‘How to do Clean Eating as a Family.’

Good Morning and Happy Sunday! As you know, I am running crazy at the moment. Life is simply too hectic right now and I’m struggling to find the time to attend to my blog.

That’s where the wonderful Jules comes in. Jules Furness is a blogger and Vlogger that I really admire and respect. She is a wonderful Mummy, wife and friend and is so positive and talented. LInks to her blog and youtube channel are below and you can also find her on Channel Mum. She has kindly taken the time to write about a subject that she is passionate yet not pushy about – Clean Eating and how to fit it into family life.

Over to Jules……..

Hello, my name is Jules Furness and I have hopped over to Hannah’s blog from The Girl Behind The Camera.

I’ve been “clean eating” now for months, something my husband and toddler have joined in with too, and thought with it being the fresh start of a new year, some of you might like to hear how to do it.

There are so many benefits. For me personally I have lost weight, got more energy, healthier skin, and lower anxiety. It looked overwhelming when I first researched it but I’m going to tell you the simple rules I use to fit it in to the busyness of family life:

1. No processed foods | This really is the backbone of clean eating. Instead of seeing everything you can’t eat though, see it as simplifying your life. There are so many fruits, vegetables, spices and brown grains out there that you will never go hungry. By spending a little time trying new recipes using quinoa for example, you can soon grow to find your favourite staples. Dinners become more colourful and your taste buds grow to prefer clean healthy foods. We started by gradually swapping white rice for brown rice, pasta for wholemeal pasta etc. Once our taste buds got used to it we preferred it.

2. Eat organic | I’ll put my hands up we don’t do this 100% as I find it expensive, but where it works out to budget I’ll choose organic. The idea if to have less chemicals and “fake” substances in our bodies.

3. Fat | I used to think that fat was bad. What I’ve learn this year is that some fats are essential in our diets (especially for kids), but to choose unrefined oils, low in saturated fat such as extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil almond oil, sesame oil, grass fed butter and ghee. Just use them in moderation. I don’t deep fry anything. The idea of it puts me off food now!

4. Fizzy drinks | I am constantly pulling my husband up on this in the hope one day he will ditch them. There is literally nothing good in them. They are made of fake flavourings, sweeteners and acids. If you lined those ingredients up in front of you and asked will this benefit

my body you would know the the answer. Instead opt for water, infused water and herbal teas.

5. Dairy and meat | The extreme end of clean eaters seem to cut out all dairy and meat. I personally feel its best to listen o your body. Notice how you feel after eating them. I know I get bloated after milk and red meat so keep them low in my diet, however my husband and son are big carnivores so I just take mine part of the meal out before adding meat e.g. to a pasta dish or eat everything but the sausages.

6. Salt | Table salt is over processed and the minerals are stripped out of it which is a shame as research shows some salt in our diets is actually beneficial. Instead use real sea salt or pink himalayan salt.

7. Encouragement not pushiness | I encourage my husband and son to eat clean but know if I push it on them they won’t enjoy it. As I’m the main cook, main meals are cooked the “clean” way but Ill cook say sausages along side it for them to add in. I make Josh healthy “clean” snacks but he also has standard toddler snacks around and I let him choose which he wants. As he starts to understand food a bit more (he is only nearly 2 years old) I’ll start talking about what different foods are good for and why some aren’t so good. I’ve found they have started liking much of the same foods as me and my husband is taking more and more interest in what he eats as I bang on about how good they make me feel!

8. Time off | Clean eating isn’t a diet, its not about beating yourself up if you “fall off the wagon”. Its about learning to be kind to your body, putting in foods that will only benefit it. Investing in yourself. If we are going out for a meal with friends or I’m staying at someones house, I’ll just eat what is provided and not feel guilty. Its a one off and I know that I am being good to my body 95% of the time so its not the end of the world.

Not that hard right? Kind common sense? I made a little video called “The Beginners Guide To Clean Eating” where I go into it in more detail. If you are interested in finding out more or recipes, there are lots on my blog The Girl Behind The Camera. I really hope you find more energy and health in 2016 too! Feel free to ask questions in the comments below and I’ll keep popping back over to answer

Hannah has some awesome juicing posts here too…

Jules

 

 

My blog, The Girl Behind The Camera is by me Jules furness, covering life with a toddler, adoption, IVF and striving to be as healthy in mind and body as I can, sharing what really works along the way. I have a 1 year old Josh, I work from home on my Youtube Channel “Jules Furness” and for Channel Mum.