Friday, September 26, 2008

Clean Eating, and my Inner Snob

I've been wanting to write about the subject of "eating clean". Eating clean will, if it hasn't already, be the next bandwagon to be jumped on....thank goodness the catch-phrase"core training" is winding down, lol! I would love to write all of my thoughts and opinions about eating clean, but that would take too long, and very quickly become boring in a pretentious kind of way. So, instead I'm simply starting this post with the question of "What does eating clean mean?"

This is where my inner snob starts to show.....

In a perfect "eating clean" world, any food that processed, in any way, is not "clean". Any food that comes in a package, and all you have to do is open the package and eat, is not eating clean.
So on a scale of 1-10, #1 being ready-made, ready-to-eat, processed foods, and #10 being fresh, live, raw, natural and truly organic foods that you prepare yourself, where do your foods rate?

I keep, and have been keeping a hard copy food journal for months now, and I'll start to post my daily menu again on Food and Thought, rating my own food choices and why I make the choices I do. The trade-offs that are sometimes acceptable, and the hypocrisy my inner snob has to answer to, lol!

I have an interest and desire to keep improving the foods I chose to eat, building a strong, resilient body, and maintain a quality of health that gives me the physical freedom to enjoy this good life. I see and hear a similar desire with the people I connect with everyday and I thought this would be a good way of expanding, and sharing ideas of awareness.

There is so much information, but more importantly so much personal experience, not just mine, on how to move toward health. That's my "thing", Move toward health.....(another blog post, for another time!) I look forward to any comments.

14 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm working on eating *clean*. Like you said, i guess this is the next catch phrase. I don't know how we got away from doing this if we were taught at an early age how to eat. When did the process monster enter our homes? When did the sugar beast enter our homes? Now we have to stand guard all the time and read and sieve through what's good and what's not so good. I'm on the same food journey, or similar. I know I can get this and I will. Keep on keeping on doing better for yourself. Fellow Kettlebeller, Cheryl

Tracy Reifkind said...

Cheryl,

We needed to be taught how to cook, not eat....eating we do very well, lol!

I want to see what kind of other responses I get and turn these comments into blog posts....this "clean eating" is the next big thing, that I know.

Christine said...

Oh my - is that a fresh plum you're eating? I'm envious! Though, someone did bring me about 20 pounds of fresh picked apples (gala, granny smith, johnathon) but I tell you, we're halfway thru the bag and I am appled-out!

Kelly said...

Tracy I think you have hit the nail right on the head...we need to get in the kitchen and cook. It doesn't have to be that hard or even time consuming. I find some of the best tasting dishes only have a few ingredients in them. Keep it simple and let the flavour of the food come out. Right now I am quite addicted to your roasted cauliflower curry soup with honey drizzled in. Super quick and easy. I think another piece of this is growing whatever you can yourself even it's just a tomato plant in a pot or herbs in your kitchen window and get in touch with where our food actually comes from and if possible can or preserve. for the cold winter months (if you live in Canada as I do). A little bit of effort can mean a full pantry I'm blessed to have a very large property and my husband has a farmer inside him dying to get out so for me eating locally grown means walking outside and picking my dinner a few minutes before cooking it. Anyway I love your blog and really appreciate the time it must take to videotape and share your workouts along with your great food pictures and recipes. I am a fairly new kettlebeller but it has changed so many things for me (such as doing swings in the kitchen while I'm stirring a pot of chili!)and I am telling anyone who will listen how wonderful it is. Your blog is always a reference I suggest to people.
Kelly

Franz Snideman said...

Eating clean is the only way to go. I have to admit that I do eat protein powder and protein bars which knocks my score down. But the rest of my food is CLEAN!!!

Great post Mrs. Tracy Rifclean!

Tracy Reifkind said...

Christine,

I'm picking and eating figs! Figs @20 cal per fig adds up quick! As we speak figs are rotting and falling off my neighbors tree!

I don't know why, but I have yet to get tired of seasonal foods.....I'm still making tomato soup and freezing it like crazy.

I'm always sad to see things go, but then I get distracted by something else in abundance.

Winter squash is too startchy for me and I have to watch it, but I didn't get tired of it and frickin' winter squash goes on for months.....

Crystal Schulz said...

Hi Tracy,

I've been eating my own version of "clean" for a few years now with times of all out bingeing on fatty processed foods. The result?... not reaching my goals in the gym or in my body composition. I started Precision Nutrition a couple of weeks ago and let me tell you, my eyes have been opened. What I love about the system is you are given a 10% window to "cheat". I find that I am not eating or desiring the foods I used to crave because I don't want to give up a cheat meal for something better! Eating clean is the way to go and your transparency has been a huge help to those of us who struggle with overeating as well. Off I go to make 4 quarts of squash soup!

Crystal

Tracy Reifkind said...

Kelly,

The trend with simple foods is growing...big time! The key, I believe, is practice. Cooking will never be fast and easy without practice. The easiest recipe is NO recipe! And the only way to cook without recipes is to practice using them at first, and then it starts to become second nature.

I look at recipes as guidelines, never looking at the directions, just the ingredient list, and I cut out the things I think it doesn't absolutely need, or matter....or that I don't already have!

Tracy Reifkind said...

Franz,

I would love to come up with some kind of scoring system, I think it would be fun!

I've got to get Mark to help me write a blog post about protein bars, and the average person. Most are glorified candy bars, and have alot of hidden carbs. (sugar)

Tracy Reifkind said...

Crystal,

I'm going to write a blog post on Food and Thought about "clean bingeing" lol! Until I don't feel a need to compulsively overeat, I'll have to settle on overeating good foods....it's not settling, I prefer it....I can eat so much more, lol! (and it's better tasting anyway!)

leslie said...

I learn from everything you write. Recently I've fallen back into the "healthy processed foods" trap (is that an oxymoron or what?) and need to once again, clean things up!

Why is there a CD hanging from the tree in the second picture?

Tracy Reifkind said...

Leslie,

I hope I have the energy soon to write a blog post about protein bars...I mean glorified candy bars, lol! "healthy processed foods is an oxymoron, and it's one of my pet peeves.

I don't know why the CD is on th fig tree, I'll ask my neighbor for the reason....maybe it has something to do with the birds or squirrels?

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