What is Clean Eating?
Ok so I've gotten a few requests to give some tips on what I've learned over the past couple years on dieting and eating clean.
What is clean eating? Simply put, it's eating nutrious foods as close to how they naturally appear out in the world. The main pieces of nutrition are: protein, fat, and carbohydrate.
Note: I'm a little more strict in my interpretation of what is considered clean eating. For example some people might say, 'I'm going to give up Doritos. Instead I'm going to eat whole wheat Wheat Thins!'. I'd say this is a very sad substitution. True the fat content may be lower but if your goal is to get whole grains, the grains youre actually getting has been through many mechanical processes and has been greatly altered to be reach the form and flavor that exists in those crackers.
So, in summary.. If you want to eat clean and you're trying to decide if something is within the relam of clean, ask yourself if it's been through a mechanical process (or multiple processes). If it has, don't eat it. (I don't consider canning to be a strike against tuna or beans but I wouldn't eat my veggies canned.
Eat foods in their most natural form.
Here are examples of good (clean) proteins, fats, and carbohydrates:
Proteins
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
Tuna (water packed), or White Meat Chicken (water packed)
Fish (tilapia, cod, halibut, and on occasion salmon and sea bass)
Shrimp
Extra Lean Ground Beef or Ground Round (92-96%)
Buffalo steak (lean)
Protein Powder (lactose free)
Egg Whites or Eggs
Rib eye Steaks or Roast
Top Round Steaks or Roast (aka Stew Meat, London Broil, Stir Fry)
Top Sirloin (aka Sirloin Top Butt)
Beef Tenderloin (aka Filet, Filet Mignon)
Top Loin (NY Strip Steak)
Flank Steak (Sir Fry, Fajita)
Eye of Round (Cube Meat, Stew Meat, Bottom Round , 96% Lean Ground Round)
Extra Lean Ground turkey, Turkey Breast Slices or cutlets (fresh meat, not deli cuts)
Healthy Fats
Natural Style or Organic Peanut Butter, even better, Peanut Wonder (Whole Foods Market)
Olive Oil or Safflower Oil
Nuts (peanuts, almonds)
Flaxseed Oil
Avocado
Carbs (Complex, Fibrous Green veggies, and Fruits)
Complex Carbs
- Oatmeal (Old Fashioned or Quick Oats)
- Sweet Potatoes (Yams)
- Beans (pinto, black, kidney)
- Oat Bran Cereal (watch sugar, less than 6 grams)
- Brown Rice
- Ezekiel Bread (frozen healthy section of Kroger’s or Whole Foods)
- Rice (jasmine, basmati, Arborio, wild, brown)
- Potatoes (red, baking, new)
- lo-carb breads/tortillas
Fibrous Carbs & Vegetables (Fresh first, frozen second, canned last choice)
- Green Leafy Lettuce (Green Leaf, Red, Leaf, Romaine)/Bagged Salad
- Broccoli
- Asparagus
- String Beans
- Black Beans
- Spinach
- Bell Peppers
- Brussels Sprouts
- Cauliflower
- Celery
- Mushrooms
- Pickles
- Cabbage
- Sprouts
- Cucumber
- Green or Red Pepper
- Onions
- Garlic
- Tomatoes
- Zucchini
- Squash
- Spaghetti Squash (my fav)
- Pumpkin
Fruit
- Berries (blueberries and raspberries)
- Lemons or Limes
- Melons (not watermelon)
- Grapefruit
- Apples
- Dates
- Grapes
- Oranges
- Eat bananas, strawberries, peaches or plums sparingly (lots of natural sugar)
- No dried fruits, including raisins (loaded with sugar)
That's the nuts and bolts of what's there's also dairy but... because dairy is milk-based, it's going to have sugar in it - something you want to avoid. So, dairy is ok but very sparingly and I would not make it customary to have dairy daily with perhaps the exception of Fat Free Cottage Cheese.
Dairy
Low-fat or Fat-free cottage cheese
Eggs
Low or Non-Fat Milk (eat dairy only occasionally)
Non-fat yogurt (look for low sugar only)
Fat free String Cheese
Fat free Cream Cheese
Things like vinegar, salsa, spices, herb, soy sauce, reduced-sodium canned tomatos, tomatos sauces and pastes are ok.
Things to keep in mind regarding staying on track with your diet:
- If you buy it, if it's in your house.... you WILL eventually eat it. Clean out your kitchen, fridge, and pantry of items that you've put on the blacklist.
- Don't go shopping when you're hungry. That ice cream, the cookies, chips and other evil foods will look VERY good to you when you're hungry. Plus you'll buy less when you grocery shop on a full stomach.
- Shop around the edge of the grocery store - not the middle. Notice how the produce, whole grains, and meats are generally around the edge of the store? When you find yourself straying towards the isles, you're getting dangerously close to the cookie isle, candy idle, breakfast cereal isle...
Ok, this is already a mammoth post.
I'll post my ideas in chunks so it's not to overwhelming. More to come later on "I must have my ____ and can't give it up! What can I eat instead?"