I’ve been asked several times about clean eating and why I’ve chosen to do it. I don’t necessarily look at it as “clean eating” so much as just eating healthy. Not dieting, not starving myself, just eating the right foods. If “clean eating” is something that may interest you, here are a few tips I go by.

1. READ LABELS! This could be a whole different post on it’s own. But it’s as simple as that. Read the labels for your food. If it has 6-7 ingredients, chances are, you could consider it a “clean” food. Example:

5 ingredients. 

Try and educate yourself on the chemicals put in to food. That way when you are looking over ingredients, you can recognize what each one is.

2. Sugar: This could also take up another post. My method with sugar is moderation. That’s all I’ve got for ya. I don’t believe in doing anything to one extreme or another. Obviously eating a cup of strawberries is going to be different than a poptart. 😉 And your body will utilize the sugar from strawberries vs. poptart differently. Sugar naturally is brown, so keep that in mind.

3. Consider the source: “Clean” eating could be summarized as eating food closest to it’s natural state. Some people believe this allows too much wiggle room. But I believe that is the just of it. Example: If you asked a clean eater “if they would rather eat the orange, drink orange juice, or <insert orange flavored processed food>” A clean eater would pick the orange. It comes directly off a tree, making it as close to nature as possible. Buying organic oranges will eliminate the chemicals. 

4.Start With Small Changes: Clean eating shouldn’t be stressful. If the only way you can make the switch is throwing everything processed out, then by all means knock yourself out (not literally). Most of us can achieve clean eating by making small changes daily/weekly until it becomes habit.

Disclaimer: The above tips are just meant as a guideline. Always consult your physician/dietician before starting a new diet. You assume all risks for food you choose to eat. 

So those are a few guidelines I try to consider when choosing foods. There are several different methods for clean eating. I try to eat this way 85% of the time. And yes, sometimes I like to enjoy that processed poptart, only after 50 miles on the bike. 😉 Moderation is key with anything we do.

Have a great weekend!!