Clean Eating?

[LizM]

I've seen several recommendations on here to do a very simple meat, veggies, and fruit diet. I looked for a post that better described what you can have, but didn't see anything so sorry if I'm repeating a question.

I've been gluten free for two weeks now with no results (in fact, was feeling worse for the first week). I'm thinking about trying to do the clean eating for a while. What exactly can I have on this diet? I know the obvious - meats, veggies, fruits, but what about seasonings? Are there any salad dressings I can have? If not, can I do balsamic vinegar/olive oil? Should I cut out eggs and dairy too?

Also, I would love some recommendations for meals. I am a big breakfast eater, and I need something quick I can do in the morning (are grits ok? I'm thinking no, but that would be easy if I could). I drive all day for work and eat lunch in my car so I need something for lunch that I can just grab and eat as I'm going (and I don't stop for lunch so nothing that requires utensils). I've done grapes with my sandwiches before so I can bring that, but no idea what else to bring. Dinners should be easy, just need to know what seasonings I can use.

Finally, how long should I do the clean eating? I know everyone is different, but since I've had no results so far, I don't want to just keep doing both of these indefinitely! Thanks for any advice!

[ang1e0251]

A diet with whole foods you prepare yourself, I think, is the ideal way to begin this diet. It gives you a good start and you should feel good eating this way. It also provides a basis for other cooking and preparing food when you are ready to branch out. Many people are overwhelmed with grocery shopping in the beginning.

Whole foods are foods that are complete in nature; meats, vegetables, fruits, beans, and nuts. For cooking, use pure, one ingredient spices to begin with and make sure they are spices you didn't double dip a gluteny spoon into.

I eat a lot of eggs. If you don't feel you are sensitive to them, include them in your diet. They are high in protein and portable when hardboiled. But dairy is tricky. Many of us cannot tolerate it in the beginning. I was already lactose intolerant for years so I knew what I could eat. I would at least cut out fresh milk products for a time. For salad dressings, an oil and vinegar you prepare yourself would be best to start with. Watch out for balsamic vinegars as some have gluten. I use cider vinegar.

If you cook your food ahead, you should be able to eat simple things in the car. I like cheese chunks and grapes, Hormel Naturals lunchmeat if you must have lunchmeat. I like chicken chunks fried ahead on a long toothpick with an olive, cheese chunck and pineapple. I still eat eggs every day for breakfast.

If you follow this diet for about a month and are feeling good, then branch out to new foods. Just do that one food at a time so that you'll know if there is some food you react to.

[maile]

I totally understand the driving part, there are many days where just fitting in food is a adventure with my job.

what makes the eating clean while traveling for work is preparation, when I'm on the ball I do it on the weekend and then grab and go.

as angle0251 said eggs are darn handy and quick, pre peel them in the morning cause then it's just grab and eat while driving.

pre cook chicken or turkey breast season with salt and pepper or other safe spices and slice into a container, same thing

there's also an old "low carb" trick to take roast beef and wrap in lettuce with mayo, salt and pepper for a "wrap"

if you can tolerate nuts then almonds are also handy (best to get them raw and toast yourself, that way you can also season them as you want)

you can use spices (check labels, McCormicks is a popular brand with us), garlic, onion and ginger to season as well as wine vinegars, cider vinegar (check the label to make sure not made with a grain mother..trust me those exist ) lemon juice, maple syrup and honey. Oils are fine as should be mayo

for breakfast, gluten free granola: take raw sunflower seeds and nuts of choice, toast in a frying pan for a few minutes, cool, add grated orange peel, dried berries (make sure they haven't been coated in flour to prevent sticking) and then mix everything with a little honey or maple syrup

have this with some sliced bananas or other fruit.

other suggestions for eating on the run cut up fruits (slice apples and put into a container sprinkle with safe cinnamon) and veggies, grape or cherry tomatoes

as for how long to do this? try it for a month and see how you feel.

[bittykitty]

I eat a lot of brown rice w/fruit and nuts in the morning...maybe a little raw honey and non homoginzed milk.Congee(rice porridge) with home pickled veggies and shrimp sometimes.Eggs are also pretty common.

For lunch..nuts,spinach salads,fruits,yogurts,smoothies made with green tea and fresh fruits

Dinner.. fish,shrimp,sweet potatos,fruit,boomi bars,dates,figs,cheese..Spices and learning to try new cusines are the most important things.You can eat almost anything you did before,you just have to learn to season and adapt to cooking with different ingredients.

Buying in season and eating what is avalible locally will also help.Your body will actually tell you what it wants..you just have to listen.

[Nancym]

I'd leave off all grains if you're doing this, so no grits or rice.

For breakfast there's bazillion and one ways to cook eggs. Bacon. Left over lunch or dinner (no law you can't switch up meals). How about baking up some yams and having one reheated with ghee or bacon fat in the morning?

If you want to skip eggs, some people are sensitive, then make up a big batch of a meat dish and have it from b-fast.

I would include spices, otherwise I'd probably shrivel up and die. Just make sure they're not contaminated with bad stuff. I would also use vinegar, for the same hedonistic reasons.

You might want to not have nuts or seeds, lots of people are sensitive to them. Avoid vegetable oils except olive or coconut oil. Use bacon drippings or duck fat for cooking, or some other tasty fat. You could get some ghee.

This is a good time to get acquainted with some of the unusual veggies in your grocery store: Celery root, baby bok choy, rutabagas, turnips, beets, yams, squash, various cabbages. I've made some amazing dishes of roasted root vegetables with olive oil, rosemary and smashed cloves of garlic. They're just awesome.

For meat there are things like roasted duck, lamb roast, seared duck breast, chili (without the beans) if you're ok with chili powder and tomatoes and other spices. Have a nice side of a great veggie. YUM!

Right now I am eating a lot of Asian cabbage salads (with meat and nuts), avocado/baba ganoush omelets, cincinatti chili (special recipe), roasted chicken, steamed broccoli with bacon fat and of course, bacon. You can get bacon without the additives these days, just check a Health food store, like Whole Foods.

How long should you eat cleanly? My honest answer is... for life. Or at least as cleanly and simply as possible. No one is 100% all the time. I strive for 80-90%.

Search on "paleo diet" or "stone age diet" and you can get more ideas for a healing diet.

[LizM]

Thanks for all the suggestions! As long as I know I can still season my food with gluten free seasonings, I'm good. I do a lot of cooking anyway so I know how to play with the spices. I just didn't want to be eating baked chicken with nothing but salt and pepper on it. My only problem will be the eggs. I can eat them, but I already have high cholesterol so I have to be careful. Maybe I'll just boil them and only eat the whites sometimes.

Any suggestions for something to "dip" the raw veggies into? I don't mind bringing them for my on the go meals, but I really don't like raw vegetables without ranch or something.

Should I start feeling at least somewhat better after a couple of weeks? I don't mind doing the diet for a month or so. My issue is I have had my symptoms (headaches) for almost 2 years now, and I don't want to "waste" time continuing the diet if it is not going to help. I just don't know how long to continue trying this without giving up and saying this isn't working for me either. Thanks again for everyone's help!

[GFinDC]

Bean dip

I make bean dip sometimes using Goya canned garbanzo beans. They are already cooked and soft so you can just drain them, put them in a large bowl and smash them with a tater masher. Could do 'em up in a food processer too I guess. Add whatever extras you like. I have tried adding a little sesame tahini paste, garlic powder, canned salmon, salt pepper, maybe some Italian herbs. You can add some olive oil and water and lemon juice also, to adjust the thickness. Plenty of options to add to this, like chopped tomatoes, parsley, onion, olives etc. to make different versions. I always add the salmon last so I don't break it up too much.

Tahini

I also make sesame tahini dip by mixing tahini paste, lemon juice and a little olive oil. whip it up with a fork until it gets nice thick. Again with garlic powder, salt and pepper etc flavors as you like. You can leave this nice and thick for dipping or thin it down as much as you like.

Guacamole

Another one is guacamole dip. Just smash up a couple of avocadoes with some olive oil, lemon juice and spices or whatever and good to go. Guacamole only last a few days due to the enzymes in it, and it keeps better if you cover it with plastic wrap over the surface to keep air at a minimum.

With any of these I sometime add some psyllium husks powder for extra fiber and to absorb any excess moisture if I made it too runny/thin by mistake. Just stir in a 1/2 teaspoon or so. I generally like dips kind of thick. Adding ins salmon makes the dip more of a complete protein meal with just some Tostitos or other gluten-free corn chip. Some of the Tostitos flavors have diary so watch out for that if you are going dairy free too. The plain Tostitos are the kind I usually get. Of course you can eat these dips with gluten-free pretzels too or on a corn tortilla roll-up.

[amoliphant]

"Annie's Organic Honey Mustard" is really good too...it's runny enough to use as a dip and is good used to make a salad dressing with a little olive oil and apple cider vinegar; also great on "roll-ups", sliced turkey, chicken (lunchmeat variety), spinach, etc. Small enough to carry in your bag too for lunches out, etc.

[daphniela]

Thanks for all the suggestions! As long as I know I can still season my food with gluten free seasonings, I'm good. I do a lot of cooking anyway so I know how to play with the spices. I just didn't want to be eating baked chicken with nothing but salt and pepper on it. My only problem will be the eggs. I can eat them, but I already have high cholesterol so I have to be careful. Maybe I'll just boil them and only eat the whites sometimes.

Any suggestions for something to "dip" the raw veggies into? I don't mind bringing them for my on the go meals, but I really don't like raw vegetables without ranch or something.

Should I start feeling at least somewhat better after a couple of weeks? I don't mind doing the diet for a month or so. My issue is I have had my symptoms (headaches) for almost 2 years now, and I don't want to "waste" time continuing the diet if it is not going to help. I just don't know how long to continue trying this without giving up and saying this isn't working for me either. Thanks again for everyone's help!

Are you sure they are headaches and not migraines? Migraines can be caused by lack of magnesium. I would try eating foods high in magneisum and see if that helps. You should eat brown rice instead of white rice. Beans have a lot of magnesium too. Black beans, navy beans, and white beans have the most. Fish has a lot also. Halibut and tuna are good sources. Almonds are high in magnesium also. For veggies and fruit, you should eat spinach, artichokes, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, squash, bananas, and dried figs. And maybe add ssome buckwheat flour or cornmeal to anything you make with flour. Snack on some pumpkin seeds or soybeans.

[ang1e0251]

Dr. Carolyn Dean recommends 600 mg magnesium for an average size adult.

[knittygirl1014]

You can dip your veggies in hummus, or if you're weird like me, peanut butter.

For an on-the-go breakfast, I found a recipe for healthy oatmeal cookies. You'd have to get Bob's Red Mill gluten free oats though. The recipe uses mashed up bananas and oil instead of lots of butter, and I used Splenda instead of sugar.

I think the recipe was:

1 c oatmeal

1/2 c sugar

2 mashed bananas

1/4 c vegetable oil

cinnamon/nutmeg to taste

bake for 12 min 350

I may have added a little rice milk as well if it was too dry. I got the recipe from cooks.com I believe but I can't find it again. You can add in some gluten free flour if you don't want them to be so chewy.

Also, instead of grits Bob's Red Mill has Mighty Tasty Gluten Free Cereal. And it is mighty tasty.