Well, that was an eye opener~!!
 

I made a post a few days ago about me changing my diet to a "clean" one. So, today was payday and off to whole foods I went. It was extremely overwhelming. I had been in whole foods many times - for seafood, booze, lotions... I have never walked through the produce section with the intent to buy anything and I quickly learned that a.) I dont know what I'm looking at - I can't identify most vegetables. b.) I don't know how to see if the ones I'm picking are good or not, like you check an apple for bruising... and c.) even if i did have a name for these items in front of me, and even if i did know how to figure out if it was quality produce or not - i have NO IDEA how to put them together, cut them, etc... SIGH.

Regardless, I stocked up and figure I will do lots of internet research and cook book hunting...

The second thing I did today (and possibly equally as eye opening and life changing) was that I went to Best Buy and picked up a Perfect Portion Nutrition Scale. Have you heard of this thing?? Its AMAZING. It comes pre-programmed with about 2000 foods and you can add to its data base.... You plug in a code number that correlates to the food you want to measure that you find in the booklet that comes with it and you just put your food on the scale - it not only tells you the weight - but the exact calories, nutritional content - everything. It creates a food label for the exact portion you have!!

So, armed with my new whole foods food, my new scale and a few boxed of ziplocks I took to task of weighing out every.single.thing.in.my.kitchen. After I determined what the calories were for my common things (how much is in a table spoon of bbq sauce and how much bbq sauce do I normally use?) I wrote the calorie and measurement on the label and on the lid in a big black sharpie. I also did the same thing for all of my new food and I measured out appropriate portions of fruit, veg, meat, fish, etc... to meet my meal plan guide lines. I want 200 calories of shrimp? Well, I'll just reach over to my new handy-dandy scale and measure up 200 calories of shrimp!... So i ziplocked and labeled all of those as well! I learned quickly that food that didn't come with a perfect food label on it (mostly meats, but many other things that are just difficulty to determine the portion size - ie, anything that doesn't clearly state that there are 250 calories in the meal) that I was wwaayyyy off on my in-my-head-calorie-measuring-skills! What really is 250 calories of beef looks a lot like what I thought would be 100 calories of beef and I have been eating well over twice that amount... Amazing!

Now my whole kitchen looks like a crazy person attacked it with sharpie calories written and almost everything portioned out in ziplocks in the freezer and fridge... I made it so that as soon as I open a cabinet or the fridge - not only do I see the food, but I see the calorie content as well. There is the 460 calorie soup next to the 110 calorie soup - with it written on the front of the label.

I think I officially just changed my life again! hahaha This whole weight loss journey really is just that--- a journey. One life changing discovery after another on your way to Goal. It will certainly be interesting to see DH's reaction when he wakes up to see that not only is the fridge portioned off foods, but that I also decided that even his food should have calorie labels!!! :dizzy:

You are insane.

In a good way. :)

We do that with meat, actually, since we buy it in bulk and have to bag it up in smaller portions, anyway. We've talked about doing it to other things as well...mainly munchie foods that need to be broken down into portions (proper servings of chips, etc).

I think it's a great idea. If it makes this challenge any easier for you, go for it!

I want that scale! I just got on BB and they have it in stock at our store. I'm soooo getting it.

You go girl! I love the image of you with your scale and a sharpie!

Good for you!

What an awesome idea and lol @ the imagery.

I just bought one of those scales too and I'm excited to start using it.

I just have a plain old digital scale, and I love it! Measure stuff out, portion in advance, it's a great thing for really getting a handle on how many calories one actually eats! Also love the ZipLoc containers, my freezer is always full o' those!

So you done a great job!

Anyway, if you are new to veggies, don't feel you have to try everything all at once, get a few, Google to learn how to deal with them (from picking them out, storing, preparing, etc...) and take it from there.

Eating relatively clean is actually pretty easy once you start realizing that whole food tastes pretty darn good with pretty minimal prep. It may take your taste buds a while to acclimate if you are used to eating a lot of processed foods, but eventually, you'll find you can whip up quick snacks and meals with no recipes needed and it will all taste great!

just looked up that scale, how awesome is that. you're going to end up with a great eye for how many calories is in foods.

you can ask people and workers in the grocery store, about ripeness and such, and you can ask here. It's fun to experiment and try new things. I've found good recipes on this site.

In my mind I was kind of poo-poohing the idea of New Years, and all the resolutions esp around diets, but it really can be a refreshing time, you know, to generate new ideas and habits. thanks for sharing.

Whoa! I am impressed!

As for new foods, just pick a new one every week. ;) You'll be eating vegetables you've never heard of in no time! When I first got married I thought garlic came only in powder form and an never held an onion and certainly didn't know how to peel/slice one. My mom was a salt and pepper kind of cook. I've come a long way and I think there are very few vegetables I'm not familiar with now.

I still don't know how to properly slice a tomato. :rofl: But I slice it in a way that works for me!

I never thought about shopping for a food scale at BestBuy. Dang, I just bought a cheapie digital at KMart.

I love what you've done to your kitchen - that kind of commitment has quite a bit of staying power.

I have a love (variety, freshness) hate (crowds, prices) relationship with Whole Foods.

Here is one gem for selecting produce: If blackberries are red, they're still green! :D

That scale sounds fab, but even better is your resolve! Way to go :)
I would recommend looking through the great thread "101 ways to make vegetables" for some ideas and inspiration!

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/100-...egetables.html

I've been a clean eater for a year now and I LOVE it. Good for you!

YouTube is really helpful as far as prepping foods and cooking recipes. Just go there and do a search on "clean eating recipes" and you get over 500 results.

I also subscribe to Clean Eating Magazine which has like 50+ recipes every week (which includes calorie counts, yippee!) and they often have little articles about "odd" fruits and veggies. There is tons to learn.

Also, if you have a farmer's market in your area, make a habit of hitting them up once a week. It is cheaper than Whole Foods, plus you know you are getting in-season and local veg.

Love this!!