Yep, that’s what clean eating is. It has no flavor, no wiggle room for life to happen, and it’s certainly not anything you can survive on past a 5 lb. weight loss. I mean, who eats this rabbit food anyway???
April Fools!
(Come on, you know I had to do that.)
I promise, it’s NOT just tofu, dirt and water. Quite the opposite. Clean eating foods are bursting, not only with nutrients, but also with flavor! And learning to live a clean eating lifestyle is bursting with all kinds of new lessons, tips and tricks for healthy living.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit, I sometimes don’t take my own advice. I type up a post like this one, publish it, and forget I wrote it 2 minutes later while I’m noshing on a piece of dark chocolate. But hey, at least it’s dark chocolate, right?
The truth is, living “the clean life” is full of “bumps in the road”. In my last Clean Eating 101 post, I mentioned that it’s unreasonable to be 100% perfect, 100% of the time, and I meant that. But I’m not striving for perfection. I’m striving for health, and good health comes from what you do the majority of the time. That means that, even in a clean eating lifestyle, there is room for those “bumps”. The trick is to be sure you’re not hitting them on a daily basis!
So what are some of the tips and tricks I use to get and stay on track? Well, let me tell you…
SET REASONABLE GOALS. It’s so easy in the beginning of a weight loss journey to dream about losing 100 lbs (my goal was/is 114 lbs!), or some other big number. All you can think of is that final goal, and you attack it like a famished hyena with some crazy crash diet. Hitting the gym 7 days a week, eating carrots and celery sticks, feeling hungry all day, and convincing yourself that you are loving every minute of it. But we all know that lasts about 2 days…. maybe 3. Then, you’re back to Haagen Daz and Cheez Its. That’s where the reasonable goals come in. Perhaps you’ll focus on a 2 lb. loss for the week, or month. Maybe you’ll focus on getting 5-6 meals in your busy day. Or maybe, your goal will be to eat a clean dinner every night this week. Whatever you decide, make it achievable, because that’s really the only way we accomplish significant change in our lives.
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Click here and print out this goal setting worksheet.
Fill it out and tape it where you can see it every day._________________________________________
EAT FREQUENTLY. This is such a challenge for so many people. Maybe you can’t even begin to imagine what you would pack in a cooler or lunch box to ensure those 5-6 meals a day. Either you are too busy to figure it out, or it just seems so overwhelming that you avoid it all together. So what do you do? You cook a “typical” day of food, meaning 3, normal-sized meals. Now, set them out in front of you on the kitchen counter, and divide them in half. Presto! 6 meals for the day. Just spread them out by 2-1/2 to 3 hours during your day, and all you did was create those normal 3 meals you’re so accustomed to.
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Click here and print out this goal setting worksheet.
Fill it out and tape it where you can see it every day.
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DEFINE YOUR OWN RULES. Yes, clean eating has a certain set of rules. But they are very flexible and can be molded to fit most lifestyles. So you then have to decide what will work for you. Will you stop eating at 7pm every evening? Will you make it a point to avoid certain foods (foods you are sensitive to or that trigger a certain response)? Will you try one new or exotic food every week or month to keep the variety in your eating plan? Think about what will and what won’t work in your life right now. Then define your rules. What are they?
_________________________________________
Click here and print out this goal setting worksheet.
Fill it out and tape it where you can see it every day._________________________________________
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