Learning how to eat clean is challenging. I know because I have first hand experience in the subject matter. When I started to realize that the food I was eating did not provide the nutrition I needed to heal from injury, I knew I had to make changes. Luckily for me, right about the same time my sister started CrossFit and she was also cleaning up her diet. With her support and advice, I slowly made my way from eating a lot of processed foods to a more whole food based diet. It was not easy and it most certainly didn’t happen overnight. Through trial and error I came up with a few tricks to help me stay on track. People ask me all of the time how to clean up their diets and I pass along the tips I learned during my own journey.
Tip #1 For Clean Eating: Start By Making Snack Food Choice Replacements
What do I mean by replacing food choices you ask? When I started to eat clean I was addicted to mini pretzels. These offered me no nutritional value and I consumed them all too frequently. b I am a salty crunchy eater when I am stressed and pretzels were my go to relief. Instead of pretzels, I switched to baby carrots and hummus, which satisfied both my salt and crunch cravings. Low and behold, I ate way less of them too and added more nutrients into my diet. I was also consuming one or two granola bars a day. Talk about glorified cookies, yikes! Instead of those bars I switched to a dry oat cereal (with way less sugar might I add) and raw almonds. Hopefully this is making sense to you as well. What can you identify in your snacking behaviors that you can change?
Tip #2 For Clean Eating: Make One Food Choice Replacement Per Week
You read that correctly! One replacement per week. Trying to change too many food items at once can lead to becoming overwhelmed and can set you up for failure. I’ve seen it too many times with my clients, and I have experienced it myself. It takes time for your body to adjust to a new style of eating and it is easier to revert back to the old patterns than stick with the new. Giving yourself time to work out new cooking techniques and shopping a routine will give you longevity in your behavior changes.
Tip #3 For Clean Eating: Change One Food For a Healthier Version of That Same Food
My best example here is when I went from eating fat free, sugar free yogurt, to fat free yogurt. After I had become accustomed to that switch I then cleaned up my yogurt choice again by switching to greek yogurt with fruit. The last change I made was to whole full fat organic greek yogurt and it took me almost five years to do it, so don’t hate on yourself if your changes seem small or insignificant to you. Any small change is the step in the positive direction! Let’s go with another example that may seem less obvious. Let’s say you’re used to popping a hot pocket on the go for lunch. How do you make healthier changes here? Maybe start with making a homemade sandwich for instance. Use whole grain bread (or sprouted organic which is better), lunch meats without nitrates and sulfites, and add some veggies too while you’re at it. Another switch I made was from regular peanut butter to natural ground peanut without the hydrolyzed oils and sugar. Hopefully this is all making sense and you’re identifying food items that can use an overhaul.
Tip #4 For Clean Eating: Allow Yourself Indulgences
Wait, what?!? I thought the whole purpose of this blog was to make changes! Well, once your diet reflects more of a whole food base, those little treats are small changes to your new and improved way of eating. Whereas before processed foods, treats and snacks were on the regular, they are now a once in a blue moon option. This will help ensure you stick to your whole food plan if those favorite items are allowed in. You’re not depriving yourself of anything and have the satisfaction of getting your well deserved indulgence.
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