Clean Eating Tips For Beginners

 

Today I will be giving you 9 Clean Eating Tips For Beginners. If you don’t know what clean eating is or how to do it, today is your lucky day!

What is Clean Eating?

Clean eating is on the rise to become the most popular way of eating. If you don’t know what clean eating is or how to do it, then go ahead and stick around.

“Clean eating is all about eliminating most processed foods and switching them out for Whole Foods .”

 No, you do not have to stop eating meat and no you do not have to follow a specific diet. Clean eating gets confused as being a diet when in reality it is a lifestyle. 

 I first began to be interested in clean eating because I was having some unexplained health issues and I’m 21. Normally at my age, we don’t really struggle with health issues. 

I got tired of numerous doctors telling me that everything is fine and that I have nothing to worry about but I continued to listen to my body and continued to research and that is when I stumbled across the idea of eating clean.

 It has taken me a while to get started but it has been totally worth it to see some of my health issues and anxiety fade. Now don’t get me wrong, they are not completely gone, but most days I do feel better than I used to when I was eating out all of the time.

Clean Eating Tips For Beginners

So if you are anything like me and you have no idea where to start, I have listed below some tips and tricks that I wish someone had given me at the beginning of my clean eating journey.

Clean Eating Tips For Beginners #1

Find your reason why you want to eat clean

This is the first thing that has helped me stick to clean eating was to find my reason why and remind myself of it when things got difficult.

 Go ahead and think about the reason why you want to start eating clean. 

Whatever that reason is, write it down on a piece of paper so you can go back and read it when you forget why you started eating clean in the first place.

Clean Eating Tips For Beginners #2

Find Inspiration for Clean Eating

Another thing that I think is really important is to find inspiration. Find some social media enthusiasts that post about food and post recipes for clean eating.

 You can go on Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram or there is an app called Tasty, and find plenty of people who post clean recipes for you to try.

  My favorite inspiration right now is Steph Robinnson on Instagram. She posts a lot of GF (gluten-free) recipes and recipes using whole food ingredients.

Clean Eating Tips For Beginners #3

Meal plan

This next tip has helped me tremendously when it comes to clean eating. 

 First I will choose a day to sit down and get my meal inspirations from the many apps I mentioned previously and to find meals that I know will work for me and my family. 

 If you would like to see some of the most loved clean-eating recipes that I have tried along my journey, go ahead and check out my blog post “Clean Eating Recipes”

 Next, I will try to find meals with similar ingredients that will help me save time and money when meal planning and prepping. 

Clean Eating Tips For Beginners #4

Grocery tips/ How to save Money with Clean Eating

Where To Shop?

Depending on what your budget is, anywhere you shop would work. But if you are like me and you are trying to save every penny possible, I defiantly recommend using Kroger.

 I am not getting paid for sponsoring Kroger, I only mention it because that is what I use every time and I genuinely love it.

 If you don’t know what Kroger is, it is an online grocery store where you can order groceries and have them delivered to your house at a scheduled date and time that works for you.

How To Save Money?

I recommend signing up for the Kroger membership because you will end up saving money in the long run. 

 For example, my family and I order Kroger once a week because that is what works for us. We use to pay anywhere from $6 -$10 a week for just shipping our groceries.

If you signed up for the membership you would be paying around $50 a year in total for shipping. You do the math, it is a no-brainer! 

 Now some of you might be questioning “Why would I pay to ship my groceries when I could drive and get them myself?” If that is you, that is a great question!

 Before my family and I switched to Kroger, we shopped at Publix. 

Let’s just say that at Publix, it would be around $80 for 12 items in my cart whereas Kroger would be $70 for 20 items or more in my cart depending on what you buy, plus $6 -$10 shipping if you didn’t have the membership.

 If you have a membership, your shipping is free.

 With my family’s busy schedule, we love that we can pick and choose a date that works for us for our groceries to be delivered.

 We found that buying non-perishable items work best on Kroger and we buy our perishable items like fruit and veggies at a physical store so that we can pick them out ourselves to prevent wasting fruits and veggies.

Clean Eating Tips For Beginners #5 

Cravings

Give into those cravings sometimes! If you starve your cravings it will be that much harder to stick to a meal plan.

 

If your body is used to eating junk and processed foods, you kinda have to wean your body off of it in order to not get those cravings as often. 

 

What I have found that helps me when I am craving junk or dessert (especially around that time of the month) I like to have a healthier snack or dessert option that will still satisfy that craving but have more health benefits than eating a bunch of processed foods.

 

In my blog “Clean Eating Recipes” I have healthier dessert options if you want to check those out!

Clean Eating Tips For Beginners #6 

Allergies/Intolerances 

This one is so important to consider when finding meals for you and your family. For example, is you have an intolerance to Gluten or dairy, there are many recipes for you. 

 

If you think you have allergies or intolerance pay attention to how you feel after you eat certain foods and try getting tested for any food allergies.

 

This will make clean eating for you that much easier and worth it.

 

Clean Eating Tips For Beginners #7 

All bodies are different 

There is not one specific “diet” that you need to follow. All bodies are different and our bodies respond differently to certain ingredients. Pay attention to what foods make you feel good or bad. 

 

Clean eating is all about eliminating most processed foods and switching them out for Whole Foods.

Examples of Whole Foods:

.Seeds and Nuts

.Whole grains 

.Sauces made from scratch

.Fruit

.Vegetables

.Anything plant-based and farm-raised 

 

Examples of Processed Foods:

.Added Sugars

.Artificial Dyes

.Canned Fruits or Veggies

.Certain cheeses

.white bread 

Clean Eating Tips For Beginners #8 

Limit Eating Out

This should be something that we make a habit. Eating out is not only expensive but it affects our health in a bad way.

 

We have no idea what is being put into our food let alone how processed things are. 

The more you cook your own food, the better off you will be in “clean eating”. My family and I schedule one day a week for eating out, sometimes 2 days a week depending on the events we have going on.

 

This has helped us save money and has made it easier to want to eat clean. We don’t feel as restricted as we would be if we cut eating out completely at first. 

Clean Eating Tips For Beginners #9 

Start a Garden

If you really want to control the foods you eat and what goes into your body, try starting a garden. 

 

I am a beginner gardener and I love the idea of going back to our roots as hunters and gatherers. If you think about it, having a garden and hunting your own food is how our ancestors survived back in the day. 

 

They didn’t have all the options we have now at the tip of our fingers. Our ancestors would eat whatever was in season. If you wanted to take an extra step, then you could plant fruits and veggies seasonally and plan meals around it haha!

Conclusion

If you made it to the end, you now know 9 tips and tricks to help you start and stick with eating clean. 

1. Find Your Reason Why
2. Find Inspiration
3. Meal Plan
4. Grocery Tips/Saving Money
5. Cravings
6. Allergies/Intolerances
7. All Bodies Are Different
8. Limit Eating Out
9. Start a Garden

What clean eating tip are you going to try first to kick start or boost your journey in clean eating? Leave a comment down below.