What is clean eating?

When I was first introduced to the term "clean eating" I read the book, The Eat Clean Diet: Fast Fat Loss that Lasts Forever by Tosca Reno. I would start here. You can get a used book below on amazon for as low as $3.75 or find it at your local half price book store for cheap. And you can always buy new. This book has a great story of Tosca's journey, great information about nutrition and has recipes in the back of the book. However, I want to get away from the word "diet." I think it has a negative sound. Anyone who associates the word "diet" to their eating automatically has that "ugh" face on as soon as they read the word ,DIET. Yuck.

So let's call clean eating your new way of living. After all, it isn't a diet. I eat more this way than I ever have before. I am just eating foods that will keep my body lean and healthy overall. What a great feeling huh? You can eat a ton, get full, have great tasting meals, have energy and look great! wow. Sign me up!

http://www.amazon.com/Eat-Clean-Diet-Fat-Loss-lasts-Forever/dp/B0027VT0DS/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352830569&sr=1-2&keywords=eat+clean+diet

So, after reading and learning, what does clean eating mean to me? It means eliminating man made junk. I know this statement is extreme and almost impossible, but "If a cave man couldn't have eaten it, don't eat it."

No sugar!-no cookies, candy, cokes for example
No flour-not even wheat bread (blog to come about this specifically)

• no pasta
• no bread
• no taco shells
• you CAN have flourless bread found at Kroger (Ezekiel) or Trader Joe's has their own brand of flourless bread that I actually prefer and it is cheaper.
• check your labels. If the ingredients say flour, put it back on the shelf!

Only complex carbs: try to limit your carbs to 100 per day. This is hard to do. You must read labels and cant every carb. No carbs are free. A few examples are below. Do some research on your complex carbs. Google is amazing.

• quinoa
• rice
• Any fruits: watch sugar and carbs in some such as bananas. Very high in sugar
• Any veggies: watch potatoes and beans, high carbs

Eat protein every meal! I try to eat whatever I weigh in protein. Make sure your protein is lean.
Examples:

• eggs
• chicken
• lean beef 96%
• low fat cottage cheese
• beans (watch the carbs)
• quinoa (watch the carbs)
• turkey bacon
• all natural peanut butter (only ingredient is peanuts) can find at kroger, trader joes or whole foods
• protein powder
• Greek yogurt (watch the sugars and get the plain organic) can find at kroger, trader joes or whole foods
• fish--i eat tuna but you will find with my blog that I am not a big fish eater. Great if you are!
• unsalted almonds

Eat every 3 hours: Lean and Green!

Drink water like it is your job. I typically use the crystal light packages to make it more enjoyable. I drink my weight in water too. So if you weigh 150, drink 150 oz of water per day. Try it! :)

Just a reminder. I am not a nutritionist. This is only what I have learned from people that have helped me along the way and by reading. I strongly recommend getting the book I mentioned at the top. It is very motivational. Sometimes I get it out and read it again just to get a boost. :)

Good Luck! Enjoy eating real food and getting real results. :)