If you put a bag of potato chips in your body, your body will look like a bag of potato chips. It’s as simple as that. What you put in your body determines how your body looks and feels. If you put healthy foods in your body, you’ll look and feel great. Simple enough, right?
Clean eating is simple, but it’s difficult to master – at first. When beginning a clean diet, some women find that it takes a lot of dedication and preparation and are quick to give up and revert back to past eating habits. It’s easy to call up your local Dominos and order a large pepperoni pizza on your lunch break instead of bringing a smoothie you blended earlier that morning and it’s easier to grab Panda Express on the way home instead of cooking for yourself after a long day at work or school. Of course it’s easy, that’s why it’s called ‘fast food’, but it’s also the reason many women have a hard time staying on a healthy track. If you’re not a buff in the kitchen, no worries! You don’t have to be a gourmet chef to eat clean. You just have to be focused and dedicated to your new, clean lifestyle!
So, what exactly is ‘clean’ food? In order to eat clean, you must first eliminate all of the processed junk out of your diet. Remember, this junk is the reason you are here today. Alcohol, food high in fat, and all ‘white’ foods (sugar, bread, white rice, pasta, white flour, etc.) are NOT clean food options. Now that you know what types of food you must get rid of, you must replace these unhealthy choices with clean ones. Lean meats, vegetables, fruits, and whole grains are important staples in a clean diet. Chicken and turkey are great sources of protein. Personally, I’m a big fan of fish for my protein, so I incorporate a lot of salmon, tilapia, and shrimp into my daily diet. Eggs are also a great source of protein. The vegetables you want to get a lot of are the green vegetables – spinach, broccoli, asparagus, and zucchini are my favorites. I also incorporate cauliflower, sweet potatoes, black beans, carrots, and mushrooms to my diet. Although I haven’t listed many vegetables, don’t forget that there are so many to choose them! You can find a list of vegetables here: http://cookery.newarchaeology.com/vegetables.php. Be sure to add fruits to your diet as well. Fruits such as mixed berries, bananas, apples, oranges, and any other you may prefer are all great options. Whole grains can be found in old fashioned/steel cut/rolled oats, brown rice, and whole grain bread! When snacking in between meals, choose healthy options like almonds or other sources of ‘good fats’, greek yogurt as it is high in protein, and protein powder to use in shakes.
I will be posting a video soon in which I will be going through the grocery store to show you which foods to choose and those you should avoid. One important tip to remember when shopping is to always look at labels – if there are a lot of ingredients, chances are the product is not a ‘clean’ option.
Here is an example of one of my clean eating days:
- 8 a.m. – Protein Pancake (1 whole egg, four egg whites, 1/4 cup of oats – use Pam and cook in a skillet, top with sugar-free syrup and a handful of walnuts)
- 11 a.m. – 1/4 cup brown rice, 1/2 avocado, 1 turkey burger (meat only, no bun)
- 2 p.m. – Mixed Berry Protein Shake (1/4 cup Chobani vanilla Greek yogurt, 1/3 cup milk, 1/2 cup berries, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, 1 scoop Glutamine – blend), handful of almonds
- 5 p.m. – Salmon with spinach and broccoli
- 8 p.m. Chocolate-Peanut Butter Protein Shake (1 scoop chocolate whey isolate , 1 scoop Glutamine, 1 tbsp. peanut butter, 1/3 cup milk, ice – blend)
- 10 p.m. – (1 hour before bed) Banana with peanut butter
I know I didn’t write it in my sample diet, but I drink lots of water! I always have a water bottle in my hand.
Preparation is extremely important when eating clean. You should eat about six small meals a day in order to get your metabolism burning all of those unwanted calories – there are 3,500 in one pound, so the more you burn, the better! Skipping a meal or waiting long periods of time between meals can slow your progress even if you are exercising. There’s a saying that diet is 70% of a healthy body while exercise is a measly 30%, so it is crucial that your diet is on point! Many fitness professionals tend to prepare large amounts of food on Sundays or when they have time before the busy week begins. During their preparation, they’ll cook all of their vegetables, proteins, and whole grains like brown rice then place them in different containers, so they are easy to grab on the go and great to bring to work to heat in the microwave. (already portion controlled) If you’re prepared and all of your meals are planned, you can only be successful!
Within the next few weeks, I will post a video my own food preparation that covers things like cooking in bulk, portion control, and packing the meals away for the week.
Now, you’re probably thinking it’s so expensive to eat healthy! Well, you’re wrong. Yes, it’s true that organic food does cost a bit more than processed food, but if you look at the big picture, you’ll realize that spending a little more now will save you a load of money in the long run. When you think about it, buying all of those frozen ‘health’ meals or lunches and dinners at fast food places actually costs more than it would if you were clean food shopping. You’ll save money by not having to see the doctor for high blood pressure, by not developing diabetes, by not paying for a dietician to help with weight loss to get your health back on track, etc. By eating clean, you take your health and your finances into your own hands. You can have a fat wallet while you reap the health benefits a clean diet offers!
I just wanted to give you guys a brief overview of the clean lifestyle. I’m going to be continuously posting clean eating tips, recipes, and nutritional facts, so check back every now and then to get some more insight!