Simple Fruit and Cheese Skewers

Clean eating has become a popular trend, and for good reason. A clean eating meal plan focuses on consuming whole, minimally processed foods like fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains. 

Avoiding heavily processed snacks and meals can provide many benefits like weight loss, improved energy levels, better sleep, and overall enhanced health. 

If you’re interested in giving clean eating a try, read on to learn how to create your own healthy, clean eating meal plan.

First, let’s define what exactly clean eating means. Clean eating emphasizes natural, minimally processed foods that are as close to their original form as possible. 

That means choosing foods like fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains like brown rice and quinoa, beans and legumes, eggs, seafood, poultry, grass-fed meats, nuts, seeds, and healthy oils like olive oil. 

Clean eating avoids heavily processed snack foods, fast foods, fried foods, refined sugars, and artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, and sweeteners.

Following a clean eating meal plan provides many great perks. You’ll likely consume fewer calories overall when focusing on whole, nutritious foods. 

Decreasing sugar intake can stabilize blood sugar levels. Emphasizing fruits, veggies, and fiber helps promote gut health and digestion. 

Swapping out red meat for poultry and seafood provides anti-inflammatory omega-3s. Clean eating leads to increased energy, better sleep, clearer skin, and an enhanced mood. 

Overall, clean eating offers sustained energy rather than the spikes and crashes often produced by sugary or fried processed foods.

When setting out to create your own clean eating meal plan, define your goals. Do you want to lose weight, gain more energy, improve your health, or simply eat more mindfully? Having an objective will help guide your food choices and portion sizes. 

A realistic timeframe, like two weeks or one month, gives you something specific to work towards.

Here are some tips for creating nutritious, satisfying clean eating meals and snacks:

• Focus your diet on lean proteins like chicken, turkey, eggs, seafood, beans and legumes. These give you sustained energy without extra fat and calories.
• Emphasize fruits and especially vegetables. Aim for a variety of bright, colorful produce to maximize nutrients and fiber.
• Choose whole grains like oats, brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat and millet rather than processed grains like white rice or bread.
• Read food labels carefully. Avoid ingredients you don’t recognize or anything artificial. Stick to foods with five ingredients or less.
• Portion out snacks to avoid overdoing it on nuts, seeds, dried fruit, or other tasty treats.
• Hydrate primarily with water and herbal teas instead of sugary juices or sodas. Infuse your water with fruit slices for natural flavor.
• When planning clean eating meals, aim to balance lean proteins with fiber-rich vegetables and whole grains at each meal. For example, a lunch could include a turkey sandwich on whole grain bread with spinach and tomato, paired with carrots sticks and hummus. Or, try a salmon filet with brown rice and broccoli.

Here are some more sample clean eating meals and snacks to give you meal planning inspiration:

Breakfast ideas

• Scrambled egg white omelette with veggies
• Oatmeal topped with almonds and berries
• Avocado toast on whole grain bread
• Protein smoothie with spinach, banana, peanut butter

Lunch ideas

• Garden salad with grilled chicken or tofu
• Vegetable soup or chili with whole grains
• Burrito bowl with brown rice, black beans, salsa
• Tuna salad sandwich with lettuce on whole grain bread

Dinner ideas

• Sheet pan meal with protein and roasted veggies
• Stir fry with shrimp, broccoli, peppers, and quinoa
• Grilled salmon with sweet potato and kale
• Turkey or veggie chili with brown rice

Snack ideas

• Apple slices with natural peanut butter
• Carrots and celery with hummus
• Cottage cheese with mixed berries
• Hardboiled egg and handful of nuts
• Plain Greek yogurt with chia seeds and honey

Making a big batch of food like oatmeal or quinoa on the weekends can help you stick to your meal plan during busy weeks. Having pre-cut veggies and hummus or boiled eggs in the fridge makes for easy grab-and-go snacks. Drink plenty of water and herbal tea between meals to stay hydrated.

Allow yourself a small indulgence once in a while, like a square of dark chocolate or a scoop of ice cream. Depriving yourself completely can lead to binging later on. If you do slip up, don’t despair! Just get right back on track with your next meal.

Conclusion

Following a clean eating meal plan requires dedication, but offers tremendous rewards for your health and wellbeing. 

Focus on whole foods, emphasize lean protein and produce, read labels to avoid processed ingredients, and stay hydrated. 

Meal prep to set yourself up for success. Allow the occasional treat. Get right back on track if you slip up. 

With commitment to clean eating, you can reach your health goals, whether that means weight loss, increased energy, or overall improved wellness.