What is Clean Eating and Clean Eating Resources

What is clean eating?

Clean eating is eating food that is in it's most natural state, or as close to it as possible.

Stay away from the following:

• Overly processed, refined foods (think box of this and cream of that)
• Sugar
• Saturated and trans-fats
• High Fructose Corn Syrup
• Anything fried
• Foods with nitrates and preservatives
• Alchohol

Look for these instead:

• Lean protein
• Whole Grains and Complex Carbs
• Fruits and vegetables
• Natural sweetners (honey, agave nectar, maple sugar, maple sugar flakes, Sucanant, and molasses) - use sparingly
• Healthy fats - Omega 3's, monounsaturated and polyunsatured
• Water - make this the drink you grab most often

I stick to organic as much as possible (although you don't have to eat organic to eat clean). I gave up mayonaise and processed dressings. Instead I now use things like homemade organic hummus, salsa or gaucamole/avocado in place of mayonaise. I make my own dressings using clean ingredients and it tastes better than anything you buy in a store.

How do I start to eat clean?

Some of you will be able to hit the ground running right off the bat. Other's will need to start slow. Try adding at least one new "Eat Clean" strategy to your life each week. Over time it will add up.

• Start reading labels - Keep it simple and avoid chemicals, artificial ingrediants and anything you can't pronounce or don't know what it is. The less ingredients on a list the better.
• Have lean proteins and complex carbs with every meal. By pairing these two together, your bloodsugar will be more stable.
• Eat 4-6 smaller meals spread throughout the day to keep your bloodsugar from going to low in between meals.
• Shop the perimeter of the store and keep the processed foods out of your cart.

Clean Eating recources:

Clean Eating Magazine

Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Diet Website
Check out her blog and forum!

Tosca Reno's website

Tosca has many great Eat Clean Diet and Recipe books. I highly recommend these books.