Clean Eating

It is interesting that eating is the best weight loss program. So what is good to eat? How can I keep my body "clean"?

CleanEating.com describes clean eating as "The soul of clean eating is consuming food in its most natural state, or as close to it as possible. It is not a diet; it’s a lifestyle approach to food and its preparation, leading to an improved life – one meal at a time." Basically it is saying processed foods are bad for you. Well, we all know this. If you know me, then you know that I will gladly eat my icecream at the end of the day. The reason, because I am human and I like icecream. So what are some ways we can have clean eating in our diets and still live that wholesome lifestyle we normal people want?


First of all, I have heard of people trying clean eating and end up dreading meal times. Food is such a wonderful, and necessary part of life. Why does it have to become so expensive and such a head ache?
You must consider if you want to sacrifice something and what you have to sacrifice to keep that sacrifice. For example, I will not give up my white bread. I love it. It makes me happy. To keep the wonderful white fluff in my life I have given up other simple carbs such as candy bars. I see them at the store, right at check out, but I move on. I know there is a piece of bread with some hazelnut spread on it for me at home. It is worth it.

Second way to dodge the fully healthy, and sometimes not as good tasting, bullet is don't make it all from healthy. I have tried the greek yogurt thing but messed up too many times with plain vs vanilla (DON'T put vanilla on your tacos. You will cry yourself to sleep for your mistake). It was okay for some things, but not all. I did not like cooking with it. It curdled too quick when making enchiladas and it didn't hold the consistency or punch I needed when baking. So I have a small tube of sour cream in my fridge for baking breads and other such things. So greek works with somethings, but I always have unhealthy option at hand for what it was made for.

Third, don't avoid all fried foods. I love Japanese cooking (shocking, I know) but surprisingly, a large amount of things in that cuisine, and many other cultures, are deep fried but are not all together unhealthy. So instead of throwing you fryer away because "it is not a healthy choice", keep it and fry at home. Avoid fried foods at restaurants, you never know what is in that stuff.

Fourth is don't break the bank for "healthy choices". I have healthy stuff in my pantry that I don't think I have even opened. I know what I like, I know how I cook, and I know what my style of food is. I am not against trying new things but it feels like a waste buying a big bottle of chia seeds and only using it in one recipe that I was not a big fan of. Look up other things you can put in the recipe.  Example: flax seeds are a great alternative to chia seeds and not as expensive or as hard to find.

I hope that you find this interesting and helpful. I want to maintain a healthy lifestyle for myself and my kids but I am human and was raised in a home that did not consentrate around a healthy lifestyle. The transition is slow, but we are making it. I just cut out Mountain Dew from my diet completely. It was surprisingly simple once I realized how horrible it made me feel. If I can cut that out of my life, I know you can too. Make that change, but you don't have to do it today!