It's not easy eating clean

Are you one of those people who's tried to jump on the clean eating bandwagon, only to fall off -- and be run over by it -- almost as quickly as you hopped on?

With all of the pretty pictures of green smoothies and colorful raw veggies being posted all over the internet by people touting the benefits of "going green" with your diet, it's easy to become overzealous.  We hear stories of amazing health improvements and body transformations that happen as the result of eating nothing but organic this and raw that.   We get excited.

Really excited.

Before we know what's happening, our image of our future selves -- sporting our new sparkling clean intestines, glowing skin, and size 0 jeans -- has taken over our sensibilities.  We're tossing out every box of crackers, every package of Oreos, every 6-pack of diet soda in our kitchens to make room for all of that organic produce and purified water we're going to be eating and drinking.

Uh huh.  OK.

I will state right here and now for the record that, if I could, I'd be all over that way of eating like white on rice like green on spinach.  It's the right way to eat for optimum health.  Our bodies were not made to process and store preservatives or chemicals or trans fats or artificial anything.

But I sure do like Diet Pepsi.

And chocolate cake.

And Red Vines.

If you have the willpower and focus to go completely green, I think that's fan-flippin-tastic.  It's the best thing you could do for your body.

But you're here.  Reading this. Because you need to lose weight.  So it's probably a safe bet that, before now, willpower and focus haven't been your strong points.

That's OK.  You're working on that.  WE are working on that.

If you're busting out of your clothes and barely fitting through doorways because you have a penchant for Twinkies and Pringles and greasy cheeseburgers, making the leap from Quarter Pounder land to the world of 24/7 organic-everything is likely going to land you on your face.

For weight loss, I think 85-15 is a good rule.  Make 85% of your food pure and healthy, but allow yourself that less-than-pure 15% in the form of Zebra Cakes or Funyuns, or whatever your vice may be.

Who doesn't love Funyuns?

The recipes I will occasionally post here will follow that 85-15 rule, for the most part.  I might even use butter or REAL cheese now and then.

GASP!  What did she just say?

I said butter and cheese.  Get over it.

I might bake it instead of grilling it.  I might sautee the veggies rather than steaming them.

In my book, a dinner of baked chicken breast and sauteed veggies beats a 1,500 calorie binge at the local burger joint any day of the week.

We're not trying to be perfect here.  Just better.  A little better every day.
Don't doom yourself to failure by biting off more kale than you can chew.