If you watch the news or any type of media at all, you know that our dietary habits can help us live longer or cut our lives short. There are fad diets and trending diets, but the clean eating plan is one that can keep you healthy for life.
Preservatives and the way foods are processed can sometimes make good foods into unhealthy ones. Some are grown with chemicals and others are overly processed until we can’t even recognize what the food originally looked or tasted like. Here are ways to focus on a clean eating lifestyle and become the healthiest you can be:
- Say “Goodbye” to sugar. Sugar is found in more foods than pastries and other sweets. Your weight issues will be addressed and you’ll also note that you aren’t craving sweets so much anymore.
- Drink lots of water. Improve your immune system and aid your digestion by drinking plenty of water on a daily basis. Water will also help to rid your body of toxins that could cause diseases and make any chronic condition worse.
- Choose fresh foods when possible. When you notice words on labels that you can’t even pronounce, it’s probably not a food you should eat. Choose from grass-fed meats, whole grains and organic green produce.
- Choose wise food combinations. Protein such as chicken and legumes along with complex carbohydrates such as fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains make up a wise food combination that can keep you energetic, burn excess fat and ward off hunger pains.
- Eat slowly and watch your portions. Eat when you feel hungry and stop when you’re satisfied. When you eat past the point of feeling full, you’ll compromise your digestion system. Also, drink plenty of water during the day to prevent sudden hunger cravings.
- Eat several small meals throughout the day. You’ll boost your metabolism and never be hungry if you eat like a baby – several small meals per day. Eating small amounts of food every couple of hours keeps your metabolism humming.
- Always eat breakfast. Breakfast starts your day off on the right foot. A simple breakfast of oatmeal, fruit and an egg will keep you happy and full until a snack in the mid-morning.
Before you embark on any lifestyle change, take some time to meditate and ask yourself (and the universe) what it is you want to change in your life. Is it your weight, health, vitality?
You may also want to revisit old photos or videos of you during a healthier, happier time. The Clean Eating plan can help restore your health and reach a place where you’re happier with your lifestyle. Learn more about clean eating from the information posted throughout this website.
Tips for Transitioning to a Clean Eating Diet
If you are brand new to the clean eating diet, the following tips will help. They help you properly plan for a clean eating lifestyle and figure out how to properly transition into the lifestyle full time.
Track Your Current Diet
Before you begin to transition to a clean eating diet, it can be really helpful to take stock of what you currently eat. This helps because you know what foods you currently eat that are allowed on the clean eating diet, but also in what areas you struggle with the most. If you find that eating cheese is in about every meal, that should be the last to go. You might be better off with a more gradual transition, switching just one meal or snack a day at a time until eventually you eat all meals cleanly and reduce your cheese unless it comes from grass-fed cows. If you already eat a good amount of foods allows in the clean eating lifestyle, you can probably transition to it a bit faster.
Begin Gathering Recipes
Once you know what you can and can’t eat on a clean eating diet, you should start compiling recipes. Check online sites like Pinterest for ideas, buy cookbooks to keep at home, or get digital copies for your tablet and smartphone. You can also just check recipe sites and pay close attention to their titles and tags, as that will let you know if it is approved by a clean eating diet or not. Another good place for finding clean eating recipes is by checking out blogs specifically dedicated to clean eating. Also keep in mind that while there are some differences, keto and Paleo diets are pretty close, so check out blogs for those diets as well.
Start Replacing White Refined Carbs
This is a good way to begin making the transition to a clean eating lifestyle, since it is only a small change but makes a drastic difference. With clean eating, you can have some complex carbs, but you want to try and reduce your refined carbs as much as possible. To do this, begin by replacing all white bread, white rice, and white flour with whole wheat versions. For bread, go with a sprouted or whole grain bread, choose brown rice or quinoa instead of white rice, and to reduce white flour, choose whole wheat pasta or brown rice pasta.
