Terry Walters, best-selling author of Clean Food, and Clean Start, just came out with a new book, Eat Clean Live Well (Sterling Epicure), featuring 175 delicious, nutritious recipes for clean, healthy food that the entire family will love.
Walters also serves up a food philosophy that is easy to digest. “There are no rigid guidelines or harmful judgments,” says Walters. “Just abundant seasonal foods that are minimally processed for maximum nutrition. These are the foods we all need more of, no matter what else is on your plate.”
Tips for Clean Eating
Here are Walters’ top five tips for clean eating, below, along with her recipes for three varieties of Gomasio, a traditional Japanese condiment with sesame seeds, salt and spices. Make enough to store in a small glass mason jar, to have it on hand.
1. Eat all of the colors of the rainbow and all five tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter and pungent) to assure balanced nutrition.
2. Don’t deprive yourself of the foods you love. Just focus on bringing in more clean food, gradually and over time.
3. Practice good habits. Sit while you’re eating, chew thoroughly, eat regular meals. The more we practice good habits, the more automatic they become, and the better we are able to be nourished by the foods we eat.
4. Set your intention. Before you enter the grocery store, connect with your intention to eat clean food so that you select only the foods that nourish. It’s much easier to make the hard choices once at the point of purchase than to have to muster up willpower every time you open your pantry.
5. Go easy on yourself. Make peace with your food and your choices. Every choice nourishes some part of us, even if it’s not our best nutrition! Take it one choice at a time, do the best you can, empower yourself with knowledge, and let go of harmful self-judgment.