Tag Archive for: Whole grains

Guidelines to Clean Eating

legumesThe term eating clean, is a life style that embraces healthy, whole, unprocessed foods.  The main principles of eating clean is to choose whole foods over processed foods, and to choose unrefined foods over refined foods.

Eating clean is not a diet, it’s a healthy lifestyle that practices avoiding processed and refined foods and concentrating on  eating whole foods.

The 2 Basic Principles of Eating Clean:

1. Avoid processed and “junk foods”.  Processed foods are anything that has been handled by manufacturing and comes in a box, bag, or package.   Processed foods always come with a label, and a label means that more than one ingredient has been used or added.  Clean foods contain just one or two ingredients. Any product with a long ingredient list has been manufactured.

2. Choose whole foods: Whole foods are foods that are in their natural state, with nothing added.

Clean Eating Guidelines:

Try to eat clean, 80% of the time.

1. Increase whole grains – these are grains that are still complete and haven’t been broken down in any form. Examples include: brown rice, whole wheat and quinoa.

2. Eat plenty of vegetables and legumes. Consume as many different veggies in different colors as you can get, and eat them as often as possible.

3. Eat fruits in moderation.

4. Eliminate as much refined sugar as possible by substituting “clean sugars” such as honey, and maple syrup.

5. Avoid all processed or refined foods (sugar, baked goods, white flour, white rice, etc) Processed foods are usually high in chemical additives, trans fats, salts and refined sugars.

6. Avoid artificial ingredients and preservatives.

7. Avoid saturated and trans fats, and opt for healthier fats such as olive oil, and coconut oil.

8. Include whole meats – that’s meat you have purchased directly from a farmer or butcher

Whatever eating habits you adopt, eating more of the healthy options and eating less of the not-so-healthy options just makes sense. One of the easiest way to cut processed foods out of your diet is to eat at home. When you make your own food, you know exactly what’s in it.

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The Diet Mistakes We All Make

breakfastThe best approach to healthy eating, is to eat a well balanced diet and eat in moderation; but many of us make the same mistakes; so here are a few tips to keep you on the “right” path.

Planning Too Many Meals

It’s great to try new things especially with regards to eating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables, but thinking about food too often can lead to over indulgence.

Keep it simple with just a few different choices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Don’t let your meals get too complicated, instead keep it simple, veg-heavy, and unprocessed.  Try to introduce new spices to” tried and true” meals for a quick and healthy alternative.

Over Complicating Fruits and Vegetables

Sometimes we get so overwhelmed with the various presentations that we end up not getting enough fruits and vegetables in our diet. Keep it simple, include 2-3 servings of fruits and vegetables in each meal.  One quick and easy way to incorporate more fruits and veggies in your diet is to include juicing in your daily routine.

Choosing “Fake” Whole Grains

Whole grains are important for cleaning the intestinal wall so choose whole grains that are unprocessed including brown rice, rolled oats, barley, and whole wheat bread. Make sure to read the ingredients to get the whole truth about your products.

Not Accounting For Stress

Bad eating, or over eating is associated with high stress levels. Keeping your stress levels in check is one of the most important ways to stay thin and to avoid other health mishaps.

Too much stress for prolonged periods of time can creates numerous side effects like high blood pressure and lowered immunity. Stress can also lead to abdominal fat, poor sleep habits and chronic fatigue.

Looking good begins from the inside out, so think about your food as your daily medicine, three times a day, every day.  Also, remember to never under estimate the importance of your diet and incorporating these simple steps to feeding yourself healthy.

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