Keep It Clean People!

Clean eating has been a term going around for some time now...and no, it doesn't JUST mean to wash you fruits and veggies, although that IS a good idea...so what DOES it mean??

"Clean Eating" is a concept that stresses consuming only healthy, whole foods. The underlying goal is eating as close to the source as possible. Your source can be Mother Nature or a live animal that wasn't tormented, you just want your food to be as unadulterated as possible.

 

This simple approach to eating and living well maximizes your energy and optimizes your health, making it more than just a diet. It’s a lifestyle, with built-in flexibility, meaning it can be adapted to fit most any kind of routine.  And let's face it...how many "diets" have we tried???  And how many have worked?  When you eat the food that was meant to be eaten, don't you think your body might be happier??

"Clean Eating" was popular in the 1960s with the hippies, as a backlash to the new FDA regulations that allowed "hyphenating chemicals" and other additives to the food they put on the shelves.  Next, this way of eating became popular among body builders and fitness models.  Recently, however, it has mainstreamed into every magazine, diet book, article and grocery store, inspiring a new revolution of healthy eating!  What it comes down to is that when our bodies are being nourished by the foods we are SUPPOSED to eat, they work more efficiently, hence weight loss can be easier to achieve and maintain for an extended period of time.  Severe calorie restriction can tweak your body's metabolism and maybe you will temporarily lose some El-Beees, BUT, it is not sustainable and can actually end up causing your body to store more calories, slow down your metabolism to make up for the severe change and then you are stuck.  Why not instead, eat more of the RIGHT foods, be satisfied and allow your body to function in the efficient fashion it was meant to!!!

Here are the core principles...

1. Choose whole, natural foods and seek to eliminate or minimize processed foods.
Processed foods are pretty much anything in a box, bag, can, or package.  A bag of fresh spinach is the exception to that rule, but the majority of your foods should be fresh.  When food IS processed, such as bread, choose the one with the LEAST amount of ingredients that you can actually pronounce!  For example, bread is comprised merely of water, yeast, flour and salt.  Maybe some honey, but not much more...granola should be made from oats, nuts, seeds and honey or maple syrup...you get the idea...

2. Choose unrefined over refined foods.
Grains should be whole and not processed such as teff, quinoa, amaranth, millet and brown rice.  (White rice has been "polished" until the brand and most of the germ is removed giving a longer shelf life, but leaving it with virtually NO fiber or nutrients left.)  Beans and legumes are also part of this category.  Sugars that are considered clean include raw honey, 100 % maple syrup, dehydrated or evaporated cane juice, coconut sugar, and succanut.

3. Include some protein, carbohydrate and fat at every meal and EAT THE RAINBOW!
Fat and carbohydrates are so easy to eat!  More often than not, protein is missing in our diets, especially at breakfast.  Protein is the building block of your entire body!!  Bones, muscles, skin and blood are all made up of protein!  When looking to lose weight, protein can increase satiety and metabolism.  Consuming protein helps your body maintain lean muscle mass, which is critical for healthy weight loss.n help curb your appetite.  When eaten at every meal, we feel full longer which helps us eat less overall.  And eat a variety of foods!!  Each color of vegetable provides different vitamins and minerals that our body needs, so get them ALL in there at some point!!! 

4. Watch out for added salt, and sugar and "bad" fat.
This is not very difficult if you cut out processed foods.  In order to maintain a long shelf life, these lovely ingredients are added in massive amounts.  Clean foods are naturally low in all of these ingredients.  Eat the "good" fats!!!!!  Your body NEEDS them!  These are the unsaturated ones especially mono-unsaturated that come from nuts, seeds, fish, and avocados.  Use oils that come from nuts, seeds, fruit and olives. 

5. Eat five to six small meals throughout the day.
Think three main meals and two or three snacks.  You should be eating every 2 1/2 - 3 hours.  This prevents you from skipping meals and overeating from being too hungry!  It also keeps your blood sugar levels steady so energy doesn’t lag.

6. Don’t dehydrate...HYDRATE
High calorie drinks like specialty coffees and soft drinks, on average, tack on 400 plus calories a day AND they make you more thirsty because they aren't hydrating your body.  So DRINK WATER, any way you can...with gas or without...warm or iced...with or without lemon slices, lime slices, or even infused with fresh berries.  YOU NEED A MINIMUM OF 1/2 OF YOUR WEIGHT IN OZ EVERY DAY!  So, if you weight 150 lbs, you need to be drinking a minimum of 75 oz each day.  I try to finish a bottle of water before I make myself a cup of coffee in the morning to begin the hydration process.  Headaches, hunger pangs, and most of our general discomforts are caused by dehydration, so DRINK UP!!!  Unsweetened tea is acceptable too (any flavor, but green tea is a well known metabolism booster).  Not diet soda...that is OFF the list, sorry.  They are as processed as they come...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hemi-weingarten/artificial-sweetners-3-re_b_410041.html  

7. Eat within one hour of waking up.
Breakfast was given its name because when you eat it, you are breaking the overnight fast your body has been enduring.  Why not jump start that metabolism right away instead of walking around the house with it still running on sleep mode???!!!  Also, when you eat early on in your day, you set the pace for feeling satisfied and you are less likely to over eat later on to compensate.

 
8. Get moving.
Regular physical activity is a must int his new healthier lifestyle.  Exercise decreases fat, builds and strengthens muscle, it makes your body burn more calories when you are just resting, AND it keeps your heart, lungs, and bones healthy and strong.

On a side note, I found this and thought it might make you all happy after reading this...
If you notice, things like cupcakes, cakes and fried food can, in fact, be clean. Is your cupcake/batter flour unadulterated? What about sugar – what kind of sweetener are you using? What oil are you frying in? This is why eating clean is different from eating for weight maintenance, because you could eat properly-fried food every day and still be eating clean.

Excerpted from Q&A Wednesday: What IS Clean Eating, Anyway? | A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss

I thought that was interesting because I literally gained 8 lbs last year due to going thru a massive clean baking and recipe testing phase...I wanted to find healthier recipes for everything yummy so I could still enjoy all of those things.  But I ended up eating the majority of each batch...bad idea lol.  This is where portion control comes in handy...that will be discussed tomorrow, so tune back in...

Like I have said before, eating clean makes your body run more efficiently and in turn, you can lose weight just because your body is happier!!!  But, aside from the possible weight loss, this is how we should all eat all the time!!!  I feel so good when I eat this way and am so glad that I made it my lifestyle.  If I ever am DYING for something processed and actually give in, I am ALWAYS sorry...coincidence???  I think not.

Until next time my friends,
XOXO...mrschef