Clean Eating for Beginners
Clean Eating for Beginners: What is it and why it matters.
In the past few years, there has been a lot of talk about clean eating. I hear it everywhere, but what is it, exactly?
Clean eating in basic terms is eating what occurs naturally in nature. It is choosing foods that occur in the way God created them, not what food companies have turned them into. It is choosing real, whole ingredients. This movement is taking control of what goes into our bodies and moving away from the ”extra” ingredients that keep finding their way into our foods. Clean eating comes with an element of being an informed consumer as well. Did you know that pre-shredded cheese has extra ingredients that block cheese does not have?
Have you read any food labels lately? I cannot begin to pronounce half of those words! There are so many ingredients that are added to preserve freshness, color, enhance taste, and do who knows what else. Most of these chemicals have passed some sort of FDA standards. However, many of the companies that perform the tests are actually contracted and paid by the corporations selling the products. They are not done by a neutral third party like I thought for a long time. Needless to say, I don’t really need to put them in my body.
There are a whole host of additives that have been linked to various health issues. They range from obesity, cancer, hyper and hypothyroidism, infertility, ADD/ADHD, other behavioral problems, really the list goes on and on. Clean eating removes as many of these as possible from your diet.
There is also a huge problem with our marketing tactics. The front of the packaging can say, for example, “sugar-free”. While it may not contain traditional white, refined sugar, it can be loaded with corn syrup, cane sugar, sucralose, aspartame, tapioca syrup, or any other sneaky name for sugar. Learning to read a food label is not as easy as some people make it out to be!
It took me several years of trial and error, in addition to lots of Google searches, to learn to read a label. I am still no expert, but I navigate them pretty well. I guess the bottom line is the front of the package can say dang near anything. Don’t believe it. Turn it over and read the label! The same is true for organic food. Just because it says organic (gluten-free, non-GMO, heart healthy, or whatever clever, trending phrase), does NOT mean it is good for you.
There are so many levels of clean eating and a million ways to do it. It is one of those things that you just have to find what works for you. I have been on both sides of the spectrum. There were a few years that I thought we were eating healthy but were really just buying into the marketing. Then, there were a few years where I was a total extreme clean eater. I made my own butter, made every piece of bread from scratch, and refused to buy anything in a box. I have settled into a more middle ground that works best for our family and our lifestyle. My husband is quite happy to have “normal” bread again. Life gets busy but at the same time, I still think it is extremely important to feed our bodies WELL. We only get one. Your kids learn from your habits. Start them early!
We usually eat pretty clean. Most of the time. We all love Oreos and Papa John’s pizza just as much as any family. The difference lies in the fact that those items are a treat and not a normal part of our diet. Most of our grocery shopping comes from the outside of the grocery store. I try to buy mostly produce and meat and stay away from the middle isles. Even that gets tricky when it comes to meat these days. I would love to buy all organic, premium quality, ethically raised meat, but our budget does not allow for that. Our solution is that we eat mostly venison. I know where it came from, who processed it, and how it was treated. Not a fan of the game taste? Try mixing 1 pound ground venison with 1 pound of ground turkey. You’re welcome 🙂
Just like anything, it was really hard at first. We have the hang of it now and enjoy a huge range of benefits from eating clean. Here are a few:
Clear skin. My skin is so much clearer and radiant. My hair is less broken and looks healthier.
Weight Loss. I lost weight little by little and have been able to keep it off.
My kids behave better. This was so unexpected. The cleaner our diet is, the better my kids behave. They have longer attention spans, get sick less, and have way fewer tantrums. We were honestly worried about our son having some behavioral issues but changing his diet made all the difference. There is actually mounting research on the effects of a clean diet on ADD/ADHD children and how it helps them.
We crave less junk food. The more processed food gets out of our system, the less we want it.
Our grocery bill is the same. I hear all of the time how eating healthy is more expensive. For us, it was at the beginning, but now we spend the same or less than when we did before. There is a learning curve. It does take some time to get used to, but once we got the hang of it, our spending was the same (and sometimes cheaper).
More energy. When we feed our bodies quality foods, it rewards us with more energy to play! I wake up easier, sleep sounder, and wake up more refreshed than when I eat junk.
Better digestion. I am not as bloated, stay full longer, and all systems run smoother.
Improved cholesterol numbers. I was barely 30 and my doctor was talking about putting me on cholesterol medication. Umm..no. I dove into research to find a sustainable lifestyle that would help regulate my numbers and keep me off medication. I fell into the rabbit hole of clean eating! My cholesterol dropped in a matter of months.
A good place to start diving into the world of clean eating is deciding what is important to you. What stance are you prepared to take? I avoid added colors in anything. No “Yellow 5” or “Red #X”. If you see red, yellow, or blue listed on the list, walk away!
Watch some food documentaries. I think I have watched almost all of the ones on Netflix. Do some research of your own. You will have an easier time transitioning into clean eating if it is personal to you. This is not a DIET. This is a LIFESTYLE. Eating clean for thirty days won’t change your life. It has to be a constant choice and effort made by YOU to love your body better.
Here is an experiment for you. Take the package of the last thing you ate or something you are going to eat later. Turn it over. Look at the ingredient list. Take two minutes and just look up some of those. I think what you find may surprise you. So what do I look for on a food label? Stay tuned and I will talk about that next week. If you have any questions or comments just leave them below. Or come on over to the Facebook group! Please feel free to share and don’t forget to subscribe to be the first to know!
