What is Clean Eating?

What is “clean eating,” anyway?  What does that mean?  How do you do it?

Well, it depends upon whom you ask.

There are varying degrees of clean eating; some people will not eat anything that has ever been processed in any way or that could have possibly at any time been genetically modified.  I think that’s great!  Those people have come such a long way in their fitness journeys.  I think that kind of dedication and self-restraint is admirable.

That is not me, however.  Maybe I will get there, someday!  For me, today, I’m just happy that I have eliminated soda from my diet.  We are all at different places in this health and fitness journey.  If you are one of those “advanced clean eaters,” I want you to know that this isn’t directed at you.  This post is for people who know they eat like crap and they want to do better; they just don’t know where to start.

So, if that describes YOU, I will share with you what I have learned about clean eating in MY fitness journey and maybe it will help you get started!

I base most of what I know about clean eating on Tosca Reno’s book, The Eat Clean Diet Recharged.  It’s a great book and I highly recommend it!  Note:  Any errors about clean eating are my own.

#1 – Eat more often.

Often, when I am first helping someone, and I ask them how often they eat, I hear “Uh… once or twice a day.”  You can’t do that and maintain a healthy weight.  By the time you eat, you are probably STARVING.   Even the thought of making a healthy choice has flown out the window.  Whatever you eat, you are probably eating a lot of it.

You should be eating 5-6 times per day.  I eat three meals and three small snacks.  I eat about every 2 ½ to 3 hours.  I know, this sounds daunting.  But your body will get used to it.  In fact, you’re body NEEDS it.

Imagine this:  You are building a campfire, and you have a big ol’ pile of wood.  You have two options:

Option one involves piling every log and stick into the fire, throwing some lighter fluid on it, and then striking a match.  Yes!  Great big fire!  But how long is that fire going to last?  It’s going to burn hot and heavy, and then it’s going to burn out.  You’ve got no more fuel for your fire.  After a couple of hours, at most, it’s done.  This is you when you eat 1-2 times per day.  No wonder you need an afternoon nap!

Option two involves rationing a healthy amount of sticks and logs into the fire to get it started, but not nearly all of them.  Maybe 1/5 or 1/6 of them.  You still get a good fire going, but it’s smaller.  When it starts to dwindle, you put on another small, 1/6-of-the-total  pile of wood.  The fire grows again.  It’s not a massive inferno, but it is steady.  Every few hours, you add another small pile to the fire.  With the same amount of wood as before, you keep that fire burning all day and all night.  You’ve fueled that fire to be productive all day, and the fire never went out. You wasted NOTHING.  This is you when you FUEL YOUR BODY 5-6 times per day; nothing is wasted, and it’s all used.  Nothing is stored as fat.  This alone can help you to lose weight.

If this is difficult for you to do, set an alert to go off in your phone every 3 hours.  Don’t gorge when you eat, just eat a little bit to take the edge off.  You should never be ravenous. 

#2:  Eat breakfast.

Yeah, yeah.  You’ve heard it all before:  People who eat breakfast weigh less than people who don’t.  Eating breakfast jump starts your metabolism and helps you eat less the rest of the day.  It keeps you from eating a Twix midmorning, and/or from eating a Big Mac Value Meal and a 6 piece Chicken McNugget at lunch (trust me, there is a time for this meal, but it isn’t at lunch, and it isn’t every day).  So eat breakfast, ideally within an hour of waking up.

“But Julia,” you say, “I don’t like breakfast food.  I can’t eat when I first wake up.  And besides, I’m not hungry.” 

To that I say, “Then don’t eat breakfast food.  Eat something else.  Who says you have to have breakfast food for breakfast?  The breakfast police?  If you can’t eat when you first wake up, wait 45 minutes.  Or have a Shakeology; have your most nutritious meal FIRST.  And unless you woke up at 3:00 am and housed a pizza, you are actually STARVING.  You probably haven’t eaten in at least 8-10 hours.  Yes, you are hungry, but since you are STARVING yourself, your body has shut off your hunger response.  Eat anyway.”  It’s called “BREAK-FAST” for a reason; you are literally breaking the fast you had while you were sleeping.  If you start eating breakfast, you will eventually start being hungry in the mornings, which is a good thing.

#3:  The Magic Pairing.

Basically, you need to eat a combination of lean protein and carbohydrates at each and every meal.  Watch this video for more information:

#4:  FAT is NOT a Four-Letter Word.

The truth is, you NEED fats.  Healthy fats, of course.  Healthy fats, ironically, help you BURN fat.  They also help your immune system and help to fight cardiovascular disease.

Now, I’m not talking about the fat you fry your Twinkies in, or the fat you cut off your steak and feed to Fido.  I’m talking about monounsaturated fats (found in olive oil and peanut oil, nuts, seeds, and avocados) and polyunsaturated fats (found in fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, and tuna; and walnuts and flaxseed).  You should aim to get 2-3 servings of healthy fats per day.

#5:  You’re going to need to pack a lunch… and snacks.

If you are going to eat six times per day, you HAVE to be prepared.  If you aren’t, it is a recipe for disaster.  Watch this video for more on packing snacks:

#6:  Fruits and Veggies are Your Friends.

Fruits and vegetables are an enormous part of clean eating; in fact, they are what you eat the most of, besides protein.  They are high in fiber, vitamins, nutrients, and enzymes.  They fill you up for very few calories, and they help to keep you full.

“But Julia, I HATE fruits and veggies.” 

Sigh.  Yes, I hear it all the time.  First, you’re going to need Shakeology, because you eat like a second grader.  Next, make a list of the fruits and veggies you DO like.  Start with those, and make a commitment to try one new fruit and vegetable every week.   Just because you hated cauliflower when you were five doesn’t mean you hate it now.  Your taste changes, and if you keep an open mind, you might surprise yourself.  There are hundreds, if not THOUSANDS, of fruits and veggies out there, and you are bound to like at least a few.  And no, white potatoes and corn, while TECHNICALLY vegetables and a healthy part of clean eating, do not count.   Those, along with whole grains, oatmeal, and brown rice, are starchy carbs, and while you do get to eat them, they are limited.

#7:  Portion Size is the Name of the Game.

One of the things I love BEST about clean eating is that I eat all day, and I eat A LOT of food.  But that doesn’t mean I get to go crazy!  I still have to adhere to portion sizes. Back in my calorie counting days, I accumulated about eighty-five sets of measuring cups and a food scale.  I still use those sometimes, but I have learned to eyeball my portions using my hand as a guide.  Nifty, as I always have at least two with me.

Generally:

Protein:  Palm of hand without fingers

Fruit:  Closed fist

Veggies:  Two cupped palms

Starchy Carbs:  One cupped palm

Fats and nut butters:  the size of a whole thumb

Nuts:  about 14 (count them out)

How Much of What?

Tosca Reno calls her meal plans cooler plans, and I base my own meal plans on Cooler Plan 2.  I love it because it is LIVABLE.  This is the one to use for steady weight loss and maintenance.  How many portions of each type of food should you eat per day?  Good question.

Lean Protein:  6 servings

Complex Carbohydrates from Fruits and Veggies:  6 servings

Complex Carbohydrates from Starchy Carbs: 2- 4 servings

Healthy fats:  2-3 servings

Water: 2-3 liters of fresh water

Other beverages:  clear herbal teas, black coffee, green/black tea, sparkling water (limit)

Sweeteners (use in moderation):  honey, Sucanat, pure maple syrup, agave nectar (there are others, but I don’t really use those)

Occasional treat:  Glass of wine or small piece of chocolate in limited amounts

So that’s what you can have; what about what you CAN’T have?

The beauty of clean eating is that you can make pretty much any recipe clean; the possibilities are as limitless as your imagination (that is another blog post).  And if you can’t make Chocolate Lava Fudge Explosion cake clean, then there is always your cheat meal (notice I said “meal,” not “day”).  Anyway, the rest of the time, you should avoid:

• Overly processed foods
• White flour
• White sugar
• Anything with ingredients you cannot pronounce and/or have never heard of
• Artificial flavor
• “Natural” flavors (listed that way on the label… you do not even want to know what that is)
•  Artificial sweeteners
• Anything ending – ose: fructose, maltose, dextrose, glucose, etc.
•  Anything labeled “complete meal” or “ready to eat”
• Any kind of flour with the word “enriched” or “unbleached” before it
• Calorie-dense foods with little or no nutritional value
• Processed cheese slices (no, Velveeta is not REALLY cheese.  Yes, you can have the real stuff)
• Alcohol… if you cannot avoid it, do your best to limit it

How do you feel about all this?  Does it seem overwhelming?  It can seen that way at first, but most people catch on within a couple of weeks and are amazed at how easy – and sustainable – it is.  Check my Meal Plans page for tips and ideas, and to see what I eat on a daily basis.

If you would like more help and support, sign up for a free account and I can be your personal coach!  As of today, I have lost and kept off 20 lbs; I have BROKEN the yo-yo cycle, and I did it using this method and WITHOUT starving myself.  I would love to help you to find your health, strength, and confidence. 

How will YOU be FIERCE today?