Eating Cleaner & Better with Some Inspiration from Alton Brown’s “Diet”

This year, my Wife and I set the goal to commit to eating “cleaner” and wiser. The inspiration for this change (for me) came in the form of a video shared on Facebook by Alton Brown’s page about his “diet”.

I place the word diet in quotes because it’s not how we choose to approach this change. Instead, we are pursuing a new way of eating for life.

In fact, this still from the video above really crystallized it for me. In it, he shows an orange versus a piece of a doughnut to illustrate. The orange has way more nutrition than the doughnut. And the type/amount of calories in the orange won’t hang around in our body parts like a doughnut will because there are less of them.

Our main take aways from Alton’s “diet” are:

• Dump as much empty, high calorie, un-nutrient foods as possible. This includes: sugar, corn syrup, white flour, junk food, fast food, potatoes, etc.
• Eat red meat, alcohol and dessert once a week.
• Eat more fruits, vegetables (especially leafy greens) and whole grains.
• Eat more healthy fats from avocados, fish, nuts.
• Quit coffee due to our use of creamer.
• Not diet anything
• No soda
• Drink more water. Lots more water.

Swaps We Have Made

• Sugar —> Stevia
• Coffee w/creamer —> Tea with Stevia. Note: We found Stevia (generic brand) at WalMart and Big Lots to offer the best price/lb.
• White flour —> whole wheat flour and Beesan/chickpea flour
• Chips —> Beanitos

First Week Results and Observations

• We’ve each lost weight!
• We are sleeping better. Likely, due to reduced levels of caffeine.
• We are less bloated feeling after any meal. Probably from an increase in plant based foods.

Are you doing anything different eating wise in the new year? Share in the comments below.