What it means to live clean

Ask someone if they think they’re clean and the first reaction that you’re likely to get is a defensive run-down of their personal hygiene habits.

We take a great deal of care to make sure that we look and feel clean and healthy on the outside, but what about what goes on inside our bodies?

Living clean literally means taking a little more care to reduce the toxins that pump through our bodies by enjoying a fresh, natural diet and avoiding processed foods that, although often tasty, carry toxins and additives that make our bodies work harder to get rid of them from our system, slowing weight loss and hampering our health.

Many of us spend much of our lives wasting precious time, energy and emotion walking in the wrong direction up the dieting escalator in a bid to reach happiness. The longer we attempt to climb the escalator, the more we feel we’re being dragged downwards as our hard work fails to pay off in the long term, despite working hard and tirelessly.

As time goes on, we begin to feel despondent as we fail to reach success or it fails to last. We start to detach from what our bodies really need, stop listening to our body’s hunger signals and start to feel down and often quite helpless in finding the health and happiness in our own skin that we long for.

Get clean, feel beautiful

For those who have dieted, a ‘clean diet’ may sound like another fad, but by choosing natural, unprocessed foods you can finally step off the dieting hamster wheel and do something that you know is good for you – your mind, your health and your body – all safe in the knowledge that the weight loss and health benefits will naturally follow.

You don’t have to live a perfectly clean life to enjoy the benefits, so whatever you feel able to do, you can start to live a clean lifestyle from this moment on by making small adaptations.

Aim to eventually achieve an almost entirely clean diet, based on natural, unprocessed foods that are kind to your body, but remember that small changes make a big difference, so start now, make a change, get clean and start to feel beautiful inside.

Simple steps to get started

Living clean is all about reconnecting with your body and enjoying a healthy diet that makes you feel good.

There are no crazy rules or restrictions, no calorie counting, no complicated point system or meal replacements.
Even one small change can make a big difference to how you feel so no matter how far you want to take living a clean life, you will benefit from the moment you commit to making a change. By making ‘clean’ choices, you’ll soon find that your body starts to rid itself of the fat and toxins that it’s been holding onto for years.

Here are some of the Detox Bible’s top tips to get you started…

•  Drink 2 litres of still mineral water every day
Cut out fizzy drinks and caffeine and replace them with healthier alternatives such as green tea, mineral water and organic coffee.

•  Reduce your alcohol intake
When we drink alcohol, our body has to switch from fat burning to focusing on clearing alcohol from our system. Drinking alcohol also means that you’re also less likely to make the right food choices as you relax and lose your inhibitions, so reduce your intake or cut back completely.

•  Avoid processed foods
It can be difficult initially to move to a clean diet if your kitchen cupboards are usually stocked with heavily processed foods but whether it’s one meal a day or every meal of the week, you’ll feel the benefit if you eat foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. There are plenty of Detox Bible recipes to get you started – take a look to get some ideas.

•  Get moving
Exercise helps our bodies to get rid of toxins more quickly and has endless health benefits. The endorphins that are released when we exercise will make you feel great too so whether you choose to join a yoga class, start running, join a gym or simply commit to walking for half an hour a day, you will really feel the difference.

The 80% rule

When you’re getting started, remember that this isn’t about perfection. It’s about living by a guiding principal that will naturally bring health, happiness and weight loss, not about restrictions that make you feel miserable and like you’re missing out.

Try not to get too hung up on getting things 100% right. Choose the changes that you feel that you can manage and commit to them.

If you’re struggling to stick with it or you’re tempted by that glass of wine or chocolate bar, remember the 80% rule. Aim to eat clean most of the time so that 80% of everything that you put in your body is ‘clean’ but allow yourself an occasional treat.

A great way to manage this is to allow yourself a cheat day or a small treat each day that you enjoy.

You’ll find more information and advice on living clean and detoxing your body here at the Detox Bible in the coming weeks. But for now, start making clean choices and enjoy feeling beautiful from the inside out. Your body will thank you for it!

The Detox Bible recommends…

To read more about enjoying a clean diet, we recommend reading the following books:

•  The Clean & Lean Diet by James Duigan 
•  Clean Eats 
•  The Clean Eating Diet & Cookbook