Eat Clean to Be Lean
You want to lose weight, and have been trying hard for months without success.
You've heard fitness people refer to 'eating clean' but what does that really mean?
The labels on hundreds of different food items proclaim to be 'healthy' but can you trust labels? There are so many misconceptions when it comes to what constitutes as clean eating.
What are you eating wrong?
Let's dispel the myths and outline your simple, straightforward 3-step guide to eating clean and watch as the pounds melt off.
Step One: Steer Clear of Packaged Foods
Your worst enemy in the fight against weight gain is packaged foods. Yes, even those packages that are described as ‘healthy'.
Think of packaged food in these 3 categories:
Sweets: Cookies, brownies, muffins, cupcakes, donuts, candy and desserts. These packaged items are laced with sugar and bad fats, and lack any viable nutrient that your body actually needs. All the empty calories from these items will end up deposited on your waist and hips as stubborn fat.
There's never a good reason to eat these so-called foods.
Processed Grains: Crackers, breads, cereal, chips, instant oatmeal, energy bars, and popcorn. This category is tricky because many of the packages are labeled as ‘heart healthy' or ‘low fat'. The reality is that packaged, processed grains contain sugar and more carbohydrates than you need while striving to lose weight.
If you have a weight loss goal then stay away from processed grains.
Whole Grains: Brown rice, wild rice, whole oats, sprouted grain pasta, and sprouted grain bread. Here's a category of packaged foods that you are able to include in your clean diet. You don't, however, have a free pass to eat as much of these items as you'd like. Whole grains, while healthy and acceptable, are very calorie-dense. This means that a little bit goes a long way.
Eat whole grains in moderation in order to meet your weight loss goals.
Step Two: Fill Up on Fresh Foods
Fresh vegetables and fruits are a huge part of your clean diet.
The nutrients and fiber found in these natural food items are vitally important for your weight loss journey and your overall health.
Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables in all shapes, sizes and colors.
The only ones that you need to limit are vegetables that are high in starch, such as potatoes and corn, and fruits that are very high in sugar, like melons.
Step Three: Get Plenty of Protein
The cornerstone of your clean diet should be lean protein.
Great examples are chicken breast, albacore tuna, lean ground turkey, white fish fillet, whole beans, tempeh and egg whites.
Protein is what holds your clean eating plan together, for two reasons.
Protein satiates your hunger, keeping you full and keeping your blood sugar stable. This eliminates false hunger and prevents unnecessary snacking.
Protein helps to grow and maintain your muscle mass, which increases your resting metabolism. This means that your body will be naturally leaner.
by Fernando Paredes, CPT, NASM, NSCA
Comments (5)
The China Study, by Dr. T. Collin Campbell, as well as many other legitimate medical studies have proven that your cancer risk increases in a direct ratio to your protein consumption. So the more protein you eat, the more likely you are to get cancer, especially if it is animal based protein. Read "Eat to Live" by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, and "Healthy to 100" by John Robbins. The cornerstone of a diet to avoid cancer or recover from it is green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. Read the scientific literature.
I don't believe the more protein you eat, the more you likely you will get cancer. My husband's grandmother is 102 years old. She has lived her whole life eating red meat, pork, and chicken. Not sure she's ever eaten much fish. Also, she eats hot dogs, processed food, Spam, and she'll eat food fried, baked, or grilled. She's never eaten an "organic" thing in her life unless you count her garden she raised for over 80 years, with natural (cow mature) and artificial fertilizer and bug powder. She lived on her own for 97 years, until her hip broke and she had surgery. After that she moved to assisted living, not a nursing home. She has no health problems, no high blood pressure, no diabetes, no high cholesterol, no cancer of any kind or anything else. She takes a blood thinner because when she had her first surgery at age 97, they found out she had a blood clotting disorder (Factor 5). Now compare her to my best friend who died 2 years ago. My friend died at the age of 53. She ate healthy and organic for much of her life. She didn't believe in mammograms because she didn't want any radiation (she didn't want to get cancer). She got breast cancer and because it took so long to find out she had cancer, it had moved to her bones and she died from bone cancer. (her arm broke from the cancer eating away at her bone, that's how they discovered it). She then tried 14 natural remedies and funky "natural" treatments to cure her, but of course she died, very "naturally" and in extreme pain. Oh yeah, she wouldn't take any pain meds because that would be poison in her body. I'm so tired of the "natural" movement. Here's my thought: Eat all the food groups in moderation. Nothing exempts you from cancer. We are not in control of when we die, and we are all going to die.
My comment was written to Anna B F.
There was a Stanford study that I read two days ago that showcased organic vs non-organic and there wasn't anything proven that organic was more nutritious. It was on yahoo.com news. They did however state that IF you could eat less veggies / fruits that had less pesticide and could afford organic GO FOR IT. Look up the dirty dozen and the clean thirteen. You will see what to spend your money on regarding organic food. BTW the china study is b.s. My buddy is an interventional radiologist who is quite versed in nutrition and has advised to stay away from those vegan FULL plant diets. BALANCED DIET = SUCCESS. Yes, cancer doesn't discriminate. Luckily it is not in my family's genetics but you never know. Count everyday as a gift. We take GREAT HEALTH a lot of times for granted. Don't!
- sorry. i do not think the china study is vegan. personally i usually eat tuna a couple to three times a week. chicken a couple and maybe red meat that is lean once a week or once every two weeks. all about moderation. i'd be more worried about saturated fat laden food and processed food as well as fried food.
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