I am often asked the question, “What do you eat?”. People are always intrigued to find out that I eat everything!! I love food any way I can get it. BUT I do avoid processed foods, fried foods, and simple carbohydrates. “Clean Eating” is a term used to describe an eating practice where you eat “whole” foods, meaning foods that are in their purest state. No prepackaged meals or foods with additives or an ingredient list I cannot pronounce.

Carbohydrates or “carbs” are always a topic for debate, and I am not going to jump into that. I will say that they are an important part of a healthy diet, but you must choose them carefully. I choose brown rice instead of white rice, sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes, whole grain wheat bread over white bread. Bread is an important place to read your food labels because even “wheat bread” can be full of bad stuff. Some other great complex carb choices are grains like quinoa, and beans think black beans and kidney beans, and legumes such as lentils. These are also good sources of extra protein, quinoa has 8 grams in 1 cup, black beans have 15 grams per cup, and lentils have 18 grams per cup!

Fresh fruits and vegetables are an essential part of my diet. I love frozen bananas, frozen berries, or frozen pineapple in my shakes. I eat raw bell pepper strips, raw carrots, and cucumber slices as snacks sometimes alone and sometimes dipped in hummus. I love to roast everything from cauliflower to potatoes in the oven with a little bit of olive oil and salt and pepper. I use minimal seasonings and make seasoning blends and sauces from scratch.

My family uses a lot of ground beef, so tacos are a must as well as spaghetti sauce, homemade sloppy joes, dirty rice, and stuffed bell peppers. We raise a steer and have it ground into hamburger, so we are very fortunate to have grass-fed beef and the comfort of knowing where it came from. We do buy chicken at the grocery store, and we eat that often as well. We eat very minimal pork products mostly due to my inability to digest it but also because it lacks nutritional value compared to other protein options.

I also drink lots of water! My daily water goal is half of my body weight in ounces. So, if you weigh 180 pounds, your daily water goal is 90 oz. I know that sound like a TON but I promise if you try I bet you can meet and exceed that goal! You have to start small. If you never drink water start by replacing one soda or tea with a glass of water. If you drink water but aren’t sure how much. Start tracking it! There are lots of apps for this or write it down. Just set a goal for the day and keep challenging yourself.

As we continue through this journey together, I will share meal prep ideas, recipes for sauces and seasonings, and family meal ideas to help you get the hang of clean eating. I challenge you this week to take note of how often you are eating fruits and vegetables and take a moment to read the labels on your favorite foods. Just take note of what you are putting in your body.

Feel free to send me a note if you have any specific questions about clean eating or need guidance on something. There are lots of frozen options that are cost effective are real time savers!