Basics to Getting fit: Clean Eating

It's that time of year again... summer! Everybody is hittin' the gym trying to get fit so they can look good in their cut off tops and bikinis, and guys are trying to flex for the ladies. But even though you may be in the gym 3 times a week, fitness all starts with what you put in your body! This brings me to the topic at hand. So I'm sure at some point you've heard people talking about "clean eating", but what is it? Why is this way of eating considered clean, and does it mean that all other eating is dirty eating? Well I am here to give you the 411! 

Clean eating means that you only eat natural, healthy, unprocessed, whole foods. To put it simply, food that is untouched by chemicals or artificial substances. So think fruits and veggies (fresh and frozen are preferred), meats that are not packaged (you never know what's in the packaged ones), whole grains, and legumes. Clean eating is sometimes refered to as a "diet", but the important distinction to make is that clean eating is not a gimmick, trick, or ploy to make you think you're gonna lose 20 punds in a week. It is eating in a way that feeds your body what it needs to function, and avoiding what will slow it down (junk food and fast food).

However, when you combine clean eating with exercise, only then will you see results. One of the biggest myths that I hear people say all the time is: "it doesn't matter what I eat now, I'll workout later to burn it off". This is so very untrue! You could work out from sun up to sun down, but as long as you are putting unhealthy things into your body, you WILL NOT see the progress you want. Yeah you might be able to burn those 300 calories from the Doritos you ate, but your body is still left with the malic acid, disodium inosinate, and artificial coloring that's in it.  Your body can only work to the best of its ability if you take care of it.  Think about it this way: your body was not made with polyphosphate monnucleiade, so why try to replenish it with something it can't use to function?

So here are the important things to remember when clean eating:

1. The less ingredients the better. You want to make sure that no extra "stuff" is being added to your food. For example: if you are buying frozen green beans, the ingredients should only say green beans. You want to try to keep ingredients under 10, but the less the better! It just means that you are getting the corn or strawberries that you intended to buy, and none of the other stuff that you don't need. 

2. Whole foods!! I can't say this enough! Stay away from processed food!

3. Drink lots of water. This is a given because we all know we should drink water. It helps keep your skin clear, is essential for healthy nail and hair growth, and helps get rid of any impurities in your body. 

4. Take food from home with you. If you know that you will be away from home for hours at a time, try to pack food to bring with you. When you cook in your home, you can control what goes into your food. But when you eat from out, you not only can't control the cooking process, but you may also be tempted to have things you know you shouln't. 

5. Eat five or six small meals per day. If you get hungry often like me, try eating smaller more frequent meals. This not only helps keep you from feeling hungry, it also helps you keep away from bad snacking. 

6. Keep away from refined sugars. Added sugar = calories. Plain and simple! But sugar that naturally occurs in nature, i.e. sugar found in fruit, is okay. The key word to remember is NATURAL!

*Extra Tip: Buy free-range, hormone free meat. Animals are fed an all-natural diet, free from hormones injected to make them bigger, and are not caged. Purchasing this kind of meat can be pricey, but is better for you! To compromise, look for just hormone free meat. Remember that if the animal products you purchase come from animals who had hormones used on them, you are now eating those hormones (this can do all kinds of bad things to your body). 

So tell me what you think! Is this kind of diet do-able? Impossible? What would be hard about it for you? Talk to me!