What is Clean Eating?

Ok, so I'm not doing so well with keeping things updated here. Sorry! I am going to do my best to get back much more regularly than I have been. Overall, I'm doing well with my eating plan. There were a couple days with small cheats here or there due to lack of planning on my part. I didn't get quite enough lean protein options my last trip to the grocery store. I think I slipped due to pure boredom, which is my own fault, because there is lots of room for variety in this plan. However, I'm taking it as a learning experience. Now I know I need to prepare more options and change things up some throughout the week. When you are making a lifestyle change, you have to look these things as lessons about yourself and not as failures or set-backs. None of us are perfect 100% of the time. I remember one of Bill Phillip's tips in Body-for-Life is to "fail quickly." He means when you make an oops, recognize it, learn from it and get right back on track.

I still haven't gotten into a regular workout program. I just have to do it. I have a program I'm looking at right now and I'll share that with you another day. When I started with Clean Eating, I was up 2 lbs from where I've been for over a year. I dropped 3 lbs in the 1st week, putting me right back to my normal range. I'm sure much of that was extra fluid hanging around from too many chips, etc over the Holidays.

So, what is Clean Eating anyway?

There are several principles to Clean Eating. The main one for me, is eating foods as close to their natural state as possible. If it comes in a box with an ingredient list a mile long, it does not fit in the clean category! I'm avoiding all processed foods, artificial colors/flavors/sweeteners/preservatives and trans fats (this is not new to me, as I've tried to do this for quite some time). Basically, you need to eat more to lose weight and/or gain muscle. Here are some other basic principles as outlined by Tosca Reno in The Eat-Clean Diet book:

• Eat 5-6 small meals every day
• Eat every 2-3 hours
• Combine lean protein & complex carbs at every meal
• Drink at least 2 liters of water a day
• Never miss a meal, espeically breakfast
• Carry a cooler with Eat-Clean foods to get through the day
• Avoid sugar-loaded colas & juices
• Get adequate healthy fats each day
• Avoid alcohol - another form of sugar
• Avoid calorie-dense foods that contain little or no nutritional value
• Depend on fresh fruits and vegetable for fiber, vitamins and enzymes
• Stick to proper portion sizes

A typical day for me includes 4-5 small whole food meals and 1-2 protein shakes or bars.

Something I have not given up is my coffee! I am just not there yet and don't know if I ever will be. I'm also using a tiny bit of salt on some foods. I have a very hard time eating egg-whites without a dash of salt...also tomatoes. I love a little salt on my tomatoes and have since I was a little girl. I have cut way back, though. These are about the only 2 things I'm using it on and I'm using a very small amount.

Until next time!