Eating Clean Rules to Live By

“Eating Clean” means eating foods that are as close to their natural state as possible, while avoiding processed or genetically modified foods. For example, Pepsi, Doritos, and Oreos do not occur in nature - they are processed and made in a plant. Broccoli, apples, chicken and brown rice - these things grow in nature. By eating clean, you are ridding your body of chemicals and preservatives that were never meant to be there in the first place. Toxins hide in our body fat and make it harder for us to lose the weight. Eating clean rids our body of these toxins, literally detoxing our body naturally, fueling our body with the nutrients we need, which in turn revs our metabolism, and allows our bodies to let go of the weight.  In short - if you're buying something that is in a box, or a bag, flip it over and read the ingredients. My rule of thumb is - if you can't pronounce the ingredients and have no idea what it is - put it back where you found it, and step away.  Also, try to find packaged foods that have 5 or fewer ingredients. Usually, the longer the list of ingredients, the more likely there are lots of preservatives and artificial crap that is best to avoid.  Fresh food is best, frozen next, canned is last.

So let's get down to business. I'll touch on each principal more in the future during our challenge, but these are the basics.

Here's what to do:

1. EAT MORE OFTEN! (yes it's true) Eat 5 - 6 times a day, spaced about 2.5 - 3 hours apart. I know, this may freak you out at first. I was also scared to do this, thinking that eating more often would make it harder to lose weight. But the opposite happened! I ended up never feeling hungry, because I never let myself go too long without eating. My metabolism definitely sped up, and I also found myself with fewer drops in energy due to low blood sugar.  A good rule of thumb is to eat breakfast, a snack, lunch, a snack, dinner, and then another snack if needed before bed.

2. Eat Breakfast EVERY DAY - within one hour of rising, if possible.  Shakeology counts as breakfast, if you choose to have it in the morning.

3. Eat a combination of lean protein and complex carbohydrates at each meal. Complex carbohydrates include fruits, veggies, and whole grains. So an example of this would be eggs with peppers and mushrooms, or salad topped with grilled chicken, or a snack of almonds and an apple.

4. Eat sufficient (two to three servings) healthy fats every day. Examples of healthy (unsaturated) fats include olive oil, nuts, avocado, coconut.

5. Drink enough water each day. Ideally, you should consume half of your body weight in ounces each day. At a minimum, drink 2 liters. It is especially important to rehydrate after exercise.

6. Carry a cooler packed with clean foods. Doing so ensures you aren't stuck somewhere - at work, in traffic, etc - without a healthy option and have to sit there starving and miserable, or worse - getting something out of the vending machine.  At the very least, keep a snack in your purse/glove compartment, such as nuts and dried fruit or a Lara Bar (my favorite kind of bar—only 5 all natural ingredients and nothing else!)

7. Depend on fresh fruits and vegetables for fiber, vitamins, nutrients, and enzymes.

8. Adhere to proper portion sizes.



 

 

Here's what to AVOID:

1. Avoid all over-processed foods, particularly white flour and sugar. Do you know why it's white? Because they've stripped it of all its vitamins and nutrients! There's literally NO good reason to have it. Also, anything that says “enriched wheat flour” means it is not really wheat! They had to “enrich” it because it was first stripped of anything good, then they had to artificially put it back in.

2. Avoid chemically charged foods. If you can't pronounce it/never heard of it - put it down!

3. Avoid foods containing preservatives. Who needs something with a shelf life of a year?! That does not seem like "real" food to me.

4. Avoid artificial sugars. Put down the Sweet & Low, Equal, Splenda and everything else that is cooked up by chemists. Choose Stevia, 100% real maple syrup, honey, or Agave Nectar to sweeten your coffee or tea. These things occur in nature and that's what you want!

5. Avoid artificial foods like processed cheese slices.

6. Avoid saturated and trans fats.

7. Avoid sugar loaded drinks like sodas and juices and fancy coffee drinks.

8. Avoid - or do your best to limit - alcoholic beverages. Drinking wine before bed every night does nothing but halt your body from burning fat. Alcohol contains a ton of sugar, so it acts like a piece of cake in your body. Save it for once in a while - you will see a difference if you cut out regular alcohol intake.

9.Avoid all calorie dense food containing little to no nutritional value. These are anti-foods!  Think of food as fuel, and remember that whatever you are eating should be giving your body something that it needs.

10. Avoid "super -sizing" anything. Eat smaller meals more often throughout the day and avoid eating all of your calories at once - your body can't burn a ton of calories all at once, especially if you've hardly eaten all day - making your metabolism sluggish, and you'll store most of that huge meal as fat!

I know that at first, this list can seem very overwhelming, especially if you are new to eating this way. I want you to know that you do not have to immediately change everything in your diet to follow this 100% (although you certainly can, if you feel up to it!). If that is too daunting of a task, no problem. Take it one baby step at a time. Pick one thing that you think you can change right now. Maybe it’s cutting out soda, or switching to Stevia in your coffee.  Perhaps you can try to eat 5 times per day instead of 2. Whatever you choose, make a commitment to stick to that new change for a week, and then add on another change the following week. Before long, you will be eating clean!

As always please ask me if you have any questions or need ideas for healthy meals!!! I am here for you!