What is clean eating? I think of clean eating as eating a healthy, nutrient rich meal plan. Most people know what is healthy and what is not healthy. And here is list of clean foods.
Clean eating is a lifestyle. I do not like to use the word diet when I talk about clean eating. The reason for this is because, in order to make long lasting changes to your health and body there cannot be an end to the way you eat. And when people use the word diet, it is normally with the thought that there is an end to it all. I strongly believe that if you want to be successful when it comes to your health and fitness, there CANNOT BE AN END! I tell my clients that it is from now until forever.
Now let's talk a little bit about how to set up, or prep yourself, for a good day of clean eating.
First things first, you must have the right mindset for this big change in your life. You must be positive, persistent, and patient. This isn't going to be easy, especially at first. You just have to stick with it, and it will all be worth it, and it will eventually become normal to you. And patience is key! This takes time.
Then you have to get all your groceries. And now you have a grocery list (above). FYI, I shop at Walmart for my groceries; so don't think that everything has to be organic for it to be clean or healthy.
Lastly, MEAL PREP!!! (See my blog Let's Talk Meal Prep). You do not have to portion everything out for the week, unless you have a busy work schedule, then you probably should. But you can just cook in bulk; put everything in the fridge. That way when it is time to eat, food is ready for you. It is so nice to have things already ready. Having to cook when you are hungry never really ends well, that's normally why people get fast food or eat out. Speaking of eating out, let's get into macros.
What are macros? Macros are protein, carbohydrates, and fats. I have my grocery list above divided up into these categories. But what I really wanted to talk about is IIFYM (if it fits your macros). IIFYM has gotten a little out of control; and I think it is getting in the way of people actually having a nutritious meal plan and good eating habits.
Supposedly, the whole point of IIFYM is to have a balanced relationship with food. But all I see are people eating a bunch of food that has no nutritional value to you. Plus, when you eat foods high in sugar or artificial sweeteners, they actually make you crave more "bad" foods. That's not what we want! But I will leave the IIFYM talk at that.
I do want to keep talking about MACROS though (Protein, carbohydrates and fats). I believe that the best way to get your best results is to eat clean and count your macros.
I learned how to do this from Tony Montgomery Jr. and Jason Theobald. I like to have set macros per meal; not macros for an entire day. This will help keep things in line throughout the day. Having meal macros will also allow you to utilize nutrient timing (See blog Back to the Basics | Nutrient Timing).
To wrap this up, clean eating and macros should be used together. This will allow you to mix things up with your food, but still keeping everything clean and healthy. And always make sure that you are doing what works best for you. You want this to be a lifestyle... So there is not end.
