How to Eat Cleaner - Day 5 of 31 - Organic Dirty Bakers Dozen and Clean 15

How to Eat Cleaner - Day 5 of 31 - Organic Dirty Bakers Dozen and Clean 15

Hello everyone. I'm so excited that you decided to join me in our 31 days to cleaner or healthier eating. Each one of these videos will have 1 simple concept for you to chew on. It's your choice what you do with it. Try it for a day, a week, a month or implement for your entire life. My hope is it helps you open your mind to learning more about fueling your body more healthily.

Part of cleaning up what we eat is getting educated and alot of these videos focus on awareness. What you do with that is up to you.

I reviewed why organic in a previous video, but it's worth repeating and adding some information to it. The chemicals used in weed killers, pesticides, and fertilizers mess with our biochemistry. That means it messes with our hormones and every process in our bodies. Have trouble losing weight? It may be your hormones are out of whack. Also, here is some food for thought. Buying organic also supports the welfare of the worker at these farms. They are exposed to less toxins and live healthier lives also. Plus where does all the chemical run off and waste from the corporate farms that use all these chemicals.? Just something to think about.

Organic foods are more expensive. Alot of our food is subsidized by the government so we are not seeing the true cost of food... yet. But, as far as I know, no organic farmers get these government kick backs at this time. So, organics are usually what food should cost. The farms are smaller, many family owned. So, overhead cost are a little different.

If you are on a tight budget, you have to be much more creative to eat organic. There are lots of ways to plan and prep to live mostly organic. If you are just starting to transition to organic it's good to know 2 lists. One is called the dirty dozen with an added selection from thedailygreen.com and the clean 15. The dirty dozen have been found to be the fruits and vegetables that have the most chemical toxins on them and the clean 15 are the fruits and vegetables that generally test to have the least, not none, just the least.

Dirty Bakers Dozen
1. Apples
2. Celery
3. Strawberries
4. Peaches
5. Spinach
6. Nectarines
7. Grapes
8. Sweet Bell Peppers
9. Potatoes
10. Blueberries
11. Lettuce
12. Kale
13. Collard Greens

Clean 15
1. Onions
2. Sweet Corn
3. Pineapple
4. Avocado Avocado
5. Asparagus
6. Sweet peas
7. Mango
8. Eggplant
9. Cantaloupe (domestic)
10. Kiwi
11. Cabbage
12. Watermelon
13. Sweet Potatoes
14. Grapefruit
15. Mushrooms

Remember your food absorbs the chemicals in the soil. So even though these are lowest in chemicals, they still contain them, you are ingesting them, and they are manipulating your hormones.

The organic topic is quite big so I will address it more in later video.

Thanks for your time. This is Coach Lana and I would love for you to join me at http://facebook.com/coachlana so we can connect.

How to Eat Cleaner - Day 4 of 31- Why Organic? Organic PLU Numbers.

How to Eat Cleaner - Day 4 of 31 - Why Organic? Organic PLU Numbers.

Hello everyone. I'm so excited that you decided to join me in our 31 days to cleaner or healthier eating. Each one of these videos will have 1 simple concept for you to chew on. It's your choice what you do with it. Try it for a day, a week, a month or implement for your entire life. My hope is it helps you open your mind to learning more about fueling your body more healthily.

Part of cleaning up what we eat is getting educated and alot of these videos focus on awareness. What you do with that is up to you.

So, let's talk organic. 2 reasons to go organic: the less chemicals you ingest the better and they may contain more nutrition than other comparable foods. Organic foods are supposed to be produced without chemicals and in general organic farmers take very good care of their soil so that there is more nutrition in it to be absorbed by your food. So, when comparing apples with apples, an organic apple should have more natural minerals in it than a non organic one, making it healthier and worth the added cost.

Since organic fruits and vegetables are not always clearly marked in the store, you can figure it out by checking the PLU or the numbered sticker on it.

A PLU with a number that begins with a 3 or 4 is conventionally grown with weed killers and pesticides.

A PLU with a number that begins with an 8 is genetically engineered. We messed with the genes somehow and it's probably chemically treated too. We'll talk more about this in another video.

A PLU with a number that begins with a 9 is grown organically with out chemicals and without genetic modification.

I challenge you to know what you eat. When you visit the store check your numbers. Check your fridge and work on adding more organic fruits and vegetables to your daily diet.

The organic topic is quite big so I will address it more in later video.

Thanks for your time. This is Coach Lana and I would love for you to join me at http://facebook.com/coachlana so we can connect.

How to Eat Cleaner - Day 3 of 31 - Water - How Much Water Do You Need?

How to Eat Cleaner - Day 3 of 31 - Water - How Much Water Do You Need?

Hello everyone. I'm so excited that you decided to join me in our 31 days to cleaner or healthier eating. Each one of these videos will have 1 simple concept for you to chew on. It's your choice what you do with it. Try it for a day, a week, a month or implement for your entire life. My hope is it helps you open your mind to learning more about fueling your body more healthily.

We have all heard you should drink 8 glasses of water a day. It's a very general rule that the Mayo Clinic says is probably ok for most people. But, honestly most people don't drink enough water. The average American drinks too much soda and other flavored drinks. Yes, these drinks provide water, but the sugar and caffeine they may contain either require alot of water to process or encourage water elimination. 

Water is essential for every biochemical process in our bodies. Feeling tired, constipated, bloated, headaches, things just don't feel right? I encourage you to track what foods you are eating that contain alot of water like grapes, cucumber, soup, etc. Also, note how much water you are actually drinking a day. Try substituting some of your high sugar and high caffeine drinks for water instead. Become aware of how much water you are consuming each day.

The general rule is, you know you are drinking enough water if you don't feel thirsty and your urine is clear to light yellow. So, you need to take a peek at your pee.

You can drink too much water, but it is very rare. If you are unsure how much water your body needs, you should consult your doctor especially if you have any kidney issue, are pregnant or nursing.

Thanks for your time. This is Coach Lana and I would love for you to join me at http://facebook.com/coachlana so we can connect.

How to Eat Cleaner - Day 2 of 31 - Planning: Containers & Coolers

How to Eat Cleaner - Day 2 of 31 - Planning: Containers & Coolers

Hello everyone. I'm so excited that you decided to join me in our 31 days to cleaner or healthier eating. Each one of these videos will have 1 simple concept for you to chew on. It's your choice what you do with it. Try it for a day, a week, a month or implement for your entire life. My hope is it helps you open your mind to learning more about fueling your body more healthily.

We live busy lives and planning is an essential element of any eating cleaner plan. What does each day, week, month look like? Can you make some items in large quantities, break them up and use them throughout the week? How will you store them?

One of the best investments you can make is small freezable and warm up able storage containers. They can be Corning wear or plastics or whatever works for you. You want to have lots of small containers so you can break up large recipes into smaller ones you can use throughout the week. Invest in an easily portable cooler and good ice packs. Also a refillable water bottle.

An example of how you would use your containers is, you cook a healthy lasagna from scratch. Cut it up into individual pieces and place them in easily reheatable containers. Now you have 1 meal set for the week. You can have lasagna for lunch one day then dinner the next. Cook another large meal and do the same for variety the other days of the week.

Thanks for your time. This is Coach Lana and I would love for you to join me at http://facebook.com/coachlana so we can connect.

How to Eat Cleaner - Day 1 of 31 - Food Log

How to Eat Cleaner - Day 1 of 31 - Food Log

Hello everyone. I'm so excited that you decided to join me in our 31 days to cleaner or healthier eating. Each one of these videos will have 1 simple concept for you to chew on. It's your choice what you do with it. Try it for a day, a week, a month or implement for your entire life. My hope is it helps you open your mind to learning about fueling your body more healthily.

Today is about reflection. Start keeping a food journal. It can be as detailed as you want and you can use any method you want. I have used apps on my iPhone and Excel documents depending on what my focus was. I would recommend looking backwards too. Look back at the last week or so and record what you can remember. This will help you get a better understanding of your habits. You can even record what you were feeling, why you ate what you did.. The journal can help you identify where you can improve.

An example of a couple journal entries would be. Breakfast. I was running late for work so I drove through McDonald's and got an egg McMuffin. Asked them to hold the butter and I removed the egg yolks. I realize I need to plan better next time. Lunch. Ate my kale salad I prepared the night before with my home made balsamic vinegar. Loved the added walnuts. Snack. Ate a dough nut in the break room. My boss was driving me crazy. Need to bring some healthier stress snacks tomorrow. These were more general. I highly recommend at least 1 day of measuring everything out. It's very eye opening.

The purpose of the food journal is to identify areas of improvement, not to get crazy anal retentive. As a recovering bulimic. I know that these things can get out of control. So, keep your focus on, we are trying to get healthier, not skinnier. A healthy body looks different for everyone. We should aim for strong, fit and happy.

Thanks for your time. This is Coach Lana and I would love for you to join me at http://facebook.com/coachlana so we can connect.