Clean Eating 101
- The main principle of clean eating is to eat foods in their most natural state, and avoid processed foods including white flour, sugar, frozen meals, artificial sweeteners, and anything with words that you can't pronounce on the ingredient list.
- Eat every 3 hours. This means breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, and another snack only if you feel you need it.
- For each meal or snack, always "partner" protein and complex carbohydrate. This keeps your metabolism working at its most efficient level all day long. Choose lean proteins and avoid pre-packaged meat products like lunch meats or hot dogs. Rely on fruits, vegetables, and whole grains for your carbohydrates.
- Your body needs fat! Eat 3-4 servings healthy fats each day, like avocado, raw nuts, seeds, hummus, feta, and goat cheese.
- Drink lots of water. Calculate half of your weight in pounds, and that's the number of ounces of water you should aim to drink each day.
- Become a label reader. Generally speaking the fewer ingredients in the list the better. Don't be fooled by breads that say whole wheat, often they do have whole wheat, but they also include many other ingredients, such as white flour and sugar. Ezekiel sprouted grain breads are one of my favorites that can be found in the freezer section in the grocery store.
- No one is perfect, and this lifestyle is only sustainable for me because I do indulge in one cheat meal each week. This means one meal of anything that I want with no guilt. However it's not a cheat day or an all you can eat extravaganza. Keep your portion size in check as you enjoy your food:)
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