Essentially, Clean Eating ( CE ) is converting your diet to consist of as much unprocessed food as possible. Fruits, vegetables, meats ( except processed ham ), nuts, eggs and dairy.
It is eating food in it's most natural state - as close to how it occurred in Nature as possible. Most who embrace CE also avoid as many additives and preservatives as possible. Clean Eaters also consume as much of their diet as organic as possible in order to minimize exposure to pesticides and additives.
1. Eat fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish, whole grains. When you can, eat fresh, unprocessed foods over canned. Frozen is preferable over canned fruit and veg as well. Make sure the meat you are purchasing has not been enhanced with a brine solution.
2. Drink a lot of water. A lot. Go invest in a BPA free water bottle and velcro it to your side, because where you go, that bottle goes!Clean Eaters strive to drink between 60-80 ounces of water a day.
3. When considering a food that is man made ( like a breakfast cereal, a tomato sauce, etc ) look for ones that have as few ingredients as possible - with low to no salt, no added sugars, and low to no preservatives.
4. Eat more than 3 times a day. Most CE folks eat 5-6 times a day - small meals. It keeps the metabolism up, blood sugar stable, and hunger / cravings down.
5. Learn and abide by portion control. Learn visual cues to determine what a portion of various food will be. Eating those mini-meals will help you keep your portions manageable as well.