Essential Tips for Clean Eating
The concept of clean eating is really nothing new. In generations past, people would have largely just considered it eating normally since they didn’t have access to all the highly processed and modified foods that most people eat today. Unfortunately, clean eating in modern first world countries actually takes significantly more effort than eating unhealthy foods. If you would like to start eating cleaner, the following tips can help you to do it successfully. Taking the time to learn and understand what foods are acceptable for clean eating and how to eat them will make following a healthy diet much easier.
Look at Your Foods Before Buying
One of the easiest things you can do when trying to move toward a healthier clean eating diet is to take a moment to look at your food. If it looks like something you could find out in nature, it is almost certainly a good addition to your diet. This includes things like fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, eggs and more. Even
meats can fall in this category since the meat actually looks just like it does in the wild, except it has been cut off the animal.
Avoid Refined Foods
Refined foods are very popular today, but they aren’t nearly as good for you as the unrefined alternatives. The biggest example of this is going to be with rice. White rice, while very common, actually contributes virtually no valuable nutrients to your diet. Wild rice or brown rice, on the other hand, can be delicious and nutritious. The same can be said about bread where you often have the choice between refined white bread or unrefined whole great options. Whenever there is a choice between
refined foods or unrefined, clean eating will have you choose the unrefined.
Choose Balanced Meals
When preparing a meal you need to make sure you are thinking of a balanced diet. Part of clean eating means getting the optimal nutrients that your body needs. Each meal should, therefore, have some protein, some carbohydrates, some fat and a wide array of other vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. This will not only help you to plan a delicious and diverse meal but will also keep you feeling full and full of energy for longer than would otherwise be possible.
Don’t Drink Your Calories
Another key part of clean eating is making sure that the calories you consume are delivered in a healthy way. In virtually every case, any calories that you drink are going to be ‘empty’ calories or calories that don’t come with much or any nutritional value. The most obvious example of this is soda, but that is far from the only one. Many fruit juices, for example, should be avoided. While they may contain some vitamins, they are also loaded with sugar and have most of the fiber and other beneficial nutrients that you would get from eating whole fruit.
Spread Your Meals Out
The concept of clean eating doesn’t end with just what you are eating. It should also cover how you are eating it. For many people, it is difficult to stick to a diet because they are hungry in between meals, so they ‘cheat’ and grab a snack. If that is the case with you, consider spreading your meals out over the day. Having two or three main meals and two or three smaller meals will allow you to feel full all day without being tempted to cheat. Just make sure you are planning all of these meals using only natural foods that are unprocessed and healthy.
Exercising Regularly
Another important part of clean living (which goes hand in hand with clean eating) is getting enough exercise. While you don’t need to be spending hours in the gym every day, you should make sure you are getting out and walking or doing some other form of exercise as often as possible. Regular exercise helps boost your metabolism so your body can properly process and use the good foods you are eating. This will help you to improve your overall health and boost the positive results of a healthy diet.
Choose Clean Eating for Life
While the idea of clean eating can seem intimidating at first, it is actually much easier than most people would expect. Just like anything you try, it will get much simpler over time as you learn what works and what doesn’t. If you’re thinking about moving to a cleaner, healthier diet, make sure you allow yourself sufficient time to adjust and don’t become discouraged if you have trouble at first. If you stay committed to it, you’ll find that after a few weeks it has become second nature.
