The Fit and Simple Life: The Clean Eating Scoop According to Sarah

Okay guys trust me, you do not have to be a great cook to eat healthy. It seems like a lot of people use this as an excuse to go eat out multiple times a week or to just go the easy route and have a microwavable meal. You don't have to be a good cook, but you do however have to cook (obviously). A while back, a lot of my instagram and facebook followers asked me to either start a blog with some tips and recipes and or to email them those tips. At the time I had not yet started my blog, so I put together a quick email with some of my tips and a few recipes. So here I will recreate that email I sent out to many of my friends and share it with all of you! I honestly just try and put as many healthy things together and hope that it tastes good! Luckily most all of my meals have been pretty decent thus far. I currently am on a very strict diet because of my bikini competition prep but this is just until mid October and as soon as it is over I plan on going back to this lifestyle to maintain my body after the competition. Any-who, here is my two sense on eating clean and making a habit out of it.

Rules I try to live by:

1. Eat as many vegetables as you can, especially green ones (spinach, kale, asparagus, brussel sprouts, broccoli, etc.)

2. Stay away from sugar. This is a BIG key in seeing results. No candy, desserts, pastries, muffins, etc. ( no one is perfect, so allow yourself a cheat day every once in a while). It’s really hard for the first few days but by the end of one week without it, you really stop craving it.

3. PROTEIN, PROTEIN, PROTEIN, I can’t stress this enough; most people don’t get the amount of protein they need to maintain their muscle let alone build more muscle (which in and of itself increases your metabolism).

4. Drink TONS of water throughout the day, I try drinking a gallon a day.

5. I use coconut oil and olive oil to cook/sauté everything in… mostly coconut oil though.

6. Sweet potatoes are a staple in my diet. They are one of the best complex carbs which gives you lots of energy, plus I love them!

7. I rarely eat dairy, but when I do, I use plain Greek yogurt, fat free cottage cheese, feta cheese, and goat cheese.

8. I only eat red meat about once a week if that, it's yummy in moderation, but chicken is better for you.

9. Eat at least every four hours, it seems like a ton but if you get the portions right, you will boost your metabolism like crazy!

10. Meal preparation has been a big key to my success.

Here is what a typical day of food looks like for me:

Breakfast:

4 egg whites

1/2 cup oats w small protein scoop for sweetener and almond milk

Almond slivers