Nutrition Advice- Clean and Lean Living

I have been so pleased and overwhelmed at how many emails, personal messages and facebook messages I have received so far in response to my fitness journey. Knowing that I have encouraged so many people to get active and take control of their own health and fitness gives me a sense of pride and puts a smile on my face. So a big THANK YOU to you all and im so proud of you all for taking that first step!

I get asked a lot about nutrition. Which is great! As diet is 80% of what you need to focus on for weight loss along with the remaining 20% being exercise. Whilst I have touched on this in my previous blog I feel I need in order for you all to be able to make your own choices of foods educate you all on the fundamentals first and making it so simple that you will be able to look at a food and know whether or not it will be a good idea to put it in your body.

I am a clean and Lean advocate. Following this diet is not only fun and healthy but so simple! Clean foods are determined as a food that’s still in its natural form. Eg Orange on a tree Vs Potato Chips, guess which one isn’t how it was meant to be? So anything that’s processed, walk away disco laydee. Clean foods are great as they are full of everything you want them to be for a start but the best bit is they are free of toxins. Toxins are a dieter’s worst enemy. They are stored in your fat cells. Your fat cells can be eliminated through exercise (and healthy eating) however toxins will stay in your body. They make their way back into your blood stream and make you feel lethargic and horrible. Your body then tries to heal itself by holding onto your fat cells to store the toxins in. Alas you stop losing weight and start to gain it again and you just went in a circle and you’re back to where you started.

A big fat bully (pun intended) to stay away from is Sugar. Yes even your organic/raw/brown sugars. Sorry to say but this includes honey. (Manuka honey is ok in moderation). What will surprise a lot of you is Skim Milk contains a huge amount of sugar! You are better off with a light or soy version milk. People who have eliminated a lot of their sugar intake have seen the weight drop off. So NO to sugar! Now this will come as a surprise but a lot of fruits actually contain natural sugars called Fructose. I try and avoid most fruits due to this and will only eat bananas or apples when I feel like a piece of fruit. 

 *Note the riper a fruit is the more sugar it contains. If given the option though, a piece of fruit can be a good snack as opposed to more toxins fat/filled option. 

Another big one is heavily processed cheeses! Avoid them! You can identify them as bright yellow and ones that comes in slices. (Yes the one that is most likely in your fridge right now). Go for hard white cheeses like feta and goat. I’m lactose intolerant myself so I don’t have dairy in my diet aside a few times a week a small amount of cottage cheese which contains protein.

Make sure you plan your meals, it can actually be fun! I find myself counting down until I get to have my next meal. I have 6 of them a day! Make sure you spend time to think about your dinners too. A lot of people find they are so tired when they get home they just go for the “easy” premade option. This will not help you in the slightest! My meals take me 10mins TOPS to make and cook! So there is no excuse and using excuses only will hurt yourself.

Breakfast

My favorite meal and the most important one of the day! Try and have breakfast within an hour of waking up. It’s important to get this right as this is your main kick start to your metabolism.

Make sure you include protein in your breakfast. Cereal is the worse breakfast you could have. They are full of sugar and have no protein. The only exception is wholegrain oats.

I always wake up and have boiled water cooled down with freshly squeezed lemon juice in it. Not only does it hydrate you but it starts your day with a good detox! You will notice the difference so I urge you to try it!

My recommendations:

1 Rye toast (organic dark rye)

Avocado

Fresh squeeze of lemon

2 egg omelet made with

Spinach

Garlic

Parsley/thyme

Mushroom

·         You can add asparagus, turkey, smoked salmon, ginger in also

Alternatively you can poach your eggs rather than scramble.

OR

Wholegrain Oats with mixed berries (mixed with water not milk)

A great pancake recipe that you can make on weekends for fun is.

4eggs

100g wholegrain rolled oats

150g fat free cottage cheese

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Blend together in a food processor and poured into a pan like you would do a pan cake.

·         You can also add blueberry’s to this or mix in your protein powder

 Lunch

At Lunch you want to be sure to again have protein and I highly recommend vegetables especially green ones. Have your protein around the size of your fist and then eat all the veggies you want until you are full. Be sure with every meal to stop eating when you feel full or uncomfortable. Don’t keep forcing anymore in.

Recommendations:

Lean Chicken breast/ Kangaroo steaks/ Salmon

Broccoli

Snow peas

Zucchini

Beans

Carrot

Mushrooms

Asparagus (helps to de bloat your tummy)

(choose at least 3)

Chicken with sweet chilli and Vegies

Dinner

Make sure you don’t slack off at dinner! It’s very important! It is also a myth that eating late at night will make you fat. Eating badly at anytime of the day will make you fat! Try and not eat then go to sleep though as your body does need time to digest before doing into sleep mode. Try to avoid frying your meats to cook them. I use my George Foreman grill! If you don’t have one, go get one! The easiest way to cook meats and you will never be able to use the excuse of no time ever again!

Recommendations:

Any Fish, chicken, turkey, lean meat I.e. Kangaroo. No sausages (Kanga Bangas exception but not recommended for every night either)

Then yet again go for gold on your veggies! Don’t be scared to have some complexed carbs in there either. I love sweet potato mash!

Don’t steam the hell out of your vegetables either. Eat what you can raw or lightly steamed. They lose their nutrients the longer they are cooked for.

Kangaroo Steaks and Veg

Salmon, Egg and Veg

Salmon and Veg

Now some flavors you can use so you don’t feel bored within 2 days!

·         Mustard seeds

·         Garlic

·         Ginger

·         Lemon

·         Lime

·         Chilli

·         Flax oil

·         Olive oil

·         herbs

·         coconut oil

·         Avocado (on meats)

I mentioned I eat 6 meals a day. This is to keep my metabolism going and feeding my body constantly so it doesn’t go into starvation (store fat) mode. I eat every 2.5hrs - 3hrs.

Good Ideas for your meals 2 and 4 are,

3 Corn thins

Avocado

Freshly squeezed lemon juice

Cracked pepper

*you can also add cottage cheese, lean turkey, smoked salmon, springwater tuna.

OR

Protein Shake with some almonds/pistachios/raw cashews/ brazil nuts/sunflower seeds/pumpkin seeds.

·         Please DONT buying any supermarket protein’s, they are full of sugar and as you know sugar is BAD.

·         Go visit a supplement store and talk to someone who knows what they are talking about and get the right one for you.

·         I am lucky enough to be sponsored by ASN Brisbane (Australian Sports Nutrition) and highly recommend visiting them in store or online/their facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/asn.brisbane

OR

100g chicken/turkey breast/salmon

Steamed green beans/broccoli

OR

2 boiled eggs

Steamed green beans/broccoli

Corn Thins with Avocado, fresh lemon Juice and cracked pepper

Corn thins with cottage cheese, springwater tuna, fresh lemon juice and cracked pepper.

Few last helpful Facts

• ·         Throughout the day I drink Green and White Tea. Just note Green tea does contain caffeine so anymore then 6 cups a day could see you having trouble sleeping.

• ·         Organic Coconut oil is the best oil to use. It can help with weight loss. I like to add a teaspoon into my green tea or lemon water.

• ·         Go grocery shopping on a full stomach. It will help you resist temptation to by all those sugar filled nasties that you don’t want in your trolley or cupboard.

• ·         Eating healthy fats will in fact help burn fat and help you lose weight. So don’t be scared to eat your avocados and salmon. Essential fatty acids help move fat out of the fat cells and into your bloodstream allowing your body then to burn it off.

• ·         Don’t microwave your protein.

• ·         Squeeze lemon juice (from a lemon not a bottle) over all your veggies and meats if you want a bit of flavor. Its detoxing and fat burning. 

Best Methods of cooking! So fast and easy.

I hope this helps you all in some way to be confident enough to make a healthy choice. I am always willing to help out with any questions you all might still have.

LIVE*LAUGH*LOVE

Remember Clean = Lean





SJ x