What is clean eating?
It’s eating real food. Simple right? Maybe not. One clue I like to use to help my kiddos is to tell them if God made it, it’s healthy. So, God made fruits. He did not make fruit snacks. God made coffee, take a look at the ingredient list on your creamer. He did not make that. Or, think of it like this…if it came from a plant, eat it. If it was made in a plant, don’t eat it!
Lists. Lists make everything better.
- Eat six small meals a day
- Eat breakfast everyday, as early as possible
- Drink at least half your body weight in ounces of water daily (100 ounces preferable)
- Use fresh and nature-made food to FUEL and NOURISH your body
- Eat the right AMOUNT of foods
- Eliminate or severely limit salt, sugar & dairy
- Ditch processed crap: sodas, flour, alcohol, fried foods, preservatives, cereal, etc
One tricky part is when it comes to dairy. Think about the God/plant analogy. Technically dairy is kind of both right? You can’t get dairy without man helping the process along…but the ingredients are made all natural! =D
Here’s the truth: you don’t NEED dairy. And even if you don’t realize it dairy bloats you and is tough on your digestive system. I’ve noticed most people don’t really eat too much dairy anyway, but if you take that little bit away it’s crazy! So, limit it. Severely. That’s my way of thinking!
Here’s another list, foods to eat and foods NOT to eat.
Eat:
Fruits, vegetables (that was easy)
Fish, chicken, turkey, beef, eggs
Unflavored nuts & nut butters
Yams, beans, quinoa, brown rice
Herbs, spices, lemon, lime, vinegar, hot sauce (no sugar added)
Stevia, raw honey, coconut oil, olive oil
Don’t eat:
Restaurant food, boxed food, processed food, fried food
Soda, sports drinks, alcohol, juice, milk
