Finish It Monday: You Can Reach Your Goals Faster With This Simple Dietary Twist

I had to learn the long and drawn-out way, but there’s no reason why YOU should have to take the long route, too.

It took me more than two years to realize that clean eating would contribute to faster fitness progress. If you’ve been doing a great job at keeping your daily calorie chewing within a decent range, but your food choices still primarily consist of processed/packaged foods, highly refined foods and empty calories, it’s time to make some changes right away.

You want that progress faster, don’t you?

Sorry to bust your ballz, but please don’t get too comfortable patting yourself on the back for the healthy habits you’ve mastered so far. There’s more work to be done. Aim for more improvement. More progress! Especially where your eating is concerned. If you’re NOT totally brand new to fitness, but you still haven’t pushed yourself to move beyond the bare bones of healthy eating that you started with…why not?

Clean Eating is one helluva powerful twist to break out of a newbie fitness routine and take it to the next level to come closer to your goals.

Clean Eating is what our bodies are designed for. Here are some questions to ask yourself to know if you’re in the clean eating zone:

Can I pronounce the ingredients on the label and are there as few ingredients as possible?Is this food made from whole ingredients, or is it highly refined and stripped of its nutrients?Do I try to avoid meals that come out of a box or package, including eating out?Am I eating fresh fruits and vegetables everyday?Am I eating lean cuts of meat?

If most of your answers are a resounding “no”, then excuse me, but you are NOT in the clean eating zone. Packaged food is easy and convenient. Highly refined and processed food can be tasty and fun. But none of these foods will contribute to the best you that you can be.

My Own Clean Eating Story

It’s cool that I lost my first 20 pounds simply by counting calories while staying in the process/packaged/refined foods zone. But then my progress stalled and my body still looked “soft” and undefined despite a faithful weightlifting regimen.

It wasn’t until I became open to the idea of clean eating and started to put it into practice that my weight loss revived itself and I got leaner. Yes, I still enjoy my sweets, carbs and  fats, but those foods are the exception now – not the rule. I also still enjoy packaged foods, but I swapped them out for healthier packaged options, like Larabar instead of cereal bars and Fage Greek Yogurt instead of popular mainstream yogurts, like Yoplait and Dannon.

So what can you do today to start eating cleaner?

You might think muffins, cereal bars and burgers can remain standard and acceptable so long as you stay within your calorie range, but you’ve got it all wrong. You’re not doing yourself any favors. Go with clean eating instead. It’s actually pretty simple. It’s not complicated and it’s not a hassle. You just have to change the way you shop and understand that planning is key. It doesn’t have to be an “all or nothing” approach either. Start out slow. Get the hang of it, build on your clean eating ways, and I bet you’ll see better, faster fitness results.

Livestrong’s 5 Simple Steps to Clean Eating.

The Gracious Pantry’s 6 Tips To Get Started With Clean Eating.

I’m calling on all of my Finish What You Started Challengers to earn their bonus star this week by ditching one processing/packaged/refined food and replacing it with a cleaner option. If you’re already a clean-eating pro, your bonus star challenge is to expand your clean eating horizons: try a new food or new clean eating recipe! (and by all means, share that recipe with me)   

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