Clean Up Your Eating

Since I've had some questions regarding clean eating, I thought I'd get to talking about that today.

I need to start out by telling you I am far from an expert in this category. Only a few days ago did I begin researching clean eating and what it's all about.

I also need to tell you that I am not following this lifestyle 100% yet. I am, however, doing it the best I can right now to start out. I'll explain in a bit.

First, let's talk about what clean eating is. The comments I've received from people, whether in person or on social networking sites, have been pretty funny. "Clean eating…is that like, washing your vegetables?" "Clean eating…as opposed to…dirty eating?" Well…yes and yes. :)



My favorite go-to clean eating website, The Gracious Pantry, describes three different methods to clean eating. I am going by method two, which can be described by the following:

1. Eating lots of plants. They're right from the earth, and never bad for you. You know, unless it's poisonous, then you should probably stay away.

2. Meats ARE allowed! If they weren't, I wouldn't be doing this, because we all know how No Meat May went. Yeah. However, it is advised to get meats straight from the butcher. No packaging. I am breaking this rule. We always buy our meats at our local Amish marketplace. Local meat, no hormones, grass-fed, etc. So, I don't feel bad about breaking this rule.

3. Grains. Whole grains. This is a big change for me, but not one I'm struggling with. This is actually the one "rule" I'm sticking to 99% (I say that because I had Subway the other day, and I'm pretty sure my wheat roll was just wheat, not 100% whole grain.). I threw out all our white flour, sugar, rice, and bought all brown, whole wheat products.

4. Sugar substituting. This is a hard one for me, and is the biggest reason I'm telling you I am not following this lifestyle 100%. Sugar is tough to kick. I need my morning coffee, and I am a strictly flavored creamer girl. No sugar, just the sugar that is in my creamer. So necessary, and something I'm not, at this time, willing to give up. Beyond that, I am substituting sugar with such things as (so far) agave nectar. I try to avoid sugar the rest of my day, but my coffee…need that. I made pumpkin roll last night, and I substituted with agave nectar, and it was delish.

5. Read your labels! I've done this, anyway, as I count calories, and in general, like to know what's in my food. I'm just a little more serious about it now. We went grocery shopping the other day, and I read every. single. label. before I bought anything. Labeling is tricky. Just because the front of the package says WHOLE GRAIN doesn't mean it is! Read those ingredients! Unless it says it there, it does not count.

6. The less ingredients, the cleaner! Easy, right? I mean, what ingredients are there in corn? Lettuce? Tomatoes? Uh…chicken breasts? Clean. What ingredients are there in Triscuits? Doritos? Chips Ahoy? (Mmm.) Lots of fillers. Did you know even shredded cheese has EXTRA stuff in it that isn't necessary? Yes, we are even buying our cheese in blocks and shredding it ourselves…and even THAT can be tricky. Check those ingredients on EVERYTHING, even when you think that block of cheese is "clean," it may not be. The fewer ingredients the product has, the better off.

7. Eat smaller meals more often. I'm not really following this, either. I've always been a 3-meals-a-day person, and I stick to that. This method suggests you eat 5-6 smaller meals each day, however.

For some people, this may all seem like big changes. I'm finding it to be rather easy (other than that whole sugar in my coffee thing, of course). Sure, I like my white bread, but my whole grain toast with all natural peanut butter this morning? Delish. That banana? So good. Ethan had cut up organic peaches and banana for breakfast, and I feel better just knowing what we're eating is clean and fresh, no fillers. (Of course, he's always eaten organic, so, I'm mostly talking about myself here. No Eggo waffles this morning for mama.)

Jarrod and I have taken things a step further.

We are now buying as many natural products, in general, that we can. This includes our toothpaste and mouthwash…both Tom's brand now…and our cleaning products…among other things. These are a few examples. Do you realize how many EXTRA things and sometimes HARMFUL ingredients are in your food? …in your cleaning products? …in your house?

We do now, and we're cleaning it up!

Some apps that I've found helpful, for those of you who are tech savvy, are:

1. Good Guide: LOVE this app! The night I got it, I spent time going through each category, finding out what products we needed to switch around in our lives. This is my favorite of my new apps.

2. Dirty Dozen: The top 12 items you should buy organic to reduce the amount of pesticides you're consuming (Ick!), and a complete list of the ones you don't need to be as cautious about.

3. Seafood: For those of you interested in what seafood to buy and what NOT to buy.

4. Don't Eat: A list of chemicals and ingredients that could be harmful to you! Look for them.

5. Whole Foods: You know…the store. We don't have one nearby (sad face), but this app has some awesome recipes I've used.

6. Locavore: Local places near you that have fresh produce, etc.

So, that's clean eating in one Between the Lines post. :) Again, I'm no expert, but if you have any other questions, I'd be happy to try and help you out and answer them. Again, The Gracious Pantry has been a huge help to me, so, that's a wonderful source for you to check into as well!

Happy cleaning! :)