Quick note from Sarah! This post is 3 weeks late because I dropped the ball. My apologies to Heather and to those of you who were keeping up with Heather’s weekly tips on how to Baby Step Your Way to Clean Eating. You can find the links to Steps 1-4 at the end of this post.
Baby Step Your Way to Clean Eating Step 5
by Heather Dietel
Step 5:
Start to meal plan as many meals as possible for the week. Make it easy on yourself and keep it simple.
Sample meal plan for a day:
Breakfast: Shakeology. It is a meal replacement super food shake. It has about 150 calories and full of vitamins. Zero artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners and has a low glycemic index to keep your blood sugar balanced. Never ever have sugar for breakfast. Donuts, sweet cereals, giant bagels etc. Those things start your “oven” off craving more sugar for the rest of the day.
Lunch: Large salad made at home. Filled with fresh spinach, salad mix, tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, raw nuts, boiled egg with homemade dressing or just oil and vinegar. An easy way to eliminate or reduce calories from your diet is to use oil and vinegar vs store bought dressings. Fewer preservatives and usually less sodium. Another thing I leave off of my salads is cheese. It really doesn’t add that much flavor unless you like blue cheese. I’m not a fan of eating things that taste like stinky feet so I leave that type of things off of my food. Sometimes I’ll add extra boiled eggs on top or have a baked sweet potato on the side with a little olive oil.
Snack: green apple with peanut butter or banana and almonds. Or I’ll chop up a cup of veggies and eat some hummus
Dinner: Baked salmon with 2 sides. Sides include spinach, asparagus, broccoli, brown rice, quinoa.
All of this stuff is easy to make. The only time consuming thing may be chopping veggies. I’m telling you to start making small changes and you will decide that eating at home not only tastes better and you save money but you feel better. There are some times we go out to eat and my stomach starts to hurt while we are at the restaurant. My body is not used to eating poorly now. Yours will get that way too. Just watch.
Things we rarely buy:
Cheese and other dairy products. Dairy products cause inflammation and other issues. In our son they cause eczema to flare up. As much I love pizza it doesn’t love me. Listen to your body. I used to spend a lot of time in the bathroom and now just the normal amount. Removing sodas and dairy from my diet has worked wonders. Adding more veggies and fruits and taking out the processed foods has also made a huge difference.
What is a processed food? I think you know. If it comes in a box and has a bunch of chemical ingredients for flavor or preservatives then it is processed. Velveeta, chips, lunch meat, bacon, hot dogs, cereals, salad dressings, frozen dinners and more. You get the idea.
One of the easiest ways to kick start any clean eating is to just jump right in. Focus for 3 weeks and really do it. We completed the Beachbody 21 day Ultimate Reset. It gave us everything we needed. Recipes, instructions, grocery lists, and supplements. But if that is not where you want to start that is okay. Take baby steps.
Still lost? Don’t be.
Start with tracking. Figure out where you are and where you want to go. Don’t think about how much weight you need or want to lose. Focus on getting healthy. Focus on only bringing fruits and veggies into your house. Focus on not eating from a menu as much as possible.
I’m happy to help you get started on a targeted nutrition plan or get you in an accountability group to help you stay on track. It is my mission to help people get healthy and fit. I’ve been the unhealthy person and I know how it felt. I want everyone to feel as good as I do now and know it is a lifestyle.
Create your free account and reach out to me today.
Baby Step 1
Baby Step 2
Baby Steps 3 & 4
Heather spent most of her adult life miserable, lazy, unmotivated and overweight. Beachbody helped her reach a new level in her life physically, financially, and mentally. Now she wants to share her success with family and friends and help as many people as possible achieve great results. You can connect with her through her website Heather Dietel Fitness and her facebook page.
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