How to eat clean for beginners? I get that question often from readers. Most people expect a complicated answer but are surprised to see it’s not that difficult to start eating clean foods.
In this beginner guide, you’ll learn how to eat clean, how to make delicious clean eating recipes, a clean eating food list, how to use clean eating for weight loss, and a clean eating meal plan.
Changing any habit isn’t easy, but it seems that we have the most difficult time with food. Agree?
When I started on my weight loss journey back in 2010, I never heard of clean eating.
In fact, at that time, I was more concerned with calories, not the quality of the food.
Sure, most of our meals were homemade, but a lot of it was still processed. I wasn’t paying attention to preservatives, food coloring, or artificial colors because, to be honest, I didn’t know I needed to.
A few months into my weight loss journey, I came across the documentary Food Matters and the book in Defense of Food. At that point, my mindset about food changed, and I began to take notice of the quality of the food I was eating and made changes.
Since then, I have continued to learn about the clean eating diet. Honestly, I don’t consider clean eating a diet but more of a lifestyle and a way of eating. You can still enjoy all of the foods you love, just healthier and cleaner versions.
What is clean eating?
Clean eating is eating whole foods closest to their most natural form, free of additives, preservatives, anything artificial, and minimally processed if processed at all.
A simple way to look at clean eating is this – food should not come from a box, package, mix, or bag. I will say that grocery stores have come leaps and bounds since I started eating clean, so it’s much easier to find convenience options that include clean ingredients.
A good rule of thumb is the more ingredients a food has, the less clean it is, so it’s essential to read labels. If there are more than a few ingredients or some that you can’t pronounce, then it’s not clean.
Clean eating benefits
- Your body is satisfied and nourished when eating a clean diet; you look better and feel healthier overall.
- You don’t get the sugar highs and crashes that you would get from refined flour and sugar.
- You don’t feel sluggish or tired and have a lot more focus.
- It’s easier to maintain a healthier weight eating nutrient dense foods.
Clean eating guidelines
Following a clean eating diet is a lot more flexible than other diets. You don’t need to eliminate food groups, and it’s easy to adapt to your lifestyle. Some people give up all processed foods, while others are not as strict.
Here are the guidelines that I use to follow a clean, healthy lifestyle:
- Eat five smaller meals throughout the day. This plan includes three meals and two snacks, which help control your appetite and portions throughout the day.
- Drink 64 ounces of water a day. It’s essential to stay hydrated; it helps with energy, focus, and keeping the body functioning correctly. Smoothies, green juice, and other healthy beverages count towards your daily water, but things like coffee, high sugar fruit juice, or soda don’t.
- Reduce or eliminate “diet food.” This means anything light, low-fat, or fat-free. I know we’ve been taught to use these types of foods when losing weight, but they are filled with additives, chemicals, and preservatives and will do more harm than good. Stick to natural foods.
- Eat whole grains and stay away from the white stuff. White bread, white pasta, white rice are processed and stripped of all nutrients. Instead, eat whole grain bread, whole grain or gluten-free pasta, brown rice, and other whole grains.
- Eat legumes, nuts, and seeds. Beans include fiber and nutrition, and nuts also contain healthy fats that’ll keep you satisfied. Choose organic canned and dry beans. Also, raw nuts and seeds are better than those covered in salt, seasoning, or sugar.
- Use healthy fats. Stay away from processed margarine or oils that include trans fats, hydrogenated oils, and chemicals. Instead, grab olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, ghee, or real butter when preparing a recipe.
- Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Fresh or frozen is fine. Try to purchase organic when you can, but if you can’t, don’t worry because eating more fruits and vegetables is always better than not.
- Eat wild-caught fish and organic grass-fed lean proteins. This is the first area where I made clean changes to my diet. I know this can get expensive but, in my opinion, this is an area where I don’t mind spending extra money. It tastes better, is more nutritious, and overall better for the environment.
- Reduce or eliminate sugar. I know this is a tough one. I could never give it up completely, but I try to keep it under control and substitute healthy alternatives (coconut sugar, maple syrup, and honey) when I can. I don’t use artificial sweeteners of any kind. It’s also essential to read labels for added sugars in foods like Greek yogurt, drinks, salad dressings, sauces, and other items like that.
- Eat at home. I stay away from fast food and restaurants most of the time, and I save both for special occasions. Even with healthier options available now, making foods at home is always the cleaner option.
I purchase all of our organic meats and seafood through Butcher Box. You can check out my Butcher Box Review for more information. I also use Thrive Market to stock our pantry with organic canned and convenience items. See my Thrive Market Review for more information.
The 80/20 rule
Eating clean 100% of the time is impossible, so I implement an 80/20 rule. And sometimes it’s even 75/25.
80% of the time, I make clean choices, and the other 20% leave room for flexibility.
This extra wiggle room doesn’t you should eat Doritos every day – it’s there to offer flexibility if you need it.
How to Eat Clean for Beginners
You might be wondering how to start clean eating, especially if you’ve been a fast-food junkie for a while or if you have no clue. We’ve all been there, so don’t feel discouraged.
When I started my weight loss journey, my diet consisted of frozen pizzas, banquet chicken, some form of pasta, and my kid’s leftover scraps.
Honestly, I started with zero clue, so anyone can do it if I can start (and stick with) a clean eating lifestyle.
Here are my beginner clean eating tips.
“Clean up” the recipes you already eat.
Believe it or not, you’re probably not too far off from a clean eating lifestyle. I know when looking to make changes to your diet, it’s easy to think you need to switch up the foods you’re eating altogether. However, that’s not always the case, and sometimes you only need to make a few tweaks.
Tacos are a good example. Instead of using conventional beef and store-bought seasoning, use organic grass-fed before using homemade taco seasoning. And purchase organic corn tortillas instead of white tortilla shells.
One change at a time
I believe in making slow changes – and clean eating is no exception. I know some people just wanted to jump in and make drastic changes, which might work for some, but in my experience, extreme is usually not sustainable.
When I started clean eating, I made 1 -2 changes at a time. For example, I started with organic meats and then swapped in more whole grains. Then once I had that down, I focused on reducing my sugar.
I also slowly removed junk from the pantry. I got rid of chips, cookies, and other trigger foods and replaced them with nd stocked it with healthier options. You can see my healthy pantry staples for tips, ideas, and a clean eating food list. Also check out this list of clean eatings snacks.
It’s more sustainable to make changes in steps.
Menu plan and meal prep
I’m sure you already knew I would throw this in here. However, I cannot stress enough the importance of having a plan. In my experience, the only way to create sustainable changes is to plan for them.
Without a plan, chances are you will find yourself falling back into old habits – especially when life starts to get busy.
Planning means a couple of things.
- First, it means putting together a weekly menu plan to know what groceries to purchase and what to eat every day.
- It also means meal prep (prepping your food ahead of time). This is especially important when you eat clean – check out this clean eating meal prep post for information and recipes.
Planning will make it easier to eat healthier clean foods during the week.
Read labels
Reading labels isn’t new information, and it is probably some of the oldest weight loss advice in the books. However, label reading is different with clean eating.
Instead of looking at the nutritional information, you’ll scroll down the package to read the ingredients. It’s essential to ensure that even if a company labels a product as healthy, it’s not filled with high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, or other artificial ingredients.
Of course, the goal is to purchase more foods that don’t have a label like fruits and vegetables, but most likely, you will still buy some convenience items, so read the labels.
Don’t think it is all or nothing.
The thought of eliminating all processed foods is a bit overwhelming for people – I know it was for me – so that alone can prevent someone from eating clean meals.
The good news is that clean eating isn’t an all-or-nothing lifestyle. Some people might disagree, and that’s fine because we have the freedom to eat anyway we want.
However, in my experience, it is unrealistic to think that you can (or should) remove all processed foods from your diet forever.
Do your best to eat clean most of the time but don’t think pizza is forever off the table. Remember the 80/20 rule—everything in moderation.
Clean eating for weight loss
By following all of the guidelines above, you’re on your way to a healthier lifestyle. You’ll likely eat less, and your body will thank you by naturally shedding some pounds. However, if weight loss is your goal, burning more calories than you take in is essential.
Many people in the clean eating world frown upon the concept of calorie counting or portion control. Even if the foods are clean, Overeating is still eating too much, and you’ll struggle to lose weight if that is your goal.
Clean eating meal plan
The best way to keep your diet filled with portion-controlled clean meals is to take time to put together a meal plan that fits within your daily caloric goals.
Here’s an example:
Breakfast
- Triple Berry Smoothie – 275 calories
Morning snack
- Hard-boiled egg – 80 calories
Lunch
- Detox Salad in a Jar –
Afternoon snack
- Apple peanut butter sandwiches
Dinner
- Sheet Pan Chicken and Veggies
- Italian Stuffed Peppers
- Slow Cooker Taco Meat with organic shells
- Cheeseburger Meatloaf with Oven Roasted Potatoes and Broccoli
- One-Pot Chicken and Rice
Download a free 4-week make-ahead clean eating meal plan that includes a clean eating grocery list and jumpstart weight loss guide.
Clean eating recipes
These are the best beginner clean eating recipes to help you eat healthier foods. I’ve included basic foundational recipes to help you quickly build quick recipes. Each recipe also includes meal prep instructions so you can prepare it on Sunday for healthy, clean meals all week.
Breakfast
See all of the clean eating breakfast recipes
Lunch
See all of the clean eating lunch recipes
Dinner
See all of the clean eating dinner recipes
If you’ve been wondering how to start clean eating or maybe just felt overwhelmed, I hope these clean eating beginners tips help you feel confident to begin changing your eating habits.
Amanda says
Thank you for this article..I’m new to clean eating and this helped clarifying some things for me! I couldn’t agree more that I feel better and less bloated! I feel so in control of what I am eating! I have battled my weight for years and diets just seemed to restrictive that I felt deprived all the time..for the first time ever I don’t feel guilty or deprived! It’s great!
Nikki says
It helps if you start with one or two meals or snacks a day. For example, just change breakfast and 2nd snack to clean. The rest of the meals eat normal. Or just pick one guideline. For example, no more fast food. Or switching to whole grain breads and pastas. I know for me, I get over whelmed and flop if I take on everything. Try to add a rule or meal every couple days or a week at a time. Whatever you feel comfortable taking on.
Renee says
You need to do some research about wheat and whole grains (The wheat belly diet). Wheat is so genetically modified that the body takes so much more for the body to break it down…it’s pretty scary. The fda pushes whole grains but they are not in their natural form anymore and cause serious harm to the body.
Cami Nogle says
Would love to get some clean eating freezer recipes and information on spices -which are a better choice . Thanks
Lee-Ann says
Do you ladies who eat clean and lost weight also eat less complex carbs? I lost 30 lbs but ate 1 carb a day and mostly clean but wonder if that’s necessary when losing the weight? Or kd you just eat reduced portions of the carbs?
Katherine says
Thanks for this info. Enjoyed your article. I have been eating clean on and off for a year. Mostly on for the last 6 months. You said you list weight and I’m wondering if you have any tips for that. I eat clean, exercise, and drink plenty of water and I now off my blood pressure meds but not losing weight. Any tips are appreciated, thx!!
Anna says
I’m Icelandic but spent seven years of my childhood in Texas in addition to regular visits since then. Now, I love the US in many ways but I do feel that there is a lot more overly processed foods that you guys have over there. In Iceland and in the UK, where I’ve now lived for five years, there simply isn’t *as* much of this type of extremely processed food. This definitely doesn’t mean we don’t have food issues; in fact, I think that both Iceland and the UK are leaders in obesity in Europe. But I do think that you guys in the US have it a lot harder when it comes to avoiding these types of foods.
For example, in Iceland, it’s true that we have fast food joints like kfc etc, but they aren’t really that cheap, so to be honest it can be better to buy healthier foods than to go to a fast food joint. This doesn’t mean that people don’t go to them, they do! But it does maybe slightly prohibit it…?
Anyways, I don’t mean to sound preachy, just thought I’d share my two cents.
Cristen says
Going to Spain for four months, this was one of the things I noticed the most – the lack of fast food and the abundance of excellent restaurants with plenty of healthy food to choose from. My diet changed so much in that four months for the better that I was sick for nearly two weeks upon getting back to the US simply because of the terrible quality of our food (and because I was in a wedding two days after returning and apparently we only had time for fast food….).
Anyways, as an x-fast food employee, I can’t stand eating at fast food restaurants because I know what goes on, where the food comes from, and just how terrible that food is for you.
Great article!
Rachel says
Thank you for an informative post and I love your website. I’ve been wanting to do this for awhile and agree that when I have eaten good food for fuel rather than just to put something in my system, I feel better. The problem I have with initiating this is, I am a single mom of two picky eaters and I am positive my kids will revolt or starve. And, I am super busy and I don’t have a lot of money.
prchrs2 says
Thank you for the reminder. We all need to have our minds to be “jogged” a little bit from time-to-time. And, we do feel better the cleaner we eat. We’ve become such a “busy” people in our country, it’s easy to just fall into that mind set of, “let’s get the job of eating done and the faster the better.” Not healthy! God bless.
Nancy says
I have been trying to incorporate clean eating into my lifestyle. I have just lost 21lbs by eating this way. It has helped me break old eating habits! This week I am going to start cooking with beans (not canned), which will be a new clean ingredient for me! Thanks for your posts!
Ticia says
I really like your article. I agree with everything. It’s nice to hear it come from some one else. Good job
suzanne says
I started a clean eating, with a well known juice brand three weeks ago and I have done this to loose weight, but not lost even a pound 🙁 any advice you can give for someone wanting a lifestyle change that helps with loosing weight too?
Sarah says
Try the book The Blood Sugar Solution 10 Day Detox by Dr Hyman. It is a lot if work, but he really walks you through taking care of your body and eating clean!
Christy says
Thank you so much for the information. I have heard a lot about trying to stay away from fat free and low calorie stuff but am a little confused on milk, cheese and sour cream. The labels are really confusing. As a calorie counter it seems better to go with low calorie of these particular products and I am not seeing additional additives on the labels. Am I missing something on these?
Donna Blanchard says
Good article… Really put it in perspective. Good info. Thanks
paula says
Thanks I will continue to follow your post. I need lots of help getting on the right track
Lisa says
Thank you. This was most helpful. I am on my way!
Momnivore says
Great article – I like the tips one you posted today too. Any suggestions for eating out on a clean lifestyle? Other than just getting a salad every time? I cook at home for most meals but enjoy going out occasionally – what can I do that’s fun and yet close to clean?
Michele Lian says
Momnivore, I struggled with this for a long time too, and what I found helped me the most was to just watch my portions so that I didn’t have to be my own worst food Nazi. What I do is:
1. I encourage whoever I’m eating with to order to share. This way, it’s highly unlikely that I will overeat (I find that I naturally slow down my eating when I do this, and nobody wants to be the one to grab the last spoonful of whatever’s on the plate).
2. Skip the liquid calories like sweetened drinks and soups, so I can focus on the foods I really want to eat.
3. Or, I’ll order whatever I want (but I try not to pick the fried, overly carb-heavy options) eat half of what’s on my plate and doggy bag the rest (tomorrow’s lunch sorted out!).
Like you, I don’t eat out every day either (and I have plenty of salads at home, so the last thing I want to order when I go out is more salads!), so I make it a point to make sure that when I do, the meals that I order really hit the spot 🙂
I hope that helps!
Foodie Felisha says
Great article! Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Julie Bohannon says
Thank you so much for posting this! I’m trying to eat cleaner and this gives me some great ideas!
Janet says
Thank you so much for sharing this. I have been working on this for years…This was a great reminder and some areas I have backslide I need to get working on! Thanks for the inspiration!
Recently my teen son, 17 was saying there is nothing in the house to eat (ie nothing of the “junk” variety). He used to be so good about not eating junk food and over the last few years he has backslid so much. Any suggestions to help bring him back to the more clean side would be appreciated! TIA! ~God bless~
Tricia says
My 16yo is the same way. When he was little he was happy to eat fruit and cut-up raw veggies as a snack; as he got older he started wanting things like chips and junk food. Recently I’ve started making some healthier changes in our diet and while he was resistant at first, he quickly realized that he felt better when he ate healthier. His indigestion went away and his skin started to clear up. Now he chooses kombucha over soda and fruit over chips. (Most of the time, anyway!). I’m still trying to get my husband and younger two kids on board, it’s a work in progress…