21-Day Clean Eating (Sneak Peak!)

Quinoa and mushroom stuffed peppers
w/tomato sauce and grilled asparagus

So, I'm working on a book. It's mostly a cookbook, but it's more than that. It's a guide to getting started on eating a cleaner, healthier diet. I came up with this idea after talking with lots of people who wanted to eat better, but felt overwhelmed at the idea of getting started. My goal is to help teach people how clean eating can fit into a busy lifestyle. I know that many people cite "lack of time" as a reason for not eating clean, so that is something I will definitely address in the book. For others, it may simply be a matter of not knowing where to start. I'm hoping that my book with help remove the mystery, and make it easy to eat healthier. I chose to focus on the first 21 days for several reasons: For one, I'd heard many times that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. I'm not entirely sure if that is legitimate science or just a myth, but it seems like a great way to start a new venture. 21 days is short enough to feel doable, yet long enough to get a sense of how the changes really affect you. My hope is that when people try eating clean for 21 days, they'll feel so great that they'll want to continue.

The book will be divided into three sections. In the first section, I discuss what it means to Eat Clean, and offer suggestions for eliminating the processed food and stocking up the pantry with clean, whole, healthy food. The second section will have shopping lists and menu plans for each week. I've included breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack for each day. The third section will include the recipes for the meals in the menu plans.

While this book is still in progress, I thought that I might use my Journey Toward Simplicity Facebook page as a place to get a dialogue going about clean eating. What other obstacles do people face in their quest to Eat Clean? What reasons to people have for wanting to eat better? I'm hoping to get some feedback, to help make my book the best it can be. I'm even thinking about a starting a 21-day Clean Eating Challenge on Facebook. If you'd like to get in on the discussion, "like" us on Facebook.

For further reading on Clean Eating, you can check out these two earlier posts on the topic:

Clean Eating

Eating Clean... Making it work in Real Life