Eating Clean

Although I am supposedly the "expert" when it comes to cooking, occasionally I get inspiration from my clients. Two of my clients are into eating clean. One is a busy mother of three who eats clean when she can. She flagged a few recipes in Clean Eating magazine for me to make for her, and they were good. This was my introduction to the term "clean eating/eating clean."

My other clean-eating client is a serious body builder who's all muscle. He doesn't touch gluten, alcohol or fatty meats. My assistant and I have been making most of his meals for the past few months, and he recently told me we've changed his life. His headaches are gone, his body fat is down, and his strength is soaring. Wow!

After hearing that, I decided to do a little more research into the topic, and what I've read makes a lot of sense.

The basic advice*:

1. Drink lots of water (8 cups or more per day)

2. Eat whole foods (fresh fruit, vegetables, lean protein, whole grains).

3. Eat sensible/small portions of these foods every few hours.

4. Include healthy fats in your meals.

5. Avoid white flour, white sugar, artificial sweeteners, over-processed, preservative-laden foods and other "junk food."

6. Avoid or limit alcohol.

* adapted from The Eat Clean Diet, Recharged by Tosca Reno

According to the proponents of this way of eating (as well as a couple of personal trainers I know), 75% - 80% of your appearance is directly related to what you put into your body. The remaining 20% - 25% is genetics and exercise. Think about it. You can look and feel better just by drinking more water, cutting out processed foods and being a little more mindful of what you buy and eat. I'm in!

The bowlful of berries was part of my attempt to encourage my family to eat better. Rather than buy the berries and let them sit in the fruit drawer until someone discovered them, I washed and dried them and put them in a bowl. Guess what? They were gone within hours. We all had them for dessert last night, and today my son told me he snuck down during the night for a second helping. My husband scarfed the remainder with his Greek yogurt at breakfast.

Are you a clean eater? Tell me about it, and I'll keep you posted on how we're doing.