Health And Fitness: Clean Eating Meal Plan Week 2

It has been, eep, almost a year and a half since I posted my original Clean Eating Menu Plan! I know you guys love it, because it has been shared on Pinterest 61,000 times (you guys rock!)! I have to apologize for waiting so long to publish week 2, but here it finally is!

I plan on publishing many more of these. I hope to get out a new week’s menu plan each month, but that all depends on my kiddos! If you want your new weekly meal plans quicker, definitely check out emeals. It costs $5.75 a month, and the menu plans with grocery lists are delivered right to your inbox.

If you’re new here, let’s go over a few basics.

What Is Clean Eating

Clean eating varies, depending upon who you’re asking, but to me, clean eating means eating food that is as close to its natural state as possible. This means creating most of your food from scratch. Sound intimidating? It isn’t! It just takes a little practice, then it becomes second nature!

However, I’m a mom of two kids and have an 8-5 job, so I don’t have time to make everything from scratch! I do buy premade breads, pastas and condiments when the amount of time to create it isn’t feasible for my schedule. When I buy already-made foods, I have a few rules. I do not buy any foods that have:

Food dyes
Artificial flavors
High Fructose Corn Syrup
GMOs

If you are new to clean eating, start learning to read labels. If you don’t recognize most of the ingredients, put it back on the shelf. Food should be made with ingredients you recognize. Another good rule of thumb is to not buy products that contain more than 5 ingredients.

Is Clean Eating A Diet?

I have been asked if you can lose weight while on a clean eating diet. And the answer is, probably… but the intent of eating clean shouldn’t really be to lose weight. I eat clean because I want less crap in my body. My body doesn’t have any idea what to do with chemicals, preservatives, or artificial ingredients. It wasn’t created to process food with synthetic ingredients. I eat clean because clean, wholesome food is fuel to keep my body operating as efficiently and healthy as possible. Because when my body is fed well, I feel well!

Will you lose weight? Probably, depending on what your current diet consists of. When you fill your daily diet with wholesome fruits, veggies, whole grains, and lean meats, you naturally cut calories (without having to count them) and most people I have encountered will gravitate to a natural, healthy weight.

Perhaps the most important rule of eating clean, for me, is that the food TASTES GOOD! I love food. A warm, home cooked meal fills my soul with happiness. I celebrate good food, and I never feel like I am deprived. I buy whole milk, real butter, and drink wine (in moderation). Low-calorie and reduced-fat, to me, makes me wonder what process a food has been through, or what artificial additives have been added to make something taste real. I just by-pass the BS and buy real, untampered, food.