Clean Eating Challenge!

If you are following me on instagram or facebook you already know that I'm holding a Clean eating challenge group starting June 11th! For more information on the go to facebook.com/deborahbrittanyfitness.

Okay, so let’s start with the basics. What is “eating clean”? The simplest answer to this is, if you can’t pronounce an ingredient or if you have no clue what it is, don’t eat it! The fewer ingredients the better. Just because an item says it’s “natural” or “nutritious” doesn’t mean it really is. For example: nutrigrain bars. Nutri & grain are in the name yet it has the same nutritious intake as eating a candy bar. Eating clean is eating whole foods including fruits, vegetables, lean protein and complex carbohydrates. Clean eating creates a balance in your diet and by no means limits you or depletes any certain food group. While clean eating you should be consuming 5-6 small meals a day. You should always be eating breakfast and packing your own food for lunch and dinner and snacks if needed. When you do eat out try to eat as clean as possible.

Like it or not you quite possibly can be addicted to food. People who switch to clean eating have a really hard time letting go of things like white bread, white rice, candy, cake, and fried foods. They think they are "missing out" on something rather than realzing that they are poisioning their bodies. If you are going to "treat" yourself to cake and fried food when you reach goals this is probably not the right challenge for you. I'm here to help change your current lifestyle. This is far from a diet fad. It's recognizing how eating whole nutritious foods will change your life in the most positive kind of way. By eating clean I have lost weight, gained energy, and managed health concerns- all medication free. After the first 2 weeks of clean eating you'll notice that you'll start to crave the new clean foods. Why? Because your finally giving your body what it craves and needs rather than processed & sugar loaded junk.

Things you should avoid:

• Diet soda
• Sugar free anything- sucralose and aspartame are TERRIBLE for you. Choose stevia as a healthy alternative.
• White bread, White Rice, Pasta, White potatoes etc
• Fake "healthy" treats such as fiber one bars, nutrigrain bars, special k bars etc. Check the ingredients. Not so healthy anymore huh? Didn't think so.
• High Fructose Corn Syrup. (But I saw the commercial and it says it's ok) Just, stop.
• Any cereal with more than 6 grams of sugar.
• Icecream, cake, cookies etc. (don't have a heart attack, there are clean ways to enjoy these treats)
• Fast food/fried food
• I stay away from meat. Red, chicken, turkey etc. My body doesn't process it well and odds are if you have intestinal problems/ bowel movement problems, cut out meat and magically you're cured. But this a whole different topic.
• Dried fruit-it's loaded with sugar. Want fruit? eat the fresh kind or frozen.
• 100 calorie packs. Again, read the ingredients. Clean eating isn't calorie counting. So hop off of that band wagon :)

Things you should enjoy:

• Fresh/Frozen fruit- blueberries are loaded with nutrients to get you through the day. I buy frozen this way I save money by not wasting them due to their short shelf life.
• Whole grains. If you like to have toast/sandwiches pick up Ezekiel bread. It's the best bread you can eat.
• 100% whole wheat wraps with flaxseed. A bunch of stores have wraps. Read the ingredients. The fewer the better. Make sure there is no sucralose, high fructose corn syrup and a bunch of chemicals.
• Egg whites- You can use them in almost anything. So versatile and nutritious.
• White fish- Tilapia, cheap, easy to cook, and delicoius.
• Solid White Tuna Fish
• Lean chicken/meat
• Veggies! - The greener the better. The greener your veggies are the more nutrient rich they are. I typically put kale in my smoothies so I can get the added benefits without adding it to my salads and meals. The only salad I eat contains spinach or baby spinach and occassionally red leaf lettuce. Romaine lettuce is mostly water so I stay away. I want my food to count.
• Celery- mostly water but excellent when you need that crunch factor. I eat my celery with nautral peanut butter and part skim cheese.
• Natural peanut butter- I'm a feign. Don't be a feign! Remember keep a balance. I'm still telling myself this. Love my pb.
• No sugar added preserves
• Oats, not the maple brown sugar stuff, just traditional oats. Warm them up yourself so you can monitor what's going into your body.
• Protein powder- again try to read the ingredients. No sucralose, aspartame etc. Also try to stay away from soy protein just because it has conflicting research on the amount of estrogen and hormones it provides.
• Almond milk or skim milk- I no longer drink cow's milk. Preference.
• Greek yogurt. Yoplait, Activia, etc etc etc. is not good for you. It's loaded with sugar and chemicals. GROSS. Nonfat greek yogurt, add your own fresh fruit and granola and you're good to go!
• Cottage cheese. - Amazing source of protein and works well as a evening snack because it has casein which processes slowly throughout your body this way while your sleeping your still getting the nutrients you need.

I can keep going with this so I'll leave it here for you all to absorb :) I really love clean eating. I love how exciting it is to try new recipes and how great my body feels. I only hope you will share on this excitement soon!

Here's to clean eats <3

<3 deborah brittany