Finally Spring is in the air!  The much-loved season of warmer temperatures and sunnier days has arrived.  Spring is also a time for a fresh, clean start to a promising year.  Many of us go through our houses and organize, clean and toss out the old unused clothes and items to make room for fresh new ones.  In the midst of cleaning up your home, consider too cleaning up your diet!

The term “clean” foods or eating “clean” has made its way into our mainstream society.  It may seem intimidating to try and incorporate a cleaner way of eating into your busy lifestyle, but if you stick to some basic principles, you’ll reap the many health benefits that coincide with this lifestyle.  

Clean Eating Tips:

Eating clean incorporates the basics of a healthy diet. The keys to good health and proper nutrition are:

• Eat whole foods: Whole foods are foods that haven’t been manufactured in a lab or food processing plant. Focus on eating mainly foods are straight from the producer like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, grass-fed and free-range meats, low fat dairy products, unsalted nuts, and seeds.
• Avoid processed foods: Processed foods are any food that has a label. A label means that more than one ingredient was used to make that food. You don’t have to eliminate all processed but if you can’t pronounce or recognize an ingredient on a label, don’t eat it!
• Cook your own meals. Instead of buying meals in a box, cook meals from scratch. That’s not as hard as it sounds! Clean, whole foods need little preparation beyond chopping to make satisfying meals.  You can also stay a step ahead by preparing meals for the week saving you time and energy in the middle of the work week.
• Eat balanced meals. When you do snack or eat a meal, make sure that meal is balanced. For the most satisfaction from your diet, and so you’ll be less tempted to eat junk food, combine protein with carbs or carbs and fat. Protein helps fuel your body and keep you satisfied longer reducing your urge to snack on less healthy, processed foods.