What is Clean Eating?

What is Clean Eating?

Thanks to Lori of Chasing Fitness for this great guest post. 

There’s always a lot of buzz going around about eating clean.  But what exactly does that mean?   Eat organic? Low carbs?  Low Fat?  Eggs or no eggs?

“If it didn’t come from the Earth or have a mother, don’t eat it.” ~Jillian Michaels

Clean eating is choosing to eat whole, unprocessed, unmodified and unrefined foods.  Sources of these foods include lean meats, eggs, fruits, vegetables, coconut, avocado, olives and pressed oils.

Here are a few tips to help make it easier:

*Organic- Of course foods that aren’t sprayed with chemicals and pesticides are always going to better for you to consume.  But if organic isn’t available or affordable, I’d rather you eat conventionally grown foods that are healthy for you instead of not eating them.  For example, conventionally grown broccoli is still better for you than eating a large French fry.

*Lifestyle: Part 1– Eating clean is a lifestyle not a diet.  Clean eating is a great way to ditch the dieting world forever.  The difference between a diet and clean eating is that normal diets have an end date.  Have you ever said, “No thanks, I’m dieting.”  Eventually you’ll stop dieting and worst of all slip back into your old eating habits.  With clean eating there is no expiration date…it’s a continuous journey.

*Lifestyle: Part 2- Yes, the lifestyle part is important enough to have a part 2!  Since eating clean is a lifestyle, you will soon come to a mindset that there is no starting over on Monday.  As Jill Coleman with JillFit Physiques says, “You’re always one meal away from burning fat.”  Basically, if you mess up at breakfast you can start over right then and there.

*Plan Out the Week BUT- I suggest trying to plan out your meals and training for the week.  It sets you up for success.  BUT, you must be flexible.  Things pop up unexpectedly and if you’re in the “ALL or NOTHING” mindset, you could be setting yourself up for failure and worse a major setback.

I hope what I’ve shared helps make you’re decision about how to incorporate clean eating into your lifestyle.  I’d love to hear how you make clean eating a lifestyle.