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Austin Babies
brideonjuly8
member
central market or whole foods?
brideonjuly8
member
All this "cleaner" eating has definitely peaked my interest. A more gluten free diet is something that I have been meaning to get on board with. It's supposed to be better for women with endo and the s/e with the medication I might be starting are much lessened with a lower carb diet. All this to say, I need to start shopping more naturally. I don't want to go all organic or anything, but definitely cleaner, less processed, and maybe lower carb and lower gluten.
I'm going to start looking at recipes, but which do you like better- CM or WF? WF is SO much closer, but to be honest, have never done any shopping at either one. 
And does anyone know of a good place to start with the whole cleaner eating thing? Just fruits and veggies? My typical lunch consists of turkey on wheat with light mayo and provolone, baked doritos and a 100 cal snack pak. How can I transition that to be healthier/less processed but with maintaining taste?
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Re: central market or whole foods?
WF is great. Honestly, even in my small town HEB, I can find most of what I am looking for in terms of cleaner eating foods.
One thing you want to think about is how you want to define cleaner eating for yourself. We're doing a clean eating week where I'm being pretty strict with myself, but I don't know if I'll maintain it indefinitely. I just wanted to kick start it. But, for me this week, it means only 100% whole grains, fresh fruits & veggies, organic dairy, raw sugar or honey, and meat. I'm not eating deli meat (which I miss). I am allowing myself some wine, though...and some diet soda...which is terrible, but we've had some rough nights here and I need the caffiene.
So, in terms of your lunch...could you do something like:
grilled/baked chicken breast on ezekiel bread (in the frozen section) w/ mustard & avocado mashed with greek yogurt.
Some organic grapes
When DH and I were TTC, I had to go off some stomach meds. I used the book "The 28 Day Cleansing Program" by Scott Ohlgren to get on a better style of eating. While the science used in the book is "iffy" (i.e. most evidence is anecdotal), I found the advice and recipes very useful. It was mainly about cutting out wheat, processed foods, sugar, and dairy. I ended up doing it for a few months and have never felt better - my skin was clear, I had energy, my GI worked like a machine... I shopped at WF b/c their bulk department is awesome. The WF cookbook (which is in book and online) has many great recipes.
FYI: when I discussed it with my dr., she highly suggested not going gluten-free unless absolutely medically necessary. It seems that our bodies can lose the ability to process gluten, and that gluten isn't necessarily "bad." It's mostly the processed foods that contain gluten that we have a hard time with, not the gluten itself. I ended up having to quit eating the way described above because once I got off my meds, my body couldn't process all the insoluble fiber, and once I started eating bread again, it cascaded down from there.
I would stay away from the processed gf stuff, it's generally filled with other stuff that's bad for you. Generally, when someone is advised to go gf that does not have celiacs is to return to a healthful diet of high grade meats, fruits and veggies.
We use WF because they are closer, but honestly, I prefer Natural Grocers just because they carry all the good stuff (minus some of the meats and fresh fish) at a much lower price. Plus they have great sales!!
52 Choices For Better Health
We eat pretty clean (almost no processed foods) and we shop at the farmer's market, HEB and Costco. There are a few things that I'll make a trip to Central Market or WF for, but we don't go there on a regular basis.
I'll have to check out Natural Grocers - that sounds like it might be up our alley.
I like both, but prefer CM because I am closest to the downtown WF and it makes me feel manic to deal with the parking garage and crowds. That said, I also really like Natural Grocers and I think there is one at the Arboretum. You'll want to bring your own bags to that one.
Do you like wraps? If you like turkey and cheese, wraps are easy to make. There are some great low carb options for tortillas (I like ones that are full of veggies because they are more fresh tasting IMO).
It is hard to cut down on carbs (we did three years ago because of my DH's diabetes diagnosis), but we have found that we don't crave them as much any more. DH has basically "cured" his diabetes with diet alone. A good way to start is to just decrease your portions of carbs. Fortunately, they are mostly very easy to measure, like 1/2 cup of rice with dinner vs. just eyeballing it. From there, you might want to start eliminating processed foods. I personally would go for more veggies and protein rather than any kind of processed foods, even if they are GF.
We also find it very helpful to have food diary of some sort so that we can see what we eat in a more big picture kind of way. I like myfitnesspal.com, which has a free tracker.
In the interest of saving money, I only shop at WF, CM, Natural Grocer, etc when I can't find what I need at Walmart, HEB, etc. You can find plenty of organic foods there. Obviously not as much as you can at WF, etc., but it is usually cheaper. The HEB near my house carries a lot of CM branded organic stuff.
I wouldn't go GF unless you or your doctor thinks you really need to do so. Focus on eating fewer processed foods - go with brown rice, quinoa, sweet potatoes, etc., instead of white flour pasta, chips ,etc. Lots of fruits and veggies. For me personally, I have cut back on dairy. I eat more vegetarian options like vegan cheddar "cheese" slices for sandwiches, rice or almond milk on my cereal, coconut-based ice cream instead of milk-based, etc. Cut out soda, even diet soda.
Eating a better overall diet + plenty of cardio, and I've lost about 12 pounds in the last month.
Meredith, 6-1-06 and Alex, 11-5-09
This sounds like a great option for DD (she eats lots of quesadillas on multigrain tortillas but I'd love to sneak in some veggies it I could). Where do you buy them and what's the brand?
I really don't think you need either one. HEB is great for clean eating. Just shop around the outside of the market...vegetables, fruit, meat, cheese (if you go that route), dairy, eggs and spices.
If I had to pick one I would use central market simply for the fact I can use coupons there.
My grocery bill went down going to clean eating.
As for food you can keep the sandwiches and add fruit and a cookie as a desert (that you made). I like banana bread for breakfast or deserts. If it's crunch you want I make kale chips or bell pepper slices. Flavored hummus has great vitamins. Soups, stews are easy in the winter and are easy to just throw on the stove and then forget about. When I first started clean eating I only ate salads and that didn't last long as you can imagine. The easiest way to imagine clean eating is try and not eat things out of a bag or things you can't say. The fresh salsa at HEB for the chicken tacos, to me, is clean since I can identify what is in it or make it myself.
I'll post some of my favorite blogs that have great recipes when I get back from a meeting. They are easy and usually don't have many ingredients.
LOL, I had to google what that was. I might be interested in that. Is it typically more $ than getting your own at the store?
52 Choices For Better Health
My favorite ones are the Garden Vegetable Gourmet Tortillas by Tumaro's. They have only 11g of carbs per tortilla and 7g of fiber! Also 2g fat and 6g protein. I think I usually get them at Sprout's, but they might have them at HEBs with larger healthy sections or CM.
I'd agree. Also, I've found that shopping the CM organic brand is actually more expensive generally speaking than the WF 365 brand (for items we buy, it will vary depending on your shopping habits). If you buy brand names at HEB, the price is about the same (if not cheaper in some cases) for the 365 brand. However, I'm referring to things like crackers, etc., which is technically processed. I'm not a total clean eating person, but we definitely limit processed foods for the most part, and shop on the outside of the store. We also do a CSA, which helps substantially in making sure we're eating a better variety of veggies.