| Think back to the days past before; microwaving | | | | include whole grain bread and pastas; avoid eating |
| and instant potatoes, when food came directly | | | | white flours and sugars. Labels that read enriched |
| from the farm to the market to the table. Sure it | | | | flour should be left on the shelf. Healthy fats are |
| took a bit longer to prepare a meal, but we knew | | | | foods such as avocado and olive oil; a good test |
| exactly who grew or raised the food and the only | | | | is if you heat the oil it should remain liquid once it |
| "process" it went through was either butchering | | | | has cooled. |
| or harvesting. And the families of generations | | | | 4. Flush the system, now that you're eating all |
| then were more able to maintain a healthier | | | | these healthy whole foods your body is going to |
| weight. They ate clean everyday perhaps not by | | | | begin to release toxins. Drinking plenty of water |
| choice but by circumstance, but clearly they were | | | | will help to not only keep you body well hydrated; |
| better for it. | | | | plenty of water will also flush those toxins from |
| It is getting harder and harder to maintain a | | | | your liver and fat cells. |
| healthy weight today. Try as we might to lose | | | | 5. Stay away from alcohol and liquor, although |
| weight, and keep it off; many of us fall into the | | | | some of these are low in calorie they turn to |
| yo-yo diet trap. There is a reason for this and it | | | | sugar during the digestion process which in turn |
| mainly stems from the types of foods we are | | | | becomes fat. Alcohol also dehydrates the body |
| eating, and less the cause of the quantity of food | | | | and that is counterproductive to flushing away |
| consume. | | | | toxins. |
| Here's How to Eat Clean: | | | | 6. Keep active, eating clean is the foundation to |
| 1. Eat foods that are in their natural state. Select | | | | good health, but you will also want to get active. |
| foods that have not been processed and are | | | | 30 minutes of exercise per day is the |
| considered whole foods. Think if it this way, when | | | | recommended minimum for a healthy heart and |
| reading the label all the ingredients should be a | | | | weight management program. Whether it's |
| natural food source and not a chemical. | | | | something as simple as walking, running, |
| 2. Keep the furnace stoked, which means keep | | | | weightlifting or a sport you've go to get up, move |
| you metabolism running by continually feeding it | | | | and break a sweat. |
| well portioned meals a minimum of six times a | | | | These steps are really not that difficult, but in the |
| day. This will require breaking out your 1500 | | | | hustle and bustle of our busy lives we tend to eat |
| calorie daily allowance throughout the day, usually | | | | that which is quick to prepare. The reason some |
| done by eating 400 calories meals at breakfast, | | | | foods are so quick to prepare is because they |
| lunch and dinner, and three 100 calorie snacks. | | | | have been stripped of their valuable nutrition and |
| 3. Meals should contain lean protein, complex | | | | then enriched to add a small portion of it back to |
| carbohydrates and good healthy fats. Lean | | | | meet FDA requirements. Don't short change |
| proteins include foods like skinless chicken breast, | | | | yourself "Eat to live, don't live to eat". |
| fish and egg whites. Complex carbohydrates | | | | |