Making the Switch to Clean Eating

We started making the switch to clean eating in December, but then the holidays hit, schedules got crazy, and we took the easy way out reverting to what we knew:  take out food, pizza, quick and easy. It is my hope that by the end of this year, clean eating will be natural - what we know as quick and easy. But right now, it is work.

Our journey began with the following steps. Even choosing one of these steps can make a difference. For us, we started with these steps together, but it is still a transition.

1. Reading Labels. Wow! Have you ever really read the labels on food? I was shocked and awed at both the number of ingredients in food and the amount of chemicals used to process foods. Cereal was a real mind blower...every "normal" cereal I looked at had either a long list of ingredients and/or used BHT in the packaging material. While it may only be the packaging material, it is touching the food I am going to eat - do I really want that? I decided no. I have found that Kashi makes some shredded wheat cereals that I really like that fit the bill!
2. Ingredients in Packaged Products. The next decision for us was to determine how many ingredients are too many and what ingredients are OK. Our research indicated that when eating clean, ingredients should be limited to five to ten, and we should be able to pronounce all the ingredients, which should mean we know what each ingredient is. For us, we decided if a packaged product has 10 or less ingredients, we would consider it. However, if any of those 10 ingredients could not be pronounced easily by us, or we just had no idea what it was, then we would not even consider the food. Our goal is to cook as much food in our kitchen from its natural state. But, I work full-time, Juan is in dental school, and we are busy. We are trying to be realistic in what we are capable of doing. That means there are times where we will have to buy packaged foods. 
3. Produce. This one is kind of a no-brainer:  eat more fruits and vegetables. We have not 100% committed to buying organic, but that is mostly due to cost. I do try to determine what is in season, because organic in season produce will be cheaper than out of season. I used the following website to determine what was in season in Tennessee at different times of the year:  http://www.wisebread.com/fresh-fruits-and-vegetables-by-the-month. There are several interactive sites as well, such as http://www.simplesteps.org/eat-local and http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/seasonalcooking/farmtotable/seasonalingredientmap. We also use canned and frozen produce - I just make sure to rinse the canned items first. In fact, I find canned beans to be a tremendous time-save and a great way to incorporate protein into any meal!
4. Meats. For us, buying local, grass-fed beef or organic meat is just not feasible economically. Therefore, we made the choice to limit the amount and kinds of meat we incorporate into our diet - and by meat, I mean beef, chicken, turkey, pork, or fish. We try to only have meat three to four times a week, and beef no more than once out of those times. We really only eat chicken, turkey, or beef (I know fish is good for you, but I just don't like much fish at all). We have incorporated quinoa, beans, nuts, and eggs to provide alternate sources of protein.
5. Whole Grains. This one was harder than I thought, much like finding clean cereal. There were so many items at the grocery store that claimed to be 100% Whole Wheat, that had so many more ingredients than just whole wheat! Or, following whole wheat on the ingredients list was enriched flour, which means processed. No, thank you. Breads were going to be hard - I know Ezekiel is clean, but I don't know about flourless bread. Fortunately, our friend found us a bread machine at Goodwill for $6!!! What a deal! I made my first loaf last night and it is amazing! I am still having trouble finding crackers, though. Any suggestions?

This is a transition time for us - our kitchen is in no way a clean kitchen yet! There are items in the pantry and fridge that I know should not be there - saltines, pretzels, M & Ms, Cheerios, BBQ sauce and the list goes on. But that's OK - because this is the year of living well and everything doesn't have to be done overnight! We are working towards being clean, but it is definitely a work in progress. Our next step is transitioning to eating organic dairy - as best we can on our budget and schedule.

And I am learning new things every day about what it means to eat clean. Sometimes I am completely overwhelmed by all of it - it makes me almost want to quit. But then I remember why we started all of this: we just want to be healthier and feel good about what we are eating. And the truth of the matter is, I do notice a difference in the way I feel when I eat clean - so much better than when I am putting junk and chemicals into my body! That's worth it.