Clean Eating

I just wanted to share something with you that has been changing my energy level, way of eating, and most importantly, my waist line. Look at my weight loss tracker. I started shedding pounds when I made a few simple and 1 not so simple changes. 1 was hard for me, but other's in my class found it was very easy to do, but those same individuals struggled with things that I found very easy to do. So keep that in mind when you are reading this post.

First: Read THIS book! It has been so empowering to recognize how food affects me mentally and physically. It is really easy to be healthy with this new knowledge. Just being aware of how I am feeling has been a huge eye opener. I have struggled so long with depression and this book has helped me gain some major ground (along with my AMAZING counselor Helen Bair. You can read more about her HERE).

I took a class from the author of this book and learned a few things I wanted to share with you.

Make sure you are getting enough protein in every meal. I am WAAAAAYYY under and it has been a stretch to get myself up to the right amount. This was one change that wasn't really easy for me, but has made the biggest impact on my weight loss. I am fuller longer and eat less.

To calculate how much protein you should be consuming The equation is to take your weight in pounds..let's use 180 as an example.

Then you divide that by half so you would get 90 as the total number of grams of protein you want to have each day.

You will want to have about 1/3 of that at each meal or about 30 grams.

In the class she recommended eating HARD CORE proteins. That means eating items with denser protein per serving. (ex: a cup of yogurt has 8 grams of protein, a cup of cottage cheese has 28. Cottage cheese is more dense)
To find a list of proteins go HERE. Click on the W on protein for the list.


We also talked about eating within 1 hour of waking up and eating breakfast EVERY day. It jump starts your metabolize for the day. Don't eat breakfast and your body goes into starvation mode and actually hangs onto fat instead. Did you know sumo wrestlers do this to bulk up quickly? It's true. NEVER skip breakfast. This wasn't an issue for me because I always wake up hungry and ready for breakfast.

Lastly, we talked about getting enough complex carbs. Whole grains, brown rice, oats, etc.  per meal. So, the bowl of cold cereal isn't going to work well for breakfast anymore because it doesn't help me reach any of these goals.

All in all, I have learned that my usual easy bowl of cereal is not working for my health goals. I have been planning ahead for breakfast because in the mornings I want what ever is easiest. So, I started making breakfast items in advance. Here is my FAVORITE breakfast item that is easy, loaded with protein and healthy:) I found this recipe in the Clean Eating magazine


Make-ahead breakfast quiche

2 cups chopped mushrooms (I don't like mushrooms, but you can't tell they are there in this recipe)
3/4 chopped roasted red peppers (from jar) squeezed of liquid
1/2 cup chopped artichoke hearts (in water not marinated) squeezed of liquid
1/2 cup finally chopped green onions
1 tbsp. olive oil
liberal sprinkle of herbes de Provence
cooking spray
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 oz goat cheese
1/2 oz grated parmesan

Preheat oven to 350*F
Saute mushrooms, red peppers, artichoke hearts, and onions in olive oil and herbs de Provence until softened and warmed through. Prepare pan by spraying with cooking spray. Then Place mixture in a round cake pan, or divided among 4 large ramekin. Cover with eggs and small drops of goat cheese. Sprinkle with parmesan. ( I actually mix everything together and put in a large muffin tin then put cheese on top! Also, I just add what ever veggies I have on hand. No bottled or canned stuff for me because I don't like the taste of most canned items.)
Cook in oven for 25 minutes or until set. Cover and store in fridge.

You can use what ever veggies you have on hand. I am KNOW it is still quite tasty.

Nutrients per serving (quarter of quiche with 1/2 cup vegetables) calories: 168, total fat: 8g, sat. fat: 3 g, carbs: 7 g, Fiber: 3 g, Sugar: 2 g, Protein: 17 g, sodium: 367 mg, cholesterol: 8mg

Making Your Own Laundry Detergant

I have made my own detergent in the past. The powder in THIS post is a huge bucket of Costco brand detergent. Here are a few ways to make your own. It costs less and really isn't that hard to make.

Dry Detergent:

1 cup Borax powder
1 cup washing soda powder
2 cups Fels Naptha Soap, grated (the best stain remover EVER. I speak from experience)

Using a clean and dry cheese grater, grate the Fels Naptha soap. Put the powders and grated soap into a screw top mason jar. Put the lid on, and shake the contents vigourously to blend them. The resultant mix looks like sunshine in a bottle.
When you get ready to use the soap powder, use ONE tablespoon for a small/medium load, and TWO tablespoons for a large load. I know that this sounds insane, but you really, REALLY don't need any more than that. No, it won't hurt your clothes. It ALSO won't hurt the environment.

The above recipe will NOT make suds in your washer so don't be alarmed. Fels Naptha Soap is a pure soap and typically makes little or no suds in the water. This makes it perfect for use in the new HE washers as well as traditional washers.

You will also notice the need to either reduce your laundry softener or in most cases you can even eliminate the use of softener completely.

I haven't figured out how much money you save yet, but if any of you know I would love to hear.

Liquid Detergent

*Box of Borax Natural Laundry Boost (this can be found in the laundry soap aisle)
*Box of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (baking soda will NOT work as a substitute)
*1 bar of Fels-Naptha soap, a stain removing laundry soap (ANY bar of soap like Ivory, Dove, et. will work, but we like the extra stain-fighting in this one)
*Scented oil of your choice (optional)
*Five gallon bucket
*Empty laundry detergent bottles or milk jugs

Instructions for 5-gallons of liquid detergent:

1. Grate your bar of soap with a cheese grater. Careful, the Fels-Naptha soap really looks like cheddar cheese--kids will want to eat it!

2. Put the grated soap in a sauce pan with 6 cups water. Heat soap and water until the soap melts.

3. Add 1 cup washing soda and 1 cup Borax and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat.

4. Pour 1 gallon hot water into your 5-gallon bucket. Add your soap mixture and stir well. Add about 3 1/2 more gallons of hot water to the bucket and stir again. Add your scented oil now if you choose to. We used about 2 tsp. honeysuckle essential oil. Just add enough until it smells good to you.

5. Pour the liquid mixture into your empty bottles (you might want to try a funnel). Or, leave it in the 5-gallon bucket--it will just be a little more difficult to use. Let the mixture sit for about 24 hours. It will thicken almost to a gel.

6. Shake your bottle well before each use. Use 1/2 cup of detergent for large loads.

The Arm & Hammer Washing Soda was about $3 to $4, and the Borax about the same price. The Fels-Naptha bar ran us about $1.25. You will get about four 5-gallon buckets of laundry detergent from one box of each. With tax, we figure that works out to be about $2.50 for 5 gallons. Sweet! That could cover about 160 loads of wash! You can't get a better deal than that.