I have been asked a thousand times what clean eating is and honestly I think it’s different for everyone. I can share what it is to me and you can put your own spin on it. Apply it to fit your life!

I first heard about clean eating from an actual diet called Eating Clean. I read Tosca’s first 3 books and loved them! I even subscribed to the Eating Clean magazine for awhile. I loved the principles, the whole food concept and the simplicity of it. Through the last 8+ years I have tweaked it and made it apply to my own life and really tried to tighten up the ‘diet’ even more but in a way that fit our family.

Here are the Clean Eating principles that Tosca shares with us:

 

I would say I basically follow these rules daily. I have slowly incorporated these principles into the lives of myself, my husband and kids. The trick for me was to take it slow. I read the book, made my grocery list just like in the book and bought it all!

………….EPIC FAIL!

I hadn’t learned enough of the basics, or I guess I should say I hadn’t applied enough of the basics to be changing everything all at once.
It was TOO much!
Too much to do all at once!

So here are my thoughts.
I recommend you change a few things in your life at a time. It needs to be a lifestyle. Something that you truly enjoy. Not something that you are forcing yourself to do. For example, I love eggs! I have eaten them for breakfast for the majority of 6-8 years. But if you hate eggs… DON’T EAT THEM!! If you hate celery, don’t eat it! Now don’t get me wrong, you will need to get foods from all healthy areas into your diet. So if you can’t stand ANY veggies then I highly recommend you start finding a few that you can choke down. Or I guess you could hid them in foods that you are making. I love spinach in my smoothie and I PROMISE you can’t taste it!! No, really! You can’t taste it! My kids have no idea that their chocolate smoothie has spinach in it. Now, if it’s strawberry then you might see a change in the color of your smoothie but you still won’t taste it.

Some things I focus on and try to stick with consistently are:

-Eating whole foods: foods as close as possible to their natural grown state (but I do not follow a raw foods diet).
-Lots of fruits and veggies! And then some more veggies!
-Having my sugar (fruits) & grain carbs earlier in the day and having my fats later in the day.
-Eating 100% whole grains… not just wheat but 100% whole wheat. The package should have a 100% whole grain stamp on it.
-Buying meats that are local, organic or at least no injected hormones.
-Sweeteners are a limited amount of natural sweeteners like honey and maple syrup and NO artificial sweeteners. I have a diet pop about once every 3 months or so. My wine is sweetened with the fruit or honey.
-Drinking as much water as I can but confession time… this is my biggest struggle!
A great rule of thumb is drinking half your body weight in ounces. So if you weigh 140 pounds then drink at least 70 ounces of water a day.
-I eat about 5-6 times a day, smaller sized meals.
-Eat a protein at every meal.
-Plan and pack my foods for the day and sometimes for the week! I have a meal prep day, sometimes 2 a week. That way food is ready to grab and go!
-I read labels!!! If I can’t pronounce it then I probably shouldn’t eat it! The less ingredients usually means the better.
-Eating clean and whole 80% of the time. I don’t beat myself up when I have packaged foods or foods that contain sugar. Actually, to keep my sanity and live a social life I sometimes will plan my treat meals.

This might seem like a lot but the key is to pick a few things that seem to be areas needing improvement and focus on those. Once you have those pretty well coved then pick up a few more healthy habits. Remember that I have been doing this for 8+ years. I have learned a lot along the way and I have had many learning experiences along the way. Plus, the way that works for me might not be the best for you and that’s totally okay! We are each creating our own journey!

Would you please share with me what clean eating is to you? What are your thoughts on it and how can you apply some of these tips to your life, if any?