This article was written by Lizzie Fuhr and repurposed with permission from POPSUGAR Fitness.
While keeping calories in check is necessary if you want to lose weight (or maintain your current poundage), being healthy is about more than just numbers. Committing to clean eating for good can help you achieve the results you're after and feel more energized than you ever imagined. Here's how to do it.
Stop With Processed Food
One of the easiest ways to get started is to replace processed grub with natural, minimally processed ingredients. Not only are these options more nutritious; their flavors are also more satisfying. The occasional indulgence is totally fine, but cleaning up your daily diet is one of the best moves you can make to ensure weight loss. Opt for natural whole foods with ingredients you can pronounce.
Eat More Produce
If you're not sure how to snack, always go for produce—the fiber in fresh fruits and veggies will keep you fuller, longer. Just like we've got to retrain our taste buds to stop with the salt and sugar, you'll find that your body will beg for produce once you start eating it consistently. These are the cravings we welcome with open arms.
Skip the Added Sugars
If your taste buds have been overloaded by sugar in the past, it's high time to clean things up. Natural sugar from fruit is what you're looking for on a clean-eating plan; the white sugar that goes into baked goods or your super-sweet coffee beverage is not. And even if you're not a dessert junkie, you might be shocked at some of the everyday foods like bread and yogurt that pile on the sugar.
Look For Salt
Learning to relish the natural flavors of what you're eating can be a big adjustment if you're taking on a clean-eating plan for the first time—and salt is one of the ingredients that manages to sneak its way into strange foods like cottage cheese, bread, and cereal. As you start to exile processed or prepackaged foods from your life, you won't have to be as concerned about high-sodium products. Still, continue to keep your salt consumption to a minimum to beat bloat and reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and other illnesses.
Cut Back on Caffeine
One cup of high-quality coffee is approved on most clean-eating plans, but it's important to keep caffeinated beverages to a minimum. Too much coffee can mess with your energy and anxiety levels and undo all the hard work you're putting in with your healthy food choices. If you must, sub in your second cup for green tea to stay on course.
Back Off the Booze
Alcohol is full of empty calories and tons of sugar, which can mess with all of the hard work you're putting in with meal planning. Keep the booze to a minimum, and opt for an all-natural "mocktail" or a healthy nightcap when the mood strikes.
Go Whole Grain
Refined grains are one of those sneaky products that always find a way into a grocery cart. It's integral to look for real whole-grain products. Advertisers simply saying that a loaf of bread is multigrain or organic doesn't make it a clean food since many of these items contain refined flour. Real whole grains will help with digestion while cutting back on belly bloat.
Read the Label
The nutritional info on labels is your best route to clean-eating success. A low-calorie number is always great to see, but knowing to look for crazy amounts of sodium, trans or saturated fat, or ingredients you simply can't pronounce will help you make the shift toward healthier choices.
More from POPSUGAR Fitness:
Do These 10 Things in Your Kitchen to Lose Weight
Bend These Weight-Loss Rules and Still Drop Pounds
Expert-Approved Formulas Show Exactly What to Eat to Lose Weight
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