It seems like the minute I turned 33, my metabolism decided to punish me. I used to enjoy eating pretty much whatever I wanted and saw small to moderate weight gains, but nothing too substantial. Apparently, at 33 - for me anyway - it's all over. Which is really irritating, especially since my blog is all about food!
So I sought out new diets and eating habits to try and find a good balance that would allow me to eat pancakes, pizza, sushi, and burgers every once in a while, still maintaining a healthy weight. I came across "clean eating." This diet trend has received much attention in recent years, espoused by
celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Beyonce. It can go from very extreme liquid diets (juice fasting) to simply adopting an awareness about the content and purpose of the food we enjoy. I chose the latter, because as is obvious from the title of this blog, I like to eat. Plus, I work at a library and can't afford a $500 juice cleanse pack (Sorry Gwynnie, it's just not happening) and I hate cleaning my juicer. Also, the idea of detoxification hasn't been scientifically proven. Mostly though, I really like to eat.
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| Photo courtesy of www.amodelrecommends.com |
So what is clean eating? Here are some very basic principles, which I sometimes try to follow:
- Eat simply. Stick to plants, meats, whole grains like rice and whole wheat. Try not to eat things out of a box.
- Choose food with a manageable amount of ingredients. If you are eating something with 20 lines of strange ingredients that you cannot identify, that's not so good.
- Eat smaller meals more frequently.
- Remove chemicals and processed foods from your diet.
Photo courtesy of laurenknightfitness.com - Limit saturated fats.
- Reduce alcohol (1 drink per day) or eliminate it if you can.
- Replace coffee with green tea (I don't do this!)
- Watch sugar intake. Sometimes even seemingly healthy food like yogurt can contain mostly sugar.
- Some people supplement with probiotics and extra vitamins, but doctors should always be consulted before adopting a diet like this.
If you want to learn more about "clean" eating, check out some of these books:
Clean eats : over 200 delicious recipes to reset your body's natural balance and discover what it means to be truly healthy / Junger, Alejandro.
Clean eats : over 200 delicious recipes to reset your body's natural balance and discover what it means to be truly healthy / Junger, Alejandro.
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