The Clean Eating Handbook 31 Essential Rules For Health, Wellness, and a Fabulously Fit Life
Written by Mareya Ibrahim
Edited by Ryan Chandler Brown
© Copyright 2013 Mareya Ibrahim. All Rights Reserved.
Published by EatCleaner.com
First Electronic Edition, May 2013
This book is protected by Federal Copyright laws and treaties and, as such, any
unauthorized reprint or use of this material is strictly prohibited. Making or distributing copies of this book constitutes copyright infringement. It may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by any means, without written permission by the copyright holder. This book is not designed to and does not provide medical advice, professional diagnosis, opinion, treatment or services to you or to any other individual. Through this book EatCleaner provides general information for educational purposes only. The information provided in this book is not a substitute for medical or professional care, and you should not use the information in place of a visit, call consultation or the advice of your physician or other healthcare provider. EatCleaner.com is not liable or responsible for any advice, course of treatment, diagnosis or any other information, services or product you obtain through the use of this book. IF YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY, YOU SHOULD IMMEDIATELY CALL 911 OR YOUR PHYSICIAN. If you believe you have any other health problem, or if you have any questions regarding your health or a medical condition, you should promptly consult your physician or other healthcare provider.
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Table of Contents
Who is The Fit Foodie?
How The Fit Foodie Filosophies Saved My Life
The Secret To Losing Fat Permanently
• Key 1 – Understand REAL Nutrition
• Key 2 – Ditch The DIET Mentality
• Key 3 – Make It A Habit
The 31 Fit Foodie Filosophies
1. Rehab Your Refrigerator & Purge Your Pantry
2. Kick the Habit, Sugar
5
8
12
18
3. Skim the Saturated Fat
4. Swap In Veggies For Fat
5. Deny the Fry
6. Forego the Salad Saboteurs
7. Dial Back the Alcohol
8. Learn the Language of Labelese
9. Fill Up On Fresh Fruit & Veggies To The Core
10. Choose Cleaner Carbs
11. Go Wild with Seafood
12. Get Nutrient Dense
13. Fuel Up Like A Super Hero
14. Join The Hydration Nation
15. Eat The Fit Foodie Triangle Frequently
16. Practice Portion Control & Go Sharesies
17. Go Meatless Mondays
18. Practice Safe Snacks
19. Get The Right Tools For The Job
20. Shop Smart, Save Green
21. Grow Your Own
22. Save Your Green(s) and the Planet
23. Don’t Let Your Food Go Foul
24. Tote Your Own Treats
25. Grow A Family Of Fit Foodies
26. Break (Better) Bread Together
27. Know Your Burn Rate
28. Exercise Less, Eat More
29. Don’t Count On Calories
30. If It’s Not Organic, Don’t Panic
31. Think Before You Bite
Cleaner Plate Club Recipes:
• Artichoke Hummus
• Spinach Sundried Tomato Paste Spread
• Carrot & Avocado Soup with Fruit Relish
• Supercharged Protein Smoothie
• Angel Berry Trifle
• Lettuce Cup Tacos
• Creamy Butternut Mac N’ Cheese
• Savory Oven Fried Chicken
• Dark Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Who is “The Fit Foodie”?
Mareya Ibrahim (aka “The Fit Foodie” ) is an award-winning clean food chef, writer, food
expert, educator and inventor, and the creator of EatCleaner.com, the premier lifestyle
destination for fit food how-to’s and information.
Mareya is a featured TV chef on ABC’s Recipe Rehab, the only competition-style network
cooking show produced by Everyday Health, which is viewed by over 1 million unique
100
households every week. She is also a Clean Eating expert for eHow.com, LiveStrong.com and
is a regular on San Diego’s Channel 6 news, offering bite-size health and wellness tips. Her
backpage column, “The Fit Foodie”, appears in Edible Orange County Magazine.
She is the creator of EatCleaner.com, the premier destination for clean food on the internet, and
Eat Cleaner® products, a patented line of all natural food wash and wipes that she co-invented.
Mareya was a finalist for Inc. Magazine’s Newpreneur of the Year 2010 and is the winner of the
Disney iParenting Award and the World’s Best Technology Gold Prize. She is also the recipient
of the 2013 Women Making a Difference Award for demonstrating extraordinary dedication and
contributions to health and well-being, a designation awarded by California Senator Lou Correa.
As a nationally recognized expert on food safety and clean eating, she has been featured in a
myriad of top publications, including Oprah.com, The Huffington Post, Parents Magazine,
Sunset Magazine, The New York Times, Epoch Times and INC Magazine.
And now she is your personal clean eating COACH!
The Clean Eating Handbook
31 Essential Rules for Health, Wellness, and a
Fabulously Fit Life
“A fit, healthy body—that is the best fashion statement.”
–Jess C. Scott
It’s so simple, but hard to always remember. Food Feeds Us.
Is it possible to eat food that not only tastes as delicious as the foods you’re used to, but also
provides your body with everything it needs to function perfectly, have more energy, heal itself
from the inside out, get fit automatically, feel amazing, and burn fat all day long?
The answer is YES!
Companies will try to sell you exercise and workout gimmicks all day long, but ask any trainer or
professional athlete and they will tell you that 95% of your success in your health and fitness is
determined by WHAT YOU EAT!
I’m Chef Mareya, The Fit Foodie, and I’m going to show you how to transform your favorite
foods into fat burning fun, and protect the environment in the process. I’m not a superhero,
just a single mom of two young kids who figured out the secret to achieving a fit approach to a
healthy lifestyle out of a sheer need to achieve balance, de-‐stress my life, and keep myself and
everyone around me sane. You see, food was my pain for a long time but I knew that if I didn’t
get things straight, I was going to put my family in jeopardy. I’ll talk about that more in a
minute but the point is, if I can do it with my fast paced, hectic life, YOU can too!
Remember this: Sound nutrition is the key. You can look and feel better than you have in your
entire life in 31 days by following what I call my “Fit Foodie Filosophies”.
How do I know this? Because they have transformed thousands of lives, including mine…
HOW THE FIT FOODIE FILOSOPHIES SAVED MY LIFE
Sometimes you have to starve your ego to come clean.
I have a confession to make. About 10 years ago, I finally beat a severe eating disorder that I
had lived with from my late teens into my twenties. I never admitted it to ANYONE, including
my own parents, because I thought it meant I was a complete failure.
Today I'm coming clean with how I kicked junk food and my eating disorder to the curb because
I don't want anyone to have to go through such struggles alone.
The doctors called it Bulemia and Anorexia. I called it, Hell on Earth.
You could say my fear of food was eating me alive. When you come from a family that plans
lunch while eating breakfast and has conversations about dinner at the lunch table -‐ where
you’re not supposed to leave the table without stuffing yourself to the gills -‐ it's easy to get
crazy about the subject.
My eating disorders started in my late teens. Somehow, I lost my way from the dinner table.
I swung from gluttonous overeating binges where I’d make myself sick from excess to a
starvation diet because I got tired of making myself throw up.
I would fast until 3:00pm everyday then maybe eat a bagel, some rice, celery sticks, a few rice
cakes and a green salad, washed down with a bottomless supply of black coffee. I counted
every bite as though my life depended on it and if I indulged in anything that I perceived as
excess I’d kill myself at the gym until late in the evening so I would avoid eating dinner.
After a few months, I became too weak to exercise and cut back my intake even more. At my
lowest, I reached 87 pounds. In a twisted way, I thought this was an incredible achievement,
and in my mind, restricting my calorie intake and getting to that new low showed discipline.
But my body was clearly in distress.
I started losing clumps of hair. I became an insomniac and began having panic attacks and
memory black outs. One night, I was out with some friends and had a panic attack with
hallucinations so intense that I was rushed to the hospital because I felt like I was going to die.
It even affected my memory. It’s so hard for me to admit this, but there are significant life
events that I blacked out on, like being given a cat by my parents for my birthday – I don’t
remember it ever happening!
I had such an unhealthy relationship with food that I avoided any social events where eating
was involved, which alienated me even more from friends and family. Birthdays, anniversaries,
weddings – life’s most cherished events – I found an excuse to get out of them every time.
I knew that being fat and overeating wasn’t healthy so I became focused on being the skinniest
girl around. Wasn’t that supposed to make me feel happier? NO. It did just the opposite. I
felt weaker, sicker, and more depressed than at any time in my entire life. I had less energy,
less concentration, and less confidence than ever before.
I had succumbed to the biggest lie about weight loss: Being skinny makes you happy.
My first step towards balanced health came through my job. The year I graduated from college,
I started working for a natural foods chain in Colorado. The idea of entering into a job that was
centered on everything edible scared the cheesepuffs out of me. But this didn’t look like any of
the other local stores. Filled with clean, locally grown produce and natural alternatives to the
stuff I found on most grocery shelves, I started to warm up to the idea – and more importantly,
I needed this job.
Gradually, I began my clean culinary education and became the editor of our monthly magazine
called Healthy Choices. I also ran the demo department for all 11 stores, so my role was to help
our customers understand what “certified organic, hormone-‐free, and non-‐chemical
preservatives” meant and to create simple recipes around the foods we featured.
I was hungry for knowledge on what eating healthy actually meant. I started reading labels on
the shelves like books in a library and looked up every ingredient I didn’t know. I interviewed
every department manager and asked an abundance of questions. I read nutrition and recipe
books voraciously and immersed myself in cooking, focusing on what was in season and playing
with textures, cooking methods and colors. This kick started my own food rehab and I began
warming up to this “natural food” idea, albeit one bite at a time. That’s when the
transformation happened.
As soon as I started eating regularly, it was like I had gotten a shot of adrenaline. I looked
forward to waking up in the mornings and I had an INSANE amount of energy and enthusiasm.
My boss even noticed the change and gave me kudos for sharing it with others. The insomnia
began to turn into hours of deep sleep. The panic attacks went away. I felt comfortable
showing up at food functions and even began hosting dinner parties to flex my culinary
muscles.
I learned and lived what it meant to feed my body at the cellular level, not just my face. I didn’t
have to be tempted by a sponge cake filled with cream and a 20 year shelf life. What was that
going to do for me, anyway? Food was meant to keep my body moving and thriving and even
though there were a lot of choices out there, I learned which ones were best for me inside and
out. I finally understood what it meant to “Think Before You Bite” and I wear that on my tank
top as a constant reminder.
My mission is to get you fabulously fit with your food and lifestyle choices. If I can help one
person avoid the turmoil that I went through, it makes all the pain I went through worth it.
THE SECRET to Losing Fat Permanently!
One of the most important and overlooked keys to controlling your weight that I learned is
managing your blood sugar. If your blood sugar levels and insulin levels are spiking and dropping,
it puts an enormous strain on your metabolic system and signals to your body the “I'm in distress
mode” message to store fat and energy. Your body is pre-‐wired to take care of you in the event of
an emergency. Stop telling your system that it needs to store fat and you can turn your body from
a fat storing machine into a fat burning machine.
Caloric intake will vary based on your sex, age, activity level and pre-‐existing health conditions.
But if your goal is to get leaner, you MUST start by eating cleaner -‐ not by going on a diet that
focuses on deprivation.
The way to real, effortless, and permanent weight loss is a proven formula of eating the right
combination of foods – or what I call “the Fit Foodie Triangle” (pg.55) – at regular intervals
throughout the day. While the point is not to be a slave to calories, this proven formula of eating
cleaner, unprocessed meals and focusing on the right combinations at the right times will help get
you where you want to go and keep you there for LIFE.
There are 3 keys that helped me unlock the fit life for good:
Key #1:
Understand REAL Nutrition
WARNING: Most people skip this first step. They don’t fully educate themselves on what they
actually need to eat in every category in order to turn on their body’s natural fat burning, energy
producing power.
Human beings are amazing machines. Keeping our engines humming is a pretty clear cut science,
but most people don’t eat enough healthy food and don’t eat often enough for their bodies to
work efficiently. Eating the right natural foods at the right times will rev up your metabolism
higher than you ever thought possible!
The secret to balancing your blood sugar and revving up your metabolism is eating smaller,
perfectly balanced meals, and eating them more often. This book will teach you the basics of this
new art. For more step-‐by-‐step examples, I created my Cleaner Plate Club Meal Prep Program to
show you how to do it effortlessly right from home, every day.
Imagine if just by eating delicious food, you could turn on innate powers in your body that will heal
you from the inside out. Your system was designed to heal itself, to burn fat effortlessly, and to
produce endless energy. Guess what it needs to do that? Clean fuel!
That is what happened to me. I was an 87 pound sickly shell of a human being. Then I started
eating MORE of the good stuff. A year later I was fit, feeling fabulous, and on my way to becoming
successful in every area of my life. Not surprisingly, my weight balanced itself right where it
needed to be without excessive calorie counting.
Put in the right fuel, and your body does what it was meant to do AUTOMATICALLY.
When you have that AHA! moment where you realize that food is energy and vitality. It shapes
your physical being. Even though there are a lot of tempting choices out there, you can weed
through the muck without getting stuck. You can exercise for wellness rather than as penance for
overeating. At the corner of 'eat' and 'diet', it’s time to take the right path.
I did, and it changed my life forever.
Key # 2
DITCH THE DIET MENTALITY
The key to a balanced diet is not to diet. I mean, why would you be motivated by something
that begins with the word DIE?
One of the most common questions I get from clients is about why they aren’t losing more
weight. Most of them sound something like this...
"But I'm barely eating anything..."
"I've completely cut out fat…"
"I stop eating after 4:00 pm..."
"All of the frozen meals I buy are 400 calories or less, and I eat 3 a day..."
Guess what their REAL problem is…THEY ARE NOT EATING ENOUGH GOOD FOOD!!!
When I tell them they're not eating enough, they raise their eyebrows in surprise. America is
on a perpetual diet, but we just keep getting bigger. Obviously, something's broken here
because the binge and purge routine just isn't working. How can the number of people dieting
increase at the same time as obesity in America? Because DIETING DOESN’T WORK!
Diets come from a place of deprivation and no one likes to feel that way. If you're not eating
enough of the right foods in the right combination, it can actually undo all the good, including
burning muscle instead of fat.
When you eat cleaner and exercise effectively, you are living a sustainable lifestyle -‐ the Cleaner
Plate Club Lifestyle -‐ that feeds your sanity, not your face.
Being too restrictive, not eating the right combination of lean protein, healthy fats, and
complex carbohydrates, and not eating often enough, can all sabotage your efforts to get slim
and healthy. This is exactly what diets do.
There is nothing more stressful, mentally and physically, than trying to reinvent what your body
requires you to do to survive and thrive daily. The better and more consistent your habits
become concerning what you eat, when you eat, the quantity of food you eat, the quality of
food you eat, and how those foods combine, the easier this concept of health maintenance
becomes.
Key #3:
Make It A Habit
Once the knowledge of how to eat cleaner is in your head, you need to get it in your belly, eat
and repeat! Fortunately, this is the fun part.
Your body needs regularly scheduled care. Not sporadic, when stuff starts to break down kind-‐
of-‐work. It's the little things every day that will keep your engine humming like the well-‐tuned
machine that you are. Make proper nutrition a habit, and your relationship with your plate
will never be more fulfilling.
When I finally got healthy, I went wild in the kitchen with veggies! I'd find out what was in
season, play with textures, and mix cooking methods and colors. Soon I had married these
wonders of nature with picks from the seafood and poultry case, which was always brimming
with real fresh food. Even the bakery offered goods made with whole grains, vegetables and
low sugar. I was amazed at how many healthy choices were out there, and how great they
tasted when combined in the right ways.
Once I got the hang of how to put it all together, it took preparation and practice to be
consistent. They say it takes 21 days of repetition to create a habit, but when it comes to food I
think you need 31 days – enough days to get you through even the longest months of the year.
My 31 Essential Rules for Health, Wellness, and a Fabulously Fit Life are bite-‐sized approaches
that, when practiced every day, will help you establish the most important habits you’ve ever
wanted to make – the ones that will carry you through your months and years of the fit life.
I call them my Fit Foodie Filosophies because, as guiding principles, they are a mindset for your
new, cleaner lifestyle.
Just like anything new, don’t worry if there are days that don’t go as planned. That will happen
because life happens every day. The idea is to just get back on board and keep practicing,
eating, repeating and doing it all over again. Soon enough, you’ll be making some beautiful
music in that kitchen of yours. Your body, mind and spirit will thank you for your new vitality,
unprecedented energy, and fabulously fit body. Are you ready to sink your teeth in?
THE FIT FOODIE FILOSOPHIES
These are the 31 essential steps to becoming a Fit Foodie for LIFE. Read one a day
and put them into practice until you get through the month. Then repeat every
day until you’ve established the habit. Practice makes a perfect plate.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #1: Rehab Your Refrigerator & Purge Your Pantry. To eat cleaner and
get leaner, start with cleaning out your fridge and pantry to make way for the good stuff.
How to Clean out your Cabinets: If it’s processed, bleached, contains high fructose corn syrup,
anything ‘hydrogenated’, the word ‘artificial’, ‘trans fats’, 8 syllable words, or anything on our
Steer Clear List (pg.35), it's outta’ there.
Sodium and sugar are also something to look for. Your goal should be to keep your sugar
intake to less than 50 grams per day and sodium to 2300 mg (1.5 teaspoons).
If you have a box of ‘emergency cookies’ or ‘only eat them when there’s nothing in the house’
bag of chips on the top shelf, you better believe they’re going to find a way into your mouth.
Toss them! Just like your closet, once you purge the foods that don’t fit you anymore, you’ll
have room in your wardrobe for the new ingredients that suit your cleaner lifestyle.
Do I really have to get rid of all this stuff I love to eat?
Something happened to us as a society right around the end of WW II when we entered into
the Cold War Era. Manufacturers began making ‘phood’ – you know, that chemically injected,
processed fake food that could survive nuclear devastation unaltered.
Processed beef and pork byproducts molded into a square, canned anything, and cello-‐wrapped
cakes with an infinite shelf life were bomb shelter favorites and made their way into the hearts
and clogged arteries of Americans everywhere. Sadly, these complex chemistry experiments
with ingredient lists a paragraph long quickly bulked up our grocery store shelves. Did we ever
stop to ask ourselves: should we be eating it if it can never decompose, and will it do the same
once it gets inside my body?
We’re happy to report the cold war is officially over. So, if our diets become full of fresh food
that does have a shelf life – mostly fruit and vegetables, lean protein and high quality fats –
we’re eating as nature intended.
It’s time to get fresh.
Your refrigerator should look more like a salad bar, with less emphasis on shelf stable,
processed foods in a box. One-‐ingredient foods reign supreme. Pantry and fridge items should
help you round out your balanced meals, including good sources of protein, complex
carbohydrates, what I call ‘superfood add-‐ons’, spices, condiments and high quality oils that
contribute essential fatty acids.
Some of my favorite fridge and pantry items include:
q FRESH PRODUCE – GO SEASONAL AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE:
q Grapefruit
q Apples
q Pears
q Bananas
q Mixed Berries
q Lemons/Limes
q Fresh baby spinach, kale and chard
q Romaine, red/green leaf or butter lettuce
q Mixed salad greens (arugula, watercress, tatsoi, etc)
q Fresh mushrooms (cremini, shitake, portabello, etc)
q Broccoli
q Carrots
q Sweet Potatoes
q Avocados
q Tomatoes
q Red Onion
q Shallot
q Garlic
q Ginger
q Cucumber
q BAKERY/BREADS:
q Whole grain or sprouted grain tortillas (gluten-‐free options include spelt and brown rice)
q Whole grain or sprouted grain bread (gluten-‐free options include spelt and brown rice)
q MEAT/FISH:
q Wild caught salmon, mackerel or sardines
q Free range/organic chicken breasts
q Ground lean white meat turkey or beef
q Organic tempeh
q DELI/DAIRY:
q Cage free/organic eggs
q Egg whites
q Plain non-‐fat Greek yogurt
q Lowfat shredded cheese (I like dairy-‐free Daiya cheese)
q Unsweetened coconut, almond or sunflower milk (sunflower is nut-‐free)
q Sliced natural meats (nitrate/nitrite free)
q Earth Balance® spreads and baking sticks
q PASTAS, GRAINS AND CEREALS:
q Whole grain couscous and bulgur wheat
q Quinoa (any color)
q Brown rice and brown rice pasta
q Steel cut or old fashioned oats
q Gluten free flour
q Puffed brown rice cereal
q FREEZER SECTION:
q Mixed berries (good for smoothies and purée)
q Organic edamame
q Veggie burgers
q SHELF STABLE:
q Low sodium beans (black, garbanzo, cannellini or any variety you like)
q Low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
q Albacore tuna pouches
q Almond or sunflower butter (sunflower butter is nut-‐free)
q Powdered peanut butter
q Linwood’s ground flax or hemp seed
q Unsalted raw nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews)
q Unsalted seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame)
q Dried cranberries or raisins
q Unsweetened shredded coconut
q Vega™ One All-‐in-‐One nutritional protein powder
q Dark chocolate (70% or more cocoa)
q Unsweetened cocoa powder
q CONDIMENTS/SAUCES:
q Powdered peanut butter (sunflower butter as an allergen-‐free alternative)
q Sesame tahini
q Coconut oil or grapeseed oil (high heat cooking)
q Extra virgin olive oil
q Sesame oil
q Non-‐stick olive oil cooking spray
q Balsamic or red wine vinegar (for green salads)
q Rice wine vinegar
q Soy sauce or tamari
q Stevia or approved natural sweetener (See FFF #2)
q SPICES/HERBS/CITRUS:
q Fresh limes and lemons
q Garlic
q Ginger
q Fresh/dry herbs (rosemary, basil, oregano, curry powder, paprika, cayenne pepper –
experiment with what you like -‐ these are calorie-‐free flavors!)
q LoSalt® Reduced sodium substitute
q Black pepper
q Colman’s® mustard
Fit Foodie Filosophy #2: Kick the Habit, Sugar…
Sugar is EVERYWHERE! Sweeteners are rampant in “diet”, “lite” or “sugar-‐free” products.
Aside from the obvious cakes, cookies, cereals and beverages, sugar is used in dry mixes for
instant coffee and tea, gelatin desserts, puddings, non-‐dairy creamers, chewing gums, breath
mints, diet soda, yogurt, and even children’s medicine and vitamins.
The problem with sugar is that it spikes insulin production, causing your blood sugar to go wild,
which makes you crave more and more sugar – a treacherous cycle.
Even ‘low fat’ foods that contain excessive sugar are counterproductive because the unburned
calories can be stored as fat.
Don’t be seduced by the calorie-‐free promise and think that diet products are any better.
Artificial sugars were created to pacify those cravings but they do more than sweeten your food
— they serve as a health hazard.
Aspartame, Acesulfame K and Saccharine are all chemically produced to sweeten our foods
without the calories of sugar. Artificial sugars have been linked to behavioral problems,
hyperactivity, allergies and may be carcinogenic. Ironically, these empty calories can create a
vicious cycle of craving more sweets, with the inevitable consequences of weight gain.
Stick with natural sugars and keep your total intake for the day to 50 grams or less, opting for
cleaner choices like stevia, derived from the stevia plant, which is much sweeter than regular
sugar so a little goes a long way – and calorie-‐free, a big bonus!
Other NATURAL options: Xylitol, Erythritol, Agave, Black Strap Molasses, Maple Syrup, Sucanat,
Brown Rice Syrup, Lil Shuga™ Cane sugar with Stevia, Raw Honey and Natural Unsweetened
Fruit
Slim down Your Sweets If your sweet tooth is nagging, there’s a way to appease it without any calories and tons of health benefits. Stevia to the rescue! Stevia is a plant that is native to South America and has been used for hundreds of years as a weight loss aid, and for treating diabetes, high blood pressure and heartburn. It makes a great alternative to other sweeteners because not only is it calorie-free, it’s derived from a plant and is all-natural.
It comes in liquid and granular form, so it’s really versatile to use. You can add it to tea or coffee, use it in baking and cooking, and it dissolves easily. Stevia is about 10 times sweeter than regular sugar, so a little goes a long way! As a substitute for sugar in recipes, I usually recommend cutting the sugar in half or less depending on your taste. This is one natural alternative that’ll satisfy your sweet tooth, sugar.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #3: Skim the Saturated Fat.
If there’s a word that strikes fear into the heart of people, it’s FAT. But fat is actually an
important part of our daily intake, and just like calories, not all fats are created equal.
“Good” fat, the kind that actually lowers your cholesterol, helps with brain function and
balances hormones, is an essential part of weight control.
The operative word here is to skim ‘saturated’ fat – meaning, the fat that clogs your arteries
and stresses your heart. It can wreak havoc on your heart health and, quite frankly, your booty.
In developing the Cleaner Plate Club program, we work with what we call “the Fit Foodie
Triangle” approach. The Triangle is an easy way to remember how to get the balance you need
at every mini meal and it’s based on sound, documented nutritional needs:
40/30/30 breakdown of macronutrients – 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 30% fat.
That’s right, 30% fat! Now of that 30%, I recommend only 5% or less to be saturated. You can
easily find this breakout on any nutrition label and the good news is, you don’t have to sacrifice
flavor for it.
Good sources of fat in moderation include:
• Nuts (raw, milk, butters, oils), coconut (raw, oil, milk), seeds (raw, milk, butters, oils),
avocados, olives, and Omega 3-‐rich seafood, like salmon and mackerel.
• Instead of full fat butter, try alternatives that are free of trans fats, like Earth Balance™
Natural Buttery Spread and Baking Sticks.
• Extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil and other nut/seed oils (hemp, flax, chia, sesame,
sunflower, etc.). For sautéing, I like coconut and grapeseed oils since they do better in
high heat. Save the extra virgin olive oil for dressings and uncooked dishes.
• Opt for non or low fat & organic milk, yogurt, and cheese. Also try dairy-‐free options.
• Cook with low sodium stocks, broths, and wine for lots of added flavor.
• Use pureed beets and apple sauce to replace fat in baked goods.
• Enjoy dark chocolate with 70% or more pure unsweetened cocoa.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #4: Swap in veggies for fat.
If you’re looking for a way to lower fat and up the antioxidant quotient in your meals, turn to
produce. Beets, sweet potatoes, butternut squash and fruit purees can cut or replace fat in
many dishes, including baked goods.
Have you tried my Recipe Rehab-‐winning chocolate cupcakes? No butter at all, just beets and
cauliflower in the frosting. I took out all the cholesterol and the family couldn’t taste anything
but deliciousness.
Or how about trying my Recipe Rehab-‐winning Mac & Cheese, where butternut squash is the
creamy, dreamy hero.
Swap in pureed produce cup for cup and experiment with flavors. You can also use it as a
substitute for eggs – about ¼ cup for every whole egg. You may find that you actually don’t
need all that cholesterol, cream and buttah for a whole lotta’ flava.
Fit Foodie Recommendation: Using veggie purees in baking is one of my favorite tricks to
eliminate fat from butter and cream and lots of cake and cookie recipes:
• Beets, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, cauliflower and pumpkin are a few of my tried
and true ones. I’ve used these in cupcakes, cookies, breads – because the moisture and
density of these ingredients do just what butter does. In my decadent mocha chocolate
chip cake, which won ABC’s Recipe Rehab challenge, the secret ingredient was beets -‐
and the family was floored at how good it tasted. The amazing part is, we were able to
entirely eliminate the butter from their original recipe. Gone. Like zero. It is ok to use
canned beets in this preparation.
• Cauliflower can add body to frosting while butternut squash and pumpkin are great
complements to spiced cakes and cookies. These purees also make a great creamy
filling for desserts like cannoli and sweet ravioli or as a substitute for butter or cream
when blended with coconut or almond milk.
For the Love of Avocados
Avocados are a tree fruit which contain lots of nutrients and heart-‐healthy fats. The mild, creamy flavor of avocadoes make them perfect for many dishes: whether it be in your favorite guacamole recipe, on wraps, or blended into smoothies, soups or baked goods.
They contain more potassium than bananas, which is essential for muscle growth and organ function, and they are full of essential vitamins like C, E, K and antioxidants that keep the immune system strong. The creamy green flesh is also full of healthy fats – the monounsaturated fats that won’t raise your cholesterol levels.
Just be aware that 1 oz. of avocados contains almost 5 grams of fat. If you eat an average of 2,000 calories per day, indulging in one whole avocado would take up half of your daily recommended fat allowance, so keep that in mind when you’re savoring these succulent little gems.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #5: Deny the fry.
In the cultivating of palates, something big happens between the departure of baby foods and
most children’s menus. The color fades from the plate like a person about to faint. From a
palette of red, orange, green, purple and blue, we introduce white to brown food that gets
deep fried, bathed in sugar or salt and over takes our plates and palates.
French fries, doughnuts and those other deep fried delights you’ve been munching are not only
soaking in the grease, they can lower the pH levels in your body and induce acidity and can
bring on a variety of unsavory side effects like acid reflux, gastrointestinal disorders and other
chronic diseases.
The act of frying acidifies foods and delivers excess fat that your body can’t use for healthy
operating. If the urge takes you to that perfect golden french fry, southern fried drumstick, or
chocolate dipped donut, you can make your own fitter versions with these simple tricks:
• Spray sliced sweet potato wedges and chips with nonstick cooking spray and bake in the
oven until crisp; use fresh garlic and oregano, spicy chili powder or cinnamon to boost
the flavor quotient.
• Use a dehydrator to make perfect potato, kale and banana chips with very little oil and
without the high heat, which destroys valuable enzymes.
• Purchase an electric doughnut maker, which allows you to bake your holey delights.
Swap out white flour for whole grain or gluten-‐free alternatives and sweeten with all
natural stevia and real dark chocolate (look for the bars made with 70% or more cocoa
powder, like Vega™ Maca chocolate bars).
• Try my recipe for perfect oven baked chicken (pg. 112) that beat out the fried version on
Recipe Rehab. I make it with spices, Dijon mustard and ground flax meal, which you can
also use on other lean meats and seafood. This is still thumb-‐lickin’ good and forget
about the splatter, honey!
Fit Foodie Filosophy #6: Forego the salad saboteurs
A good quality salad is a great meal and a mainstay of a Fit Foodie because it’s a terrific way to
load up on those nutrient dense greens and create the necessary macronutrient balance. But if
you’re ordering a restaurant version, a lot of add-‐ons can put your dish into the same calorie,
sodium and fat zone of a double cheeseburger with fries.
Forego the fatty dressings, fried wontons, cheese and croutons and focus on the main stars:
fresh veggies, lean protein and high quality essential fats, like sunflower seeds and nuts.
Think about your salads as seasonal masterpieces. Grilled asparagus and wild caught salmon on
a bed of mixed greens screams Spring, while Tuscan kale topped with Japanese style broccoli,
broiled tofu, shredded carrots and sesame seeds feels like a Fall day. Adding grilled or fresh
fruit to your greens will make your plate pop.
Make your own simple dressings with good quality oils, like extra virgin olive oil or nut oil, a
flavorful vinegar like balsamic, apple cider, rice wine or red/white wine and spices.
I love adding in a little dry mustard and dill or, for Asian inspired salads, a low sodium tamari
with sesame oil and rice wine vinegar. Growing up, we would mix in tahini, a paste made from
crushed sesame seeds, with olive oil, cumin and a little sea salt for a Middle Eastern inspired
dressing – amazing on sliced tomatoes and cucumber!
What to keep in stock to make your salads sing:
• Good quality oils: Extra virgin olive, avocado, walnut oil, sesame, coconut
• Flavorful vinegars: Balsamic, rice wine, white wine, red wine, apple cider, natural fruit
flavored vinegars
• Low sodium condiments: Dijon or whole grain mustard, wasabi, tamari, horseradish,
nonfat Greek yogurt, sesame tahini, vegan mayo and hummus
• Herbs and citrus: Cilantro, basil, parsley, lime, lemon, orange, grapefruit, black pepper,
cayenne, LoSalt® Reduced Sodium Alternative, dry mustard
• Lean Protein: Chicken or turkey breast (deli), sautéed ground turkey or chicken, grilled
chicken or pork tenderloin, organic tofu or tempeh, beans, lentils, wild caught salmon,
tuna, shrimp and scallops
• Nuts and seeds: Walnuts, almonds, cashews, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, pepitas
(pumpkin seeds), black and white sesame seeds, flax, chia and hemp
Fit Foodie Filosophy #7: Dial back the alcohol.
I’m not going to dedicate a lot of space for this one, because you probably already know why reducing your alcohol intake is important. Your body is a temple and if you’re soaking in it, any
attempt at eating cleaner will be reversed in no time. Liquor is loaded with calories, especially creamy, sugary froo-‐froo drinks and can also send your system into metabolic chaos. Alcohol
can create an acidic environment in your body and introduce imbalance. Most of the chronic
diseases we face today feed off of this acidity. The other consideration is sugar. The average Piña Colada weighs in at over 500 calories due to
a whole lot of sweetness, which can be more calories than a meal! If you are going to have a drink every once in a while you can cut your cocktail content with club soda, and water down
wine with an ice cube or two. Or have a toast to champagne! It weighs in at only 78 calories per
glass. Consider these as being ‘normal’ serving sizes, and keep your intake in moderation accordingly:
Average Serving Sizes Average Calories
1 glass wine or champagne – 5 oz Red Wine: 127, White Wine: 121 calories Champagne: 78 calories
1 beer – 12 oz Regular Beer: 182 calories Light Beer: 110 calories
Of course, portion size is king, so check your mug size before you indulge.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #8: Learn the Language of Labelese.
The language of labels can be quite tricky, but reading the ingredient panel before you buy a
product is a must.
There are over 14,000 additives used in commercially prepared foods today. Some are far more
complicated and potentially dangerous than others and manufacturers, restaurateurs and those
who make our food are not required to disclose the hazards.
Read the labels on packaged foods and avoid artificial chemicals, colors, chemical preservatives
(MSG, BHA, BHT, Nitrates), bleached white flour, hydrogenated fats and 8-‐syllable words.
If you can’t pronounce it, does it belong on your plate?
The Steer Clear List
This is a list of foods that you should under no circumstances put in that precious body of yours
or anyone else you care about:
1. Artificial colors: Food colorings are used to make food look more appealing or to replace
colors lost in processing. However, don’t let these colors deceive you. Artificial colorings are
synthetic dyes that are often coal-‐tar derivatives. They are suspected to cause allergies, asthma,
hyperactivity and are potentially carcinogenic.
Chief culprits: Candy, beverages, soda, gelatin desserts, pastries, sausage, baked goods, even
fruits like green oranges sprayed with red dye to make them look ripe.
CLEANER PLATE CLUB Tip: Keep it real with a rainbow of fresh fruit and veggies, natural
juices and additive-‐free snacks.
2. Artificial preservatives (BHA, BHT, EDTA, Sodium Benzoate, etc): You may see these
ingredients in chips, fried snack foods, baked goods, carbonated drinks, cheese spreads,
hummus, salsa, chewing gum, ice cream, breakfast cereals and even cosmetics.
These preservatives are actually synthetic petroleum-‐based and fat soluble antioxidants, used
by manufacturers to prevent oxidation and retard rancidity. They can cause cancer, allergic
reactions and hyperactivity, and BHT may be toxic to the nervous system and the liver.
CLEANER PLATE CLUB Tip: Choose food and drinks labeled with “no artificial
antioxidants.” Avoid poor quality vegetable oils. Look for cold-‐pressed virgin oil which
contains natural antioxidants such as Vitamin E. Eat fresh produce that doesn’t contain
these preservatives.
3. Nitrites and Nitrates: Love your bacon in the morning and salami at lunch time? Cured,
preserved, smoked meats are often saturated with nitrites and nitrates to preserve shelf life
and give it a “healthy” pink hue. These two preservatives may prevent the growth of bacteria
but can also transform into cancer-‐causing agents called nitrosamines in the stomach. They
may also produce noticeable side effects like headaches, nausea, vomiting and dizziness.
CLEANER PLATE CLUB Tip: Look for nitrite and nitrate-‐free processed meats and opt for
meat-‐free alternatives to mix it up.
4. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG): You may be happy that you’re dining in restaurants that say
“No MSG”, but did you know that MSG lurks in all kinds of sauces used to prepare the foods
that you thought were MSG-‐free? There are also significant amounts in all kinds of snacks,
seasonings, candy, even infant formula, over-‐the-‐counter medications, and nutritional
supplements.
CLEANER PLATE CLUB Tip: Buy MSG-‐free snacks and read labels so you can make
healthier choices.
Practice this for 31 days and before you know it, you’ll become a label queen or king, knowing
how to decipher ingredients like a polyglot.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #9: Fill up on fresh fruit & veggies to the core.
If half your plate should be fresh produce, then half your fridge should be too.
The mind shift here is to reverse the order of priority when building out the elements of your
meals. Start with fresh produce – the more color the better. By getting your fridge in order
with a variety of pre-‐prepped veggies, the task to get them in your dishes becomes a lot easier.
How to Prep for Success: Take 15 minutes to pre-‐wash fruit and veggies for the whole week
with Eat Cleaner® Fruit and Vegetable Wash and store in see-‐through containers for easy
snacking, soups, salads, sautés and sandwiches. You’ll be less likely to eat the stuff you’re not
supposed to, and the wash will help your produce last up to 200% longer! That’s free money!
Tips to Get More Veggies on Your Plate:
• Make veggie chips out of kale, carrots and beets
• Vinegar-‐based slaws made with firm root vegetables
• Purees made with sweet potato, cauliflower, bell pepper, tomatoes and greens added
into soups, sauces and baked goods
• Steamed veggies that can be added into sautés, baked goods, stocks and combined with
legumes or high quality grains like quinoa, farro and whole grain couscous
• As the vessel for stuffed meals, like stuffed peppers (bell, Anaheim, etc), zucchini and
Japanese eggplant. You can also add veggies into the filling, like sweet potatoes,
cauliflower and broccoli
• Pickled vegetables that can be placed on sandwiches and in wraps. Cauliflower, carrots,
celery, onions and garlic are great options to add crunch and texture – and hold up great
3 Reasons Fit Foodies Let Loose the Juice
Packed with live enzymes, vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants, fresh juice also helps boost metabolism, fight infection, build tissue and strong bones, and helps keep everything running smoothly inside.
1. It’s alive! Most of the juice you purchase at the store has been heat pasteurized, which destroys bacteria along with many of the beneficial nutrients. By making it at home you get the benefit of live enzymes that activate your digestive processes.
2. The cleaner way to get leaner. You get the best of fruit and veggies, including concentrated nutrients, while reaping the benefits of instant energy. This can make you feel fuller faster and get a variety of fresh produce into your meals.
3. You get your daily dose. Squeezing in half a plate of fruit and veggies each day is a cinch when you sip it.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #10: Choose cleaner CARBS.
Let’s set the record straight on this very important point – carbohydrates are your friends!
Carbs are a critical part of your daily nutrition intake and give you quick energy, brain fuel, and
the fact is, you can’t metabolize protein – the building blocks of your muscles -‐ without them.
That said, good sources of slow burning carbohydrates metabolize differently in your body than
refined versions. This is a fundamental part of maintaining blood sugar at healthy levels.
The higher the glycemic index, the harder your body has to work to keep your blood sugar
balanced. Here’s how some average foods pan out. Don’t be fooled by sweetness as an
indicator of glycemic index. Some fruits are much lower than you might think.
On the High End On the Low End Baguette Whole Wheat Tortillas Bagels Pearled Barley
White Potatoes Chickpeas (hummus) White Rice Peanuts
White Bread Grapefruit, cherries Corn Flakes Green Veggies
Pretzels Lentils
While ‘gluten-‐free’ has become a big buzzword, it often contains white rice and starch, which
can also spike your blood sugar. Be sure to read your product labels and look out for these
hidden processed carbs.
Replace the bleached versions of rice, pasta, bread, tortillas, bagels and other baked goods with
sprouted grains, quinoa, spelt, brown rice, teff, black beans and other grain/legume
combinations for fitter fiber choices.
Equally important are serving sizes. One serving = ½ a bagel, tortilla or 1 slice of bread.
You also find carbohydrates in fruits and vegetables so keep that in mind as you’re balancing
your intake for the day, which should weigh in at about 40% of your total food intake.
Fit Foodie Recommendation: Toasting whole grains transforms their flavor to the fullest and
may just satisfy you faster. Also, take care to chew carbohydrates slowly and thoroughly.
Unlike protein, much of their digestion happens in your mouth – so try and avoid gulping them
down.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #11: Go WILD with seafood!
There are a lot of reasons why going wild is better for your health. According to Fishwatch.gov,
about 86% of all the seafood we consume in the U.S. is imported, and only about half of that is
wild or line caught.
There are a host of health related issues with fish farms. Farm raised salmon are housed within
small pens that are set up in the ocean or in small ponds. They are usually confined and often
kept in overcrowded conditions that increase their risk of infection and disease.
In addition:
• Farmed fish are given antibiotics and are exposed to much higher concentrated doses of
pesticides than their wild counterparts.
• Instead of being allowed to find their own natural food sources, they are fed dried food
pellets made up of fish oil and fish meal.
• Salmon farmers give farm raised salmon a richer hue by feeding them a synthetic
pigment called canthaxanthin. It has since been banned in Great Britain. To make
matters worse, pellets can contain cancer causing agents such as dioxins, flame
retardants and PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, considered highly toxic industrial
compounds, which you end up ingesting.
• They are high in Omega 6’s, which actually cause inflammation and are not what you
want to put in your body.
• They harm the natural environment. According to the National Academy of Science, lice
from fish farms kill up to 95% of juvenile wild salmon that migrate past them.
On the wild side, line caught salmon have a 20% higher protein content and a 20% lower fat
content than farm-‐raised salmon, according to the FDA. They also average 33% more Omega 3
fatty acids (the good kind) than farm raised salmon.
They may be the same species, but if we are what we eat, that wild salmon munching on other
wild fish is faring far better than his pellet-‐eating friends. This significantly affects the taste of
the seafood too. It is on par with eating grass fed beef or free range poultry. The intricate
flavors and textures, and even the color, of the fish itself is in a class all its own.
Don’t be afraid to ask restaurants and your supermarket for the wild stuff!
Fit Foodie Filosophy #12: Get Nutrient Dense.
As omnivores, we have the liberty to eat whatever we truly desire. But when you get dense
with your food, you don't just eat -‐ you nourish that amazing machine of yours to optimize its
potential to the fullest. You have to learn to make conscious decisions about what you eat,
starting with the foods that contribute the most micronutrients, including vitamins, minerals,
phytochemicals and antioxidants.
Think of these choices like cash. You wouldn't want to blow your hard-‐earned green on things
that'll give you buyer's remorse in the end. You want to buy things that will last.
It's the stuff that feeds your body that counts, and the best way to get dense is with leafy
greens like kale, mustard greens, watercress, spinach, broccoli rabe, brussel sprouts, swiss
chard, and arugula.
Leafy greens are some of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet based on ANDI scores
(the Aggregate Nutrient Density Index), meaning that when comparing calories to
micronutrients delivered, they are your plate's densest rock stars. We can’t even begin to
understand the number of phytonutrients they bring to the table.
The goal is to get as many of these on your plate as possible and build up your meal with lean
proteins and essential fats. By getting your fridge in order with a variety of pre-‐prepped greens,
the task to get them into all of your dishes becomes a lot easier.
Junk Food Confessions
When you’re about to say something you shouldn’t, you might bite your tongue. We all need
to learn to do the same thing when we’re about to eat something we shouldn’t. The fact is
much of your ability to control your entire body lies in that little pink bundle of muscle in your
mouth.
Your can naturally sense sweet, sour, salty and bitter flavors, but sweet and salty tastes are
heightened by your sense of smell, making foods that fall into these categories even more
difficult to resist.
Do not despair, however. There is a solution!
For every poor choice there is a nutrient rich alternative that will satisfy your cravings and your
wagging tongue’s need to feed. Give these alternative snacks a try:
CLEAN POTATO CHIPS Whole grain, or sprouted grain pita chips with chia or flax seed or kale brushed with olive oil and dusted with paprika, baked until crunchy.
CLEAN SODA Sparkling or ionized water with fresh cucumber slices and a squeeze of lime or a light purée of fresh fruit.
CLEAN FRENCH FRIES French green beans, carrot sticks and zucchini spears steamed, then lightly brushed with sesame oil and sesame seeds and then baked in the oven until crisp.
CLEAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES Try my EatCleaner.com recipe for Fit Bites -‐ power packed with oats, protein powder, dark chocolate chips and unsweetened coconut. Your new go to treat. Say yum!
CLEAN ICE CREAM Blend almond milk with your favorite Greek yogurt and a spoonful of honey or stevia, plus a few spoonfuls of raw almonds. Freeze and eat.
*Additional recipes are included at the end of the book.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #13: Fuel Up Like a Superhero.
Superfoods deliver a potent serving of nutrient density and phytochemical power-‐per-‐bite like
nothing else. Focus on these powerful food choices for an array of beneficial side effects
including improved brain function, anti-‐aging, and healthy cell regeneration.
Superfoods -‐ Get these onto your plate whenever possible: Green leafy veggies, berries, sweet
potatoes, Omega 3 rich seafood, eggs (whites, or whole when recommended by a doctor),
legumes (lentils, beans), and green tea.
Superfood add-‐ons -‐ Add these into baked goods, smoothies, oatmeal, pancakes and waffles:
Flax, chia, hemp, acai, goji berries, blue green algae, chlorella, spirulina, kelp, nuts, seeds, and
dark chocolate (70% or more cocoa). These are all in Superman’s pantry – we checked.
Super Foodie Tips:
• Fill your blender with spinach and kale and add coconut water for the base of a killer
smoothie.
• If you’re making eggs, puree a variety of greens like arugula, chard and watercress and
blend with egg whites to make a ‘green’ omelette. Fill with more veggies to add
texture.
• For lunch and dinner, try to enjoy as many raw veggies as possible. You’ll preserve the
enzymes and nutrients when eating them uncooked.
• Aside from salads, I like to make slaws out of firm, crunchy veggies with a vinegar base
that will hold up for several days in the fridge. This makes it easy to grab for every
meal. Purple cabbage, carrots, jicama, beets, turnips and radish are good options. Add
sesame or poppy seeds to boost essential fatty acids and give them a nice pop.
Fabulously Fit Fennel
Fennel is a white, bulbous vegetable with large green stalks and an anise flavor that resembles black licorice and although there’s no family resemblance, they’re a relative of carrots. In ancient Greece, fennel was held in high esteem and was believed to enhance longevity, strength and courage.
The fact is its one of the world's healthiest foods and is an excellent source of vitamin C, folate, potassium and dietary fiber. At only 27 calories a cup and zero grams of cholesterol, it’s also rich in antioxidants. The vegetable’s clean, crisp texture works beautifully chopped into salads and eaten raw or roasted in the oven and the dry seeds are great into tomato sauces and in homemade turkey sausage. You can even use them in brewed tea.
So next time you pass this in the store, you may want to pick one up and give your new fit friend a try.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #14: Join the hydration nation.
Ahhh, water. You can live without food for weeks, but without water your system will shut
down within a few days. We have to constantly remind ourselves how important pure, natural
spring water is to our success in maintaining a healthy weight and vibrancy.
• The human body is more than 60% water
• Blood is 92% water
• The brain and muscles are 75% water
• Bones are about 22% water
Every metabolic function your cells perform requires hydration. It’s that important!
H2O Rule of Thumb:
• Strive to drink ½ your body weight in ounces of water (including unsweetened tea or fresh vegetable juice) every day.
• Example: If you weigh 200lbs, drink 100 ounces per day, which is about 12, 8oz cups.
• Keep a water bottle near you at all times to encourage regular guzzling.
In fact, being dehydrated can fool you into the sensation of feeling hungry. Keep your system
from getting clogged up with lots of pure water and you’ll have fewer cravings.
Drink warm tea or water with lemon with food to encourage digestion, and cold water to speed
metabolism during off-‐eating periods. You can flavor them naturally with some sliced cucumber
and mint or some lemon and lime wedges and you might feel like you’re at the spa.
Get a little tropical and add some fresh strawberries and pineapple or any seasonal fruit you
have on hand. Fill an ice cube tray with slices of fresh fruit, citrus, or cucumber wedges, and
freeze for added color and flavor in your glass without any added calories.
Fit Foodie Recommendation -‐ Drink unfiltered apple cider vinegar with water:
• Try adding 1 teaspoon for every 5-‐6 ounces of water. The flavor really does grow on
you, but if you find it less than palatable, you can add a couple of drops of stevia and
enjoy a sweeter version.
• For thousands of years, vinegar has been used to address health problems and promote
weight control.
• Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, recommended apple cider vinegar for joint
pain, digestive distress and blood disorders.
• The ancient Egyptians even used it for weight loss, as a digestive aid and to help them
feel fuller faster.
• It’s even been shown to help prevent the spiking of insulin production, which can be
very helpful for diabetics, and for managing your blood sugar. Big Bonus!
What do I think about energy drinks? Just take a look at a nutrition label for a popular energy
drink and you’ll find tons of high fructose corn syrup, artificial preservatives, colors and gasp -‐
oil!
POPULAR ENERGY DRINK INGREDIENTS: Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, natural
flavor, orange juice concentrate, guarana (paullinia cupana) seed extract, sodium benzoate , sodium
hexametaphosphate, maltodextrin, caffeine, gum arabic, ascorbic acid, taurine, panax ginseng root
extract, calcium disodium edta, potassium benzoate, brominated vegetable oil, yellow 5, b vitamins:
niacinamide, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, vitamin b12, pyridoxine hydrochloride; blue 1.
To replace electrolytes after a workout you’re better off eating a banana with water, water with
cucumber slices, some coconut water, or a fresh avocado – they are all potassium rich.
Most leafy greens and fruit are high in water content too, so getting them in your meals
throughout the day will keep you hydrated. You can make your own fresh juice in a Vitamix or
juicer simply by combining ingredients like kale, spinach, celery, beets and apples. Add some
immunity boosting ginger and garlic and forget the $7 drinks at the corner juice bar.
Get mighty with the little green leaf.
Tea is a tradition in countries around the world and for good reason. Looking at the research, one might think this little green leaf could save the world.
Green tea is linked to fighting cancer and heart disease, lowering cholesterol, burning fat, preventing diabetes and stroke, and staving off dementia just to name a few. Green tea contains a variety of enzymes, amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids, sterols, polyphenols, carotenoids, tocopherols, vitamins, caffeine and related compounds, phytochemicals and dietary minerals that are great for your body.
Create an afternoon tea tradition and use it as a time to take a breather from your desk, socialize with your co-‐workers or pause during the day to reflect on how great you feel now that you’re eating cleaner.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #15: Eat the Fit Foodie Triangle Frequently.
“Take 5-‐6 clean meals a day and call me in the morning.”
A funny thing happened on a plane heading back from NYC. I was waiting to use the restroom
when a woman behind me asked if I was cold. She was wearing a full length wool coat, a
sweater and a turtleneck. I was in a thin, long-‐sleeved shirt. When I replied, “No, I'm very
comfortable,” she went on about how freezing cold the plane was.
I asked her when she had eaten last, and she curtly replied that she had 'a lot' to eat right
before getting on the plane. Curious, I asked her what ‘a lot’ meant, as she was very petite.
I mentioned that when your blood sugar drops, you can feel cold. She blasted back that she was
a cancer doctor and that it had nothing to do with digestion.
A nutrition challenge? Of course, I took this as an opportunity to delve into discussion further.
Here's a recap of our conversation:
Doctor: "Food has nothing to do with feeling warm."
Me: "But doctor, you know that digestion causes your body to burn calories, creating heat
through energy."
Doctor: "Whenever I eat, I always feel very sleepy. Eating makes me feel tired. I'm very
hypoglycemic."
Me: "All the more reason to eat the right combination of foods more frequently. If you did, you
would feel more energetic. What do you usually eat?"
Doctor: "Oh, I only eat protein. Very little carbs."
Me: "Doctor, that may be the problem. If you're not eating carbs, your body will have a hard
time metabolizing the protein, and you will not have energy quickly available to burn. Perhaps
you should try eating more fresh vegetables with your protein and essential fatty acids and eat
every 3-‐4 hours. I could suggest a good meal plan if you'd like to try it."
I wanted to say, eat 5-‐6 clean meals a day and call me in the morning, but then it was my turn
to go to the bathroom. With all due respect, I'm not saying I know more than a doctor, but if
eating makes you feel tired and sluggish, it's probably time to re-‐evaluate what's on your plate.
Not eating frequently enough triggers a signal that your body thinks it’s starving and it will hold
onto fat. Stoke your body’s natural fire with the Fit Foodie Triangle approach by combining
lean protein, essential fats and quality fiber sources, and you’ll burn MORE fat and calories.
I want you to throw the idea of 3 square meals a day out the window. This may be one of the
most important shifts in thinking when it comes to being a Fit Foodie.
Eating 5-‐6 meals with the right balance of lean protein, slow burning carbs and essential fats
– the Fit Foodie Triangle – every 3-‐4 hours – is the most effective way to stave off hunger and
stabilize blood sugar.
I promise, you will NOT gain weight, because you’re eating clean foods and you’re consuming
smaller portions. Clean foods + smaller portions = higher metabolism!
40% Quality Carbs
30% Essential Fats 30% Lean Protein The Fit Foodie Triangle
Remember, veggies add fiber and bulk to make you feel fuller longer and at a low calorie intake,
so keep them high on your priority list. You can always add more veggies to your dish.
Here are a few examples of a well-‐balanced 300-‐500 calorie meal:
• Chicken breast, arugula, sprouts and chopped tomato in a low carb, whole grain tortilla
with artichoke hummus
• Grilled fish with steamed veggies and cucumber, garlic and dill yogurt sauce
• Oatmeal made with old fashioned oats, flax meal, fresh fruit and unsweetened nut milk
• Protein shake made with high quality protein powder, egg whites, spinach and coconut
water
• Sushi rolls made with toasted seaweed, vinegar-‐seasoned brown rice, avocado, tuna and
cucumber
• Sprouted grain English muffin topped with almond butter and sliced apples
Hungry yet? In my Cleaner Plate Club Meal Prep Program, we created every dish like those
above with the perfect combination of nutrients, so you already know that you’re getting the
right 40/30/30 combination of macronutrients in every meal.
The plan gives you a blueprint and a prep guide to pre-‐plan each week with every meal coming
in at about 300-‐500 calories. Depending on your activity level, you may need to double or even
triple that number. You’ll know what you need based on your “Burn Rate” (see Tip #27).
Visit EatCleaner.com for more information on joining the Cleaner Plate Club Meal Prep Program.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #16: Practice portion control and go sharesies.
I remember hearing Oprah say, “When you have something that you know is going to taste
soooo good, it’s so much better to share it so both of you will say, ‘That was soooo good.’”
I love that because it’s true. When it comes to food, sharing is not only caring, it helps you
control how much you eat. According to the National Restaurant Association, the average meal
is 1,000 calories. For many, that’s half the calories you need in an entire day!
So don’t be afraid or embarrassed to share a meal or a dessert with a friend or family member
instead of going full bore. Studies show that when you eat with others, you tend to eat less.
There must be something to those happy social hormones.
When YOU aren’t controlling your portion sizes, restaurants are. You should always consider
the size of the meal being put in front of you. Researchers testing the food served in 29 chain
restaurants and 10 frozen supermarket meals found that calorie content averaged up to 20%
more than stated on the labels. No wonder dining out can be a minefield for calorie gluts.
The Solution: Eat at home more often.
It’s much cleaner when you stick to whole, one-‐ingredient fresh foods that let you stay in
control of what you put in your mouth and enjoy the benefits of knowing what is on your plate.
It’s cleaner for the planet, too – no take-‐out containers and plastic to deal with.
When making desserts at home, I also like to use automatic portion control by baking individual
cupcakes, crisps and pies in a muffin pan or ramekins (See the picture above). I love using them
for dishes like mac n’ cheese, gratin potatoes, or stuffing. Plus, they make for a beautiful
presentation. Use fun cupcake liners for no-‐mess clean up. The kids go crazy over these!
If you have to eat out just remember: you don’t have to eat the whole thing.
The key here is to enjoy every bite and not obsess over whether you’ve taken too big of a
serving. Just eat some, then share some. Enjoy the experience with the people who make you
happy and don’t count the bites -‐ make every bite count.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #17: Go Meatless Monday.
Even if you’re not a vegetarian, the health and environmental impact of having at least one
meatless day during the week is significant. It also lowers your grocery bill!
It is estimated that 1,800 to 2,500 gallons of water go into a single pound of beef compared to
about 200 pounds of tofu. Cutting down on meat consumption just once a week can also
reduce your risk of heart disease by almost 20%, according to the Meatless Monday campaign.
By combining foods, like beans and brown rice with vegetables, you can still enjoy a complete,
high protein meal that feeds you and helps preserve our planet.
Plus, there’s a veggie equivalent to almost every meat item out there – just peruse your local
grocery store’s freezer and refrigerated aisles. From bacon to sausage, ground beef to burgers,
vegetarian alternatives are abundant and many of them are so good you won’t miss the meat.
Cleaner Plate Club Tip:
• Stock up on a quality, low-‐sodium veggie burger or use my recipe on EatCleaner.com
and top them with sprouts, tomato and hummus
• Slice tofu into squares and coat with cornstarch and a little sesame oil and broil in the
oven
• Use veggie crumble and cook up as a filling for tacos/lettuce cups, stuffed veggies or in
sauces
• Serve veggie burgers topped with sliced avocado alongside steamed broccoli and quinoa
for a complete protein packed meal
• Instead of pasta with meat sauce, try using soy chorizo.
Even steadfast carnivores will have something to sink their teeth into with these tips. You may
be surprised just how satisfying a meat-‐free meal can be.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #18: Practice safe snacks.
Among the walls of fluorescent puffs, chips and rounds lies a minefield of artificial colors,
flavors, sodium and sugar. Even some of the ‘healthy’ snacks out there are loaded with enough
salt to fill the Dead Sea and enough sugar to give you a cavity just by looking at them.
Everyone needs a certain amount of functional calories every day – a balance of carbohydrates,
good fat and protein, vitamins and minerals to support healthy bone and muscle mass and
organ function. You can get these from a variety of foods and beverages, but not all calories
are created equal.
Three creme-‐filled Oreos may have 160 calories and 7 grams of fat, but they’re not going to
feed your body like a banana with two teaspoons of almond butter or a high quality protein
shake.
Cleaner Plate Club Tip -‐ Here are some simple ideas to keep snacking a fit part of your
everyday life:
• Cut up sticks of cucumber, jicama, carrots, and celery and serve with spinach sundried
tomato pesto spread (pg.102).
• Organic edamame or snap peas can be baked and crisped when coated with a little
nonstick fat free cooking spray.
• Fill your fruit bowl with an assortment of fresh favorites and have some Eat Cleaner®
Fruit & Vegetable Wipes close by. Always keep the wipes with you on the go so you can
pick up a piece of fruit and clean it properly when the mood hits.
• Fill snack bags with raw almonds and cranberries for the perfect Fit Foodie Triangle
energy combo.
Cucumber Cool
• It is one of the lowest calorie vegetables at just 15 calories per ounce.
• Like bananas and avocado, it’s a great source of potassium.
• They surprisingly have a high amount of vitamin K, which helps with bone strength.
• They’re antioxidant-rich and the peel is a good source of fiber.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #19: Get the right tools for the job
Having the ‘right stuff’ and being well equipped in the kitchen will make your preparation much
easier and more efficient. These picks will also help enable you to control portions, and keep
your cooking leaner and cleaner.
I want you to think about your tools as enabling you to get more creative in the kitchen. Just
like an artist, you’ll have the ability to whip up meals with your signature touch. That’s when
you know you’re getting comfortable and your cooking has moved well beyond a chore.
As a chef, there are SO many things I’d love to recommend but I’ve whittled them down to a
short list. These are MUST-‐HAVE items to make your life easier. I do have some name brand
appliances that I recommend because I’ve tried so many varieties and these are the ones that I
think work best. If you have other brands, you don’t need to run out and buy new ones.
We’ll make good use of what you’ve got!
Essential Tools
• Measuring Cups and Spoons
• BPA-‐Free Reusable Containers: To store food in various sizes, sauce to entrée
• Insulated cooler: To transport meals
• Large Colander: To wash produce
• 3 Cutting Boards: 1 for produce, 1 for meats/fish, 1 for everything else
• Veggie Peeler: To make ribbons out of zucchini, carrots, squash, etc.
• Microplane: To grate nutmeg, dark chocolate and citrus zest
• Food Processor: To make sauces, chop veggies, and process grains
• Vitamix® Blender: To make smoothies and sauces
• Jay Kordich® Juicer: To make fresh pressed juice
• Chopping and Paring Knives: Make sure they’re sharp
• Small and Medium Ice cream Scoop: To form meatballs, Fit Bites and portion-‐controlled desserts
• Baking dishes with lids: In various sizes to make storage and clean up easier
• Veggie steamer
• Swiss Diamond® Pans: Grill pan, Crepe pan, large stock pot, large non-‐stick skillet
Optional but REALLY nice to have:
• Crock Pot: Slow cook fit meals while you’re away from home
• Stick Blender: Puree and blend while foods are in the pot
• Yonanas®: Makes soft serve sorbet out of frozen fresh fruit – a nice healthy treat
• Dehydrator: Makes kale and other veggie/fruit chips without destroying enzymes
• Rice cooker: Easily cook grains and stuffed peppers perfectly
Fit Foodie Filosophy #20: Shop Smart, Save Green.
If your health and wellbeing is a priority, then choosing healthy foods has to be a priority.
We all say we want to eat right, but I hear this excuse everyday – “Eating cleaner is sooo
expensive”. Many people simply assume that eating right costs more. Is it true?
In reality, as a country we spend less of our money on groceries than we did 30 years ago and
the cost of most foods has actually decreased:
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Credit: Lam Thuy Vo / NPR
The way we spend our grocery money has also changed. We now spend a much larger share on
processed foods, which includes things like frozen dinners, canned soups and snacks.
It so doesn’t have to be that way.
Start by setting aside the $5 boxes of cereal, the $4 coffee drinks, the $3 bags of chips and the
$2 energy bars – or worse, the $50 restaurant tab for a few tacos!
Just like you would price shop for a computer or a pair of shoes, food should fall into the same
category. Be strategic about where you shop and what aisle you head down. If you keep your
focus on the perimeter or the ring around the store, you’ll find where the freshest foods live to
fill your cart.
Look to ethnic stores and farmers’ markets for some of the best deals on fresh seasonal
produce, meats, fish and grains, and look online for the best deals at your local stores. Farmers’
markets are a great social experience for kids and take the focus to locally produced foods.
Shopping can be fun again!
Our Cleaner Plate Club Meal Prep Program actually gives you a shopping list so you can be that
much more efficient when making your choices. The focus is on fresh fruit, veggies, lean
protein, and quality carbs. Once you fill your fridge and pantry with clean staples, keeping up
on the fresh stuff and fill-‐ins will be all you need.
When you add up all those incidentals and the cost of going out to eat, you’ll soon realize that
you can easily feed a family of four for under $100 a week. As a single mom of two, I do it and
spend about $75 for the 3 of us – and we eat CLEAN. I’ll show you step by step how I do it in
the Cleaner Plate Club.
The key is preparation.
If you will take two hours per week to get all your ingredients ready, meal assembly becomes a
piece of cake. You pay for it now in preventative good health, or later in healthcare costs and
weight loss gimmicks. The choice is yours, but a little savvy goes a long, long way.
Here are some more tips to save money in the aisles:
• Look online to price check. Scope out what fresh produce and meat is on sale. This is
where you'll usually save the most money, as stores always have featured specials.
• Buy larger sized items vs. individual serving sizes (yogurt, nuts, crackers, cheese, etc) in
bulk. Pre-‐portioned items are usually more expensive. Use your reusable containers and
snack bags to portion them yourself.
• Shop the bulk bins for beans, rice, quinoa, bulgur, cereal and other bulk items since you
can get smaller quantities and they are almost always cheaper than the name brands.
• Avoid purchasing beverages like bottled water and juice. It’s much cheaper to get a
water filter or pitcher. Plus it's better for the environment! Bottled juice can cost $4-‐5
per container. Make your own juice or spa water and drink more everyday -‐ just add
slices of lemon, lime and cucumber!
• Take a detour from the prepared foods section. It can be tempting for the convenience,
but can easily suck up your budget. Opt to make your own healthy meals and know
what you’re putting in them and your mouth.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #21: Grow your own.
There’s nothing like picking fresh produce from your own garden. Besides the therapeutic
aspects of gardening, knowing where your fruit and vegetables come from and preserving their
nutrient values are great benefits.
Once picked, nutritional value of your produce will immediately start to decline. With
transportation time from the field to your local store, it’s estimated they only retain about 45%
of their nutrients by the time you get them home. Growing your own is healthier, cheaper,
and better tasting. It’s like growing your own money!
Start with a simple herb garden and add your favorites as you get the hang of your newly
cultivated green thumb. You will fall in love with growing your own food.
If you don’t have room outside to grow a garden, don’t despair. You can either get one of those
cool Tower Gardens, which take up almost no room and grow produce aeroponically, without
soil, or you can plant some smaller pots inside.
These beauties love the indoors and will thrive as long as you water and sun them. A little
talking to doesn’t hurt either. They love your attention.
• Greens. They don't need a ton of sun and allow you to pick as you grow. Try the more
delicate greens like arugula, watercress, dandelion, mizuna and tatsoi.
• Fresh Herbs. Cilantro, basil, thyme, oregano and rosemary.
• Other varieties. Baby carrots and radishes (and other small root vegetables) don't need
a deep container, and only partial sunlight. If you have room, you can also try eggplant
and tomatoes.
Visit EatCleaner.com for more information on where to buy Tower Gardens, Juicers, Vitamix, Vegetable
Washes, Wipes and more!
Fit Foodie Filosophy #22: Save your green(s) and the planet!
If someone took $150 and threw it in the garbage, you would think they were nuts – or maybe
dive in after it. But if you’re dumping fresh produce out every month, you’re basically doing the
same thing -‐ not to mention the invaluable resources that get
wasted.
Every year, about 40% of all produce grown gets thrown into
landfills. Landfills are huge contributors of methane gas, which
is 20 times more harmful to the environment than carbon dioxide emissions! Most people
never even think about what happens to their garbage after it leaves their house, but the
impact is significant.
What A Waste!
About 40% of all produce grown ends up in a landfill, along with 25% of our fresh water and 4% of our oil resources.
More than wasting food, millions of people are wasting money. The thought of spending $4 on
a bag of ‘pre-‐washed’ lettuce absolutely drives me crazy. Why would you spend twice or even
four times as much on a head of lettuce and get 60% less product? Plus, you’re eating
something washed with chlorine. (YES, most pre-‐washed produce is washed in a chlorine bath.)
Or worse, just water, which even the Center for Disease Control says is not effective in
addressing bacteria that can cause foodborne illness.
Plus, I don’t know about you, but if something sits in a bag in my fridge, it’s going to waste away
and be forgotten. It’s not going to make me healthier by osmosis. Let me show you how to
prevent waste and save money by solving both problems at once.
I created Eat Cleaner®, the ONLY fruit and vegetable wash that removes wax, pesticides,
fertilizers and soil while also extending shelf life, naturally. It’s not a chemical. Just a patented
mix of fruit acids, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. With Eat Cleaner® products you’re
making your produce cleaner AND you’re getting up to 200% more shelf life out of it. That’s a
huge return on your investment.
When you make your own pre-‐washed produce, you are:
1) Saving money.
2) Making sure it’s REALLY clean. Even if it’s organic, fertilizers and soil can carry pathogens
that cause foodborne illness, which water won’t do much for.
3) Helping the environment by NOT throwing produce away.
4) Eating MORE produce, because it’s ready to eat when you are.
If you pre-‐wash your fruit and veggies and put them in reusable BPA-‐free or glass containers,
you and your family will be 100% more likely to eat more of it. Try it. Wash some strawberries
or blackberries and put them out on the counter. They’ll be gone in 60 seconds. Now leave
them in the bag in your crisper and watch them mold in less than 3 days. Eat clean, save green.
Cleaner Plate Club Tip:
Other ways to avoid throwing food (and your money) down the drain:
• Purchase a compost bin and make use of all the food scraps that you would normally
toss in the garbage. The compost becomes valuable, mineral rich soil for your garden.
Nature Mill makes one that’s space efficient and stink-‐free.
• If you’ve bought more food than you can eat, puree it for another day. Fruit, veggies,
greens and herbs all hold up well if they are frozen.
• Share the love with a neighbor, family, or friends and pre-‐prep your food for the week
together. Make it a Clean Prep party! Turn on some music and go wild.
• Juice it Up! Before your food goes foul, get it into your juicer and drink up the benefits
of pure nutrition.
Get Juiced
You’ll get your money’s worth out of a good quality juicer, or you can put your blender to work on easy-to-mix matchups, including fresh berries, citrus fruit, melons, tomatoes, cucumber, spinach and herbs.
Apple, beet and celery with a dash of ginger are the perfect cool weather warmer while watermelon and carrot with a splash of mint makes a sweet, refreshing chiller on a hot day.
If you’re diabetic or watching your sugar intake, kick up the veggie content. Strive for two 8-oz glasses each day and let your inner gourmet shine with countless combinations. Make these at home and your waistline and your bottom line will thank you.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #23: Don’t let your food go foul.
Committing to eating cleaner will open your world to a rainbow of fresh food. With that comes
perishability and the potential for bacteria, so handling these foods with the utmost care and
cooking them properly will help reduce your risk of contamination and sickness.
Every year there are a reported 48 million cases of foodborne illness in the US alone, including
3,000 deaths. While most people associate foodborne illness with meat and poultry, the
number one cause is actually leafy greens. Washing your produce thoroughly will remove the
soils, fertilizers and handling residue that can carry bacteria while also removing the wax that
can trap bacteria under the surface.
Wash your hands regularly when handling raw foods, especially produce, meat, chicken and
eggs and avoid contact with your mouth and any other surfaces.
The interior temperature of cooked foods should be:
• 165°F for poultry
• 160°F for dishes containing eggs
• 160°F for ground beef
CLEANER PLATE CLUB Tips:
• Avoid bruised, cut skin on produce
• Contaminants get locked under non water-‐soluble waxes, so using a wash like Eat
Cleaner® will help remove this layer to get food truly clean
• Clean the exterior of melons and peeled produce before slicing
• Clean uncooked chicken to remove the ‘fecal soup’
• Wash hands regularly; avoid contact with your mouth
• Avoid pre-‐cooked seafood as it could be cross contaminated with raw seafood
• Clean shellfish to remove sand and grit before cooking
• Use Eat Cleaner® Biodegradable Food Wipes to clean countertops, cutting boards and
hands throughout the process.
Food should always be your pleasure, never your pain.
*FDA-‐regulated products between1990 and 2006.
The TOP 10 Riskiest Foods*
#10: BERRIES: 25 outbreaks involving 3397 reported cases of illness
#9: SPROUTS: 31 outbreaks involving 2022 reported cases of illness
#8: TOMATOES: 31 outbreaks involving 3292 reported cases of illness
#7: ICE CREAM: 74 outbreaks involving 2594 reported cases of illness
#6: CHEESE: 83 outbreaks involving 2761 reported cases of illness
#5: POTATOES: 108 outbreaks involving 3659 reported cases of illness
#4: OYSTERS: 132 outbreaks involving 3409 reported cases of illness
#3: TUNA: 268 outbreaks involving 2341 reported cases of illness
#2: EGGS: 352 outbreaks involving 11,163 reported cases of illness
#1: LEAFY GREENS: 363 outbreaks involving 13,568 reported cases of illness
Fit Foodie Filosophy #24: Tote your own treats.
You get to work. No time to leave for lunch. Stomach starts to rumble. Get distracted. Get
tired. Start to yawn. Chug a bunch of coffee or energy drinks. Grab a bag of chips from the
vending machine. Reach into your desk drawer and fish out a bag of year-‐old Halloween candy
you pillaged from your kids and proceed to go into a caffeinated sugar and salt coma in the
middle of your manager’s meeting, and fall head first onto the ground…
Ok, maybe a little dramatic but not far from reality, right?
Packing your own meals and snacks when you are away from home is an important way to
manage your food intake, balance your blood sugar, and make sure you are eating quality vs.
quantity. You won’t feel ‘stuck’ with having to settle for crap. You’ll save a ton of dough, too!
When it comes to kids, here’s the reality:
It clicked when I found out that my son, who was in Kindergarten at the time, got a whopping
10 minutes to eat lunch at school. If they’re standing in the lunch line for 10 minutes, they’re
practically jamming food down their gullet and swallowing it whole to finish eating in time.
Childhood obesity has grown to epidemic proportions, literally and figuratively. According to
the Center for Disease Control, in the last 30 years, the prevalence of obesity has tripled.
It isn’t just about being heavy. It’s about the chronic diseases that can take years from your
kids’ otherwise healthy lives – heart disease, liver disease, type 2 diabetes, depression, sleep
apnea – the list goes on and on.
It would be very easy to succumb to those non-‐descript, pre-‐packed wrapped lunch meals and
neon-‐colored ‘phood’ snacks, but you know better than to slap such super-‐processed, phony
baloney onto your kids’ buns. I mean, white bread and fluorescent snacks are so 1982.
Instead of making your kids’ school lunch, have them help you. When they are old enough,
have them make it with you the night before. Offer them cookie cutters to make sandwich
shapes, teach them how to roll a wrap, and give them the tools to safely chop their own fruits
and veggies.
When you make it creative, they won’t see it as a chore. Slip them a caring, thoughtful note
that lifts their spirits at lunchtime and lets them know that you’re thinking about them. That
little bit of love satiates a deeper appetite and will make them look forward to what’s in the
bag.
Cleaner Plate Club Tips:
• Make a list and buy it once. Take our tips, make your list and head to the store on the
weekend and buy 1-‐2 weeks worth of supplies so you’re stocked up. Being prepared is
half the battle (and half your sanity!).
• The night before lunch. Prepare lunches the night before and put them in an insulated
container to keep them cooler longer. Add in an ice-‐pack if food is sitting out for more
than 3 hours.
• Chemical free is the way to be. Always opt for BPA and Thalate-‐Free plastic or glass
storage containers.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #25: Grow a Family of Fit Foodies.
It may seem easier to keep your kids out of the kitchen during dinnertime prep, but there’s no
better way to cultivate a good palate. Studies show that children who are involved in the
cooking process are 80% more likely to try new things.
Give your children simple tasks like washing vegetables, mixing ingredients or pressing the start
button on the blender. Allow them to pick and try out food as you’re prepping, and let them
announce to the entire family how they helped make the meal.
The sense of pride they’ll have will go a long way to becoming a Fit Foodie for life!
If they turn their noses up, don’t give up. Let your child taste the food 21 times before you
even think about trying something different. Taste buds are like muscles. They need to be
conditioned, tested and strengthened so that they can take on new flavors. To encourage this,
you can vary textures and work more nutrient dense foods into the mix.
Here are some tried and true methods that have helped me get my pickiest eaters (my own
kids) to get on the Fit Foodie train:
Do it raw. Try to get as much produce onto their plates in their raw state so they can really
appreciate those pure flavors. The good news here is that kids love to crunch, and it’s a time
saver because it’s one less thing to cook. Carrots, celery, cucumbers, jicama, sugar snap peas,
and bell peppers are all great vegetable options. Some veggies get more palatable with a light
steam, like broccoli and cauliflower.
Skinny-‐Dip. Offering a low-‐fat, high flavor dunker for your veggies is the perfect way to get
them to indulge. It’s also fun. Remember, kids love to be creative and taking a carrot stick to a
spread is like dipping a paintbrush. Make dips like cuke and dill Greek yogurt, artichoke
hummus, and spinach pesto spread. These are great options that also pack a nutritious punch.
Get Saucy. One of the easiest ways to slip a ton of veggies into your kids’ meals is in a versatile
sauce that goes the distance. I combine fresh spinach, kale, zucchini, bell pepper, tomato, garlic
and onion to make the base for my pizzas, pasta, bakes, soups and stews. You’ve got
supercharged nutrition in there, but no chunks. Make extra and freeze them in an ice cube tray
for smaller servings. Plus, you can use a veggie peeler and make ribbons out of carrots, zucchini
and yellow squash as an alternative to pasta. Double saucy bonus!
Bake it, don’t fake it. If the fluorescent colors and artificial ingredients in store-‐bought items
sound unappetizing, join the club. I won’t buy those fakey-‐bakeys and neither should you. I
want to tell you, you don’t have to be a pastry chef to pull off great baked goods. Beets, sweet
potatoes, squash, apples, pears and pureed berries can be traded in -‐ trading out cholesterol
and sugar – transforming baked goods into functional foods. Just like that, you have kitchen
chemistry magic. If you’re more comfortable using a baking mix, there are some good options
out there too. Just look for the ones that contain whole food ingredients and no artificial
sugars, chemicals or colors. Also watch out for excessive sodium.
Get your blender on. If you don’t have one already, get yourself a good blender stat! I can
take coconut water or almond milk, throw in a couple of cups of fresh spinach, blueberries and
some high quality protein powder, add in a little flax seed and some crushed ice, and I’ve got
serious satisfaction in a glass in a minute flat. It’s all about texture here. These are smooth,
cool and go down real easy. You can also make blender smoothies and protein drinks, then
freeze them for a decadently delicious dessert.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #26: Break (better) bread together.
I have a rule in my house: No one eats alone. Growing up, I was conditioned to eat with no
fewer than 5 people around the table and that was our cherished time to catch up on life and
reconnect.
There’s nothing like gathering people you love around the table or sharing food with someone.
Put the technology down. Play some great background music. Light a candle. Eat outside.
Whatever you do, do it together. It’s the ultimate in nurturing relationships and it not only
brings you closer together, it helps avoid waste and shares your love for eating cleaner with
others. The more people that catch on the better!
To make it fun, swap nights where one family member or friend cooks and the other cleans up,
or plan an “Eat Cleaner” theme night where you focus on a country and explore their unique
dishes Fit Foodie style. I love doing this with friends because it helps prove that any dish can be
made cleaner with a little recipe rehab.
For Mexican food you can swap out fatty cheeses and white flour tortillas and add in lots of
veggies, low sodium beans, whole grain tortillas, and lean meats – or even go completely
vegetarian. With Italian there are tons of quality pasta options made with brown rice and
quinoa, plus sauces made with healthy tomatoes filled with lycopene. Even pizza can become a
nutritious treat with better crusts, lean toppings, and nitrate/nitrite free meats. You can have a
“make your own” night so everyone can individualize their pizza to their own tastes.
I also like breaking out the Yonanas® machine, which turns frozen
fruit into dairy-‐free soft serve sorbet: strawberries, pineapples,
mangos, coconut milk, and bananas. It’s fun to make, everyone
can create their own flavors, and it is a truly delicious treat.
Your work isn’t done just at home. Make sure to bring a little extra to share with your co-‐
workers at the office too. It’s amazing what a little food can do to build friendships and share
your love of eating clean.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #27: Know your burn rate.
We come in all different shapes and sizes and expend energy at different levels. Based on your
size and age, along with your sex, it’s important to know approximately how many calories you
should be eating to reach your goals, whether it’s to maintain, gain, or lose weight.
6 bites into that 8 bite pie and you may be shocked to realize you’ve already taken in 500
calories – the equivalent of an entire nutrient-‐dense meal. A massive salad made with mixed
greens, a whole breast of chicken and a few slices of avocado can amount to the same number
of calories.
The last thing I want you to do is become a slave to calories. If you’re eating clean, your weight
will naturally balance out to a large extent. However, becoming calorie ‘aware’ and getting in
tune with what your individual body requires in order to maintain, gain, or lose weight is one of
the keys to your success.
General Clean Calorie Guideline
This guideline is slightly lower than most guides you’ll see because it’s more focused on quality
calories vs. quantity. If you feel like you need more calories then just bulk up on more
vegetables, lean protein, and quality carbs.
Gender Age (Years) Average Daily Caloric Expenditure (Moderately Active)
Female 19-30
31-50+
1,700-1,900
1,500-1,700
Male 19-30
31-50+
2,300-2,600
2,100-2,300
Check out MyFitnessPal.com or LiveStrong.com to get an idea of where you need to keep your
caloric intake. Most people fall in the range of 1500-‐2500 calories a day, but knowing where
you fit is important.
Before you bite, weigh your choices and make sure those hard earned calories are going to
have a positive return on their investment in YOU.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #28: Exercise less, eat more.
Yes, you read that right! This is the truth about one of the biggest misconceptions in fitness
today. Moving your body is important for your booty and your brain, but don’t think of it as a
way to counter overeating.
Your eating habits will burn far more fat than your exercise routines ever will.
Using exercise as a way to purge your overindulgences at the table will eventually eat you alive.
It reminds me of a comment I overheard at the gym that I would have completely related to
10 years ago:
"I was so hungry last night when I got home from the gym that I ate a whole box of
chocolate chip cookies while I was cooking dinner. So I'm going to work out for two extra
hours today to burn it off."
I was once on that same gerbil wheel. To burn off all the excessive calories I had binged on that
day, I would follow up my indulgences with a thrash-‐and-‐burn-‐fest as penance.
I would do 15 minutes at level 10 on the Stairmaster and say to myself "I won't eat cookie
dough off a spoon at midnight again" 30 times. Run an extra 4 miles and repeat "I will only eat
rice cakes all day tomorrow" 15 times.
Binge and purge, binge and purge.
It's a devastating cycle because the reality is, it takes a lot of extra work to burn off that 600
calorie brownie you inhaled in 3 bites while flipping the channels. Like, a full hour of it at high
intensity just to break even. You don't have to beat yourself up over an occasional indulgence
but when you make it a regular habit, the cycle can be devastating.
The purpose of exercise is to allow your body to operate as its highest potential, not to “burn
off” what you ate the night before. The body doesn’t work that way. Your metabolism, the
natural processes taking place in your body all day long, are what get rid of your fat deposits.
There are specific triggers that tell your body to burn or store fat depending on what you eat
and when you eat it. Using my Cleaner Plate Club Meal Prep Program will ensure that all your
macronutrient ratios are just right for keeping your fat burning metabolism turned on.
Eat in such a way that your metabolism naturally increases, and your body will automatically
burn more fat. Eat poorly, and you won’t just gain fat, you’ll also slow down your system,
which makes it even harder to lose fat and feel energized.
Exercise early in the day and you will benefit from extra fat burn all day long. The most
important thing, however, is to exercise EFFICIENTLY. Here’s how:
The goal is to do 30 minutes of exercise, 5-‐6 times per week, focused on fat burning with
interval and resistance training in your optimal fat burning zone. Targeted training that builds
lean muscle is far more effective for boosting your metabolism than an hour on a treadmill
while never breaking a sweat. Lean muscle mass is the foundation for efficient fat burning.
However, if you miss a day or can’t fit in a full workout, don’t beat yourself up. Just do a few
push-‐ups, sit-‐ups, squats, or a go for a nice walk or jog. Any movement is better than none –
you’re still moving faster than everyone else on the couch.
Exercise should serve as a way of improving cardiovascular health, building muscle mass and
hopefully allowing for some pretty awesome endorphins to kick in and make you feel silly-‐
happy. If you're not eating enough of the right foods, it can actually undo all the good,
including burning that hard earned muscle instead of fat.
When you eat cleaner and exercise effectively, you are living a sustainable lifestyle that feeds
your sanity, not your face. There is nothing more stressful -‐ mentally and physically -‐ than trying
to reinvent what your body requires you to do to survive and thrive daily. The better habits and
routines that you develop to determine what you eat, when you eat, the quantity of food you
eat, and the quality of food you eat, including how those foods combine, the easier this concept
of maintenance becomes.
That's regularly scheduled care. Not sporadic, when the stuff breaks down kind-‐of-‐work. It's the
work that keeps the engine humming, like the well-‐tuned machine that you are. After all, your
time is precious. Like every bite, make every minute of exercise count.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #29: Don’t count on calories.
If you’re looking to lose weight solely by counting calories, think again. Remember, not all
calories are created equal. If you’re driven by the 100 calorie snack packs and 400 calorie
frozen meals, you may be shortchanging yourself of quality nutrition. Many people think that
eating 500 calories of junk food will have the same effect as eating 500 calories of clean
proteins and vegetables. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Excessive alorie deprivation will hurt more than it helps. As a calorie counter you can lose a few
pounds by eating fewer calories over time, but you aren’t speeding up your fat burning
metabolism, so the weight will just come right back. If your goal is to eat 5 meals per day at
400 calories each, the meals need to be balanced according to the Fit Foodie Triangle in order
to activate your fat burning metabolism. Junk food won’t cut it.
To maintain your ideal body weight, keep your calories within the basic ranges on the Calorie
Chart (pg. 85), but more importantly, eat clean calories. To eat cleaner means to focus on foods
that are nutrient dense, and that offer a functional benefit to that well-‐tuned machine of yours
– not to simply satiate your hunger.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #30: If it’s not organic, don’t panic.
Not all conscientious farms or growers can afford to go certified organic, but that doesn’t mean
they’re less healthy. Here’s what I know about the Big O (Organic Companies):
Organic farms require a USDA certification that they receive after a period of about three years.
During that time, they’re considered ‘transitional.’ For a small farm, the expense can come at a
prohibitive price tag, and while they may not be certified organic they are still considered
‘sustainable’ in that they are grown locally and uphold similar growing practices. Often these
small farms have a reduced carbon footprint because they sell close to home.
Because of the consumer surge in demand for organic foods, large agribusiness corporations
have pulled up to the table in an effort to reap the benefits, threatening the existence of these
small sustainable farmers and making it harder for them to compete.
Organic meat farmers are required to use feed grown organically and are prohibited from
administering antibiotics or hormones to their livestock. Yet when it comes to animal welfare,
they are only required to give the animals "access" to outdoors with as little as an open door
leading to a cement patio.
On the flip side, sustainably raised meats, such as venison from New Zealand, are grass fed
outdoors year-‐round on free-‐range ranches without the use of hormones, steroids or growth
promoters. Rainwater and sunshine nourish the pasture the animals graze on without
environmentally expensive irrigation, waste disposal or water-‐table impact. They’re just not
‘organic’ by label, but they are truly sustainable.
There’s no denying that certified organic foods come from a good philosophical place, offering
consumers alternatives to products loaded with artificial chemicals, added hormones and
pesticides. When it comes to food choices, there’s always more than meets the eye. We have
to look deeper than the surface of the label.
If you can’t afford all organic produce, opt for sustainable, biodynamic and locally grown
produce where they don’t use harsh chemical pesticides. Prioritize organic animal products,
especially dairy, and organic soybeans to avoid GMOs (genetically modified food). The main
point, however, is to eat a variety of fresh fruit and veggies daily.
Fit Foodie Filosophy #31: Think before you bite.
Before you take a bite of something that you know you shouldn’t, take a couple of extra
seconds to think. Your choice to eat is conscious.
If you think you’ll regret it later, grab a glass of water with lemon or sliced cucumber. Being
thirsty can be confused with hunger, so guzzle some good ole H2O and see if the urge to splurge
goes away. If you’re in between planned meals and you feel like you need a little something,
snack on some sliced celery, cuke, or jicama with hummus.
Eat food consciously. That means no mindless munching, maniacal multitasking, or what I call
‘fridge forking’ – you know, standing in front of the refrigerator and using your fork to taste test
everything in sight.
Grab a plate, sit and breathe. When your mom told you to chew your food carefully, she had a
good reason for it (besides not wanting you to choke!).
By chewing properly, you help your body process your food intake more efficiently. The act of
chewing stimulates your salivary glands to release saliva, which helps moisten your food. Saliva
also contains special chemicals that help your body break down carbohydrates, which is why it’s
really important to chew those thoroughly.
Your taste buds also send signals to your brain about the flavors you are tasting and what type
of chemicals and enzymes will need to be released, so if you’re rushing the process, you may be
putting more stress on your system. Try to chew everything as many times as possible until it
literally dissolves in your mouth.
Taste every bit of your food. You paid for it, so get as much pleasure out of each bite as you
can! Food consumed out of boredom will leave you feeling less than satisfied.
My grandfather always used to tell me, you might not have all the money in the world but you
can share something with even the richest people – a meal. Food brings people together
around a table in an act of caring that goes way beyond eating. It’s an opportunity to bond,
catch up on the day, and connect with your friends and family.
Growing up, I remember my mom experiencing no greater joy than seeing our faces when we’d
devour in 15 minutes what it took her all afternoon to cook. For her, it was time well spent.
Now, we may not all have the luxury to spend hours in the kicthen everyday – but if we become
more conscious in our eating, and spend a little bit of time preparing, we set ourselves up for
success.
On my 18 year journey, and counting, I can say it’s about the ‘ER’ in the everyday – CLEANER,
LEANER, BETTER, FITTER, SAFER, HEALTHIER, HAPPIER. It’s not about being perfect today, it’s
about being better than yesterday. What you choose today makes the difference.
I can’t say it enough – the enlightenment of knowing what your body needs and feeding it
properly is life changing! It will affect your mood, your energy level, how you handle stress,
how you deal with your relationships, your ability to sleep, and every other aspect of your
consciousness. You will crave good things. You’ll become stronger than you’ve ever felt and
you’ll develop a deeper appreciation for that incredible temple of yours. It’s THAT powerful,
and I want you to experience it first-‐hand.
Eat and repeat, one bite at a time.
Join me and thousands of others and Eat Cleaner today!
A New Beginning
The 1%-‐ers:
1% of you are going to read this, understand every line, and internalize every principle and
immediately change your shopping, cooking, and eating habits, and see an incredible change in
your life from this moment forward. Congratulations! Please send me your success stories at:
[email protected]. I want to read every single one personally.
The 99%-‐ers (Me included!):
Now, the other 99% of you, who are more like me, are going to need a bit more help from here.
You get it, and you see the importance of it for you and your family, but you don’t quite know
how to start or how to put it all together tomorrow morning when you wake up to make
breakfast.
Just reading this book makes you more knowledgeable than 95% of people out there. However,
you need to go one step further to really change your life and your eating habits forever.
For you I have designed The Cleaner Plate Club Meal Prep Program:
When you join the Club you will learn exactly how to balance each meal, how to cook it, and
how to eat it at the right times to supercharge your metabolism. I’ll teach you how to shop,
cook, and eat foods that are so delicious, and so perfectly balanced, they’ll keep you full and
content while turning on your body’s natural anti-‐aging, fat burning, and self-‐healing abilities.
As a member, you also get to follow my simple recipes and meal plans that take all the effort
out of creating perfectly balanced and incredibly delicious meals until it becomes a habit for
you and your family. Of course, every month I’ll be sending you new recipes to try out as well,
so dinner will always be fresh and exciting!
If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. Dedicate a few hours to prepping on Sundays or an
evening with our meal plan and you will succeed. By pre-‐cooking lean proteins, washing and
chopping veggies and fruit, cooking up quality carbohydrates and portioning your meals wisely,
you’re ready to tackle whatever the week throws at you.
Transformations:
As a health coach, I’ve seen many, many transformations and every single one excites me, but one in particular stands out.
I had a client, let’s call him David, who was vehemently opposed to eating clean and exercise was not in his vocabulary. At 6 foot 2 inches his frame hid the excess, but according to his height and body fat measurements we identified him as medically obese. But David was happy enough with his fast food burgers, fries, ice cream shakes and literally laughed out loud when I started talking to him about hummus and cut up veggies as a snack. “There’s no way. I would starve if I ate like that.” He walked out of my office shaking his head.
A few weeks later, David came in with some test results. He had just seen the doctor. His cholesterol and blood pressure were so high, he was told that if he didn’t change his eating, he was not going to like what was about to hit him. That was his tipping point.
He was ready to make a change because he didn’t want to disappoint his wife and kids. Not everyone gets the good fortune of a heads up on that tipping point.
Within 8 weeks of our meal plan, he had lost 40 pounds, was exercising 5 times a week and decided to enter a centurion – a 100 mile bike race!!
The thing that really struck me was his contagious energy. David became the pied piper of health in the office and would wait for me at my office door every time I came in to update me on his accomplishments.
That, my friends, is called an about-‐face. And the best part is, ANYONE can do it! He made the commitment and joined the Club.
Will you?
Jenna:
Food has always been a deep passion of mine; exploring flavors, understanding how ingredients work together and presenting beautiful dishes for the people I love! All of these things make me excited about food, but what I didn’t understand was all of the artificial ingredients that were in some of the products I was using. It wasn’t until the past few years that I really began understanding more about what “eating clean” meant. I was always a fan of the convenient “healthy” snacks, but when I started working with Mareya, she really taught me how to understand nutritional labels and what exactly all those ingredients were that I couldn’t pronounce and how they were effecting my body. After cleaning up my diet, I felt better, had more energy and decided it was time to start setting some goals, one being my first fitness competition. Knowing how to eat clean was one of the biggest factors in my preparation for the competition. Your nutrition really does make or break it for you. When I had removed all of the artificial ingredients from my diet and really paid close attention to look for products with only a few ingredients on the label, I started seeing great results. I’m not saying I didn’t put my time in at the gym, but I had been doing that for years and didn’t see the results I was seeing now. It was a great experience, especially for my first competition where I placed 2nd in my Novice Division and 4th in my Bikini Division. From here on out my life motto will be “Eat Clean & Train Mean.”
Ryan:
As the editor of this book, I knew that I wanted proof of my own that Mareya’s nutrition philosophy was the real deal. I’d been working out for over 10 years, getting pretty much the exact same results – which is to say, not much. I started tracking my meals, calculating my macronutrient ratios, and found a perfect meal plan that worked with my fast paced lifestyle. Almost as soon as I started adding leafy green vegetables to my diet, I started noticing a big difference. I was happier, more energetic, and fat was starting to melt off in places it never had before. I even found my abs for the first time!
Then I really locked into my Fit Foodie Triangle macronutrient ratios and got them perfect, balancing each and every meal. It was almost frightening how fast I started to burn fat. I dropped 5-‐10% body fat in 9 weeks, without changing my workout routine at all. I really couldn’t believe it. I wasn’t just losing weight or burning fat – my entire body was changing. My energy levels went through the roof and I felt more confident and excited about life than ever before. Even my mind became more at ease. Now I am a true believer and am proud to be a part of Mareya’s mission to clean up America’s plates!
Practice Makes the Perfect Plate
The truth is that you need to eat cleaner, and so does everyone else. Fortunately, the best thing
about food is being able to share.
You’ve just learned that the essential rules to health, wellness, and a fabulously fit life are
centered around the things you put on your plate. This means a whole new perspective on how
you look at food and its impact on you.
There are delicious, healthy alternatives to everything that you love. Desserts, snacks, salads
and stick-‐to-‐your-‐ribs classics – you name it, I’ve shown you how easy, and delicious, it can be
to eat cleaner. Now it’s time to put it into practice.
As a gift to you I have included 10 of my favorite recipes to get you started. Share them, and
this book, with your family and friends, and pass the cleaner plate.
Let’s get cooking!
“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-‐the-‐hell attitude.”
-‐Julia Childs
Cleaner Plate Club Recipes
I don’t just want to teach you how to cook, I want to teach you how to eat. Every recipe and
meal idea is balanced with the Fit Foodie Triangle approach, giving you a combination of lean
protein, high quality carbs and essential fats. This is just a taste of what’s to come!
V: Vegan (Meat and Dairy/Ovo Free) DF: Dairy Free GF: Gluten Free
Artichoke hummus (V, GF)
The perfect protein-‐rich dip or sandwich spread. Scoop them up with raw veggies or whole
grain/gluten-‐free pita chips.
Ingredients:
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon sesame tahini
• 1 teaspoon LoSalt® or low sodium seasoning
• 1 Cup frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and chopped (if using the canned or oil-‐preserved kind, drain the oil and pat dry)
Directions:
Combine all ingredients except for artichoke hearts in a food processor and pulse until smooth.
Transfer to a bowl and mix in artichoke hearts. Chill and serve.
Spinach sundried tomato pesto spread (V, GF)
Use this as a sandwich spread, a topper for pasta and pizza
or as a filling for chicken. This version is cheese-‐free.
Ingredients:
• 1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted until golden brown
• 5 sun-‐dried tomatoes (add boiling water to plump them up and let them sit for 5 minutes)
• 2 cloves fresh garlic
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup low sodium vegetable broth
• 1/2 tsp fresh-‐ground black pepper
• 1 tsp LoSalt® reduced sodium substitute
• 2C fresh spinach leaves
Directions:
Combine pine nuts, tomatoes, garlic and olive oil in a food processor and pulse until coarse
meal like consistency. Add broth, pepper and spinach and process until smooth.
Carrot and Avocado Soup with Fruit Relish (V, GF)
You might not have considered using avocado in a soup but the creamy consistency, coupled
with the carrot and coconut milk, is a winner. A simple fruit relish tops it off. Serve chilled or
room temp.
Ingredients:
• 2 tsp grapeseed oil
• 1/2 red onion, chopped finely
• 2-‐3 large carrots, steamed and chopped
• 1 small Hass avocado, halved and seed removed
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
• 1 3/4 cup vegetable broth
• 14 ounces nonfat coconut milk
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• Sea salt, to taste
Directions:
In a medium saucepan, sauté onion until translucent. Set aside. Wash carrots with Eat Cleaner
Fruit + Vegetable Wash. Steam or boil until fork tender, about 8 minutes.
In a blender, combine onion, carrots, avocado, ginger, broth and coconut milk and process until
smooth and creamy. Return back to saucepan and add cornstarch. Heat for about 5 minutes.
In a separate bowl, combine relish ingredients. Ladle soup into a bowl and top with a teaspoon
of fruit relish. Enjoy warm or at room temp.
Fruit Relish
• ½ C seeded pomegranate
• ½ C grated carrot
• 2 T unsweetened shredded coconut
• Zest and juice of one lime
Supercharged Protein Smoothie (GF, can be modified V)
Up the nutrient factor of your protein smoothies and balance
out sugar intake by starting with a high quality powder and
add greens, like in this version. If you’re vegan, omit the egg
whites.
Ingredients:
• 1C fresh strawberries
• 12 oz. unsweetened coconut milk
• 4 oz. water
• 1 Scoop Vega™ One Vanilla All-‐in-‐One nutrition powder
• 1C fresh baby spinach
• ½ C crushed ice
• 2 egg whites
Directions:
Wash strawberries and spinach with EAT CLEANER® All Natural Fruit + Vegetable Wash. Process all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Sip and enjoy!
Angel Berry Trifle (Can be modified V)
Trifles are usually made with pound cake – a pound of butter, sugar and flour. Not so healthy!
This one sprouted wings, it’s so angelic. Make it in a flash. Beautiful in individual cups.
Ingredients:
• 8 ounces light cream cheese, at room temperature (vegans use non-‐dairy)
• 2 teaspoons stevia
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 cups nonfat Greek yogurt (vegans use almond or soy yogurt)
• 2 pint blueberries
• 2 pint strawberries, sliced
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 angel food cake, cubed
Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, whip the softened cream cheese with stevia and the vanilla using a hand-‐held electric beater. Whip on medium-‐high speed until the cream cheese is light, fluffy and free of lumps, about 5 minutes. Add the lemon juice and the yogurt, a little at a time. Continue to beat until fully incorporated.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the berries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of agave and the lemon zest. Toss gently to combine.
3. Arrange one-‐third of the cake cubes in a large round glass bowl. Top with a third of the cream cheese mixture, spreading gently with a rubber spatula to cover. Top with a third of the berry mixture, scattering them out to cover the surface. Repeat the layers two more times, finishing with the berries on top and arranging them in a pretty pattern. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
Lettuce Cup Tacos (GF, can be modified V)
Ditch the tortillas and fill up on lean protein, lots of veggies, and a ton of flavor. Build a taco bar
and have them make their own.
Ingredients:
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• ½ onion, finely chopped
• 1 pound lean ground turkey (omit for vegetarian/vegan)
• 2 C cauliflower, washed with Eat Cleaner Fruit + Vegetable Wash, steamed and chopped fine
• 1 teaspoon oregano, dried
• ¼ teaspoon rosemary
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
• Sea salt to taste
• 24 pieces of iceberg lettuce, washed with Eat Cleaner Fruit + Vegetable Wash, pieced out into whole sheets
SAUCE:
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
TOPPING:
• 2 cups nonfat Greek yogurt with 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Avocado slices
Directions:
Sauté crushed garlic and onion in a large skillet over medium low heat until translucent, about 5
minutes. Add the lean ground turkey or meat. Cook and stir for 5-‐10 minutes until the meat is
cooked.
Drain any excess grease and add in chopped, cooked cauliflower.
Add oregano, rosemary, cumin and sea salt
Spoon 2 tablespoons of meat mixture into each lettuce cup
Top with smoky tomato sauce and nonfat Greek yogurt with lemon juice before serving.
Avocado slices add a nutritious punch of good fats.
Creamy Butternut Mac N’ Cheese (GF, can be made V)
Get your fix with veggies to boot. Use lowfat dairy, whole grain pasta and butternut squash to
up the nutrient quotient. (Makes 8 servings)
Ingredients:
• 1 lb. bag brown rice noodles (if brown rice isn’t available, go for whole grain)
• 1 tsp olive or canola oil
• 1 Cup cooked butternut squash (if squash unavailable, use cooked yams)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 4 oz Chevre goat cheese (dairy-‐free omit)
• ½ Cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt (dairy-‐free use soy yogurt)
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 Cup shredded lowfat mozzarella (dairy-‐free use Daiya or other brand)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Coat rectangular (about 10x10) baking dish with a dab of olive
oil and set aside.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente, not mushy. Drain
and toss cooked pasta with a tsp of oil to prevent the noodles from sticking together. Set aside.
In a food processor, pulse cooked squash along with garlic, goat cheese and yogurt. Add
cayenne, nutmeg, black pepper and sea salt and give one last pulse. Mixture should be creamy
smooth. Add a little water if necessary to get the right consistency.
In the same baking dish you’re cooking in, toss the noodles with the squash sauce until
thoroughly mixed. Season with additional spices to taste. Add the shredded cheese and toss.
Bake until top is golden brown, about 12 minutes and enjoy!!
Savory Oven Fried Chicken (GF)
You won’t miss the fat from your breasts, wings, legs and thighs – your chicken’s either! Instead
of breadcrumbs, we use flax meal, rich in essential fats. (Makes: 4-‐6 servings)
Ingredients:
• 2 Cups buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 ½ C Linwoods Flax Meal (Ground with flax, sunflower, pumpkin & sesame seeds & goji berries)
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp ground oregano
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tsp sea salt
• Non-‐stick cooking spray
Directions:
Wash drumsticks with Eat Cleaner Seafood + Poultry Wash. Remove skin and reapply Eat
Cleaner to all chicken surfaces.
In a medium bowl, immerse chicken pieces in buttermilk and allow to soak for at least 30
minutes, up to 8 hours.
Combine flax meal with herbs and spices together on a flat plate. Remove chicken pieces from
buttermilk and shake off all excess liquid. Roll chicken pieces in flax meal crumb mixture until
thoroughly coated.
Place chicken in a lightly sprayed baking pan or on a baking sheet.
Bake at 400°F for about 40 minutes covered with foil to keep moisture in. Remove cover for
final 10-‐15 minutes until golden brown. Internal temperature of chicken should be at least
165°F.
Dark Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting (V, GF)
Veggies in your cupcakes and frosting? Oh yes! Nutritional value in every bite and they won’t
miss a beet. (Makes: 12 Cupcakes)
Ingredients:
Cupcake Batter:
• 1 C red beets, pureed until smooth (can use canned beets or fresh beets, washed with Eat Cleaner Fruit + Vegetable Wash, peeled, boiled until fork tender, then pureed)
• 1 cup Stevia natural sugar substitute
• 1 C unsweetened almond milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 cups all-‐purpose gluten-‐free flour
• ½ C dark chocolate cocoa powder
• ½ C dark chocolate chips (at least 70% cocoa powder)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
Cream Cheese Frosting:
• 8 oz. vegan cream cheese, softened
• ½ C cauliflower, washed with Eat Cleaner Fruit + Vegetable Wash, steamed then pureed until smooth
• ½ C Stevia natural sugar substitute
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Topping
• Unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 12-‐cup muffin tin with paper liners or coat with non-‐stick cooking
spray.
In a large mixing bowl or stand up mixer combine beet puree, sugar substitute, almond milk and
vanilla. Beat until smooth. Add in egg whites and gently fold in.
Add gluten free flour, cocoa powder, dark chocolate chips, baking soda and salt, and mix until
well combined with no visible lumps.
Divide mixture evenly into muffin tin, taking care not to overfill. Bake for 20 minutes or until
toothpick comes out of center clean. Allow to cool on a baking rack.
While cupcakes bake, combine frosting ingredients together and beat until smooth and airy.
Once cupcakes are completely cooled, smooth frosting over the top. Sprinkle with shredded
unsweetened coconut, if desired.
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