How to Eat Clean

Among other elements, what, when, and how much to eat are all of key importance when eating clean. Follow these rough guidelines and you will be eating your way to better health.

The key elements to eating clean are:

• When to eat
• What to eat
• How much to eat
• Staying hydrated
• Being prepared
• Being consistent

Two other factors that, although not absolutely necessary, are:

• Spicing it Up
• Eat Mindfully

When to Eat. Timing is important when eating clean. You will need to eat every one to three hours. This keeps your blood sugar levels steady throughout the day, which means your energy levels don’t swing. Eating this often keeps your metabolism running strong.

You will also need to eat this often because, when eating real food in reasonable portions, you will be hungry this often. What – Every meal should contain a lean protein and a carbohydrate (grain, fruit, or vegetable). It is OK to skew this a little to depending upon your body; personally I skew things to be more carbohydrate heavy and in the morning and in the evening keep my meals as mostly protein.

What to Eat. With any diet, what to eat is important. Food isn’t simple. But, to simplify things a little, foods in a clean diet can be grouped into three areas:

1. Lean Protein
2. Complex Carbohydrates
3. Healthy Fats

For more information on what to eat, see The Clean Eating Lifestyle: What to Eat.

How Much to Eat. Know your portions. Your lean protein portion should generally be four ounces which is generally about the size of your palm. Your carbohydrate portion should be between half a cup to one whole cup, depending upon the source. Keep daily portions of nuts to a small handful and one to two tablespoons of natural oils.

Staying Hydrated. It is important to keep yourself well hydrated. Even a little dehydration can mess with your metabolism and energy level. Shoot for a gallon a day.

Water is the best source for hydration, but if you can’t stand water alone, it is OK to use a little a little lemon or Crystal Light to make it palatable. Avoid diet sodas. Coffee and tea work too, but avoid overdoing the caffeine.

Be Prepared. An important part of eating clean is to be prepared. If you know you will be out of the house for hours, bring your meals and water. Yes, you can always stop to buy a water or pick up a salad with grilled chicken, but I know when I do this I’ve usually gone way past the time I should have eaten have gone into the tired and cranky zone. Blood sugar levels are going haywire and I could even be burning that muscle I’ve worked so hard for.

Be Consistent. Eating clean works great if you do it consistently; if you do it sporadically, your results will be sporadic. When eating clean consistently, your taste buds adjust to real flavors in real foods; for example, you might actually notice sweetness in vegetables. Sure, allow yourself a cheat meal from time to time when you’ve earned it. But get back to eating clean as soon as you can after that.

Spice it up! There are a multitude of spices you can use to complement the flavor of your food. As a bonus many spices have health benefits as well; for example, ginger is known to aid in digestion.

Be creative and find the tastes you like. There is no end to your creativity here. Pre-mixed, no salt blends, such as the ones made by Ms. Dash, Frontier, and Spice Hunter are great ways to add flavor to just about anything.

Other ways to enhance the flavor of your food are to add: diced, pureed, or dehydrated fruits and vegetables, natural vanilla, Greek non-fat yogurt, chopped nuts, and natural oils such as olive or sesame.

Eat Mindfully. Although this one isn’t absolutely necessary, it is important to enjoy your food and feel satisfied when you’ve finished your meal.

Here’s how to do it: Stop whatever you are doing, sit down (or pull over the car!), get rid of all distractions if possible.  Take a bite and savor the texture and flavor of the food in your mouth. Enjoy it as you chew it well and swallow it. Only after you’ve finished, should you look for the next bite.

I have to admit, I am really horrible at mindful eating. I often catch myself standing in my kitchen downing my meal, stopping when it is gone and looking at my empty dish wondering where my food went; there is a lack of mental satisfaction when it is gone and I barely tasted it. When I force myself to slow down and eat mindfully, I enjoy my food  more and feel satisfied after eating a meal.

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