Healthy Lifestyles with Amy Layne – Clean Eating or Back to the Basics

            Clean eating is all the buzz.  It seems that all the best bodies in Hollywood and beyond are saying their magic tool is clean eating.   It sounds like this new exciting method.  I am here to tell you it is exciting but there’s nothing new about it!  There are a few sayings that I hear myself saying over and over to my clients.  Two of my famous quotes are: “If your Grandmother doesn’t know what it is or it wasn’t around when she was young, don’t eat it!” and “If you can grow it, pick it, or kill it, you can eat it!”  These are simple and somewhat savage ways of explaining clean eating.     

            I remember being a young girl at my Grandmother and Grandfather’s house enjoying all the simple things.  My Grandmother made fresh bread from scratch, often picked her vegetables for dinner from her own garden, and even when making desserts they were made from apples from local orchards.  She would tell me stories of her mother making all the bread for her family and only eating food from their garden or farm.  My Grandmother then and to this day is one of the healthiest women I know.  It seems as if she never aged.  She’s as beautiful now as she was then!  Who would have thought all those years ago she was teaching me about clean eating.  It’s that simple and that basic. 

            The principles of clean eating are eating foods that are unprocessed, unmodified, and in their most natural state.  When eating clean your diet will consist of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean protein, and healthy fats.  Food should be consumed in small portions every two to three hours.  Eating these smaller portions 5-6 times per day increases the metabolism and turns the body into continual fat burning mode.  You begin eating to fuel your body.  White flour, white sugar, artificial sweeteners, and all preservatives should be eliminated from your diet.  There should be very little, if any, pre-packaged foods in your household.  An easy way to tell if a food is part of the clean eating lifestyle is to look at the label.  There should be minimal ingredients and you should be able to read each of them.  When shopping you barely have to go down the inside aisles.  Ninety percent of the foods you need are in the perimeter of your grocery store. 

            The basics of clean eating are just that, basic.  Keep it simple, keep it whole, and if you question a product think of my quotes!  As always, I love hearing from you!  Email me any questions or topics you would like me to discuss.

Amy Layne


amylayne (at) damyhealth.com

www.damyhealth.com