What is clean eating? The concept of clean eating is basically consuming foods as close to their natural state as possible, without additives. For example, baked or grilled chicken is more close to its natural state than fried chicken which has a lot more added ingredients & calories.
Moreover, by eating foods that are cleaner, you are decreasing the number of calories in your meals and many times eliminating unwanted calories from fat. This explains why clean eating assists greatly in weight loss.
An apple would be an example of a clean food (fruit), while a tasty cake would be an example of a "dirty" food. The tasty cake isn't natural. It's processed, has additives, artificial flavors, and food coloring, etc. The tasty cake also has more calories but is less nutritious; so it is said to have empty calories because these calories serve no nutritional purpose to your body. Some use the rule, the fewer ingredients, the more natural or, the "cleaner" the food.
In closing, cleaning up your diet leads to healthier food choices which will lead to a healthier body. Clean eating also decreases the number of calories you consume in meals which is a major contributor to weight loss in addition to exercise.
Tip: An easier way to make a "clean food" transition is by cleaning up one meal at a time. For example: cleaning up breakfast for 2 weeks and during the 3rd week clean up both breakfast, and Lunch. Continue until all 3 meals consist of "cleaner foods."
Question (please comment): What are your personal challenges with your diet?
Below you will see a few "clean foods" that I eat. What are some of your clean food (comments) suggestions?
4 oz Chicken Breast (seasoned & sautéed in non-fat olive oil cooking spray)
Salmon (seasoned & grilled or sautéed in non-fat olive oil cooking spray)
Turkey Burger (seasoned & grilled or sautéed in non-fat olive oil cooking spray)
Brown rice (seasoned to my liking)
1 Sweet potato mashed (boiled or baked then mashed with 1/4 cup of non-fat skim milk & cinnamon)
Asparagus (seasoned & grilled or sautéed in non-fat olive oil cooking spray)
Broccoli (seasoned sautéed in non-fat olive oil cooking spray)
Almonds- great source of protein & healthy fats. 28 almonds are approximately 170 calories
Wheat Bread (light): 45 calorie per slice
Fruits (bananas, grapes, strawberries): Higher in nutritious value while lower in calories.
Oatmeal: (high fiber and 10 grams of protein in 1 cup)
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21 Day Fix - Simple Eating. Simple Fitness. Fast Results.
Make every step toward health count with a Fitbit tracker.
Don't live in gym, just look like you do!
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INSANITY - Get a Year's Worth of Results In Just 60 Days!
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One of my challenges with my diet is I always eat mashed potatoes w/ gravy with any meat that I cook for dinner...lol..I need to replace it with sweet potatoes..I just love mashed potatoes. My favorite clean food would have to be my fruit smoothies. I mix spinach, bananas, peaches, mangos, blueberries,strawberries, and apples.
ReplyDeleteOh this is good. Your in a great space as you have already adopted cleaner eating habits. You just need to continue in the transition. Try making the sweet potato mash transition next. It will have a similar consistency to your favored mash potatoes but will have more nutrients such protien and fiber. Fruit smoothies with the added vegetables is a great choice! I will try the blueberries, mangos etc! Thanks for sharing!
DeleteHope this was useful & thanks for sharing! Now let's make that sweet potato mash transition! :-)
DeleteYes gravy can have a consuderable amour of calories as well approximately 188 cal in one cup. This would me considered one of those high calorie added ingredients mentioned in the blog. You can always start by scaling back on the amount of gravy (measures serving) or cut it out completely. Another option could be a low or no calorie gravy...
DeleteCool I eat that stuff I just need to make more meals for myself and take lunch to work. I'm so busy I just order or pick up something! This should be easy! Thanks xoxo Kelz
ReplyDeleteYour most welcome! Yes preparing your own food is the best way to assure clean eating and calorie counting for those who do. Preparing meals the day before, packing dry foods etc work for me. You may also want to consider preparing meals for the next 2-3 days depending on what works best for your schedule & lifestyle. Good luck on this journey we can do it together and learn from one another. Hope this was useful & thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteIm cutting it out completely...mashed sweet potatoes is a good idea... thanks :)
ReplyDeleteIll just eat mashed potatoes w/gravy on my cheat days..Im trying to lose 60lbs..lol
Awesome I'm glad that was helpful. Yes I eat sweet potato mash often. Yes cheat days can help you keep your sanity, they are also good for boosting your metabolism (do further research if needed). I would suggest having a cheat day once every 2 weeks to start then maybe once a week in the future. Everyone is different so you'll have to test and see which cheat day frequency works best for your body.. Yes 60 pounds is a great goal and I encourage you to go for it. Keep us posted along your journey!!
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