What Is Clean Eating?

Through the past 6 weeks I have learned that many people do not know exactly what clean eating is, so I will explain. It is actually quite simple.

WHAT IS CLEAN EATING?

Clean eating is consuming foods in its most natural state. My rule of thumb is if you can kill it or grow it then it is a good choice. Think of how they used to eat back when we were not so industrialized. They did not have prepackages food stuffed with additives and preservatives. Also, if there is a commercial for it don’t touch it.

-Know your labels- clean food should only have one or two ingredients. Anything with a long ingredient list is man made and not considered clean.

-Know where your meat is coming from- It is good to shop in local stores for your meat.

-Organic- Buy organic when possible. If you can’t buy organic at least buy the “dirty dozen” organic.

-Avoid processed and refined foods- White flour, sugar, bread and pasta. Go 100% whole wheat. The first ingredient on the ingredient list should be whole-wheat flour, if not it’s not then you might as well buy white bread.

-Drink LOTS of water- Stay away from soda, sweet tea ect. Other choices would be green tea sweetened with raw honey and black coffee.

-Portion control- Follow your body. If you are hungry EAT! You will not get fat eating unprocessed foods.

-No No’s- nothing high in sugar, saturated fat, or trans fat, and nothing fried.

-EAT- Clean eating is not about counting calories or points it is about nourishing your body with natural whole foods whenever your body tells you to.  

-Eat healthy fats- Nuts, Avocado, coconut oil, olive oil, and salmon. (Not all fats are created equal)

Note: If you follow my grocery list you can’t go wrong.

THE BIG PICTURE

The big picture is HEALTH. Plain and simple, you cannot be healthy without eating healthy. I know people who are used to eating processed foods are going to think they don’t like vegetables because they are not used to them, but I promise that will change. You will start to enjoy the natural taste of the food we are meant to eat. I honestly crave healthy foods and don’t care to touch anything that isn’t. I am not saying at a party I wont have a cup cake or anything like that, but doing it on a daily biases is no longer desired. Once you experience the benefits of eating clean, you will no longer want to go back. You will wonder how you used to eat like you did before. It actually grosses me out when I think of all the processed foods I used to eat.