When my daughter proposed to eat clean for 30 days, I thought to myself no problem. But then I started truly eating clean and it was a problem. Well, not really a problem, but a major shift in the way I thought about the foods I was putting in my body. To rid yourself of processed sugars and highly processed foods takes great effort, at least here in America where our stores are full of highly processed foods that are full of preservatives and sugar.

I’ve listed my favorite websites I scoured over (be aware not all sites are 100% GF):

  1. Eating Well
  2. The Gracious Pantry
  3. Clean Eating (for a good list of what is clean and what is not)
  4. Wellness Mama
  5. 100 Days of Real Food
  6. Elana’s Pantry

I learned why it is better to eat brown rice instead of white. Did you know that white rice is really brown rice, it has just been stripped of nutrients and fiber? Then it is polished to make it look nice and pretty for our consumption. I also learned grains that have been ‘fortified’ have vitamins and other nutrients added back in because they strip the grain from their natural nutrients. Then there is instant white rice that not only is stripped of nutrients but loaded with preservatives in order to keep it ‘fresh’ until you quickly cook it. I guess the best way to look at it is to eat foods the way God put them on the earth, not the way man has boxed them to make a profit. Brown rice takes a long time to cook, generally about 45 minutes, so make up a large pot and divide it into serving sizes for your family. Place the serving size into a freezer bag and pop them in the freezer. About three minutes in the microwave will thaw and heat the rice!

The very best benefit of eating clean is how it literally changes your taste buds. Last Saturday, my husband and I went to see a movie. To let you in on a little fact, he enjoys going to the theater because of the movie popcorn. He has refused to go to the movies in the past if he has been on a diet because he can’t have the popcorn! I have told him for years how terrible movie popcorn is but I must just sound like a nagging wife, because I have never been able to persuade him. He told me ahead of time that even though we are on this ‘eating clean’ thing, he was still going to have a little movie popcorn. He bought a small bag and put the ‘movie butter’ aka ‘fake butter’ on it. We sat down and he ate maybe five bites before turning to me and saying,’I can’t eat this, it tastes like chemicals in my mouth!’ I have to tell you, I was doing a little happy dance inside. Click here MOVIE POPCORN to find out the calorie counts. You might be as shocked as I was!

When I went into my usual coffee-house to buy a latte, I asked for a regular latte with whole milk. Normally I ask for a Cubano, which adds sugar at the bottom of the pour. They know me as a regular, so when I received my drink, they had made a Cubano rather than a straight no sugar latte. One sip and I knew the old sugar culprit was in there. It tasted sickening sweet. Wow! Had I truly been drinking that all along? If anything, the changes from eating clean have made me very aware of my old eating and drinking habits.

If you didn’t follow along on the eating clean regimen this past month, I do hope you try it sometime. It truly gave me a whole new appreciation of food.

 

 

 

2 comments on “What I Learned from Eating Clean”

  1. beware of eating too much rice of any kind as it does have higher than healthy arsenic levels. Variety is the key. Eating too much of anythings is probably not good.

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