More Clean Eating

I continue to get emails and comments asking me about clean eating.

I am so happy to share what I love about this way of life. And that's really how I feel about it. I know that with eating clean I am doing something so good for my body. Not only am I loosing weight (10 POUNDS SO FAR!!!!!!) but I feel so much better when I don't put junk in my body.

lets not talk about super bowl food mkay. thanks.

But seriously, like so many "diets" it is okay to have a cheat day or meal. And for the Super Bowl I enjoyed a few things but didn't overdo it. Because I didn't want to.

So let me break it down for you...

The Clean Eating focuses on consuming foods (preferably organic but necessarily) that are unprocessed or refined as little as possible before consumption.

The basics of Clean Eating are simple:

• Eat a wide-variety of whole, unrefined and unprocessed foods in a form that’s as close as possible to how the foods appear in nature. You can still cook the food. It's not a raw diet.
• Avoid processed sugars, especially sugary beverages like soda. This includes diet sodas. Instead drink water (you need it anyway), tea (hot and iced, sweetened with agave or honey) or coffee. Even carbonated water.
• Avoid saturated fat and trans fats, and instead substitute healthy, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
• Always combine complex carbohydrates with lean protein and some healthy fats at every meal.
• Spread your food out over 5-6 smaller meals, consumed every 2-3 hours.
• Eat for maximum nutrient density. Basically, avoid “empty” calories found in fast food, soda/diet soda, snacks, cakes and cookies, and substitute in nutrient-dense snacks. One of my current favorite is hard boiled egg whites (throw away the yolk) and stuff them with hummus. So good.
• Pay attention to proper portions and practice portion control.
• Drink lots of water (at least 8 cups a day.)

So why would a person want to try Clean Eating? There are a number of proven benefits to Clean Eating:

• Decreased body fat
• Increased lean tissue (muscle)
• Improved energy
• General improvements in overall health and immunity
• Decreased risk of certain types of diseases like diabetes, stroke, heart disease and cancers
• Less consumption of pesticides, artificial food additives and preservatives, sodium and sugar
• Less impact on the environment, since Eating Clean is also Eating Green; the foods you consume in a Clean Eating diet are minimally processed, and thus use less energy and produce less waste than highly-processed foods
• Less expensive. Contrary to what you might believe, Clean Eating is actually more cost-effective and less expensive than eating pre-packaged food or fast food. For instance, for the price of a Super-Sized Big Mac Meal Deal, you could prepare an entire pot of healthy soup that would make more than a half dozen meals that are healthier, more satisfying and more nutritionally-dense.
• Sustainable. Unlike fad diets, Clean Eating is a holistic approach to eating that a person can practice for their entire life. You don’t “go on” a Clean Eating diet — you’re always clean eating.

While Clean Eating is simple and straight-forward, actually practicing Clean Eating can be challenging for some people. It’s important to know a few key things ahead of time if you want to successfully follow a Clean Eating diet:

• Expect to cook more. Processed food is processed in large part to make it more convenient and easier for people to prepare. Kraft Macaroni and Cheese can be made in less than ten minutes by just boiling water, but brown rice takes 20-30 minutes to cook.
• You will need to prepared to spend more time in the kitchen preparing clean foods.
• Eating out isn’t as easy. Eating clean at a restaurant is one of the most frequent sticking points for people following a Clean Eating diet. While it can be difficult to find clean food options when eating out, it’s not impossible. Look for salad options, or dishes that feature one food with a simple side of veggies, for example lean cuts of steak or fish or chicken breast. If it has a sauce, it’s probably not very clean, so ask the waiter how it’s prepared. Many restaurants will make modifications to the dish based on your request, so it pays to talk to the staff.
• Planning ahead. Clean Eating requires a certain amount of pre-planning and pre-preparation when it comes to eating. You’ll need to pack your own lunches and snacks for the office or work, since the options available to you will probably not be “clean.” The good news, however, is that once you get in the habit of this, you’ll save money and develop some techniques for making this more efficient.
• Cost. Some people think that “clean food” is more expensive, but as we pointed out earlier, it generally tends to be the exact opposite. Yes, some foods like leaner, organic cuts of meat, poultry or fish may be more expensive, but because you’ll be combining them with other, less expensive sources of whole carbohydrates and healthy fats, you’ll make up for the difference.
• No white flour or sugar. This scares a lot of people away, but it’s important to point out that Clean Eating doesn’t mean no flour, no sweeteners and no bread, period. When you’re on a Clean Eating diet, you can still consume flour and bread — you just need to substitute 100% whole wheat flour, oat flour or bread. And in terms of sugar, you can use whole sugar sources like honey, agave nectar or fruit to sweeten things. After a few weeks, you’ll adjust to this and be fine.

Source: this article.