Clean Eating

"Your key to sustaining life long weight loss and never regaining it is ‘clean eating’. It offers plenty of food choices without deprivation and it provides the body you wish without spending a fortune"
                       -Anne "Kip" Watson

Sounds like the ideal diet, right? It sure does to me. However, I shy away from calling it a diet because of the connotation the word "diet" has. As with all of the wellness topics I have (and will) talk about, clean eating is a lifestyle change. It is not some fad diet that you do for two weeks before you go on vacation. It is a commitment and a decision that you make in order to ensure long term wellness. But what does clean eating entail? That is what I will answer for you is four concise tips.

#1) EAT SIX SMALL MEALS A DAY I'm sure that you all have heard this tip before, but you may not know why this strategy works so well. When you wait long periods of time in between eating your body goes into survival mode, and slows down your metabolism in order to conserve as many calories as possible. That will also ensure weight gain, so try to eat something small every two or three hours and you will be off to a great start.

#2) FOCUS ON BREAKFAST Does it make any sense to eat your biggest meal right before bed time?  Of course it doesn't! You should eat your biggest meal after you have been starving your body for hours, and before you start your busy day. If you follow this rule of thumb you will have all day to burn of the majority of you calorie intake.

#3) DRINK WATER Again, this is a tip that I'm sure you have heard many times, but I beg of you to take this seriously. Choose water, and eliminate other beverages such as, alcohol, juice, and soda. They do not supply your body with many beneficial nutrients so why bother? Drink as much water as it takes to turn your urine a clear to light yellow color. That will tell you when you have had enough.

#4) PAIR COMPLEX CARBS WITH LEAN PROTEIN For each of your six meals you should do this. This technique will give you optimum energy with the most benefit from you calorie intake. You should treat your calorie intake as fuel. Why consume more than you have to? And why fill your body with less than adequate fuel? It wont run as well, and it is wasteful.

-Examples of Lean Protein: White meat from chicken and turkey, or dark meat without the skin, fish, if  your craving steak then choose sirloin, flank steak, rump roast, top loin, top round and extra lean ground beef, also quinoa, beans and legumes.
-Examples of Complex Carbs: Fruits, whole grains, vegetables,  "One way to distinguish good carbs from bad carbs is through their glycemic score, which indicates their effect on blood sugar. The good carbs, or low glycemic foods, have a score of 55 or less."

Also, if you want some recipes that have complex carbs and lean protein follow this link: http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/low-carb-high-lean-protein-meals-7111.html

For my future posts I am going to start doing reviews on diets and exercise programs. I will try them and let you know my views on them.So, if you are curious about anything, such as the paleo diet, going gluten free, the insanity work out, etc. Comment of email me and I will try to do that one.

If you have any comments or questions please post them, and below are the resources I used for this post.
http://www.befitfrisco.com/2012/02/clean-eating-basics/
http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/lean-protein-good-carbs-5154.html