Walking in the storm, Clean eating VS. Paleo

Still at 124 today. I went to a hiking meet-up at a local brewery yesterday... I am on a forum for High Peak hiking and people get together every few months to chat, talk about hikes, plan future hikes, etc. I've gone to a couple so far and LOVE it - get to meet so many interesting people and talk about all the things I love with like-minded people.

I had beer, though - a cherry/raspberry ale - because I get such social anxiety, I wanted to relax a little. No regrets - it did the job (I was very chatty!) and was super delicious. :D I love beer. Love, love, love. I'm proud of myself that I stopped drinking it for the most part. I used to drink every other day or so! Now it's limited to once every couple weeks. Sometimes longer, depending! But, oh it is my vice. A vice I limit, but my vice, nonetheless. I am an imperfect healthy living blogger, do forgive me :)

What was great - I talked about hiking food with a lady and she was on my bandwagon of eating no gluten or processed food while eating!!! She said how much it has changed her hiking to maintain a stable blood sugar throughout the whole hike. She brings sweet potatoes and chicken on hikes (just like we do!) and it was just really nice to talk sensible food ideas with someone :)

Another stormy winter day here for us. But life must go on! Chris called in to work so he didn't have to risk the roads, so we took Koda for a family walk. We all still need our exercise, even if "snowpocalypse" is happening (It's not that big of a deal, really, haha, it snows in the Northeast, no surprise there!). It was fun and Koda had a blast busting moves in the powder:

We're all set with our food for the day, so we can make delicious, nutritious food while "stormed in"... I will probably do some yoga or strength training later.

I've been thinking about how I view and talk about food on this blog. I, obviously, eat paleo most of the time (with the exception of occasional alcohol and rare eating out). But, MOST IMPORTANT, and what I want to get across to people who read this, is clean eating. Clean, clean, clean.

The difference?

Clean eating:

Clean eating means eating foods in their most natural form possible.

-from emeals.com

Paleo:

Paleo means eating clean AND giving up certain inflammatory food groups (dairy, grains, legumes) for overall health.

I am a HUGE proponent of clean eating, even though I eat clean AND paleo, but I am aware that paleo is a tough lifestyle and most people are unwilling or struggle too much to eat paleo (though in my opinion, eliminating grains is the best thing you can do for yourself after you clean up your diet!).

But the realism of it is apparent to me. I will not sway most people over to paleo eating. So I push clean eating. It's important for overall health, fitness and weight maintenance. It is so, so, so much harder to maintain a strong, healthy body if chemicals and processed foods are being eaten - too much of the body's energy has to go towards struggling to clean that crap out (leading to overall inflammation and bloating and fatigue).

Where clean eating and paleo overlap contains the most important things I live by in my eating habits:

- eat whole foods

- eat organic, no antibiotic, no preservatives

- eat grass fed and local meats

- eat foods in their most natural form

- focus on vegetables and fruits with healthy doses of good fats (olive oil, avocados, coconut, etc) and lean protein

Those simple, simple rules are the most important. It's why when I stray a little from the paleo lifestyle, I still try to stick to the overlap with clean eating. It keeps me on track and healthy.

Okay - I'm off! Hope those in the Northeast are staying warm!! We are going to have a fire and play games by it tonight while we watch the snow fall.

Namaste <3