Making the choice to cut the bad foods out of your diet and committing to a clean eating style can be daunting and challenging. Highly processed foods, fatty snacks, fast foods, and frozen meals can be guilty pleasures and convenient choices for people, especially for busy lifestyles.
For most, quitting the bad foods “cold turkey” can be a difficult task and can result in frustrations and faltering from the plan. The best potential way to make the change and have it be successful is by making one or a few changes at a time. The gradual introduction of good foods and habits will be much more enjoyable and easier to do.
Clean eating is a popular term that is used to describe the focus of eating foods that are minimally processed that contain maximal nutritional levels vs. processed foods. In other words, this eating style focuses on the idea of consuming foods that are as close to their natural form as possible.
Ethical and sustainable foods are also a big component of eating clean. Let’s look at some of the best tips on how to start eating clean and healthy.
Tips for Healthy Eating
More Fruits and Vegetables (Substitute)
This is a no-brainer, but keeping fruits and vegetables in your home and within reach is a great way to incorporate more into your diet. Try eating fruits in the morning, salads for lunch and before you know it, you’ll be getting many more nutrients in your diet. Dark, leafy greens are going to be the very best options in terms of health benefits.
You can even substitute fruits and veggies in your cooking and baking like zucchini noodles instead of pasta, applesauce can be used instead of vegetable oil, and riced cauliflower can be used for pizza crust and rice.
Limit Processed Foods and Snacks
Most processed foods lose some of their nutrients in production and gain added sugars, chemicals, and preservatives as well. Studies have shown that highly processed foods can be linked to inflammation and increased risk of heart disease. Stop buying them and they won’t be in your home to be tempted by them.
Read the Labels
Just because the packaging looks and claims to be “healthy,” it’s very important to read the labels. For example, many juices that claim to be healthy contain very little natural juice and lots of added sugars, colorings, and preservatives. When purchasing clean foods, it’s crucial to never judge a food by its label.
Avoid Refined Carbs
Instead, you should opt for whole grains of various varieties. Refined carbs are highly processed and have lost much of their natural nutritional value. Whole grains can help reduce inflammation and promote healthier digestive health.
Cut the Added Sugar
Added sugars in foods are just empty calories, despite how good it can make things taste. Even high-fructose corn syrup should be avoided at all costs. Research studies have found that fructose can be linked to conditions and diseases like obesity, diabetes, liver complications, and even some cancers.
Artificial sweeteners are also bad news even though you may be tempted with the “zero calories” ploy.
Drink Responsibly
Wine, in moderation, can be a healthy component of your diet but heavy drinking, especially mixed drinks and beer can derail a healthy diet quickly. Drink responsibly, and to really stick to a clean eating lifestyle, try to minimize consumption as much as possible.
Learn to Love Water
Morning coffee, afternoon sodas, and nightly adult beverages are common in the modern diet and water is often an afterthought. One of the best things you can do is to always carry a water bottle with you. Drinking water has numerous health benefits that include everything from proper brain and bodily functions to helping achieve a healthy weight. Make water your first choice of drink and you’ll see the benefits almost instantly.
Meal Prep or Plan Ahead
Even though it takes more time upfront, meal prepping or even grocery shopping in advance can save so much headache and remove the temptation of cheating on your clean eating plan. There are even meal services that can take all the hassle completely out of worrying about your daily menu.
Deliver Lean is one of the best names in the business. We offer our customers several diet menus to pick and choose their custom weekly meal plans from and have them shipped right to their door. Whether you’re following the paleo diet or choosing a vegan lifestyle, Deliver Lean has over 150 weekly meal options to choose from that will satisfy your taste buds and help you eat for the lifestyle that you desire.
Check us out today and see the benefits of clean eating!
