Clean Eating

In our house.... we try VERY hard to cut out most foods with artificial ingredients. No pre-packaged/frozen meals. No store bought juice, soda, etc. Very limited processed snacks, chips, etc.

When shopping.... stay out of the aisles. Fresh meat, veggies, fruits, whole grains. Most of which, are on the outside perimeter of the store.

Avoid everything in a box Anything with an ingredient that you have no clue what it is.

Quaility meats, fruits and veggies

Google: "5 ingredient rule"

Wash your veggies and fruits before eating - and tend to eat them raw.

Avoid sugars! Avoid "white" starches such as breads, rice, pastas and potatoes. Understand "glycemic index."

Chew your food thoroughly before swallowing! Not enough can be said about this. Mastication and salivary digestion are extremely important.

Eat when you are hungry. Don't eat just because it is time to eat, nor snack to prevent or soothe cravings. Snacking when you are not hungry will cause your insulin to spike. Along these same lines, tend to eat foods with a high glycemic index only after working out.

Get to know the "Michi's Ladder" which is easily found in a Google search. Stay on tiers 1 and 2 and occasionally 3. Avoid tiers 4 and 5 unless you do "cheat days." Remember, Tiers 1 and 2 are foods that make you healthier, Tier 3 is neutral, and Tiers 4 and 5 make you unhealthier.

Hello friends! I hope you all are having a wonderful day.

Anyway, I want to start eating clean but I have no idea what that entails. So, for those of you who are eating clean, do you mind giving me some tips please?

Thanks!

I am not being judgmental, just wondering... If you don't even know what "eating clean" means, why are you doing it? What do you hope to gain? Good luck!

OP.. you're going to start a clean versus not clean war...

but the *basics* of clean eating is:
eat things from nature not things created in a lab, in other words, no processed foods.

You'd also want to watch the meats and eggs you buy. Avoiding as much chemical laced meats and eggs as you can. Its' about not believing in "better living through chemicals". Lots of people also say avoid dairy, white foods and non-organic foods. that's an extension of it. You do want to watch out for the GMO foods, as they are chemically enhanced. A potato is not bad for you, but enriched white rice is. White bread is not good for you, but certain whole grain breads are. You have to start looking at labels, and cooking at home, There's no magic number of ingredients that makes something clean or not clean. It's about what those ingredients are. I make clean home-cooked recipes that have a ton of ingredients. That does not make them bad. It's when those ingredients consist of monoglucosimatiadditive (I made that name up fyi) that makes it not clean.

If you want to eat clean that is great. Do it for yourself because you want to embrace it, not because you think it's a magical weight loss diet. You can over eat eating clean just as easily. It's still all about portion control and making the right choices.

example: if you want peanut butter you'd get the one that is peanuts only.. no added sugar or salt.. just peanut.. or you'd buy peanuts and make it yourself.

Google: "5 ingredient rule"

Wash your veggies and fruits before eating - and tend to eat them raw.

Avoid sugars! Avoid "white" starches such as breads, rice, pastas and potatoes. Understand "glycemic index."

Chew your food thoroughly before swallowing! Not enough can be said about this. Mastication and salivary digestion are extremely important.

Eat when you are hungry. Don't eat just because it is time to eat, nor snack to prevent or soothe cravings. Snacking when you are not hungry will cause your insulin to spike. Along these same lines, tend to eat foods with a high glycemic index only after working out.

Get to know the "Michi's Ladder" which is easily found in a Google search. Stay on tiers 1 and 2 and occasionally 3. Avoid tiers 4 and 5 unless you do "cheat days." Remember, Tiers 1 and 2 are foods that make you healthier, Tier 3 is neutral, and Tiers 4 and 5 make you unhealthier.

LOLing at all of this...now we're demonizing certain nutrient dense whole foods like colored veggies and potatoes? Sounds legit.

OP...just eat a balanced diet that is rich in nutrient dense foods...get your veg and a couple servings of fruit per day...eat some lean proteins and healthy fats and whole grains...balance all of that out and you'll have a nice nutritious diet...have some ice cream for desert if you please and it fits into your calorie goals...you'll be ok and you don't get extra credit for exceeding your nutrient requirements.

What? Another thread about clean eating? NO WAY!

Google: "5 ingredient rule"

Wash your veggies and fruits before eating - and tend to eat them raw.

Avoid sugars! Avoid "white" starches such as breads, rice, pastas and potatoes. Understand "glycemic index."

Chew your food thoroughly before swallowing! Not enough can be said about this. Mastication and salivary digestion are extremely important.

Eat when you are hungry. Don't eat just because it is time to eat, nor snack to prevent or soothe cravings. Snacking when you are not hungry will cause your insulin to spike. Along these same lines, tend to eat foods with a high glycemic index only after working out.

Get to know the "Michi's Ladder" which is easily found in a Google search. Stay on tiers 1 and 2 and occasionally 3. Avoid tiers 4 and 5 unless you do "cheat days." Remember, Tiers 1 and 2 are foods that make you healthier, Tier 3 is neutral, and Tiers 4 and 5 make you unhealthier.

I find the bolded part hilarious. The recommendations here are to avoid starches such as rice and potatoes and to understand the glycemic index. Well... if someone were to actually understand the glycemic index, that person wouldn't give a blanket recommendation (especially on a "clean eating" thread) to avoid rice and potatoes.

OP.. you're going to start a clean versus not clean war...

but the *basics* of clean eating is:
eat things from nature not things created in a lab, in other words, no processed foods.

You'd also want to watch the meats and eggs you buy. Avoiding as much chemical laced meats and eggs as you can. Its' about not believing in "better living through chemicals". Lots of people also say avoid dairy, white foods and non-organic foods. that's an extension of it. You do want to watch out for the GMO foods, as they are chemically enhanced. A potato is not bad for you, but enriched white rice is. White bread is not good for you, but certain whole grain breads are. You have to start looking at labels, and cooking at home, There's no magic number of ingredients that makes something clean or not clean. It's about what those ingredients are. I make clean home-cooked recipes that have a ton of ingredients. That does not make them bad. It's when those ingredients consist of monoglucosimatiadditive (I made that name up fyi) that makes it not clean.

If you want to eat clean that is great. Do it for yourself because you want to embrace it, not because you think it's a magical weight loss diet. You can over eat eating clean just as easily. It's still all about portion control and making the right choices.

example: if you want peanut butter you'd get the one that is peanuts only.. no added sugar or salt.. just peanut.. or you'd buy peanuts and make it yourself.

what kind of chemicals are GMO foods enhanced with?

Here we go...

In because this topic hasn't already been beat to death.

and clearly there is no concrete answer... if there was it would have been solved by now.

I have a general idea of what it means, like cutting out processed foods and such, I just want a better understanding of what it is.

Is that okay?

http://www.wannabebig.com/diet-and-nutrition/the-dirt-on-clean-eating/

this is a good place to start if you want a balanced look at it with several different definitions, but if you would like to know what foods are "clean" or "okay" I would suggest the clean eating group linked above. here on the main forums the general consensus is that there is no such thing as a "good" or "bad" food.