So you’ve decided it’s time to Eat Clean, that’s great!
While making the choice to go Clean can be easy, without a proper plan and the right support, sticking to your new lifestyle can be a challenge.
Over the last 4 years, I’ve helped thousands of women reclaim their energy and transform their bodies with Clean Eating. It’s not painful or restrictive, and instead, the 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge is all about learning how to truly love the food you eat and live your life in a healthier way.
Here are 5 easy steps to make Clean Eating easy!
1. Know Your Why
When making a big change, it’s important to get your mindset in the right place. Create a list of reasons you want to start Clean Eating, and how Clean Eating will have a positive impact on your life.
- What are the some of things you want to change about how you look and feel?
- Are there any health issues that you want to transform?
- How is your body or energy currently suffering as a result of your current lifestyle?
- What positive experiences will you have when you start Eating Clean? (will you look better, be able to fit into your favorite dress again, have more energy to play with your grandkids?)
Make a list of all of the reasons your current lifestyle isn’t working and finish by writing down all of the ways Eating Clean can help you feel better! It can be helpful to have a list of reasons WHY you’re working towards a goal visible somewhere in your home like the bathroom or kitchen. Seeing this list can keep you motivated in moments where you need a little extra nudge in the right direction.
2. Do Some Research
What does Clean Eating mean to you? Before you start, arm yourself with knowledge! A little bit of education goes a long way and can prevent you from getting frustrated and giving up.
There are so many different ways to eat healthily, so what’s going to work for you? Clean Eating is not a restrictive diet, it’s a rewiring of eating habits and a real food approach. I love this philosophy for so many reasons, but one of the main ones is that it’s a sustainable long-term lifestyle!
You can’t stay on a diet forever, but when you learn the principles of Clean Eating and create a system in your own life, you’ll find that feeling amazing is all the motivation you need to change your life forever. Take Cris and Ed for example. This couple lost 92 pounds together eating clean and it turns out they love the Clean Eating lifestyle so much, they’re never going back!
Here are few articles to start educating yourself on the benefits and philosophy of Clean Eating:
What is Clean Eating? Your Complete Guide to Getting Started
Your Clean Eating Guide to Reading Food Labels at the Grocery Store
Your Guide to Clean Eating in Every Season
7 Reasons You’re Not Losing Weight Despite Eating Clean
3. Clean Up Your Pantry
Another seriously important factor is your pantry! Clean it up if you want to win. It’s way to easy to give in to a craving when you’re hungry or tired (or both), so don’t tempt yourself by leaving chips or sweets around. Fill your fridge up with fresh veggies, prep some meals ahead of time and make sure your dried and preserved goods are all of the healthy variety.
Design your pantry with Clean Eating principles in mind. Here’s a sneak peek into my pantry at home (Keep in mind, we’re a family of 8…. we’ve got 6 kids!)
- Keep your pantry low to no sugar
- Stock with items like canned salmon and tuna
- Beans
- Sugar-free pasta sauces
- Chia seeds, oats and dried fruits for DIY breakfast bars
- Stock nut butter like peanut butter, almond butter
- Have nuts and seeds on hand for snacking or salads
- Clear out vegetable oils and replace with olive oil, avocado oil, and coconut oil
Bonus Tip: You can even put a few motivational quotes up on the wall inside your pantry or on the cupboards/fridge where you store your food. What better place to see an encouraging quote than the place you go to eat. Remember that we’re not just programming our taste buds here, but our emotions also. If you’re a comfort eater (which many of us are) then little reminders to practice self-love, go for a walk, or drink water when you’re feeling stressed can really help.
4. Follow a Meal Plan
Especially when you’re first starting out, having a meal plan to follow is paramount to your success.
Because you’ll be transitioning to only real, whole and unprocessed foods – you’ll end up in the kitchen more often. To make Clean Eating sustainable, you’ve got to set aside a bit of time each week to plan out what you’re going to eat and prep a few things ahead of time. Here are 7 ways to make meal prep easy!
Meal prepping makes Eating Clean even more convenient than having to go out, order food, wait for it and then feel sluggish after. Instead, your meals are ready as soon as you need them and afterward, you feel light and clean!
Our 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge is designed to hold your hand and guide you through your first 30 days of Clean Eating with meal plans, recipes, and daily support in the private Facebook group.
5. Have Support
Last but not least, make sure you have support and encouragement. Aside from creating your own mantras and putting motivational quotes up in places where you’ll see them daily, it helps to have friends, family members or other challengers supporting you while you make this change.
It’s not realistic to expect that your kids or your spouse will automatically get on board. Sometimes, families take the challenge together and love it from day 1, others need to make the decision to change their habits on their own personal timeline. Here’s how you can get started and ask for support without expectation:
Let your family know WHY you’re planning to Eat Clean and how they can support you. Here’s an example:
“Lately I’ve been feeling really tired, anxious, heavy etc, (insert your own feelings) and I want to feel better. Clean Eating is going to help me do that. I’d feel really supported by you if you didn’t offer me anything that’s outside of my meal plan. This is really important to me, and it will help to hear that you support me along the way”.
You can also let your family know that you’re going to be experimenting with new, fun and creative recipes over the next 30 days and you’d love for them to try them with you! You don’t even need to emphasize that you’re eating healthy, just make it fun, and take the pressure off. 9 times out of 10, when a family member is resistant to change, they come around a lot faster when it’s their decision.
Try making this Pizza Baked Chicken to warm up your friends and family to the idea of eating clean, it’s soooo good!
A lot of the women who share their transformation stories share a common theme. At first, someone in the house wasn’t fully on board, but once they saw the results and genuinely loved the recipes, the rest was history!
But whether you’re making the transition to Clean Eating solo to start, or doing it with your whole family it can be immensely helpful to have access to the 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge plans and private Facebook group. Inside, you can ask questions and get direct answers from Rachel and her helpers Billie-Jo and Daisy.
There you have it! Clean Eating in 5 Easy Steps. I hope these tips help you and it would be an honor to support you in our challenge groups in the weeks to come.
Rachel
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