Adhering to a diet of clean foods can reduce the risk of obesity and help you maintain a healthy weight for life. Clean eating isn’t a fad diet or a trendy topic. Rather, it’s a way of life that can improve your body, mind and lifestyle by providing energy, helping you look your best and lose or maintain weight.
If you completely dedicate yourself to a clean eating lifestyle, you should expect to lose about three pounds per week. Your skin and eyes will improve and you’ll feel healthy – but, most of all, you won’t be hungry.
There are many foods that will prevent the pangs of hunger and provide untold benefits to your mind and body. Some of these benefits will be visible and some will be taking place inside, but you should begin to feel better and more energetic almost immediately.
Clean eating means that you don’t have to count calories or points. It doesn’t ban any of the food groups, but does encourage that you eat whole foods, unprocessed and foods that aren’t genetically altered. The clean eating diet includes the healthy foods such as fruits, fats, protein, vegetables and whole grains.
You should always eat breakfast and two other meals and include a couple of snacks for those “down” times. Focus on natural, unprocessed foods and avoid foods that have been grown using chemicals and hormones. Also, drink plenty of water and avoid alcohol, sodas and junk food.
If you have a family, get the kids involved in the clean eating quest. Take them to a farmer’s market and let them choose items they’d like to snack on or see on the dinner table and then let them help prepare it. It might take a while to draw them in to the concept, but eventually, they’ll begin to choose cherries or blueberries rather than a sweet dessert and veggies rather than potato chips.
Part of the clean eating concept is to exercise along with eating clean. You’ll be eating to get the proper amount of calories and burning the fat you don’t need. Choose an exercise that you enjoy. Dancing works for some (Zumba is awesome) and bicycling for others. Just choose an exercise you enjoy so you’ll stick to it.
Besides helping you fight the battle of the bulge, clean eating can help keep chronic conditions from flaring. GERD, fatigue, diarrhea, allergies and depression can all be helped or prevented from the clean eating diet plan.
