In our day and age, you see ads for diet plans everywhere! A new diet comes out almost everyday claiming to be the best way to lose weight. It's no wonder that many people get caught up in the yo-yo effect that many of these diets can cause.

So, what is the true way to losing weight naturally? The answer lies in eating clean and exercising. I know, I know, you've heard this before; however, I would like to take a new spin on it to prove that eating healthy is not as hard as it seems. Notice that you will never hear me refer to eating clean as a "diet"! This is simply because the word diet has "die" in it, meaining you will die of starvation if you followed it. Instead, eating clean means to simply change your current views on eating.

In the south (I'm from Georgia), we are surrounded by a lot of fried foods and sweet tea. It's almost a way of life to eat fried foods on a constant basis. I had to change how I looked at food to eat clean. For example, instead of eating fried chicken, I eat baked or grilled chicken. Instead of french fries, I eat a sweet potato or sometimes a regular baked potato.

For the average person beginning to eat clean I would suggest that you write down what you eat for a whole week. This is a good start to determine exactly what you're eating. Then, simply look for healthier altnernatives, such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

In my future posts, I will break down by day a meal plan that the normal Joe could live and lose weight. This meal plan will simply make small adjustments to your eating habits to get the results you want. I will also discuss the mental portion of eating clean and why we crave sweets!