED, that's pretty low. Shooting for closer to 20 BMI is usually wiser. And honestly I don't think that menu makes 1400 let alone 1600.

A meal breakdown of 2200 calories is:

B 550
S 200
L 550
S 200
D 500
S 200

If you're really intent on not counting I suggest you use this MyPyramid plan instead. MyPyramid serving plan of 2200 calories. This includes photo references of what a portion is - and if you're really intent on not counting, again, you need to brush up on those! Zeb gave a lot of good food ideas though.

LINNIY-hi, yes, you have a lot on your plate so to say.  i know when im hungry everything seems even more stressful.  your weight, i dunno, im 5'3 and i think the weight youre at is a healthy weight for someone my height, 4 inches shorter than you, maybe take another moment to rethink your weight.  also, im 25, pretty inactive, i weigh 1/wk to make sure im not losing, and i eat much more than you do, and im not gaining 100lbs a day either.  your diet is minimal, like a weight loss diet.  zeb has good ideas but i like treats, i dont always eat fruit+veggies, i dont even get enough actually, so i think pretzels are fine, maybe add yogurt to the sandwich+pretzels.  i have about 600 cals for bfast, it really gets me going for the day.

gl

Wow, Zebulancherry you really helped with that post. Thanks so much. I definitely will try adding more proteins and mixing the snacks with something extra. I am not a huge fan of cottage cheese, but the yogurt with fruit and nuts sounds good. Breakfast is hard considering I have an office job, but yes I will try to bring something a little more hearty in the mornings. Oatmeal works!!
Thank you for all of your clean eating ideas, I am new to this and I just started ridding my pantry of the things with tons of weird ingredients. I also was a huge splenda fanatic and now I know longer use it at all. That was a leap, but I find that the brown raw sugar is better anyway. I know creamer isn't clean, but I am working on relplacing that with soy milk in my coffee. And the sf and ff is a habit that I really need to rid too. I guess less of the real deal is something I need to work on verus more of the fake stuff with less calories. And as far as the maintaining goes, I gain on anything more than 1600-1800 so I am trying to stay in that range unless I do a vigirous workout. I am still trying to help my metabolism to reach a certain level where I can maintain on a higher amount. I guess the pretzels are habit too, and I appreciate the suggestions for wraps, I will look for that brand when I go to the health food store next week. I definitely am getting in more real foods though and I will replace all of the jello with a fruit or something. Your veggie idea sounds great too.

Thanks so much for the help so far. I truly am grateful!! And yay...you are so knowledgeable about clean eating, I just picked up the Tosco Reno book so I am learning to replace certain things, it is a lifestyle change, but that is my overall goal!!!:)

im up at 6am so that i can eat my bfast, also have a desk job where i barely move during the day.  r u important to u? thats the important q.  you need more food to function and youre still underweight.  u need to take that leap of faith.

Ladies you are amazing with replying!!! THANK YOU!!

Lala- I love the break down!!! That really puts it in perspective!!

Agruskin- thanks for understanding my issues as of lately and helping me to become more healthy when viewing food and understanding the process. Your idea with adding yogurt sounds good...I do love vanilla!! Or maybe I could add real vanilla to real plain yogurt, has anyone tried this? I guess I can play around with new ideas. Yes, pretzels are my favorite, I buy the whole wheat ones though so atleast that is a good thing. And treats I am still trying to work on adding in slowly, not much of a sweet tooth, but I do love dark chocolate!!

Thanks for the calorie breakdown!!!

Just wanted to add in my 2 cents.

I'm 15, 5'1 and 93.5 lbs... I exercise 1-2+ hours a day (two varsity sports high school) and consume around 2600 to maintain. Before, I would eat 1800 a day, and gain easily on 1900-2000 (but also only exercising 1 hour a day).. then increased to where I am now. I saw an initial gain... and then it dropped to where I am now.

Chances are, you aren't eating enough! Like mentioned, Zeb and Lala had fantastic ideas!

HI! :)

Well, I think that if you love where you are now, and if you show no signs of disordered eating, and if you are happy, you are good to go. :) CONGRATS ON LOVING YOURSELF! That's hard to do...

Thanks Mariposasola1 for the insightful response!

Thanks Chirrp for your 2 cents as far as the maintaining and increasing cals goes.

Today I added a cup of pineapple to my morning fiber cereal. And lunch will probably be a wrap again or an egg omelet with veggies and I brought an apple to work for an added boost.

Thanks for the advice, more is always appreciated!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world"