STEP 3: Eat Clean

These days we are bombarded with buzz terms but there's a newer one out there I want you to really think on. It's: Eat Clean. What does that mean? It basically comes down to eating whole foods, foods that grow and you eat in their natural state. Eliminate processed foods, refined sugar and "foods" with unnatural ingredients you can't even pronounce. Focus on your proteins, vegetables, fruits, a small amount of nuts...REAL food. Not stuff that is mass-produced by factories. Our bodies were designed to thrive on these natural foods. Do we have to be perfect about it? No, but it'd be great if we were. There's a goal a lot of clean-eating enthusiasts shoot for, it's the 80/20 method. Do your best to eat clean 100% of the time, but the reality is: life gets complicated and most end up eating clean 80% of the time.

This is where the Primal Blueprint lifestyle (or Paleo Diet) is key. Please do some reading on the Mark's Daily Apple website and check out the numerous health benefits associated with clean eating. Here's an excerpt of the website:
_____________________________________
Combining modern genetic science with the immutable principles of human evolution, health and fitness expert Mark Sisson presents a revolutionary, easy-to-follow program based on ten Primal Blueprint laws that will change your life forever:

• Learn about the one concept that will guarantee lifelong weight control—no matter who you are, how much extra weight you carry, or what your family genes are like.
• Learn the reasons you crave sugars and sweets–and easy steps to eliminate those cravings forever.
• Naturally control your appetite—and blood sugar levels—so well that you will sometimes have to remind yourself to eat!
• Burn your stored body fat as a ready source of energy 24 hours a day.
• Discover how popular low-fat, grain-based diets can trigger illness, insidious lifelong weight gain and devastating diseases.
• Learn how a high-fat diet can help you lose weight and why it is actually healthy.
• Reject gimmicks like regimented meal times, portion control, strict caloric ratios, and food point scores. Instead, eat like our ancestors and be totally satisfied at every meal.
• Discover a complete strategy of eating, exercising and living that is fun and comes naturally—even for the “unmotivated” types!
• Achieve incredible fitness breakthroughs in a fraction of the time and with a fraction of the suffering!
• Reduce your risk of developing conditions like arthritis, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
• Stabilize blood sugar levels without medication.
• Naturally control certain commonly medicated conditions like depression, hypoglycemia, diabetes and high blood pressure.
• Get through the “cold and flu season” scot-free.

Do all this and more by learning about the precise foods, exercises and other natural behaviors that are detailed in The Primal Blueprint.

Read more: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-book/the-primal-blueprint/#ixzz2GnSIeSaz

_____________________________________

It's clear when you look at the obesity epidemic as well as a host of diseases in our country that we have a problem. It's time we rethink what we currently have been told is "healthy" for us. Obesity in this country absolutely exploded with the whole Snackwell Cookie movement. It's gotta be good for us right? It's low fat! Well, there's quite a bit of evidence out there that the low fat foods are not necessarily good for us. Yes, removing some of the fat has reduced the caloric intake, but they've increased the sugar and carbohydrates to compensate for it. This is a pretty terrible thing because what it does is cause your body to have insulin spikes which can lead to fat storage and other problems.

Check out the Primal Blueprint Carbohydrate Curve shown to the right. To me, this says everything. We've compensated for reducing fat by increasing our carbohydrate consumption which causes us to store fat. Some of us are more carb-sensitive than others, but the reality is that we are eating too many simple carbohydrates. Big government and big manufacturers have convinced us that we need our whole grains through breads and cereals when we should be getting a reduced amount of healthy carbs through fruits, fibrous veggies and the occasional sweet potato.

The Bible encourages us to eat grains but sadly the grains we have today are much different than the grains of Biblical Times. There is quite a bit of info on the internet but basically the grains we have now aren't genetically similar to what they had. Check out this site @ WellnessMama if you'd like more detail.

I've tried a lot of different methods for healthy eating & weight loss. Primal Blueprint is not Atkins, if that's what you're thinking. I tried Atkins for 6 weeks and was dizzy, grouchy, couldn't exercise, napped ALL the time. It just wasn't for me. The induction phase was doable but just not very reasonable and I didn't think it was healthy to not eat a grapefruit if I wanted one. I think eliminating natural and truly healthy foods like the Atkins Induction Phase requests is not sustainable. Sure, you'll see some big results but it's mostly just because your body releases the water your muscles store as your glycogen is depleted through ketosis. That water weight will absolutely return as you reintroduce carbs again, I've tried that out several times. I'd much rather be a Primal Gal and have a strict but sustainable approach. Eat foods the way God made them, foods that make you feel REALLY invigorated, give you the energy to go about your day, to workout and retain muscle. Try it! It certainly has changed my way of thinking. I used to think bacon and eggs were horribly unhealthy until I realized that those wonderful fats and proteins were what our bodies were designed to eat in moderation. Just keep an eye on your calories and you're good to go! Additionally, you will be amazed at how much your cravings for sugar and junk dissipate. It's hard the first few days but really feels quite natural once you're in the groove.

I have so much more to share! I will post blogs here on my home page  from time to time of all the other random information that comes to mind that might be helpful to you.

I'm so glad you took the time to read all of this and I can't wait to hear your success story.

Be well! :)

Home | Hi! I'm Alissa. | Please Know This | STEP 1: Motivation | STEP 2: Calories | STEP 3: Eat Clean