As I was thinking about what to post, I thought about what one of the best ways to take care of ourselves is. Our body needs food to function correctly, more importantly it needs the right kind of food. I recently read an article which was about cellulite. In this article it spoke about women now and women in the past. In the 40-60's you didn't here too much about cellulite. Women woke up ate something that they either raised or picked from their garden. Then they spent the rest of the day manually working. Now days we wake up eat something that has been processed at a factory somewhere, that definitely has more sugar than we need. Then we ride in our cars, sit at our desks, etc. We continue eating these processed unhealthy foods all day. Our lives are higher paced and more stressful. We go to bed later than we should. Know wonders there is such a high obesity rate. So what do we do? We have to decide we want to be healthy. Then we need to get back to the basics. It's funny because you will hear people say that they do not have time to eat healthy meals or to be physically active. It is an excuse!!! It does not take any more time to fix a salad then pop in a freezer meal, it does not take any more time to grab a handful of grapes rather than a handful of candy. And it doesn't take any more time to eat a bag of carrots rather than a bag of chips. It might seem that buying healthy costs more money. But if you don't buy the bag of chips and bag of candy and all of the processed boxes and cans of food and just buy things as close to their natural form as possible it really isn't any more. What are some ideas of a clean eating menu?
Breakfast Foods:
Eggs - they are a great source of protein (If you are worried about cholesterol just use egg white)
Fruit- you could do a bowl of mixed berries or an orange or grapefruit
Oatmeal - no not the one that has all of the added sugar and pretend fruit. Use oats and make oatmeal, the instant ones will be fine. If you need flavoring you can add honey or cinnamon, or even you favorite all fruit baby food. I did this once when I was trying to cut all sugar and yeast out of my diet. It wasn't too bad.
Snacks:
Raw nuts
Carrots
Celery
Apples
Any fruit or veggie
Lunch ideas:
Green salad - they don't have to be boring! You can add grilled chicken or ham. Add some mushrooms and red peppers. If you like red onions add them. You can sprinkle slivered almonds. The options are endless.
Pick a protein - chicken, fish, pork, lean red meat, eggs, turkey
Add a fruit and veggie
Dinner ideas:
Pick a protein and grill or bake or crockpot it: chicken, fish, pork, lean red meat, turkey
Pick a side: quinoa, brown rice, sweat potato or yam, beans
Pick a veggie: broccoli, green beans, cabbage, zucchini, squash, carrots, cauliflower, etc
Can I Ever Have Desert Again??? Yes. If you have desert make it, don't buy it. Then you know exactly what is going in to it. Use honey as the sweetener. Or flavor things with spices, such as cinnamon. The goal is to eat clean and healthy most of the time. If you slip and have a piece of cake at a birthday party it is fine, don't feel guilty. Just know that the next day you will be back to eating clean.
It can be hard getting into the habit of clean eating, I am trying to get there myself. But I know the reward of being more healthy will be worth it.
Tips:
When shopping, shop the outside isle of the store. Do not buy processed foods, try not to buy anything with a food label.
When you get home: wash and cut your fruits and veggies so they will be ready to eat.
If you are going to have a busy evening. Put your meal in the crock pot that morning or at lunchtime, then when dinner rolls around all you will have todo is eat it.
If you think you are hungry drink some water, if you are still hungry after 10-20 minutes then eat a little something.
Use a smaller plate.
Good luck!!
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