Six Simple Steps for Clean Eating
The holidays are over and
the new year is among us -- a special and exciting time where we make ambitious
plans for our next twelve months and dream of the possibilities. The most popular resolution is improving health,
and we usually are quite ready after the holidays. As tasty as the holiday tidings are, they
leave us feeling a little less on track with our goals than we'd like.
Those new healthy
resolutions don't have to be complicated, and they don't have to end before
February even arrives. The key to
looking and feeling your best is to keep it uncomplicated and simply focus on
clean eating. In case you've heard the
term "clean eating" but haven't quite understood what it means --
clean eating is all about consuming healthy, whole foods and cutting out the
processed junk. Whether you’re ready to jumpstart your clean eating now or
you’re wondering what it takes to get started, we’ve got super-simple steps for
a no-fail progression into clean eating.
1.
Focus on your inner motivation
Whether you’re determined
to race in the Boston Marathon next year, or you have seen first-hand the
damages done by not eating well through relatives or friends that have suffered
as a result of their eating habits.
Whatever it is that is motivating you to eat clean, bring it into your
direct focus so you will be more successful in sticking to your clean eating
plan.
2.
Reevaluate what you’re currently eating
Before you begin your
clean eating journey, it helps to journal about what you’re eating before
beginning. This way, you can truly see what it is you’re eating and look for
patterns. After the stressful end of week push at the office, you might notice
you’re more prone to ordering pizza, and you can take steps to head that off at
the pass rather than fall into the same pitfall time and time again.
3.
Set realistic, measurable and specific goals
When people make changes
to things in their lives such as a change to their eating habits, they can set
themselves up for significant failures if they don’t take it step by step. That
means that if you want to be successful in the long-term, you should tackle one
or two new things every 1-2 weeks, so you have a better chance of sticking to
it. Don’t just say you’ll stop eating desserts forever. Instead, set a goal of
only eating one small dessert per week, and go from there to decrease it
further. It’s realistic, measurable and very specific.
4.
Clean out your pantry
Sadly, most American
pantries are filled with processed foods.
A good rule of thumb is to cut out anything that contains more than five
ingredients on the label, and anything unnatural should go. If you have a lot of
unopened items, donate them to a shelter.
5.
Refocus your grocery shopping strategy
We’re creatures of habit,
every one of us. When we go to the supermarket, we usually follow the same path
every time. Shake things up and head straight for the produce section. You
really should be avoiding almost all of the middle aisles of your supermarket
anyway because that’s where those processed food pitfalls lurk!
6.
Master meal prep
One of the easiest ways
to dive right into clean eating is to prep your meals. You’ll find tons of
healthy meal prep plans online that even give you shopping lists to use. If
time is a factor, look for crockpot recipes that require you to dump in the
whole foods in the morning and come home to a hot, delicious, clean and healthy
meal every night!
•1
cup steel cut oats
•1 1/2cups
water
•1 1/2 cups
almond milk
•2
apples,
diced
•3
tablespoons
brown sugar
•1
tablespoon
cinnamon
•1/4
cup
raisins
•1
tablespoon
coconut oil
•Optional
toppings:
coconut flakes, fresh fruit, your favorite nuts.
Add all ingredients to well-oiled
crockpot and stir well. Cook on low for
5-6 hours, or until cooked through.
As you can tell, it only
takes small changes over time to create a sustainable, healthy lifestyle. I’m here to cheer you on every step of the
way, comment below and let me know how what you’d like to
accomplish as your first step. I’d love
to hear your plans.
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