What Even Is "Clean Eating?"
Hello!
******Before you continue reading this post, please remember that I am not a doctor and this advice may not work for everyone! Talk to your doctor before making any significant changes to your diet and/or exercise regimen.******
People like to throw around the concept of "clean eating." You can find it everywhere from blogs (haha) to ads for personal trainers, to beauty magazines, but very rarely do people define "clean eating." It seems to have a different meaning for everyone who uses the phrase. Whenever I share my journey with food, people often get the wrong idea about what I mean by clean eating. I do not mean intense juice cleanses. I am not referring to eating only raw fruit. Today, I am going to define for you what clean eating means for me and how it has helped me to reduce my number of migraines, sleep better, and live a more healthy life.
"Clean Eating"
******Before you continue reading this post, please remember that I am not a doctor and this advice may not work for everyone! Talk to your doctor before making any significant changes to your diet and/or exercise regimen.******
People like to throw around the concept of "clean eating." You can find it everywhere from blogs (haha) to ads for personal trainers, to beauty magazines, but very rarely do people define "clean eating." It seems to have a different meaning for everyone who uses the phrase. Whenever I share my journey with food, people often get the wrong idea about what I mean by clean eating. I do not mean intense juice cleanses. I am not referring to eating only raw fruit. Today, I am going to define for you what clean eating means for me and how it has helped me to reduce my number of migraines, sleep better, and live a more healthy life.
"Clean Eating"
- Having fruits and veggies as snacks
- Drinking the recommended daily intake of water (we all know that no one actually drinks that much water 😜)
- Eating high protein, high fat, low carb meals
- Minimizing bread/pasta/wheat product intake
- Cutting refined sugar out of your daily diet
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| Water is super important! |
Through out my life my mom has constantly told me, "You need to watch what you eat!" Thankfully, she showed me what that looks like. Unfortunately, I ignored her advice for a long time. I ate whole family sized bags of Doritos, I drank less than a glass of water a day, consumed three cups of coffee everyday and had bread products with each meal. I wasn't living up to the full capability of my body because I wasn't giving it the proper fuel. I had lived that way my entire life, so I never knew that I could feel any different. I was wrong.
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| 99% of the time I spend at the gym is productive. It's just that other 1% that gets photographed 😂😂 |
One summer, I decided I wanted a killer beach body. I decided to give this "clean eating" thing a try. While it did help me tone my stomach and give me the beach body I wanted, this change did something a whole lot more important than that. I helped me with problems that I had previously believed were a part of life. I took artificial preservatives out of my diet, which almost completely eliminated the weekly migraines I dealt with. I used to pop Advil like it was candy because my head was constantly in pain. I was shocked how just one thing like artificial preservatives was causing so many problems.
)
Next came the sleep. I used to be an insomniac. I would get four to five hours of sleep max because I just couldn't fall asleep. This did not mean I was not tired. I drank three cups of coffee a day just to make myself coherent. The caffeine also helped keep the migraines under wraps. When I tried clean eating, I took caffeine out of my daily diet. I had been previously thinking about taking caffeine out of my diet because one day I had rushed out of the house without coffee and couldn't function at all. I was erratic, I couldn't keep my eyes open and I felt like I had been shot in the head. I was an addict and I knew I would have to wean myself off of the caffeine slowly. I started by drinking only two cups a day in conjunction with a big glass of ice water every morning. I took two large water bottles to school everyday and labeled them. I would have to drink a certain amount of water before every hour. After a week and a half, I dropped down to one cup of coffee and eventually.............none.
My sleep quality improved immensely with the elimination of coffee, increased daily water intake, and better food. My head didn't hurt when I laid in bed at night. I wasn't shaking with a caffeine rush, and my anxiety was lessened significantly. I didn't wear out as quickly. When I wasn't giving my body the good fuel it needed to function properly, I wore out quickly while excercising and felt excessively sore and lethargic the next day. I didn't feel so bloated anymore.
Putting good fuel into my body has done so many great things for my health. So for anyone considering "clean eating" I encourage you to do it! It is sometimes hard to keep yourself accountable for these things. That is why I recommend getting a friend to try it with you! Maybe get a couple friends together and start a group to help encourage one another. You can share meal ideas and talk about how you deal with cravings. Also, remember that clean eating doesn't mean that you can't treat yourself to a little ice cream or a Starbucks drink every now and then. If you know you really want some ice cream, have a little ice cream! Clean eating shouldn't make you unhappy. It is definitely practice in self discipline, but you shouldn't hate eating. For many of you, you will find that after you have been eating "clean" for a while, junk food doesn't taste nearly as good anymore. You eat some Doritos and you feel bloated and gross later.
If you do end up trying clean eating, send me an email or leave a comment below! I would love to hear what it does for you! I'll definitely be posting more on clean eating, so be looking out for those posts.
Questions for deeper self learning:
- Have I ever had these kinds of problems with certain foods? How did I overcome them?
-What are some bad health habits I have? Have I done anything to work toward reversing them?
- Do I drink enough water everyday? What could I do to help myself drink more water?
Challenges:
- Identify one bad health habit. Make a plan to reverse the habit, and stick to the plan.
- Set a goal to drink the recommended daily intake of water. Try to drink enough water everyday for a whole week.
Love,
Coco Cat
Find me on
Email: lovesliquidliner@gmail.com
Instagram: @makeupbycococat
Tumblr: @makeupbycococat
Pinterest: Makeup By Coco Cat
Facebook: Makeup By Coco Cat
Putting good fuel into my body has done so many great things for my health. So for anyone considering "clean eating" I encourage you to do it! It is sometimes hard to keep yourself accountable for these things. That is why I recommend getting a friend to try it with you! Maybe get a couple friends together and start a group to help encourage one another. You can share meal ideas and talk about how you deal with cravings. Also, remember that clean eating doesn't mean that you can't treat yourself to a little ice cream or a Starbucks drink every now and then. If you know you really want some ice cream, have a little ice cream! Clean eating shouldn't make you unhappy. It is definitely practice in self discipline, but you shouldn't hate eating. For many of you, you will find that after you have been eating "clean" for a while, junk food doesn't taste nearly as good anymore. You eat some Doritos and you feel bloated and gross later.
If you do end up trying clean eating, send me an email or leave a comment below! I would love to hear what it does for you! I'll definitely be posting more on clean eating, so be looking out for those posts.
Questions for deeper self learning:
- Have I ever had these kinds of problems with certain foods? How did I overcome them?
-What are some bad health habits I have? Have I done anything to work toward reversing them?
- Do I drink enough water everyday? What could I do to help myself drink more water?
Challenges:
- Identify one bad health habit. Make a plan to reverse the habit, and stick to the plan.
- Set a goal to drink the recommended daily intake of water. Try to drink enough water everyday for a whole week.
Love,
Coco Cat
Find me on
Email: lovesliquidliner@gmail.com
Instagram: @makeupbycococat
Tumblr: @makeupbycococat
Pinterest: Makeup By Coco Cat
Facebook: Makeup By Coco Cat
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