We all know that we should be eating right, but why? What are the benefits of clean eating? What does “clean eating” even mean?
A clean diet contains these things: whole grains, plenty of fruits and vegetables, lean protein, healthy fats, lots of water, and multiple and balanced meals. A “dirty diet” has these: sugar, refined flour, salt, preservatives, soda, trans-fats contained in fatty cuts of meat or fried foods, large portions, and poor timing of meals. You want to stay in the former category.
During the week before and the four days that I was on vacation, I let my diet go a little lax, to say the least. I realized right away that I wasn’t feeling the same as I was when my diet was outstanding. I was going out to eat pretty often and eating desserts which, for those of you who know me, is scarce. Just generally indulging in the things that I usually try my darndest to avoid.
What did I notice?
I didn’t have the energy that I normally do. I would wake up exhausted in the morning instead of rearing and ready to go. I relied on caffeine for a pick-me-up when usually I try to stay away from it all together, but I needed something to get me through the day. By mid-afternoon, all I wanted to do was take a nap and I had no motivation to workout. That ended up causing me to skip training sessions because I just wasn’t feeling it. When I was eating clean, my brain was alert and I had energy throughout the entire day.
My body started to retain water from all of the salt that I was consuming. Add that to eating garbage (figuratively, that is) and lots of it and skipping workouts, needless to say I gained some of the weight back that I lost the week before (and then some).
I also noticed that my skin started breaking out. I thought that it may have been from the stress of my promotion and the increased hours that accompanied it. But I realized that all of the excess fats and sugars that I was eating caused some acne to appear. It’s just like during the holidays when everyone’s skin goes crazy. We’re all eating more food and much worse food than we normally do which causes blemishes to appear. Easter and Halloween especially since the consumption of chocolate and candy goes through the roof.
So aside from these things, why else is it good to eat healthy?
Well if weight loss is your goal, there’s no other natural alternative. In order to lose weight and body fat you have to eliminate the things that are causing your body to gain weight, retain water, and store fat. These are also the same things that increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and other diseases and health complications. Surprised? You shouldn’t be.
Clean eating also flushes your system. It’s not the same as a more intense “detox or a cleanse,” but it rids your body of excess fats, oils, preservatives, pesticides, and other toxins that detract away from a healthy lifestyle.
And finally, after a week of clean eating you just generally feel better. You know it right away. It’s always a wonder why, that if you feel this good when you eat right, why do you revert back to the dirty side?
