Beginners Guide to Clean Eating

Clean Eating for Beginners:

Clean Eating is not a diet, it's a healthy lifestyle Change. Clean Eating is the healthier choice and unlike any other fad diet, it requires your continuous dedication to adopt this philosophy. There are certain rules and guidelines you need to follow. Clean eating will not only make you feel light from inside but also help you to shed those extra pounds and stay fit. In a nutshell clean eating is about choosing the foods which are as close to their natural state as possible.

  Here are the 7 core principles of Clean Eating

1. Eat Small Meals every two or three hours: Eating at regular intervals keep your blood sugar level from dropping too low. Also craving for heavy food can be avoided through this manner. Small meals at routine intervals is what helps your body to stay on track to eat healthier food.

2. Never to Skip a Meal

This again will help maintain a stable blood sugar levels and avoid snacking on the wrong foods. Skipping meals is an unhealthy and unsustainable way to loose weight.

3.  Choose unrefined over refined foods.

While it may not be possible all the times, you can up your intake of whole grains like brown rice, millet, quinoa, whole-wheat.   Beans and legumes are also important in diet.  Clean sugars include honey, maple syrup, and raw sugar is advisable. Refined white sugar or even zero calorie sugar are not advisable.

4. Include some protein, carbohydrate and fat in meals

Most of us typically do well with carbohydrates and fat, but we often lack protein, especially in the early part of the day, like at breakfast and lunch. Protein is an important muscle-builder, and it can also help curb your appetite. When eaten throughout the day, it keeps us feeling full longer. Olive oil, Peanut Butter, Nuts are considered as good fat and should be included in everyday diet.

5. Don’t drink your calories.

High calorie drinks like specialty coffees and soft drinks, on average, tack on an extra 400 to 500 calories a day. Choose water first, or my personal favorite, unsweetened tea (any flavor). Other clean drinks are low-fat or skim milk, coconut water, 100 percent fruit juice.

6. Watch Portion Size of food

To stay healthy one must also watch the amount of food intake per meals to make sure the intake is balanced and also not too much. Avoiding sugary drinks and cutting back on salt is also part of portion size control, choosing healthier snack and at least 2 fruits a day is advisable. Balancing the portion size of carbohydrates and Protein plays a vital role when trying to loose weight.

7. Get moving.

Regular physical activity is a must for any individual who is trying to stay fit and healthy. Regular exercise helps to achieve a fit body and also strengthen and build muscles. It also helps you to burn more energy at rest, it keeps your heart, lungs, and bones healthy and strong.

There are quite a lot of health benefits if you follow clean eating, eating good food will make both your body and mind healthy. Some visible benefits include the following:

• Glowing Skin
• Lustrous hair
• Better sleep
• Loss of body fat
• Increased energy
• Improved cholesterol and blood sugar levels
• Feeling full rather than starved
• No side effects on health
• Improved immunity
• Not having to buy expensive packaged food
• Decreased risk of diabetes and heart disease.
• Boost metabolism.

Also do remember to stay hydrated as much as possible, treat yourself with fruits smoothies, vegetable juices and lots of water (8 glasses minimum) in a day.  Pre plan your meals and do grocery at least once a week. Remember if you have unhealthy food at home, you will end up having those, store good food, veggies, nuts, oats and pulses at all times.

Sample Grocery List for Clean Eating:

GRAINS AND LENTILS	PROTEIN
Whole Grain Bread Rolled Oats Quick Oats Lentils Chickpeas White beans	Fish (boneless) Chicken Breast Chicken wings Minced chicken for making kebabs Eggs
SEEDS & NUTS:	VEGETABLES & HERBS:
Almonds Peanuts Walnuts Peanut butter Chia Seeds/tokma	Spinach Green Leaf Lettuce Tomatoes Green Beans Cucumber Corn Carrots Onions Garlic Ginger Mushroom
FRUITS:	DAIRY
Lemons Limes Oranges Avocado Apples Bananas Melon Mango Grapes Pineapple	Low fat milk Feta Cheese (low fat) Low fat yogurt Almond milk/soya milk
OILS, CONDIMENTS, & SPICES:	BEVERAGES:
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Coconut Oil Sriracha Raw Honey, Apple Cider Vinegar Ground Black Pepper Chicken tikka masala Chaat masala Paprika Cinnamon powder Red Pepper Flakes	Coconut water Herbal Tea/green tea Coffee Fruit Smoothie Fruit Juice

 Sample Meal Plan of Clean Eating:

ž Breakfast: 1 glass warm lemon water, 1 glass of Chia soaked water, 2 Egg white scrambled, and 1 cup oats porridge

ž Snack: 1 Cup Green tea, 1 Apple and 1 Carrot \

ž Lunch: 15 minutes before lunch 2 glasses of water, 1 cup beans salad with boiled Vegetable, 250 gram Chicken Breast grilled and 1 glass orange Juice

 ž Snack: 1 Cup Green Tea, handful of nuts and 1 Banana

 ž Dinner: 2 glasses of water 15 minutes before dinner, Oats vegetable khichuri with chicken curry and 1 cup Milk 3 hrs before bed.