10 key elements to eating clean

1) All food must be fresh – this means nothing in a packet, nothing manufactured, nothing reconstituted, and definitely nothing labelled Diet or low fat

2) You must consume 2- 4 cups of vegetables per day – broccoli, green beans, zucchini, sweet potato, salads, kale, spinach, cucumbers

3) You must drink 3-4 litres (1 gallon) of water per day

4) 30% of your daily food intake should come from lean protein (Chicken, Turkey, Fish, Tofu, Soy, Tempeh, Egg whites, cottage cheese, natural yoghurt) and you must eat a portion of protein with EVERY meal – This will help stabilise your blood sugar levels and keep you feeling full

5) Good fats are essential but are easy to overdo – so just 5-6 almonds, a tablespoon of avocado and the fat found in your protein is usually your maximum daily allowance.

6) Eliminate all starchy carbs – no bread, pasta, white rice, pastries

7) Alcohol is a big NO on a clean Diet – when you drink alcohol your body stops burning fat until all the acetone from the alcohol is out of your system, whilst this is happening your metabolism slows right down and instead of burning fat your taking a big step backwards.

8) You must eat regularly thru the day 5-6 meals per day or every 2-3 hours

9) Protein shakes are Ok if the protein powder is pure either 100% natural Whey, Soy, brown rice, pea or Hemp protein – as soon as the protein powder has more then 5 ingredients and contains artificial sweeteners, flavours and chemicals its toxic.

10) You just need to get creative in the kitchen and you will never have to eat the same meal twice – stop thinking of clean eating as a diet and start thinking of it as a way of life – mix up your cooking techniques and search the thousands of recipes readily available and your set.