Tracey's Clean Eating Story

In case you missed it, here is a reprint of Tracey's clean eating story from her September 2011 forum post complete with links to some of the resources she used.

My good friend and trainer,Tyler English, has a saying, "You can't out train a bad diet." And you know what? He's exactly right. You can do all the exercise you want, but if you are eating poorly you will NOT see the results you desire.

After making the commitment to lose all 30+ lbs of my 2nd baby weight, I decided to do something completely different than I'd ever done with my eating - I went Vegan. I got the book The Engine 2 Diet: The Texas Firefighter's 28-Day Save-Your-Life Plan that Lowers Cholesterol and Burns Away the Pounds by Rip Esselstyn and with the support of my husband we both embarked on this Vegan journey together. In the past when I needed to lose a few pounds I would cut out carbs and I'd see the pounds fall off, this time 75% of my diet was composed of carbs - the difference? They are GOOD carbs! We have all been so brainwashed to believe that all carbohydrates are BAD for us we fear them and avoid them like they are poison, when in actuality they are what our bodies need to sustain us through a particularly grueling workout. Any question you have regarding following a whole plant based diet can be answered in Rip's book - it is EXCELLENT and very easy to read. It makes perfect sense and has been tested on a large number of people. What I love most about it is it is clean eating at it's very best, the recipes are OUTSTANDING and you are never deprived, you can eat until your hearts desire.

The weight fell off me, but not very fast like it did when I eliminated all carbs like in the past, it came off slow and steady - about 2 lbs a week and completely shrunk my body back to normal!

My husband and I have been eating this way since Jan 4th and I've never felt better. My husband had high cholesterol and blood pressure and Rip's book guaranteed that in just 28 days eating a plant based diet would lower your cholesterol and blood pressure and sure enough, my husbands cholesterol dropped 100 points in 28 days and his blood pressure is at an all time low - no meds needed!!!!!!

My husband is from Kansas City and grew up on red meat - every Friday for the past 7 years we have hosted "steak night at the Staehle's" so going Vegan was not something we were not 100% committed to. My husband loves it so much he doesn't even want to eat fish - I have now added fish into my diet once a month, so I guess I'm now a semi-vegetarian.

I just wanted to let you all know what has worked for me and how happy it has made me and how wonderful I feel.

Some of our favorite recipes from The Engine 2 Diet are Jane's Jammin' Burritos and Meat Loaf - delish!

Here are 3 books I recommend.

The Engine 2 Diet: The Texas Firefighter's 28-Day Save-Your-Life Plan that Lowers Cholesterol and Burns Away the Pounds

Clean Food: A Seasonal Guide to Eating Close to the Source with More Than 200 Recipes for a Healthy and Sustainable You

Clean Start: Inspiring You to Eat Clean and Live Well with 100 New Clean Food Recipes

Low Carb/High Protein Recipes

When I was training for my competition I found it much easier to plan my meals by using my crock pot - simple, easy and you can't burn it! After being 100% Vegan for 7 months I decided to add chicken and fish back into my diet. Chicken is so great because it's low fat, high protein and has virtually zero carbs! You can add so many great things to it to make oodles of different meals. Here is one of my favorites:

Simple Chicken and Salsa Serves 4

Fresh ground pepper

3 dried red chilies
1 pound boneless skinless chicken

1 cup salsa (I always use Trader Joe's Chipotle Salsa)

Morton's Light Salt to taste

Put all ingredients in slow cooker on low. It will be ready in less than 4 hours. I check on it every hour and cut up the chicken until it's shredded.

Great VEGAN Recipe!

My FAVORITE PASTA and what a find being lower in carbs and super high in protein! It's Black Bean Pasta - you can get it here: Explore Asian Authentic Black Bean Spaghetti.

Cook pasta according to directions then add the following:

You can do ANYTHING with this pasta - I add as many veggies as I can:

spinach

tomatoes

broccoli

kale

bok choy

garlic

onion

1 tsp curry power

fresh ground pepper

1/4 cup light coconut milk

Saute all veggies in pan using Coconut Oil Cooking Spray - I very very seldom cook with oil - that is one thing I've continued after following the Engine 2 Diet for 7 months - I've dropped the oil and picked up the Pam ;-p

I cook until tender - add curry powder and coconut milk, add to pasta and enjoy ;-)

Here is a nice semi-vegetarian recipe:

Salmon with Coconut Oil and Bananas

This could be my favorite salmon recipe. I serve this over steamed spinach.

Heat 1 T. coconut oil in a saute pan with 1 cut up banana until the banana caramelizes and gets thick. If you need additional oil in your pan use coconut oil cooking spray (you can get it at Whole Foods or order it online), add salmon and cook to your liking. I like to add sweet curry powder and brown rice.

Simple, easy and really tasty!

December Ultimate Challenge Rotation

***If you're reading this after December 2011, simply click the back arrow on the calendar and go to December to see the rotation.***

A lot of you said you were ready to train like Tracey, so here you go! Tracey has created a month-long rotation similar to what she used to get her body back after having two kids.

All Fit by Tracey DVDs are out of print, but if you need any for the challenge, you can purchase them from Amazon while supplies last. When they're gone, they're gone.

Ready to get started? Just click on the workout to display more. Good luck!