Eat clean? Have you already heard that phrase somewhere? What does that mean?
The first time I hear that phrase, I thought it is literally eating in a clean way or cleaning the food properly before eating. But it is not.
Eating clean is also not about diet but it is about eating healthy foods. The fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are the healthy foods I am referring to and also some foods with healthy fats, carbs, and proteins. Then, if you have to eat that food to become healthy, you also have some foods to avoid to stay healthy. Such as refined grains, foods with preservatives and additives, unhealthy fats, processed foods, too much on eating meats and food with too much salt and sugar.
Diet is about avoiding calories, fats, and eating too much. But eating clean is about enjoying your food and the nutrition that it gives you.
Here are some tips How to Eat Clean
1. The Nutrition label is to be checked
Before buying a product always check the nutrition facts and the expiry date. Checking the label will give you information about what is inside the food you will eat. You might read here the unnecessary ingredients that are not good for you. And also, you can read here the nutrients you need that is present in this food.
Same thing with the manufactured and expiration date. You have to check them too, it will give you an idea if the food has too much preservative because preservative helps the food prolong the time on when the foods are to be consumed.
2. Choose whole foods
The whole foods are the unprocessed foods like fruits, vegetables, eggs, nuts, and whole grains. All foods which are not manufactured in the labor in the plant are whole foods. You can find the most benefits with this type of foods. Because processed foods have already extra sugar and sodium in it and also the natural nutrients like fiber and antioxidants have been taken away during the process.
3. Snack crunchy foods
When we say crunchy foods, what comes first in our mind is chips. Well, we are referring to foods like fruits such as apples and pears, celery, nuts, carrots, cucumber and snap peas. We are suggested to eat crunchy foods because it is a type of food which require a longer time to chew. And the longer our mouth is busy chewing, the lesser food we eat.
4. Drink plenty of water
Drinking more water has no bad side effects in our body. In fact, drinking more water has so many good effects. Your body will function properly and your mind can think correctly if you are well-hydrated. Water is like fuel in our body, when we are lacking water it will result in a headache.
When you are thirsty, drink water instead of juice or soft drinks.
5. Do not skip your meals
When you are health conscious skipping meals will not help you to become healthy. If you want to stay healthy, energized, focused and alert you have to eat regularly. Because the more you get hungry, the more foods your body wants. And the more you suffer from overeating, the more you gain weight. I have read that a person should eat 6 times a day. And that 6 times are divided into 3 heavy meals and 3 snacks. But of course, what you will eat are healthy foods, not junk foods.
6. Real fruit, not the fruit-flavored foods
Almost all the food products now have so much fruit-flavors. And not only the food products but also vitamin syrup and some drinks.
Eating real fruits and eating fruit-flavored foods is different. If you eat real fruits you will enjoy biting and chewing it, and also you will enjoy the nutrient it brings. But when you choose fruit-flavored, yes, it tastes and smells like real fruit but how about the nutrients?
7. Eat dinner at a table
As much as possible, meals should be done in the dining and with the family. Not in the bed or with the tv. The less stressed and distracted you are while eating, the more your body can effectively absorb nutrients of what you are eating.
If the dinner is the only meal you can do in the dining, then so be it. At least there is still a time for you to join your family when eating and let your self be relaxed from the stress given by the work or school.
8. Create a meal plan
If you have extra time, try to create a meal plan at weekends. A meal plan for a week will help you save money, eat better, and save time during the week. You will only feel stress thinking of the meal once a week and not every day. You can also think properly of the food you want (but be sure it is healthy) without repeating it in a week.
If you will create a meal plan for the whole family, make sure they will agree into your menu so that your effort will not be rejected.
9. Cook at home often
Cooking may require extra time inrinsing, chopping, or grilling. But just be patient. At least you know that the food you prepare is clean and nutritious because you are the one who prepares it and you know what is the ingredient in it.
10. Cook the meat, do not buy processed one
Meats that turn into nuggets, hotdog, sausage and other processed meat that you can see in the can or frozen. Those are not good for our body because there are excess sodium and preservative in those kinds of food. And maybe you are satisfied eating it but nutrients are not already present in there.
Final thought
There are already so many food factories out there creating, processing, and manufacturing foods that are not good for our health. We should be mindful of what we eat because the food we intake can be the reason for us to live long or catch an illness.
The list above is easy tips on how to eat clean. Make it a hobby to follow, if you want to stay healthy.
