There are so many reasons to eat clean but my favorite reason is this first one:

• 80% of what you look like is due to what you are eating

When I first heard this I was SHOCKED. I mean, I knew it was important to eat right but I had always believed that exercising was a lot more important than what I put in my mouth. So I decided to actually put it into practice and see what happened. I had been working out regularly for about 9 months but I hadn't really cleaned up my diet. I was getting all kinds of frustrated because in 9 months I lost a whopping....2 pounds...

Is one of your New Year's resolutions to eat more healthfully? If so, then one of the first things you should do is to stock your fridge with accessible, nutritious food. This will help you to maintain a healthy diet and limit temptation. Here's how to get started:

1. What you see is what you get. If you don't buy it then you won't eat it. It's much simpler to avoid eating cookies if they're not in your house. ALWAYS make a list before you go grocery shopping and stick to the list. Making a list makes it a lot less likely that you'll go wandering down the cookie aisle. And NEVER EVER go to the grocery store hungry!

    

2. Give your fridge “eye appeal”. Usually people put the fruits and veggies in the bins at the bottom. This is a bad idea because you won't see them when you open the fridge door. It's estimated that the average household wastes more than $10 a week on produce that has spoiled. That's because it's out of sight. Use the bins for meats and keep the fruits and veggies at eye level. You're much more likely to pick a healthy snack if it's the first thing you see. Also, give other healthy items like natural peanut butter and hummus a prominent place in your fridge.

    

3. Wash it and chop it and bag it. As soon as you get home from the store, wash and prepare your fruits and vegetables. Separate food into individual portions in order to prevent overindulging. Fruits and vegetables should be washed and cut up so they're ready to be eaten at a moment's notice.

    

4. Freeze it. Frozen bananas are great as a snack and give smoothies a nice creaminess. Frozen grapes make tasty snacks too! Kids love them as a sweet treat.

    

5. Hide it. If you keep your indulgent items hidden in the drawers below you may just forget they're even there.

The refrigerator really can be your best friend when you're trying to lose weight. Replace high fat foods with fruits and vegetables and keep all produce at eye level. This way when hunger strikes you'll be sure to pick something healthy.

A question that I get all the time is simply how to get started with Clean Eating. In addition to eating breakfast, eating protein with each meal and eating every 2-3 hours, incorporate the following:

1. Start making your own salad dressing. There are way too many yucky ingredients in prepared salad dressings, including high fructose corn syrup. Here's a recipe for a basic vinaigrette dressing that I make all the time.

2. Stop drinking sodas and diet sodas. Instead, drink herbal tea or water.

3. Eat more fat. Use real butter (Kerrygold is grass-fed butter which you can find at most supermarkets) and eat eggs. Eggs are the perfect protein source. Avoid modern vegetable oils like corn oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil and canola oil. Instead use coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil.

Okay, I must admit that I love Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. Unfortunately, at 310 calories for the small size latte, I can't have them very often. When I discovered that I could make a clean eating version I was thrilled! It's oh so yummy and tastes just like the original! Plus, it's only 100 calories for 16 ounces! I'm so happy to share this with you all and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Clean Eating Pumpkin Spice Latte

(Adapted from a recipe by Tiffany at The Gracious Pantry Note: She uses maple syrup instead of  sugar)

This oatmeal recipe is fantastic and although it is well suited for Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays, it is also great any time of year. I eat it for breakfast quite often. You can add sweetener if you'd like but I find it tastes better without it. The protein powder gives this oatmeal a nice creamy consistency.

If you haven't yet tried kale chips you are missing out big time! I admit I was skeptical at first as I'm not a huge fan of kale but I LOVE these! My kids like them too! they are healthy, easy to make and oddly addictive. They taste like potato chips! I managed to polish off almost an entire cookie sheet of these yummy goodies all by myself!

Ingredients:

1 bunch kale

1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp sea salt

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Toss kale with olive oil in large bowl and spread in a single layer on prepared cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt.

Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until crispy, stirring halfway through. Enjoy!