Clean eating is simply about nourishing your body and giving it the fuel it needs.
I've been eating clean for the last few months. When I started this journey 5 months ago I was eating as clean as I could for the first 3 months. I needed to go cold turkey at first to rid my body and clean the junk out of it. Now, I probably eat clean about 90% of the time.
Something a friend told me concerning clean eating was;
"Strive for consistency not perfection."
Now, isn't that a good rule for life in general?! I think so. Clean eating can be hard at first when you start. It's really changing your habits and re training your brain on how you eat. So today, I wanted to share with you 10 Tips that have helped me in my clean eating journey. Because if you're like me you want real, tangible ideas that can help you get started when you don't know where to start. The last thing you want to hear is "eat clean" and then have no one give you an idea of where to start, right? Yes, me too.
- Ok, first things first eliminate processed foods. This is huge, processed foods are all kinds of bad for you. Read the labels on things, a good rule of thumb is to aim for things that have 5 or fewer ingredients in them. Anything you can't pronounce you shouldn't be putting into your body.
- Drink lots and lots of water! I've talked about this before but drinking water is a key to flushing out your system and keeping things going. Plus it's also very helpful if you're trying to loose weight.
- Stay away from processed sugars (white & brown sugar) and white flour.
- Stay away from high fructose corn syrup. This is in just about every processed food, again read the labels.
- Limit your alcohol intake and eventually eliminate it.
- Limit your sugary drinks. When I started this journey I realized very quickly that a lot of my calories were coming from what I was drinking. Lots and lots of sugar in my tea, coffee, and soda! Limit this stuff in your diet and eventually eliminate it. Eventually you will re train your body and mind and can have the occasional soda or latte.
- Eat lots and lots of veggies. Green veggies are best (spinach, kale).
- Prep your food ahead of time. Meal planning is really a big key to helping you eat clean. I plan out all my families meals for two weeks, this helps me stay on track. After going grocery shopping chop up all your fruits and veggies in advance for the week to help you have something that already prepared and ready to go. This will help you reach for healthier options when you're hungry.
- Eat live foods, eat lean proteins and healthy fats (coconut oil, avocados, fish, EVOO)
- Surround yourself with encouraging and positive people that will help you on this journey.
