Clean eating is the new healthy lifestyle that has everyone talking. It is a form of eating that is adaptable to each person that will make him or her feel healthier, more active, and more awake throughout the day. People eating clean stop taking in preservatives and artificial foods, instead they eat whole, unprocessed, healthy food. It does not ban any food group, instead it balances your diet with whole grains, fruits, vegetables, fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. The goal here is to eat food as close to its natural state as possible so that your body can absorb all the nutritional value it has.
Before giving you the checklist to start your clean eating lifestyle, make sure to check out these great clean eating resources that will help you get started:@unprocessyourfood, @videomeals, @healthyfitnessmeals and @cleaneatingsurvivalguide.
Let’s get started with the top 10 things to do to start eating clean:
- Replace all processed foods with natural foods. This means you want to avoid products made with artificial additives including flavors, sweeteners, colors and preservatives which usually are full of excess sodium, sugar, and fat.
- Eat whole, natural foods instead of refined grains and white flour. Maker sure to look for the word, “whole” when buying your food. Get rid of any white rice, pasta, and bread, and replace it with brown rice and whole wheat bread and pasta.
- Read the ingredients on your food. If there are a bunch of words you do not know nor can pronounce, odds are that it is clean eating. Try to buy foods in which you know all of the ingredients and could even make the product homemade. Another option is to even replace the packaged foods with homemade versions.
- Eat a lot of fresh vegetables and fruits! Vegetables are full of vitamins and fruits are full of potassium and Vitamin C.
- Exchange saturated fat with healthy fat. What is the difference? Saturated fat is found in foods like butter, cheese, and meat and is usually solid at room temperature. Healthy fat is found in olive oil, nuts, fatty fish, and coconut oil. So, start switching your cheese for cashews.
- Try to eat limited meat or lean meat, like chicken breasts and fish. You can also get your protein from other foods such as tofu and beans.
- Cut down added sugar by limiting sweets like soda, candy, and baked goods. You also generally want to avoid foods that say “fat free.” Get your sugar intake by using good sugars such as honey, maple syrup, and dehydrated sugar cane juice.
- Keep alcohol intake very limited, at most for women one drink per day and for men two drinks. You also want to steer clear of any mixed drinks which have a lot of sugar added.
9. Eat five to six meals throughout the day, usually three main meals with two to three healthy snacks throughout the day. An example of a healthy snack would be carrots with humus!
10. Exercise regularly and drink plenty of water.
With these ten easy steps you will start feeling much healthier and energetic. The best part is that you can still eat most of your guilty pleasures, yet made clean!