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clean eating challenge

Recipes and Resources for Week 2 – 21 Days of Clean Eating

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Thank you so much for joining our October Clean Eating Challenge. Here are the resources for Week 2. This week’s resources are focused on cooking for a family and eating clean on a budget.

Cooking for Your Family

Clean Eating on a Budget

Clean Eating Recipe Ideas for Week 2

April Challenge – Eat Clean for 21 Days

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21 day clean eating challenge
Eat Clean for 21 Days and Lose to Win with our April DietBet Weight Loss Pool
April 10-30! #BWLWApril

The start of the summer season, June 21, is about 12 weeks away. That is plenty of time to make major progress. That could mean not being out of breath when you play outside with your kids. That could mean wearing that swimsuit you’ve avoided because you don’t feel comfortable with your weight. That could mean seeing major improvement in your blood pressue numbers and not having to take medicine while on vacation. We know that 80% of the transformation equation is what we put in our mouths. This April, we are going to commit to clean eating and refining our eating habits for 21 days straight.

What is clean eating?

When you eat clean you will be eating unprocessed, whole foods that are prepared or cooked in ways that don’t add extra chemicals and toxins. We are talking about fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, lean meats, meat substitutes like tofu, soy, whole grains, lots of water, healthy dairy and fresh juice. We will avoid fried food, fast food, junk food, bleached white flour, artificial ingredients, soda, commercial juice and sugary drinks, processed sugar (white sugar, corn syrup), and foods with preservatives, toxins, dyes, saturated fat, and trans fat.  You will likely be cooking at lot of food at home, making green smoothies, eating salads, eating healthy snacks, and really realizing just how healthy you’ve really been eating.  It’s not about perfection…it’s about making healthy choices.

Ultimately it’s not just about weight loss or building muscle. It’s about our long term wellness goals and building a healthy lifestyle that we can maintain for the long haul. You may have a day or two where you don’t eat clean, but this about progress… not perfection. Keep your health and wellness in mind and feed yourself healthy food.

How do you join the challenge? Sign up by leaving a comment below. Let us know what your weight loss and wellness goals are for April. Updates will be sent out via our email list, so if you aren’t signed up, join today.






Click to Tweet: “I’m Eating Clean for 21 Days with the Black Women Losing Weight Sisterhood. #eatclean #BWLWApril www.blackweightlosssuccess.com”

Getting Started

Clean Eating Guide E-book

  • Need a guide to help you get started? Check out our Clean Eating Ebook

Looking for a clear, straightforward guide to help you navigate clean eating? Check out our ebook, “Clean Eating for Wellness and Weight Loss“.  It includes recipes and meal ideas too. Get your copy today for just $7.99.

Buy PDF Version | Buy Kindle Version

  • Create a Weekly Grocery List based on your food preferences.  – Not sure what to eat? Check out our Clean Eating Foods List. Whether you are vegan, going low carb, paleo, etc… you can eat more clean, whole foods vs. processed foods.
  • Create a Clean Recipe Go-To List with 10 Breakfast options, 10 lunch options and 10 dinner options. This list can serve as your go to list of meal ideas for meal prep and meal planning. A great place to start looking for recipes is Pinterest.
  • Check out these tips for eating clean on a budget.
  • Share your meal photos for Photo Accountability – Post photos of your meals, meal prep photos, workout photos and inspirational quotes on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter with the hashtag #BWLWApril
  • Don’t forget to exercise. Exercise and clean eating is a powerful combination. Work at your own pace. Find a form of exercise that works best for your level of fitness and your lifestyle.

I will post a list recipes and resources each week so that you don’t get bored.

Join our April DietBet Weight Loss Pool!

Lose 4% of your weight in 28 days and split the pot with other participants who’ve done the same.  Get the full details. Weigh-in April 8-9th – $30 Bet

Bonus Stakes Giveaway: One DietBet participant, chosen at random, will get a Polar Heart Rate Monitor and another will get 30 DietBet Credits. The fun starts on April 10th.

dietbet

Goals for April!

  • Cook or prepare at least 1 meal at home each day.  The goal is to cook more meals for yourself.  Feel free to prep and cook as many meals as you can, but 1 per day will be the minimum.
  • Eat 4-5 times per day – 3 meals and 2 snacks is a great way to split your meals up.  Don’t let more than 3 hours pass between meals.  Eat every 2-3 hours if you can.
  • Stop eating at least 2 hours before bedtime.
  • No fast food, junk food or foods high in processed sugar.  
  • Look up the calorie, carb, fat and protein counts for what you eat before you eat it.
  • Be mindful of chemicals, preservatives, dyes and other additives in the foods you eat.  Read labels and do your research.
  • Avoid sugary drinks or soda.  This includes artificial sugars in diet drinks, like Crystal Light and Diet Coke.
  • Eat ANY fresh fruits or veggies that you like (fresh or frozen).  Eat as much as you want.  Use fruit to combat fruit cravings. (Note: Limit your intake of dried fruit as they are often dried with sugar and sulfur).
  • Consider cutting back on carbs. Consider limiting your carbs to around 30% of your food intake or go low carb if that works for you.
  • Use Moderation and Portion Control. If you do indulge in processed food, fast food, junk food, etc…do it in moderation and eat reasonable portions.

Resources You Don’t Want to Miss

TOP TIP for Success: Decide on a daily calorie goal and daily goals for carbs, fat and protein.

  • Protein has 4 calories per gram – .7 to 1 gram per pound of bodyweight
  • Carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram – .7 to .9 gram per pound of bodyweight
  • Fat has 9 calories per gram – .4 to .5 gram per pound of bodyweight
  • You can also break down your calories by percentage. For example, 30% carbs, 40% protein and 30% fats.

How do you decide on how much food to eat? Use an online weight loss calculator to help you decide on the numbers that work for you. Here are some helpful calculators: www.webmd.com, www.myfitnesspal.com or www.freedieting.com. Please keep in mind that you have to do your own research and work figure out what works for your needs. Someone with blood sugar issues is not going to eat a high carb diet. Someone with pancreas or gallbladder issues can’t just pick numbers without considering how much fat they will be eating. There is no “one size fits all” plan. Here is some additional guidance.

June Clean Eating Challenge

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june clean eating challengeIn June, the Black Women Losing Weight sisterhood will focus on cleaning up our eating.  To do that, we will do what is commonly called “clean eating”.  So you may ask, “What is Eating Clean?“.

When you eat clean you will be eating unprocessed, whole foods that are prepared or cooked in ways that don’t add extra chemicals and toxins.  We are talking  about fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, lean meats, meat substitutes like tofu, soy, whole grains, lots of water, healthy dairy and fresh juice.  We will avoid fried food, fast food, junk food, bleached white flour, artificial ingredients, soda, commercial juice and sugary drinks, processed sugar (white sugar, corn syrup), and foods with preservatives, toxins, dyes, saturated fat, and trans fat.  You will likely be cooking at lot of food at home, making green smoothies, eating salads, looking for healthy snacks, and really realizing just how healthy you’ve really been eating.

Need more info?  I’ve created a downloadable e-book guide to help you navigate clean eating, “Clean Eating for Wellness and Weight Loss“.  Get your copy today for just $6.00.

How do you join us? – You join the challenge by committing clean eating and by checking-in each weekend.  How do you check-in?  By posting a status message to Facebook or our online community…or by posting a blog post to our online community.  The goal is to be accountable with other BWLW Ladies.  Post during the week to our Facebook wall and online community for support.  You can also post meal ideas, recipes, etc.

Goals for June:

  • Keep meals simple and ingredients to a minimum.
  • Cook or prepare your meals at home as much as possible so that you can control what you eat.
  • Avoid foods that are highly processed, full of preservatives to keep them fresh on a shelf, or colored with dyes.  If you don’t buy it, you will be less likely to eat it.
  • Eat 4-5 meals per day – 3 meals and 2 snacks is a great way to split these meals up.  Your goal is to not go more than 4 hours between meals.
  • Stop eating at least 2 hours before bed time.
  • No fast food.  If you have to eat in restaurants, you will read the menu and seek out whole food options like salads, lean meats and veggies that aren’t cooked in butter and covered in salt.
  • No sugary drinks.  This includes artificial sugars in diet drinks like Crystal Light and Diet Coke.

You can eat ANY fresh fruits or veggies you like (fresh or frozen).  Don’t worry about carbs from these whole and healthy foods.

Clean Eating Guide E-book
Clean Eating for Wellness and Weight Loss E-book – $6.00

NEW: “Clean Eating for Wellness and Weight Loss“.  This e-book covers:

  • Benefits of Eating Clean
  • What Foods are Clean
  • How to Eat Clean
  • Importance of Hydration
  • Eating Clean on the Go and at Work
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Exercising While Eating Clean
  • Recipes and Quick Meals
  • …and More

Download this PDF e-book and read it on your computer (on on your mobile device with the Adobe Reader app).  If you have any questions about the book, email me at info@blackwomenlosingweight.com.  The Kindle version is also available on Amazon.com

Kindle Clean Eating BookBuy Now
Ladies, You CAN NOT out exercise a bad diet.  You have to clean up the highly processed food, sugary drinks, fatty meats, fast food, etc. from your diet so that your exercise efforts are not sabotaged.  Food is 70-80% of the weight loss equation.  You have to eat a healthy diet and commit to doing so as a lifestyle change to lose the weight for good.  Starving yourself or using quick fix solutions will work in the short term, but they can cause health issues in the long run and/or will lead to the pounds coming right back.  Eating clean is very popular and there are tons of free resources online.  Here are some resources to help you:

Exercise: I would suggest that you continue with our May Exercise Challenge routines for another month if you are seeing results.  You can do them in addition to weight training and high intensity interval training.

Disclaimer: Before starting any new diet and exercise program please check with your doctor and clear any exercise and/or diet changes with them before beginning. I am not a doctor or registered dietitian. I do not claim to cure any cause, condition or disease. I do not provide medical or nutrition advice for the purpose of health or disease nor claim to be a doctor or dietitian.