Nutritional Plan: Clean eating

Informative, insightful, and effective

What exactly does it mean to "eat clean"?

Eating clean is basically eating 5- 6 small portions of unprocessed foods composing of the correct amount of lean protein, complex slow burning carbohydrates, and fat.

Good sources of meat should be high in protein and low in fat like egg whites, skinless, boneless chicken breast, tilapia, ground turkey and lean cuts of beef like london broil

Good sources of carbohydrates are oats, brown rice, asparagus, broccoli, berries, spinach, and most greens.

Also, while eating clean, sodium should be cut out (like table salt) and all types of cooking oil.

Since I tested as an Ecto-Endomorph body type from *Michael Thurmond's book 6-day Body Makeover. I am following the book's template for Body Type E.

With my body type, if I eat too many of the wrong carbs, or eat carbs alone without protein, any of these combinations can essentially bring my metabolism to a stop. My goal in eating clean is to eat specific slow burning carbs combined with the correct amount of lean protein equally spaced out during the day to fuel me nutritionally and metabolically to lose a healthy amount of fat.

"The goal of your eating plan is to keep your metabolism moving fast enough to burn fat, while causing it to add and maintain the lean muscle that will give you a shapely, well-defined body so that you can burn even more fat. With a Body Type E, your physique may resemble a tube, with a skinny, bony frame underneath areas of body fat."

Breakfast

3 oz lean beef and 2 to 3 scrambled egg whites

Midmorning snack

3 oz lean beef (or chicken breast) and 1 to 2 cups mixed greens (any type)

Lunch

2 - 3 oz chicken breast, 1/2 cup brown rice, and 1 to 2 cups mixed vegetables

Midafternoon snack

3 oz lean beef and 1 grapefruit (or 1 cup mixed berries)

Dinner

2 to 3 oz chicken breast 1/2 cup brown rice, and 1 to 2 cups mixed vegetables

I adjust this template accordingly to whether my activity level for the day is low, medium, or high and have added 1- 2 low calorie, high protein, fruit smoothies (which I LOVE by the way.) 

Another rule-of-thumb-type template I am following is from consulting with my brother **Erle Dizon who is well versed in clean eating and body building:
 

Total calories per day between 1200 - 1300  
Carbs between 60 to a maximum of 100 grams depending of exercise/physical activity
Protein 150 - 160 grams
Fat 45 grams 




Let's talk results for the past 3 weeks:

From my baseline of exercising alone and not watching what I ate I lost 1 pound, from the Sambazon 3 Day Cleanse I lost 2 pounds, from eating clean a net 3 pounds (-4 pounds +1 pound from 1 cheat meal) So overall, in three weeks I am down 6 pounds. 

Most of all I am invigorated and my running is strong.

*Michael Thurmond is a renowned fitness and nutrition expert who has appeared on Extreme Makeover.

**Erle Dizon has over 10 years of experience eating clean, lifting mean, and the physique to prove it.

Happy (clean) eating and here's to a great week ahead for us all! :)