Clean eating - is it a trend? What the heck is everyone talking about? I spent a few years noticing more and more people talk about clean eating and finally decided I wanted to see what it was all about. It turns out clean eating is simple - it is a basic way to focus your eating habits. Defined - I would say it is simply eating only foods that are in their natural state or have minimal ingredients and processing. You consume lots of fruits, veggies, proteins and some carbs. For most, cutting out those addicting "white" ingredients - white bread, white sugar, white carbohydrates can be the most difficult.
Sugar really is addicting but what you will find is when you don't have it, you don't crave it. It took me a very short period of time to get rid of most all sugar in processed from from my diet and I am so glad I did. I have much more energy and feel so much better.
What I have come to notice is that if you want to truly live a healthy lifestyle you MUST focus on clean eating. Losing weight is about an 80/ 20 ratio. It requires you to focus 80% of your efforts on clean healthy eating and 20% of your efforts on exercise. You can workout all the time but if your eating like crap your not going to see the same results. You have to put in the time and focus on your nutrition if you want to truly make a change.
When you live this type of lifestyle you will find that you are not on a diet, you are not starving, you are simply changing your habits for the better. Often times the habits also wear off on others including your loved ones. I know personally when I started focusing my eating habits on clean eating my husbands and sons changed as well. When practicing this lifestyle you will want to eat 5-6 small meals per day so that your metabolism is continually being fueled throughout the day. I eat every two to three hours and that seems to work best for me. You will also want to consume half of your weight in ounces of water each day to reduce bloating and cravings. I suggest not eating anything 3 hours prior to bedtime for your body. If you find that you are still craving something in the evening a cup of hot green tea can often do the trick. Put in the work and your body will reward you for it.
Prep Days - If you want to be successful with this lifestyle you will need to spend one day a week prepping food so that it is not so overwhelming. This does require some time and work but if you put in the effort your going to be successful. I like to spend my Sundays meal planning, grocery shopping and prepping foods so that I am ready for the week ahead of me. This is so that I can avoid the excuse that I do not have enough time. Which in turn leads to me cheating and eating foods that are not "clean" rather just "quick."
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