Many of us hear about, eating clean and not eating anything preprocessed. But what is clean eating? And, how can we "clean up" our daily diets??
To start, let's define what it means to "eat clean".
Clean Eating:
A clean diet means no longer ingesting food additives, including added sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, sodium, artificial colors and preservatives. This means cutting out many packaged foods that have become staples of the American diet, such as commercially-prepared baked goods, crackers, chips, sodas, sports drinks, canned soups, frozen entrees and many other grocery-store items. If your diet includes a lot of processed foods at present, you may wish to eliminate these foods by gradually cutting down on them over time to make this change easier to maintain.
advertisemenHow to start eating clean:
I like to say, if it has a mascot or a commercial.....it's probably not good for you.
Fruits & Veggies: Emphasize fresh fruits and vegetables. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, the healthiest diet is one that is based on plant foods. The clean food diet relies heavily on plants in the form of fresh fruits and veggies, which are high in vitamins, antioxidants and fiber. The American Cancer Society recommends at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. However, when it comes to these wholesome super-foods, the more, the better.
Water intake: Drink plenty of water. Another tenet of a clean food diet is proper hydration. Instead of choosing sugar ladened sports drinks, sodas or bottled juices, try to opt for natural sources of water. If you would like to add variety to your water, try adding fresh fruits to reap the natural benefits of the vitamins and antioxidants present in Mother Nature's selection of fruits! (Meal with a cleansing water example pictured below).
Protein selection: Choose leaner sources of protein, with an emphasis on plant-based proteins and fatty fish. Most Americans eat too much read meat and processed meats, says the Harvard School of Public Health. To eat more cleanly, switch from these high-fat protein sources to heart-healthy beans, legumes, soy products and protein foods that are high in healthy fats, such as nuts, salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring, whitefish and lake trout.
Whole grains: Eat whole grains rather than refined, "white" grains. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, whole grains offer health benefits that refined grains do not, including fiber and certain nutrients that can help prevent chronic disease. Clean eating requires eschewing refined grains like white bread, regular pasta and white rice and instead choosing whole grains like brown rice, millet, oat bran, quinoa, whole-grain breads and whole-wheat pasta. These complex carbohydrates provide multiple vitamins and minerals for optimal health.
For more information on "clean eating", go to:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/383469-how-to-eat-a-clean-food-diet/
Now, to make this advice a bit more practical, here is a "Take out, put in" list of foods that I give my students in order to help them with their clean eating food options as well as how to
execute a successful food shopping when looking for clean food sources:
Basics of the diet is to take out_____ and replace with ➡
Now, to make this advice a bit more practical, here is a "Take out, put in" list of foods that I give my students in order to help them with their clean eating food options as well as how to
execute a successful food shopping when looking for clean food sources:
Basics of the diet is to take out_____ and replace with ➡
- Pork ➡ Chicken / Turkey / Fish LEAN steak
- White rice ➡ brown rice or jasmine rice
- Pasta ➡ quinoa (Whole Foods / Fresh Market)or Pasta with Fiber and Omega 3
- Flour ➡ Wheat
- Potatoes (white) ➡ sweet potatoes
- Whole eggs ➡ egg white with small portions of yolk.. Ex. 3 egg white, one yolk
- White bread ➡ ** completely ** wheat or Ezekiel (Whole Foods / Fresh Market)
- Lettuce ➡ spinach
- Milk ➡ almond milk, soy milk, 2%
- Cheese ➡ limit your cheese to white “hard” cheeses such as Parmesan, Feta or Goat. And limit the amount of which you partake of it. You can replace cheese with pico de gallo or other seasoning
- Sodas ➡ ** none ** (unless sweetened with stevia and not sugar: bought at whole foods), instead, make green tea: cold or hot
- Bottled Juice ➡ can drink juice that is low in sugar or sweetened with “Stevia” not Aspartame .
What I do is half water / half juice
What I do is half water / half juice
- Desserts ➡ none, UNLESS you leave it for your “cheat meal” which should be eaten on the days
you know you will work out and heavily.
- Fried foods ➡ baking or boiling
you know you will work out and heavily.
- Fried foods ➡ baking or boiling
- Salad dressing ➡ vinegar with olive or bottled (low sodium) vinaigrette
And to further help on your conquest to cleaning up a diet, here is a suggested daily menu.
I do not encourage, nor promote a cookie cutter eating plan for anyone... In fact, no one plan can work for two people, as everyone has a different body make up as well as varied goal set. My aim is to give a general idea of what a clean eating menu for a day can look like.
Remember to drink (at least) 8 bottles of water daily:
Remember to drink (at least) 8 bottles of water daily:
Breakfast:
⚪ 3 egg whites
⚪ Two turkey sausage patties
or 4 pieces of turkey bacon
⚪ Orange juice (half water / half juice) or green tea
Snack:
⚪ Almonds / fruit/ Greek Yogurt
Lunch:
⚪ 2 chicken breasts
⚪ Brown rice (Walmart sells “steamable” brown rice that you can put in the microwave, and to be ready in 3min)You’re going to have to add your own seasoning: Ms. Dash works well and is sodium
free.
⚪ Vegetables: any
free.
⚪ Vegetables: any
⚪ Green tea
Snack:
⚪ Almonds / fruit or salad with tomatoes and spinach
Dinner:
⚪ 2 salmon fillets
⚪ Vegetables
⚪ Spinach salad with tomatoes
⚪ Green Tea
Hopefully, this post helps you in learning exactly what "clean eating" is and how to actually make it a part of your daily life! Clean eating is not a temporary "diet" that you go on to achieve a short term goal. Many of those "fad" diets later come with recompenses that usually included ADDED weight. Eating clean is about a change in lifestyle, and eating not to fit into a particular bathing suit for a summer trip. Rather, clean eating is about eating to live a healthier LIFE! HAPPY CLEAN EATING!!!
