Mom & CrossFit Athlete Ashley Branoff: How to Eat Clean to Get Lean
Meet CrossFit athlete and clean eating connoisseur Ashley Branoff, as she lets us in on the positive benefits in preparing meals for the week. Ashley is one of the few proponents of eating carbs AND fats! She’ll break down the misconceptions on why it is necessary to eat these otherwise ridiculed food groups. For her, it’s all about how to eat clean and stick to it, though it should still be balanced “with a little wiggle room.” Read on for an in depth look at her food prep, food combining, and how she structures her meals for success.
I think the biggest thing about eating clean is knowing that it’s going to take time. It’s not usually a cold turkey “I’m just going to do it.” You’ll last a week doing something like that. You need to make small changes at first. I’d start with getting rid of anything in your house that you shouldn’t be eating.
Meal planning is the number one thing I have to do. If you don’t have something you can get out of the fridge, you’re more likely to grab takeout or something less healthy. I spend a couple hours on a Sunday prepping my food for the week. I grill all of my chicken, which I can use in salads, sandwiches, or stir frys. I also make a large sheet tray of vegetables. I love roasted broccoli, so I do that all the time. And then I usually make a big thing of rice, or quinoa, or sweet potatoes.
I’m a creature of habit, I have absolutely no problem eating the same thing every day. But if you are someone who can’t, I’d say spices are where you want to go. For example, ground beef can be seasoned with an Indian spice or you can use taco seasoning, but don’t worry, you’re still eating a lean ground beef.
The number one thing is to find out what you like, and you need to start planning it. If you’re planning for a family like I am, I keep some of the chicken plain for Charlie. She loves it, and she’ll eat it with soy sauce. Try even exploring things with your family, and seeing what they will or won’t eat.
A photo posted by Ashley Lynn (@momasrx) on Jan 7, 2016 at 4:54am PST
Breakfast, depending on if I’m going to the gym or not, I have a hash of sweet potatoes and sausage I cook on the weekend. During the week, I’ll cook an egg or two, throw it on top, microwave it, good to go. If I’m working out at the gym, I do overnight oats.The night before, I put oatmeal in a jar with equal parts of milk or water, scoop of peanut butter, shake it up, good to go. And that’s my breakfast coming from the gym.
My go-to lunch is usually some of my grilled chicken, with some rice and stir fried vegetables. I like to add a tablespoon of peanut butter and some soy sauce. It makes a soft and salty peanut butter sauce when you melt it in the microwave. I eat that probably 5 out of 7 days a week for lunch.
A photo posted by Ashley Lynn (@momasrx) on Aug 31, 2015 at 1:23pm PDT
Using this method, when I come home from the gym on like a Wednesday, I can just heat up some steak that I might have grilled with some rice and vegetables, and that’s dinner. I’m not trying to figure out what I’m going to make. On a Sunday, when we grill our chicken, and I’m cooking for two adults and a child, we’ll grill 10-12 chicken breasts. I chop them and keep them in a container. So that way midweek, you’re not taking out a cutting board every day. You’re also saving that step on dishes.
Having fruit readily available is a really good thing to grab when you’re rushing around. I know that’s a carb, but when you’re working out, you need those carbs. I think when I first started, I was so afraid of eating too many carbs, because I thought it was going to make me big. But actually, when I increased my carbs, I felt better working out.
A photo posted by Ashley Lynn (@momasrx) on Jun 11, 2015 at 8:31am PDT
And I think people need to get over carbs making you fat, and fat making you fat. An avocado is not going to make you heavy. It’s going to keep you fuller longer actually. I try to eat all my carbs near my workout. And then I eat more fat, like peanut butter or avocado, away from my workout. There’s a science behind why I do that, but that’s how I structure my meals during the day.
“You have to eat carbs. That’s why I have them right smack dab in middle of my diet.”
I’m actually leaner right now, changing what I was doing. Just purely that. Eating the same foods, I’ve just rearranged when I eat them, and increased the carbs. So I always tell people not to focus on caloric intake. I know people count their macros, like My Fitness Pal is great for that, but I would say focus less on how much you’re eating at first, and just make it clean. Once you’re used to that, then you can tweak things.
The number one thing is just getting crap out of the house. I don’t eat sugar on a daily basis anymore. For example, with my coffee, I started just putting milk in it, instead of sweetener. I don’t drink any pop, Redbull, or anything like that anymore. Now, when I drink something sweet, it’s almost too much. You just need to shock your body and get it over that, and then as soon as you turn back to something you used to eat, you probably won’t even want it anymore.
If you have a pop issue, you need to go cold turkey on that. It’s not good for you in any way. If you need caffeine, try tea or black coffee or something else. I don’t have a huge sweet tooth, but even something like a protein shake is sweet enough for me, to fix that craving.
A photo posted by Ashley Lynn (@momasrx) on Jun 22, 2015 at 11:33am PDT
Fitness Related Not Looks Related
I don’t know who’s going for skinny or who’s just going for overall health… but I go for how I feel, not necessarily what the scale says. My goals are fitness related not looks related. But I think that you need to forgive yourself. You’re not going to be skinnier or feel better in one day, and you’re also not going to get fatter in one day.
“I eat quality foods but don’t measure the amount.”
Be easy on yourself. If you have one bad meal or one bad day out of the whole week, it’s really not going to do anything. If you eat three weeks of healthy eating, you’re not going to lose it all in one day. If you have a nice night out, just go for it. Have fries, have a glass of wine, whatever you want. You’re not going to get fat in one day, just like it didn’t take you one day to lose the weight.
A photo posted by Ashley Lynn (@momasrx) on Aug 14, 2015 at 8:20am PDT
I think you will find that as you go, the more you restrict yourself, the worse you feel, so you tend not to do that. But I think restricting yourself to the point where you don’t even allow yourself to have fun once in a while is not good. It’s honestly just one meal. Unless you’re going for a fitness competition coming up, it’s not going to do anything for your day-to-day performance. You don’t have to be 100% to make progress. Just look to improve from wherever you are currently.
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Image Credits: Instagram.com/momasrx, drjanephilpott.wordpress.com, foodqualitynews.com, iowagirleats.com, lifecdn.dailyburn.com, pinterest.com, playbuzz.com, sweetjulianne.wordpress.com, weightzonefactor.com
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