Guest Post: 5 Reasons To Eat Clean For Life

Looking for motivation to eat clean? Post these reasons on your fridge and carry them in your purse for motivation while grocery shopping. While it is a lifestyle adjustment, you’ll realize the benefits of eating clean very quickly. Remind yourself of these reasons to eat clean whenever you feel your motivation waning:

1. Live Longer

A myriad of health problems—from cancer to heart disease and obesity—are linked to the consumption of processed foods and foods exposed to pesticides. To reduce your vulnerability to health problems, eat as cleanly as possible. Those who eat clean have:

• Lower incidence of cancer (1/3 of cancer incidences can be linked to poor diet)
• Lower incidence of diabetes (over ½ of diabetes incidences can be linked to poor diet)
• Lower incidence of heart disease (doctors recommend dietary changes to heart patients because they know diet and heart disease are scientifically linked)

2. Protect Your Children

In particular, you’ll want to protect your children, who are more vulnerable to the effects of pesticides, preservatives, and other chemicals often found in unclean food. Children are innocent, and you are shaping their eating habits for life. If you bring them up living on chicken nuggets and french fries, they’ll have much harder time training themselves to eat healthfully in the future. Help them develop a taste for healthy, whole foods, and protect their vulnerable bodies from the influences of chemicals and processed foods.

3. More Energy

When you eat clean foods, you have access to more nutrition, better digestion, and lasting energy. You’ll experience fewer blood sugar spikes (which are often associated with processed foods, especially those high in sugar or simple carbohydrates), which means you’ll feel fewer spikes and crashes in energy throughout the day.

4. Better Skin

Clean foods support healthier skin, hair and nails. Want to look great? Munch on a carrot stick instead of Snicker’s bar and drink a glass of water with lime instead of a soda full of chemicals and sugar, which can aggravate skin.

5. Lose Weight

Clean foods fill you up, meet your nutritional needs, and help reduce sugar and fat cravings. You won’t want to eat junk once you’ve gotten used to living without it, and you’ll find it easier to say no to temptation.

The bottom line is this: If you want to live longer, feel better, and look better, you’ll eat clean. Keep your motivation cards where you can see them and make the change to clean eating. You won’t regret it!

About the author:

Amanda Tradwick is a grant researcher and writer for CollegeGrants.org. She has a Bachelor's degrees from the University of Delaware, and has recently finished research on education grants for adults and scholarships and grants for single mothers.

Valentines Day Sneak-Peak

It has been quite some time since I have showed you all what I have been working on while I am NOT in the kitchen. With Valentine’s Day coming close, I have been addicted to pinks, reds and all things “cute”.

 

 

 

 

These and more can be found in my store. Look for more Valentines Day fun!

Hello from Brussels!

 

When I was little I used to love brussel sprouts. I called them “little cabbages” and I popped one by one in my mouth. Then I went through a phase where the sight of them made me gag and run the other way. However, with time, I learned to love my “little cabbages” again. Roasted, sautéed and even raw. I love them… this time for good!

Sautéed Balsamic Brussel Sprouts with Onion, Garlic and Red Peppers by Savoring the Thyme

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Pear and Shallots by My Family Kitchen

 
Brussels meet Brandy by Christie's Corner

Brussel Sprouts with Garlic and Cumin by Coconut Raita

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Pecans by The Parsley Thief

Brussel Sprouts: A lesson on love by you eatin’ nice

Be in charge!

Gaining control of your weight loss- conquering the obstacles that can sabotage your goals

When we start a new adventure or journey, the level of excitement can often fade. Those feelings can be replaced by levels of stress, shock, loneliness or simply just being overwhelmed. It’s up to you to gain that control back and help yourself back on your feet.

Don’t ever feel like you are alone - Because you’re not! Often times we don’t succeed on our weight loss journey because there is not enough support to help us through the tough and difficult times. Join support groups in your area, get involved on online weight loss forums and participate in beginner classes at your local gym or recreation center. Take the initiative to approach someone that you have been eyeing, seeing if they would like a work out partner. Chances are they have been thinking the same thing but too shy to approach anyone!

Keep a food and mood journal - Track your way to better health, one piece of food at a time. This is important for two reasons: The first reason helps to channel weak spots in your diet. Do you notice that you HAVE to have something sweet during stressful times or during the last 2 hours before you go home for the day? Learn to avoid these weak spots before they even start and plan more effectively. Instead of a candy bar have a few pieces of dark chocolate and a juicy piece of fruit.
The second reason is for you to be able to listen to your inner voice. Feel guilty about writing down those cookies you ate? Write your emotion down! Journaling your mood is just as important. Looking back and reviewing how you felt before and after you ate something can be a wonderful learning lesson and help you look at the positive rather than the negative.
Tip - Don’t feel like you can “write” a journal? Use blogs instead! Carry your camera around and quickly snap pictures of your food. Free online blogging sites make it easy for you to upload photos and quickly write some text. You can share your blog site with friends and family, too. Gain instant support and connect with other like minded individuals!

Learn to cook all over again - See a recipe in a magazine but not sure if you can re-create it? Or worse yet, will it even taste good? We all get comfortable in the kitchen cooking the same meals over and over. This is failure waiting to happen because our taste buds quickly become bored. Cooking with others is a wonderful way to learn new techniques and ingredients. Get a group of friends together and take cooking lessons from each other, featuring healthy meals. If you want to splurge a bit you can also look for event centers offering cooking nights for a fee. Learn from skilled chefs, take notes, ask questions and have fun!

Eat seasonally and locally - Nothing is worse than sitting down to a healthy salad and not being able to taste it. Or looking forward to a juicy apple for it to be mealy. It really can dampen an appetite in a hurry. Store bought produce has been sitting in a cold storage, for who knows how long, before it reaches your kitchen. Buying local produce from a stand or farmers market helps eliminate the middle man, leaving you with delicious and edible fruits and vegetables that you can actually look forward to enjoying! Straight from the fields to you is a healthy way to embrace Mother Earth and it’s offerings. It’s also one of the greenest ways to shop as there is less of an impact on our environment.

Take control of your dreams today. You have the tools to help get over the slumps and humps, bringing you right back to your feet. Keep walking forward and don’t ever look back!

Eating Clean with Children

Question of the day: What are some really good starting out eating clean recipes for toddlers and family of 4?
Clean Eating is not as daunting or difficult as it may seem. In fact, once you start living this life style and slowly changing your eating, clean eating helps to simplify your meal time!
Now remember - clean eating has many definitions depending on who you ask. To me it simply means: To eat from the Earth. But can it really be that simple while still pleasing a family of 4?
Yes. But transition slowly. Introduce new foods at every meal, and help your family become educated about their food choices. By showing them hard facts about the ever so “popular” foods they are used to consuming they will start to appreciate the simplistic foods we all often forget about. Like carrots, beets, baby spinach and beans.
When a person wants to start eating clean, the first piece of advice I give them is to make sure you have enough information. Read and research until you are blue in the face! This will help anyone understand that Eating Clean is not a diet. It’s a lifestyle change. It’s not about deprivation, counting calories or having cheat days. Clean Eating changes the way you look at food, and helps you to understand that healthy, wholesome food is as much of a necessity in our life as the air we breath and the water we drink. You can read my entire Clean Eating Philosophy here.
I love Tosca Reno’s books. They are much more than cookbooks; they are a guide to help this journey be painless and enjoyable! She describes the foods we should be eating and the poisons we need to be eliminating. You will be surprised at how easy the recipes are, how delicious they can taste and how simple this way of life is.
Kids can be the worst critiques, though. Believe me, I know first hand! A few simple moves can warm your children to the idea of no more fast food and (gasp) more veggies!

• Get them involved. Help them create the grocery list or give them a few items of their own to shop for. Children love to help! and the more they are involved the better they will be willing to accept something new.
• Inspire the “little chef” inside of them. Look through cook books, have your child pick a recipe, then get cooking! You will be surprised at what your child really does or doesn’t like as far as food. When they make choices and decisions that shows them you have trust in them, and they will feel proud that they were able to help feed the entire family.

I hope these small suggestions help your new journey to eat healthier! I wish you the best of luck and years full of good eats!

Be food smart!

Now that 2012 is upon us, “diets” and “weight loss” are the number one Googled item – no surprise there! Instead of going on a strict diet try eating cleaner and smarter.
This is why “diets” do not work. It is all about lifestyle changes – changes for life! I wanted to share some of my go-to ways to think healthy and eat healthy, and to cut out unwanted calories and change unhealthy techniques. These techniques are for everyone - meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans. 
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1. Eat your protein during breakfast. Eggs, Greek style yogurt, tofu or beans will help your energy level and reduce your cravings during the day.
2. Changing the way you cook. Instead of sautéing or frying, try poaching, steaming or roasting.
3. Substitutions are a great alternative to cooking. Use plain Greek style yogurt instead of sour cream, mustard or hummus instead of mayo, and lean ham or turkey bacon instead of pork bacon.
4. Think before you drink. You can easily drink more calories than you know. Drink seltzer water with citrus (orange, lemon, lime), use non-fat milk in your coffee and lattes, STOP the soda, and if you must drink juice, make it be 100% juice with no added sugar.
5. Check your portion size!  Eat on smaller plates to help cut down on over plating and portion out your plate with this ratio: 1/4 meat/protein 1/4 carb 1/2 vegetable. Also visualize your helpings: protein should be a deck of cards, starch should be a tennis ball and eat as much veggies/fruit as you like.
6. Measure your olive oil instead of “winging it”. You don’t need as much as you may think.
7. Reduce over all meat consumption by subbing with beans or tofu. Although you can buy lean meat, subbing 1-2 nights a week can help get more variety in your everyday diet.
8. Think ordering a salad is a “safe” choice? Salads can easily be just as unhealthy as a burger with fries! Order salads with dressing on the side, cut down on croutons and cheese. Use baby spinach instead of lettuce and add raw nuts for texture and healthy fat.
9. Add fat free flavor. Using a lot of herbs when cooking cuts down on the use of oils and sauces. Experiment by using basil, rosemary, thyme, parsley, red pepper flakes or anything that catches your eye.
10. Fill up on fiber. Eat plenty of beans, legumes and whole grains throughout the day to maintain your energy levels and helps keep you full longer.
11. Snack a better snack. Avoid cookies and chips and replace them with carrot sticks with hummus, fruit, nuts and low fat cheese.
12. Smarten up your soup. Broth soups are generally lower in calories and a good choice when you are craving comfort food. Steer clear of the cream based soups as they are loaded with calories and fat.
13. Take time to eat. It can take up to 30 minutes before you realize your are getting full. Sit, relax and enjoy your meal for once.
14. Don’t ever deny yourself. If you want dessert, enjoy! Just keep your portion size in check. Try enjoying a few pieces of dark chocolate with fruit for a great ending to any meal.

Losing weight can be a struggle but the more tools you have, the easier it will be. Good luck and HAPPY NEW YEAR!