Clean It Up

Want to clean up your diet without going paleo or whole30?

I have a few tips you can start implementing right now to help you dial in your diet and eat better.

1. Eat Less Junk, Crave Less Junk

The more junk you eat, the more you will crave. Cutting out empty calories and junk food will change your cravings.

Can't resist sweets?

Try cutting them out completely for a couple weeks and, within a few days, you may be surprised how much easier it is to say "no".

Focus on eating food from natural, nutrient dense sources primarily. (quality, lean animal protein; veggies; legumes; complex, whole grains)

2. Eat More Vegetables

I know. You've heard it all your life, but veggies are vital.

They are low-calorie and packed with vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. AND they are great for satisfying hunger. I try to eat them as a side at every meal.

3. Get As Close To The Ground As Possible

What do I mean by this?

Get as close to your food's natural source as possible.

Unfortunately, we can't all just go to the farm and pick our food straight out of the ground, but we can make a conscious effort to buy quality, nutrient dense food.

This goes for your meats as well. Go for the least processed option available.

4. Don't Drink Your Calories

People don't realize how many calories they can consume in a day from beverages alone (i.e. soda, fruit juice, smoothies, alcohol).

Drinks alone can easily add an extra 1,000 calories to your daily intake.

Don't drink your calories. Eat them. Eating is far more satisfying.

1. Because foods have fiber and are more filling

2. Because the mechanical process of chewing is more satisfying psychologically than simply swallowing. Fun fact.

5. Beware of "Healthy" Snacks

Just because a food is labeled "healthy" doesn't make it good for fat loss.

A lot of the snacks you see on the health food aisles are loaded with calories. Many people see the common, health buzz words on the wrapper and don't think twice about eating it.

Even snacks like fruits and nuts aren't safe, but people still believe they can eat as much as they want and still lose weight. Yea, fruit and nuts are packed with a lot of great stuff, but they can pack on the calories just as easy as a Snickers bar.

Smoothies are another example. So trendy, so delicious.... bad for weight loss. Smoothies often combine fruits and nuts making them super high in nutrients and calories.

I'm not being a hater, but you have to be food conscious and consume calorie dense foods in moderation.

Eat modest amounts of foods like fruits and nuts and read your labels.

**BONUS**

I want to add a little caveat about diet drinks.

I've heard many people say they cut out diet drinks and saw significant change in how they felt and, most interesting of all, an increase in fat loss.

I don't have a clear explanation for why this happens, but I've seen too much evidence not to take notice.

Keep in mind, these changes were seen by people who were consuming diet drinks regularly.

Artificial sweeteners have always been on my suspect list, but I need to do some more research before making generalizations.

Just something to keep in mind.