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Now that I have started this new way of life and I've been very successful at it, people ask me what I eat all the time. To me eating just isn't fueling my body, sometimes it needs to be an event to be shared with friends and family. I love to cook and I love to make new and exciting dishes. Of course I don't do this on a daily basis but I do need to enjoy eating. That is why I could never have the weight loss surgery. From what I can tell from the weight loss surgery you lose all the enjoyment of eating (If I am mistaken please let me know.)
First I'll go into the type of foods I try to include into my life (good carbs and good fats) and the foods I try to keep at a minimum in my life (Bad Carbs, Bad Fats.) I don't think there are any foods that I will stay away from totally (maybe fried snickers.) Then I will list by section specifically the foods I buy, the nutritional values, and where I get them. When I say my 33 Method I mean I try to keep my daily percentages at 33%: 33% Good Carbs, 33% Good Fats, and 33% Proteins. (The 1% that's left over you can just go crazy with. LoL)
Carbohydrates
There has been a huge debate about carbohydrates, I will admit I lost a huge amount of weight on a low carb diet. However, It isn't something I could stick with and gained most of the weight back. In reality there are good carbs and bad carbs and sticking to mostly good carbs can be very beneficial to any lifestyle.
Bad Carbohydrates - What I call "white carbs" are easily digested into your body and they don't keep you as satisfied as whole carbs. Carbs from white bread, white rice, pastries, sugar, and other highly processed foods may help you gain weight and hinder weight loss.
Good Carbohydrates - Carbohydrates from fruits, vegetables, and grains should give you about 45% - 65% of your daily calories. For peak health, get your grains from whole foods such as whole wheat bread, brown rice, and whole-grain pasta. Not only are these foods very tasty and filling they can also help prevent many diseases.
List of carbohydrates I eat.
Fats
All my life my Mother would put me on a low-fat diet. Back then it was the be all end all of the dieting world. When I first started this journey I was under the impression that I was going to start a low fat diet. I am glad I did my research and found out the differences in fats. In reality, just like carbs, there are bad fats and good fats and sticking to mostly good fats can be very beneficial to any lifestyle. Bad fats increase the risk for certain diseases while good fats, will lower the risk. Fats should give you about 20% - 35% of your daily calories while saturated fats should stay below 9%.
Bad Fats - What are called saturated fats "sat fats" and worse trans fatty acids "trans fats.".
Saturated fats - mainly animal fats. Found in meat, seafood, whole-milk dairy products (cheese, milk, and ice cream), poultry skin, and egg yolks. Some plant foods are also high in saturated fats, including coconut and coconut oil, palm oil, and palm kernel oil. Saturated fats raise total blood cholesterol levels more than dietary cholesterol. The net effect is negative, it's important to limit saturated fats.
Trans fatty Acids - are fats produced by heating liquid vegetable oils in the presence of hydrogen. This process is known as hydrogenation. Most trans fats are found in commercially prepared baked goods, margarine, snack foods, and processed foods. Commercially prepared fried foods, like french fries, also contain trans fat. Trans fats are even worse for cholesterol levels than saturated fats because they raise bad LDL and lower good HDL. While I limit saturated fats to 9% of my daily calories, I try to eliminate trans fats from my diet as much as I can.
Good Fats - Ahhh now the good fats. Unsaturated fats are great because they make you feel full faster and they can add lots of taste to your diet. Unsaturated fats are found in products derived from plant sources, such as vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, and some fish and meats. Unsaturated fats will decrease the bad cholesterol (LDL) and increase the good cholesterol (HDL).
List of fats & proteins I eat.
Reference: Havard School of Public Health, My Food Diary, World's Healthiest Foods
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