"Clean Your Plate” Has New Meaning

By Patty Martin-Duhon, MPH, RD, LD

Diets don’t work, that’s no surprise. They are nothing more than gimmicks with short-term results. So, if you’re serious about losing weight, getting better fit and controlling your weight, clean eating is the way to go. I like to use the theory “less is more” to describe clean eating. Specifically, when you are eating smaller portions of higher quality foods, you are adapting to an eating style that I call clean eating. In other words, “clean your plate” has a new definition. Forget what our parents used to mean by “clean your plate”: finish everything on the plate, no matter what’s on it.

If you are intrigued by what clean eating is all about, then allow me to boil it down for you: Clean eating is the practice of eating foods minimally processed and in their most natural state. It is a natural approach to eating, which embraces food as a lifestyle - not as a diet. Good, clean foods include whole, natural foods such as fruits, vegetables, lean meats, plant-based proteins, fish, nuts and seeds, whole grains, eggs, olive oil, low fat dairy products, and legumes. When you are eating clean, you are steering clear from the man-made products full of sugar, sodium, and artificial ingredients with added preservatives.

Clean eating also means avoiding fast foods and processed junk containing simple sugars, bad fats (hydrogenated, trans-fats) and preservatives. Most people are practically prisoners of these foods since they are so easily accessible and convenient in our “toxic” world. These foods punish our bodies, keeping excessive weight on and sabotaging our weight loss efforts. An easy way to remember if a food is clean is: If man made it, don’t eat it, which is not easy to do since most foods available are, in fact, man-made. Or if you can’t pronounce the long list of ingredients in a food item, then skip it. The dictionary definition for these ingredients is all the same: unhealthy. You will find the “real” and “clean” foods on the outer perimeter of the grocery store, and the processed, man-made foods are along the center aisles. So, breeze through those center aisles quickly.
Just a couple of good reasons to get cleaned up with your eating:

• Say “Good Riddance” to Processed Foods and Give Your Body What It Needs. You will feel a world of difference when you get rid of the processed foods, which give your body very limited nutritional value. Your natural energy levels will increase when you start eating more whole foods that provide you with valuable vitamins, minerals and nutrients your body is craving. You will get to know and appreciate your body when you nourish it with the good stuff. Our bodies really weren’t meant to be garbage cans, yet many of us treat them that way by abusing them with the wrong kind of foods. When you eat clean, you start to feel better; it opens up all kinds of possibilities to take better care of you.

• Make Clean Eating A Hobby - It’s Fun! You will inspire others to action by making healthy changes, increasing your energy and feeling better, and you will lead the way for others to follow. So be a weight loss and clean eating leader. The world needs you! Here’s a check list below to get you moving toward clean eating.

You Are Eating Clean When You Are …

• Eliminating refined sugars and foods with too many  additives and preservatives.
• Preparing healthy meals from natural sources of protein, carbohydrates and essential fats.
• Packing healthy meals to avoid the pitfalls of making the wrong food choices on the go.
• Making healthy choices when dining out.
• Drinking a lot of water everyday.
• Eating 5-6 small meals per day.
• Always eating a good breakfast.

No weight loss or fitness goal is obtainable without first embracing clean eating. I understand it’s quite a challenge for most people to clean up their eating when they are used to eating highly processed foods on a regular basis. Breaking away from these old dirty habits can be difficult. When you invest the time to eat clean and do it consistently, you will see a difference. It becomes a lifestyle and your way of eating for life.

Have you done anything lately to clean up your eating? For more information on eating clean, go to www.cleaneatingmag.com for recipes and menus ideas. You can also come see me, and we can talk all about clean eating or any other nutritional concerns or goals you have. Here’s to good health!