Clean Eating
Introduction
For most, food is pleasure. We indulge in it as much as we can and as much as we need. However, have you ever stopped to consider whether that greasy hamburger is worth wearing around your butt? Have you ever thought how many calories a friends chocolate-filled birthday cake would give you? If yes, then you might just be considering making a change in your diet to help you become healthier.
Health and fitness should be a persons top-most priority, especially if he or she is living a busy lifestyle. With all the obstacles to health, one should know how to stay healthy. Its not enough to exercise daily; what a person eats has a big effect on a persons overall health.
Clean eating is a lifestyle which many experts believe to be one of the main reasons people stay in top shape. This book tells you everything you need to know about clean eating, including its definition; how to start eating clean; what food ingredients you should buy at your local grocery store; clean eating recipes to try out; and many more. You will be surprised at how much the clean eating diet will benefit you.
Chapter 1: What Clean Eating Is and Why Practice It
Clean eating continues to be a mantra not only among registered dietitians but also among personal fitness trainers, Cross-fit fanatics, and people who prioritize their health among all others. It may sound new to your ears, but clean eating has already been around for years, adopted by thousands of people want to start and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
To understand what clean eating is all about, one should first put in mind what clean eating ISNT.
What It Isnt
Most people mistake clean eating to be a specific type of diet which involves rigid rules. Well, it isnt, nor does it involve complicated calculations like counting calories every day. Because of its lack of a set definition, different people hold different interpretations of what clean eating is. This often results in confusion, a number of contradictions, and eventually, a general sense of frustration. The real concept of clean eating, however, is not supposed to stress you out, nor should you be required to overthink and overanalyze on what it really is. You might even be surprised to know that clean eating is a lifestyle that isnt too difficult to adopt.
Now that you have been briefed on what clean eating isnt, it is time that you understand what clean eating really is.
What It Is
Clean eating is all about doing one thing: eating food as close to their natural state as possible. If youre thinking sushi and sashimi, you could be right. However, before concluding that clean eating means eating raw, take the time to read on to learn and understand more about clean eating.
People who eat clean would, as much as possible, avoid processed food. Processed food includes those that are loaded with preservatives, those that contain lots of added sugar, and those that have high levels of harmful fat (all trans-fat / some saturated fats). In addition to the food mentioned here, clean eating also advices to avoid food injected with chemicals (steroids, antibiotics, etc.) and those that have been stripped of their natural nutritional values.
To give you an idea, here are a few examples the different routines found in the clean eating regimen.
- Eating whole, unrefined grains
- Eating local, organic, fresh fruits and vegetables
- Diet plans consist more of vegetables than of meat
- Drinking plenty of water and other drinks that contain no calories (remember that diet sodas are not considered as no-calorie drinks)
- Instead of the usual frying, healthier cooking choices such as baking, steaming, and light sauting are used
- Eating of natural sources of healthy fats such as avocados, nuts, and organic coconut oil
Why the Clean Diet?
Many might not understand why one would prefer eating without the delicious, tasty satisfaction brought by spices, sugar, and many other ingredients. Why would you prefer eating your broccoli with only olive oil and lemon juice to add variety to its taste? Why not enjoy the healthy benefits of it while enjoying the taste of butter and cheese at least?
In summary, eating clean and eating whole food is proven to
make you feel better. It is believed that the better a person feels for himself, the more likely he is to take care of himself better.
help regain health or keep you healthy. Whole foods keep you away from the temptations to eat junk food which, as everyone knows but often ignores, only provides harm than good in the long run.
aid in maintaining a healthier weight, which helps to prevent the risk of a number of diseases like high blood pressure, certain cancers, and other weight-related diseases.
ensure that your body gets the right amount of essential nutrients it needs. When food gets processed, most of the nutrients it has could be stripped off.
get you a good amount of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) which are easily decreased or lost due to processing of food.
keep you satisfied longer. Hence, the lesser chance there is of you sneaking into the kitchen to raid the fridge because youre hungry.
...help regulate the sugar level in your blood and reduce the level of cholesterol in the body. All thanks to the high level of micronutrients in whole foods.
help keep the digestive system functioning normally and regularly.
make the body stronger in order to help you stay more active.
keep the cells in the body strong. Since artificial ingredients contain lesser nutrients, consuming a lot of them would lead to weakening of the cells and might lead to dysfunctional bodily systems.
With all the benefits mentioned here, there is certainly no reason at all to treat clean eating as just another diet craze. Instead of promising you lesser weight gain, leaner muscles, and all the other things that could convince you to jump from one diet to another, clean eating only focuses on one thing alone: to bring you to a healthier state by making sure your food retains the nutrients they are supposed to have.
Chapter 2: What Is the Clean Eating Program and How Do You Get Started?
Now that you have been briefed on what clean eating is, the next thing you want to know is how exactly one incorporates clean eating into his lifestyle. Read on to learn more.
The concept is pretty simple, but it is still better to do your research first before immediately starting day one of you clean eating lifestyle. If you want to enjoy your broccoli with butter, cheese, breadcrumbs, and then have it baked on the oven for a few minutes. This, in itself, is not clean eating because of the added butter and cheese (both processed dairy products). With clean eating, all you have to do is to toss it around in a little amount of olive oil, add some fresh lemon juice, and throw in a pinch of fresh Parmesan cheese. The result is a healthier, guilt-free snack.
There are actually a few methods you can follow when you want to start eating clean.
METHOD 1
When it comes to eating clean, one of the main goals you should have is to rid your body from chemicals and other harmful toxins. The focus here rests less on losing weight and is more on keeping the body healthy.
METHOD 2
The second method is the most commonly practiced method, which consists of the following steps.
(1)
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