Eating Clean - Step 1: Know What You're Eating

As a fitness junkie, I'm constantly thinking about food and fuel.  The more effort I put into fitness the more I think about what I'm eating.  So I have a few thoughts about diet.

Food is important to health, so know what you're eating.

Here's some sound advice I've heard before: if you can't identify what you're eating by simply looking at it, reconsider putting it in your mouth.

Following this simple rule has some interesting implications.  Most notably for me is the application to flour and wheat based products.  But that's actually another step in my plan.

A corollary from this rule is to avoid processed foods.  That means foods in a box or a bag or the so-called "center of the supermarket."  If you have to read the ingredients, you're probably not going to like what you find anyway.

That's not to say I don't look at the ingredients.  And clearly you can't apply this rule to everything.  But it makes you think.   One example is Greek yogurt.  Real greek yogurt is nothing but milk and cultures that make the yogurt happen.  Greek yogurt is great stuff because it's non-fat and high in protein.  It's gained a reputation as such, and thus it's popular right now.   But real Greek yogurt is also sour.  So what a lot of manufacturers are doing is taking regular yogurt, thickening it up with pectin, adding sugar and so-called "fruit on the bottom" and labeling it as Greek.  Arguably yogurt in general is a processed food that violates this rule, but it's also a great tool in your diet--so I find it worth reading the label.

The reason why most diets do in fact work for some time (if people stick to them) is because they're actually paying attention to what they're shoving in their face for some period of time.  It doesn't really matter if you're on a low carb or a low fat diet, the fact that you're paying attention and making choices is a big part of making better choices.  This is why this rule, to eat what you can clearly identify, is such a handy and sustainable basis for clean eating.

So look before you eat.