Clean Eating Tips

Clean eating, what does it really mean? It's a simple term that is being used to describe making healthy eating lifestyle changes and it's not a new diet. It's about taking your existing diet and cleaning it up and getting rid of the unhealthy food habits that you have been practicing. Pair it with changing your specific unhealthy diet habits and you have got a great start to lifestyle solutions that can lead to health and weight control.

Tips for Clean Eating:

• Eat real foods over processed ones. Real foods contain one ingredient which is the food itself. They do not need to be labeled and are usually found around the outer perimeter of grocery stores. Processed foods come in a box or bag and require a food label that lists ingredients. They are usually found in the aisles at grocery stores.

• Choose unrefined over refined foods. Unrefined foods are those that have little or no refining. Choose whole grains and reduce white flour as your grain choice, choose beans or legumes and reduce fatty processed meats as your protein source, choose maple syrup and honey and reduce white sugar for your sweeteners.

• All meals should be balanced and include carbohydrates, fats, and protein. Protein will help with appetite control, but many people eat very little of it for breakfast. Think outside of the box for breakfast, which could be leftovers from your dinner meal!

• Watch out for poor quality fats, added salt, and sugar in your diet. Lowering processed food choices will greatly lower these.

• Eat 5 to 6 small meals per day. Snacks should be a part of a healthy diet, but snacks should be considered healthy mini-meals, and not grazing from the chip or cookie bag. Many of you equate snacks with bagged processed goodies. Limit this thinking and practice great meal planning.

• Don't drink calories. This is the simplest way to eliminate many calories from your diet. The average person drinks around 400 calories. Drink fruit flavored waters, herb teas, simple coffee, or water. Do not fall into the diet drink trap because diet drinks are full of chemicals and have been linked to weight gain.

• Get moving. Get out and Exercise!

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Clean Eating is a process of developing healthy diet habits. Start with great shopping. Choose real foods. Examine your cart before you pay. Hopefully most of the foods are real or unrefined foods that require no food label. If you find that most of your foods, require a food label, and come in a bag or box, you might need a diet makeover.

I am often amazed that shoppers grab only boxed foods. Shop well and practice healthy cooking methods. Learn to add more fruits and vegetables to all of your meals and aim for filling half of your plate with vegetables. Little by little clean up your diet for health!