Clean Eating 101
In our busy lives, we are surrounded by mass marketing, mass production, fads, and countless buzz words.. (Paleo, Keto, Whole 30, vegan, intermittent fasting, master cleanse, detox, all natural, cabbage soup diet, low fat, zero calorie, sugar free, grass fed, organic, NON GMO, wild caught, pastured, gluten free) … its so confusing! And while some is good and useful .. much is just marketing at its finest .. In the midst of it all.. Its VERY difficult to know what is good and what’s actually bad for you! Further to that.. we are all uniquely made in that what works for one person, may not be right for you! Nutrition is a tricky science in that virtually every ‘diet’ or otherwise can be proven and disproven in almost the same breath.. so as a holistic (that means whole body) health coach, what I support is lifestyle eating that fits YOUR bio-individuality!
Clean eating has become a “buzz word” too. When in reality, the basics of clean eating have been around since the dawn of time up until about the time of our grandparents. (think 1940s..)
Sadly, the way most of us were raised.. that food is food and is basically good and safe.. is no longer the truth. Its pretty easy to recognize soda, fast food, potato chips and lunchables as ‘processed’.. the truth however is far more sinister.. “processed food” is almost EVERYTHING now!!! Our food is artificially grown, chemical sprayed, refined and bleached, picked unripe and shipped to us from around the world in a synthetic fake environment that depletes it of its original nutrients and fills it with ingredients that make us sick. (The commercially grown animals that we eat are treated in equally horrifying ways). Plus we are being lied to by every commercial, picture & marketing gimmick.. its enough to make your head spin!
Keep in mind.. We are literally what we eat.. in fact EVERY CELL in our bodies is re-made at least once every 7 years.. and the make up of our cells comes directly from what we eat and drink. SO a return to how our grandparents & great grandparents ate (clean eating in its truest sense!).. is a must..
In the journey toward being holistically healthy.. one of the easiest most logical places to start is CLEAN EATING, truly the foundation of a HEALTHY LIFE! If you think about it.. the healthier you are .. the easier it is to do the things you like to do, with energy, pain free and not bogged down by drs and medicine.. which is the makings of a HAPPY LIFE!
- Clean eating is a LIFESTYLE.. its NOT a diet.. it’s a filter to put all the buzz words through… a way to grocery shop and order out at restaurant..
- Clean eating principles can be applied to literally any method of eating that you choose.. Paleo, Mediterranean, whole 30, Keto, vegan, etc and can also be applied to specific meal plans that your trainer or nutritionist may put you on
- Clean eating is a pure, simple “old school” return to feeding our bodies.. thus functioning in concert with the natural food sources God and nature provide for us.
- Please Note: Clean eating IS NOT a foolproof way to loose weight (because you can still eat too many calories even if they are “clean”.) That being said.. by following the basic rules of clean eating.. and getting away from the “Standard American Diet” .. most/many people will loose weight just by cutting out the refined artificial junk.. tweaking what you eat and when to meet your bio-individuality will further aid weight loss and whole body health.
(Its important to note that true health comes from many facets of life.. nutrition/clean eating of course, but also exercise, and that all important personal, work, spiritual balance.. if any part of that is “off” it wont matter how much kale is eaten.. a person cant be truly healthy.. for example, it’s a known fact that chronic stress and lack of sleep are leading causes of many disorders! Dehydration and CRAP FOOD are also leading causes! The answer to what ails you lies in taking this holistic approach. As a health coach, I work with people to find imbalances in their lives and develop plans to correct them)
“What is Clean Eating”?
A proper approach involves crowding out the bad with the good
- Making a lifestyle of eating and drinking only whole, natural, unprocessed foods and drink truly produced by God and nature. This also means seeking and eating Organic (veggies/fruit), Grass Fed (beef/dairy), Pastured (chicken, eggs, pork), Wild Caught (fish) and Organic/Non GMO products as much as possible. Let your goal be to eat food made from a green plant vs a cement plant! (Since organic regulation does not permit “GMO” crops .. going organic cuts glyphosate (roundup) & other chemical sprays out of your food.. this is a critical element in our health.)
- To help with organic veggies/fruits, look up the dirty dozen/clean 15 list of veggies and fruit and let that be your guide to what organic foods to get for sure. (YES you will EAT the foods on the dirty dozen list! Just ensure they are organic!.. The foods on the clean 15 list are ok to eat non-organic. This all has to do with which absorb chemical sprays
- Work on lowering sugar intake. A healthy goal is no more than 6 tsp (24 g) of sugar per day.
- Substitute sweeteners to healthy choices like honey, stevia, agave, satisfy you desire for sweet w/fresh fruits, sweet veggies, some dark chocolate & fruit/avocado based deserts
- Eliminate processed man made chemical artificial NON FOOD (this includes things like fast food, nitrate/nitrite bacon, lunchmeat, sausages etc (uncured no nitrite/nitrate is fine) – question EVERYTHING in a box, bag, jar, can or other store-bought container. If you don’t understand what the ingredient is, neither does your body! So don’t eat it!!!
- This means looking for ingredients labels with whole ingredients and no artificial ones
- Seek to avoid completely bad fats (trans fats, margarine, shortening, anything fried) and vegetable oils (they are heavily over refined and known to cause inflammation)
- Instead go for real butter, ghee, olive, avocado and coconut oils.
- Work on eliminating “white carbs’ (AKA simple carbs) This includes normal bread, chips, cookies & crackers etc (all made with refined flour), processed cereal and oatmeal, refined white rice, potatoes, refined flour and corn tortillas and tortilla chips etc.. These are all processed so much that any “whole grain’ that grew has been smashed, bleached, chemical bathed and reformed into something that the body cannot use nor does it recognize.. products made with these ingredients just become sugar and instigate inflammation ..
- look for truly whole grains.. brown, wild, & long grain rice, quinoa, barley, amaranth, oats, couscous which are fine although should NOT make up a large part of your diet.. moderation is key here.. ..also home made bread and other baked goods made with whole grain and organic non gmo unrefined flour, and alternative sweeteners like honey and applesauce and known non gmo ingredients are fine.. tho again in MODERATION (small amounts! The sugars and inflammation are not worth it!) .. also some whole real potatoes that are not deep fried or bathed in butter and other calorie laden toppings are fine IN MODERATION! In truth.. sweet potatoes satisfy the same need and have far more nutrients! That all being said.. The safest way as you begin your journey.. is to avoid the above all together until your new lifestyle has become a lifestyle. This allows your body and microbiome to reset. And The “taste’ for these things will shift to other more healthy nutrient dense options and you wont “crave” it anymore.. when that happens.. having a little every now and then is fine. Just keep it clean!!
- Drink more water! ½ your body weight in oz/day is a good rule of thumb. Proper hydration is needed for cellular function and your body to properly use all the nutrients that you feed it.. its also critical in flushing out the build up of waste and toxins and other bad stuff.. plus when you are properly hydrated, you are less likely to feel hungry when you don’t actually need food.
- Attempt to eat at home/cook at home as much as possible.. fast food is obviously an issue.. and sadly even eating out a ‘nice restaurant’ means no knowledge of the ingredients, way too many calories, sugar, salt and carbs that you have no means to control and portion sizes that are double and triple what is good for your body.
“Why do I care”?
There is a direct correlation between the increase of obesity and the increase in type II diabetes and it all starts in the early 80s when the advent of fast food and processed food began its rapid rise in our society as “the norm” in how we eat.
Our bodies don’t know what to do with all the artificial ingredients, and so it triggers our immune system to flare up.. this causes systemic inflammation, bacterial imbalance in our gut, the liver and kidneys to go into hyper over drive and the adrenal/thyroid balance to get out of whack causing out of control weight gain, type II diabetes, GI distress, achy painful bodies, autoimmune disorders and a “I’m sick all the time” norm.
A word about sugar.. The extreme quantities of refined foods in our diets.. as well as excess simple carbs along with ALL the SUGAR (that is in EVERYTHING!) all lead to toxic levels of sugar in our systems (keep the rule of “no more than 24 g of sugar a day” in mind.. then go look on some of your ingredients lists for sugar count! Think about how carbs break down into sugar.. Think about how much fruit you eat (loaded with sugar).. Going with “sugar free’ products is not good either.. because the additives that are used to make something sweet in the absence of natural sweeteners are even worse than the sugar itself (go back to the problems associated with artificial ingredients)!
That all being said.. The excess sugar and chronic inflammation is toxic to our systems causing systemic stress (GI tract, heart, liver, kidney, thyroid in particular) as well as many seemingly unrelated conditions to show up.. weight that is easy to gain but stubborn to loose, sleeplessness, allergies, skin conditions, brain fog, mood disruption, lack of energy even asthma, autoimmune conditions, thyroid conditions and cancer.
Now that I’ve totally freaked you out.. here are some huge positives to focus on!!
Benefits of eating clean
- Lower systemic & Musculoskeletal inflammation
- Weight loss
- Clearer smoother skin
- Reversing chronic pain
- Better Mood
- Balanced hormones
- Lower health risks for diabetes, obesity, and other
- Lower PMS and menopause symptoms
- Better PH balance in body helps lessen chronic infections and candida overgrowth
- Fights adrenal fatigue and exhaustion
- Combats sleep disorders and insomnia
- Feeling more empowered and energized
- Save time meal prepping and money on eating out
- Build a stronger body and mind
(please note: If you are suffering from diagnosed health conditions.. the information provided here are NOT guarantees.. that being said, making the shift toward clean eating (in whatever dietary protocol you have to follow – Paleo and autoimmune Paleo are very affective for many) along with good exercise, life balance (stress mediation etc), and working with medical providers according to condition has been successfully used by countless many to over come, and even reverse a variety of debilitating conditions.)
“How can I incorporate clean eating into my life”?
Remember you are CROWDING OUT the bad with all the good!
So start with what you CAN Enjoy!!!
Fresh whole foods.. green leafy veggies and all the “rainbow” of other fresh veggies, lean meat, fish, eggs, greek yogurt, sweet potatoes, whole ancient grains in their pure form, nuts, dark chocolate (moderation!) fruit (moderation),
Beverages in addition to water.. homemade veggie smoothies and juices (yes they are delicious! Use minimal fruit due to the sugars), Kambucha, Kefir, natural tea (hot and cold)
Sweeteners like raw organic honey, stevia, agave (maple syrup and xylitol are ok too)
Healthy fats like real butter, ghee, coconut oil, avocado oil, olive oil
Wonderful herbs and spices in your meals add flavor and also have amazing superfood benefit! (Onion, Garlic, Turmeric, Ginger, cayenne, paprika, cumin, coriander, oregano, rosemary etc)
Using lemon juice, salsa and mustard as your primary condiments and home making your salad dressings with things like olive oil, apple cider vinegar and honey.
Consider working with a health coach (that’s me!) to create plans and goals that work for you.
A few simple shifts in your home include
1.Clean out your pantry of anything that might not fit into the Clean Eating category. Or make a pledge to buy “clean eating” pantry items as you run out of the ones you have on hand.
2. Meal-prepping is one of the smartest things you can do when you’ve made the choice to eat clean. Take one or two days a week as you have time.. and pre-prepare the meals that you know you won’t have time to make otherwise. This way when you get home from work you are not tempted to order out or eat out.. or when you are at work you wont dive into the buffet of white carbs but will instead enjoy the meal that you brought from home.
3 Drink more water! This is one of the Golden Rules of Clean Eating that makes such a difference. Having enough water helps your body release excess weight and manage cravings better. Strive to drink half your body weight in oz a day.. figure out what cups and bottles hold what amount and then count it up! How many of these cups or bottles do you need to drink in a day?
4. Avoid drinking your calories – soda and sugary drinks can be replaced with lemon water, tea, kambucha and sparkling water with lemon or lime.
5. Limit sweets including fruit due to the high sugars.. low glycemic fruits like berries & melon are great (still in moderation tho!)
6. Read the ingredients lists on the labels before you purchase packaged foods. If you can’t pronounce it, don’t recognize it or know its artificially made, don’t bring it home.
7. Learn how to prepare your own food at home more than eating out.
8. Eat smaller meals throughout the day and try to stop eating 2 hours before bed.
Take the next step!
And that’s it! Learning all of this and realizing its value to you.. is the first step of your journey! The next step is up to you!
Maybe this info is an eye opener for you and you realize that its time to make some big changes in your world.. Or maybe you are already following many of these principles of clean eating yet you recognize there are a few more changes you can make in your life to get really clean!
As you work through it all.. finding what changes meet your needs, I encourage you to ‘look it up’ and run whatever you read or hear or learn through this “clean eating” filter. There is A LOT of information out there! If you visit my website, and go to the “books” tab, there are several excellent books on eating that may serve you well. The Paleo Approach and The Wahl’s Protocol are both very informative (both have super cookbooks too.. and all are available on Amazon). In addition, you will find several helpful links on the “resources” tab on my website.. clean food crush offers a ton of great info and recipes (you don’t have to “buy” anything to access the recipes and free info emails). There is also a link to a good Keto webpage as well as links to good supplements and protein powder. And on the internet. I like the articles from Dr Mercola, Livestrong, and Dr Axe (yes, they are all “Selling things” .. no need to get caught up in the hype.. just read the info and see how it fits your life!)
Keep in mind that you may hear something.. but you don’t really “own it” till you look up the info yourself! In addition to looking up topics of interest, another interesting tactic is to google “nutritional benefit of (insert food name)”.. you’ll be surprised how much yummy goodness is out there! (celery and cucumbers were big surprises for me!) So .. look it up and find what works for you.. just keep it clean!
If you would like an accountability partner, sounding board or personal goal setting plan making guide as you continue your journey.. consider working with me. I am a certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and ICF trained life coach. (which means I know what I’m doing and could very possibly be of great service to you! Contact me and lets talk about it!! )
For more information on the services I provide, and how to contact me please visit my website.
www.uniquely-made.com
You can also like and follow me on FB @uniquelymade12 for holistically healthy ideas, recipes and tips.
Thanks for coming with me on this little mental journey into Clean Eating! I’d love to work with you as your coach on your personal journey of holistic health!
Kim
TK 4.18
🙂 we’re all on this journey together after all!