Tips for eating clean?

smallstarshining

Clean eaters- what are your tips/rules? What foods do you avoid and why?

More importantly, what foods DO you eat and why?

Kelly_Runs_NC

#1 - Shop the parimeter of the store. All fresh/natural products. Stay away from teh boxed and processed foods full of crap. It's not clean and will do you no favors.

Eat as close to natural as you can. Here are a few of my every week staples:

Plain Greek Yogurt 0% fat
Eggs
low fat cottage cheese
Chicken breast
oats
protein powder

deb3690

For me, any raw food thats a veggie fruit grain is in bounds...I try to combine more than 3 veggies in a dish if Im making something up. I generally think that sharp knives and cooking are an essential part of what Im doing...so I try to avoid fast food in microwave....sometimes a piece of raw fruit is going to be my fallback food when I dont feel like cooking....I like seeing the food product in as close to natural state as possible. I garden and about half the year Im picking a lot of my food from the backyard.


would also suggest spending more for better quality spices...it makes the cooking that much better!

MeeshyBW

My tip would be to avoid anything that comes in a box if you can help it. Particularly if frozen!

Make everything from scratch including salad dressings, sauces.

caribougal

I try to eat veggies with every meal, although I'm still not great about breakfast veggies.

I buy organic veg and fruit most of the time, and especially for the dirty dozen. Local and organic when possible.

I buy best quality meat I can find/afford. Pasture-raised local chicken and eggs. Humanely-raised pork with no added antibiotics or nitrates. Wild seafood. I try to buy from Whole Foods or my local organic delivery service where they have their sustainability and sourcing listed.

For dairy, I choose organic, local, small farm dairy. Ideally from grassfed cows, although my delivery service doesn't currently have that. Full fat, low pasteurized, non-homogenized (cream-top, but that my preference).

I avoid anything with the following, when I can:
- added refined sugars of any kind, including cane or agave. If it does have sugar, I prefer honey/dates/fig, etc.
- soy, soy lecithin
- nitrates, nitrites, MSG, xanthum gum, colorings, etc. If it's not from a real food, I try not to eat it.

Edited to add: Oh... I forgot. I avoid anything with canola oil, safflower, sunflower, or other "vegetable" oils. I use butter, animal fat, coconut oil to cook, and olive, avocado, or macadamia nut oil for drizzling.

Firefox7275

Mainly eat wholefoods with one or two ingredients which look much the same as when they came off the plant or animal. On that basis most bread is not truly clean, beans and lentils are much better. Whilst I do use protein powder I don't really understand why so many include that, it's pretty processed and unnatural!

I eat a ton of vegetables, some fruit, oily fish, plain meat, whole eggs, plain Greek yoghurt, traditional cheeses, spice blends, garlic and chilli. Working on increasing nuts and seeds I have let that slip. Avoiding refined carbs (actually all grains at present but am not anti), white potatoes, added sugar, most processed meats (occasional ham or lean bacon), fatty meats and most fatty animal products, most extracted/ refined oils especially those rich in omega-6, most stuff with more than a couple of ingredients.

AnvilHead

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/822501-halp-my-sandwich-isn-t-clean