What is Clean Eating?
What is Clean Eating?
What is clean eating? To me, living a clean eating lifestyle is about getting back to basics with food. It’s about cooking with and eating only foods that our grandparents or great-grandparents would recognize – not something processed that comes in a box. Things that came from the earth, or had a mom. 🙂 Things without artificial ingredients or additives. REAL food.
Clean Eating Checklists
Clean Eating Tips
- Eat only foods that have not been overly processed, or that contain artificial additives (sweeteners, colors, preservatives, etc.), saturated and trans fats.
- Eat a combination of lean protein and complex carbohydrates at each meal. Avoid starch at night.
- Eat sufficient healthy fats every day.
- Drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water each day. Add some lemon, limes, cucumbers or orange slices for extra flavor.
- Adhere to proper portion sizes (see below).
What to Avoid When Clean Eating:
- Avoid all over-processed foods, particularly white flour and sugar
- Avoid foods containing preservatives
- Avoid artificial sugars
- Avoid artificial foods such as processed cheese slices
- Avoid saturated and trans-fats
- Avoid or do your best to limit alcohol intake (3 drinks per week is acceptable)
- Avoid all calorie-dense foods containing little or no nutritional value
- Never eat to the point of being stuffed or too full
- AVOID ANYTHING that contains the following on the label:
- High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup
- Aspartame
- Sucralose
- Maltodextrin
- MSG (Monosodium Glutamate)
- Enriched
- Modified, Genetically-modified, etc.
- From concentrate
- TIP: When you see the words “diet”, “sugar-free” or “lite”, chances are it contains artificial sweeteners.
Complex Carbohydrates from Fruit and Vegetables:
6 portions each day. A portion is:
- 1 cupped handful or a piece of fruit such as berries, grapefruit, melon, apples and mangoes.
- 2 cupped handfuls of vegetables including broth based/vegetable puree soups.
Complex Carbohydrates from Whole Grains and Starchy Carbohydrates:
2-4 portions each day. A portion is:
- 1 scant handful of high-protein, sugar-free cold cereals, such as clean muesli or granola
- 1 handful of cooked cereal
- 1 piece of whole grain bread or wrap
- 1 handful sized serving of sweet potato, yam, banana, corn, carrots or squash
Lean Protein
6 portions each day. A portion is:
- 1 cup or handful of dairy products such as low fat soy, almond, hemp, rice, or skim milk, cottage cheese, kefir, yogurt cheese or plain fat free sugar free yogurt.
- 1 scant handful of raw, unsalted nuts (also a healthy fat)
- 2 tablespoons of all natural nut butters such as almond or peanut butter (also a healthy fat).
- 1 palm-sized portion of lean meats
- High quality, sugar- and chemical- free protein powder
Clean Eating Approved Beverages:
- 2-3 liters per day of fresh, purified water (sodium-free)
- Clear herbal tea (unsweetened)
- Black coffee in moderation
- Green or black tea
Clean Eating Sweeteners/Sugars OK to Use in Moderation:
- Organic Cane Sugar
- Agave Nectar
- Maple Sugar Flakes
- Rapadura Sugar
- Natural Stevia (plant-derived, non-processed)