Cheryl Dornberg is a chemical engineer turned Clean Food expert. Clean eating can be described as carefully choosing the food that goes into your body based on how pure it is. For example, instead of buying canned food, Cathy suggests buying the food on its own and preparing it yourself. While it seems at first glance that this approach to cooking can be awfully time-consuming, the long-term benefits of Clean Eating (including, most likely, a longer life!) outweigh any extra time it takes to prepare food the right way.
Cheryl explains that when you eat, say, a microwave meal, the food first passes from your esophagus to your stomach. There, the stomach searches for usable nutrients. Finding few as a result of the heavy processing involved with microwave meals, the stomach passes the food on to the intestines, which search for vitamins, proteins, and fiber to use. The intestines will take what they can, which most likely is not much. Essentially, you just ate an entire meal that your body could barely use to sustain itself. Because your basic needs to function are not met, the body begins to crave more food, in search of those valuable nutrients that it is not receiving. This leads you to grab whatever food is most convenient to you–most likely junk food, or fast food from a convenient restaurant–in an attempt to satisfy those cravings. This behavior results in overeating and poor food choices, which can lead to a bloated-full feeling, a symptom of overeating and obesity.
Therefore, if you’re not eating Clean, you’re probably buying much more food than you really need to. If your body can be satisfied the first time you eat, and not the third time around, you’re consuming less food and thus not only eating better but losing weight, as well.
One tip Cheryl has in regards to assessing your eating habits is to look at the number of times you’re eating out at restaurants during the week. It is common in America today to be eating out for 5-10 of the 21 meals in a week, which is far, far, too often. The more you eat in, at home, the more likely the food you’re eating is healthy because its prepared in a much better manner than food is at a restaurant. If this seems too time-consuming, consider pre-cooking a healthy meal during the weekend or whenever you have some spare time and freezing it for a time when you’re too busy to cook an entire meal. Be sure to include a healthy mix of proteins, healthy fats, and carbohydrates in every meal.
Cooking at home is a great way to get creative and experiment with food. Gather family or friends and coordinate a meal, and get excited! It is easy to make cooking fun by getting others involved and trying new things. Another tip from Cathy: forget the recipe! All too often, people rely heavily on a piece of paper telling them what’s going to make food taste good. However, once you have a feel for what kinds of healthy ingredients you like, combine them on your own and don’t be afraid to try something you haven’t seen before!
It doesn’t have to be difficult to eat better and to feel better about yourself. The hardest part is making those initial changes to your eating habits. Cheryl suggests taking some time before your week starts to think of what kinds of food you want to eat. That way, you can make clean choices at the grocery store and in your own kitchen in the coming week. Stay motivated and new, healthy habits will form quickly!
Cheryl is located at 2130 45th Street in Highland, Indiana; one block west of Indianapolis Boulevard. You can find her on the web at www.mrsdornbergs.com and by searching Mrs. Dornberg’s on Facebook. Both sites provide information on upcoming events and classes, as well as tips, tricks, and recipes for Clean Eating. Private parties also available.
