This journey of health is an amazing one. Just taking it one step at a time, and NOT all at once, is the key. Your mind and body WILL NOT be able to process it all at once. It will just set you up for failure...and that's what we DON'T want.
Today is about eating clean. What we put in our bodies to fuel it, is so key and important. So, continuing in the book "Healthy and Free", there is a segment on this very topic.
"A drawback to dieting is that it can indirectly exacerbate a weight problem. Recognize the triggers that cause emotional eating, stop dieting, and start nourishing your body with healthy, organic, living foods. Your body needs food to burn fat. When you starve your body, your brain tells it to store all your fat, because it knows that it's not getting enough in your diet. Once you begin to eat good, healthy, clean foods, your body will respond and will work for you.
"Clean eating" means that you consume foods that are pure and true in their natural form. This includes an abundance of foods like fruit, veggies, healthy proteins, and good fats. It helps eliminate processed foods like refined sugar, salt, and flour from your "diet". There is the old saying, "If you can't read or pronounce the ingredients, don't eat it!"
Protein should be a fundamental part of your diet. It's recommended that you eat one gram of protein for every pound that you weigh. Protein is one of our main body builders - from muscles, hormones, enzymes, and antibodies. When choosing proteins, try to stick to high-quality, organic sources such as lean red meats, poultry, fish, cottage cheese, milk, natural nut butters, peas, broccoli, organic corn, chickpeas, spinach, and kale. There are also many good protein powders that can help supplement the protein intake. There are vegan protein powder made of peas, hemp, and cranberry - YUM!
Fats, when eating good healthy fats and in the right amount, can actually aid in weight loss, as well as metabolism. You need to have between .3 and .6 grams of healthy fat per pound of body weight. You can find these healthy fats in foods like: wild salmon, cod, nuts, seeds, avocados (which are a "complete" food meaning they contain fat, carbs, and protein), and oils (flaxseed, olive, fish, and coconut).
Carbs provide our bodies with energy and the lack of them will actually increase cravings for sugar and other junk foods. You will want to stick with complex carbs that are commonly found in veggies, wholemeal breads, and cereals. Other types of food that you get good carbs can be found in spinach, yams, broccoli, beans, brown rice, quinoa, zucchini, lentils, skim milk, whole grains, and many other leguminous plants and veggies. For breads, Ezekiel bread or Manna bread or any sprouted grains bread.
Sugar has been proven to be more addictive than hard drugs! We need to find healthier alternatives. These alternatives need to have a low-glycemic sugar that will not spike your blood sugar level. You will need to be a 55 or below on the glycemic scale. These can come in the form of: Natural Maple Syrup: 54; Natural Honey: 50; Natural Yacon Syrup: 1; Coconut Palm Sugar: 35; and Stevia: 0 - make sure it is pure Stevia - that it hasn't had corn syrup added to it. Please stay away from Aspartame and Splenda - linked to numerous diseases and conditions.
"Superfoods" are powerful additions to nutrition that provide high doses of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Chia seeds, Gogi berries, hemp seeds, flax seeds, and Kale." There are many more - you just have to do the research.
This is just a start of what is out there - so sorry that it was a long one today, but it is SO important to know HOW to fuel your body for it to run properly and efficiently. Let's feed our bodies the right way and live cleaner, healthier lives for ourselves and our families!
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