Clean Eating

So I've never been one to fuss about processed foods, artificial sweeteners, and junk food, until now. I used to eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted thinking they wouldn't put it in grocery stores if it was bad for you, but what if they didn't know it was bad for you. The way I see it is over processed foods and artificial sweeteners haven't been around for that long and with a lack of research I feel it may be hard to determine the long term effects of these so called foods. While I'm not ready to go all out and switch to only organic and making every little thing from scratch, there are some things that I am ready to give up and other things I will welcome into my home with open arms.

First things first I'm paying much more attention to food labels and using my all time favorite food app Fooducate. I've mentioned it before and let me tell you people this app is brilliant. I used to eat those fiber one bars thinking they were so good for me, because they were packed with fiber, it turns out I was very wrong. They get a "D" on my fooducate app, because they're made with tons of sugar, refined flours, and BHA, a controversial additive. Needless to say those are in my throw out list. Spaghettios, while receiving a "B" it still contains high fructose corn syrup, and MSG like ingredients, right in the trash. Lean cuisines also receive a "B", but again contain MSG like products and are highly processed. I'm happy to give these up.

Coca Cola, this one is a doozie and I am having such a hard time giving up. Coke gets a "D" on the fooducate app because it contains phosophoric acid and industrial caramel coloring. Excuse me? I'd like to emphasize on the word industrial here for a moment, because I feel like anything that contains that word should not be entering my body. I also read an article online that the ingredients in it have been known to increase your risk of cancer if consumed daily so much so that the FDA is trying to get them to put a warning label on it similar to those on cigarettes. I used to drink one to two sodas a day now I try and limit myself to one to two a week and someday I plan on getting them out of my diet entirely.

So what have I been adding to my diet: fresh fruits and vegetables and lots of them. I've officially started making a vegetable side dish for every dinner and making sure that all my snacks are veggies or fruits. I'll be the first to admit that it's not cheap, but keep your eye out and only buy them on sale and it might not be as expensive as you think. I bought an entire bag of grapefruits the other day for $5 which gave me breakfast for a whole week. Apples are much cheaper if you buy them by the bag rather than individually. Individually they are almost $1 an apple where as a bag is $4 for 9 or 10.

I'm very new to this, but am very excited and have been learning a lot. I hope to get more educated in the near future and educate all of you on Clean eating and why I'm such a huge fan.