So, I have been in a sort of rut lately (that word doesn't look right). Anyway, my weight loss has all together stopped, and I have been super sluggish, tired, and lazy feeling. I am still running, but I am even losing steam there. I did make plans to start playing tennis with a girl at work, so maybe that will help in the workout department.
In the meantime, a girl I am friends with on Facebook has been blogging about "Eating Clean" and how it is completely transforming her life. She has been doing it for about six months now, and she has lost 47 pounds. She raves about it, and I have always wondered what it was about. So while on my break from classes, I have been researching it, and I decided I am going to try an abbreviated version. After all, there is no way I can give up the occasional diet coke or coffee, so there is no need to lie and say I am going to totally commit to it. The gist is to eat foods in their most natural forms, while omitting all processed foods and white sugars, breads, rice, etc. You will look better and feel better, while losing any extra stubborn pounds that are hanging around. I think my eating is a lot of my problem. We have way too much processed food in the house and way too much junk food. I can limit myself for the most part, but I want to try and stay away from these foods as much as possible. Of course this isn't entirely possible thanks to parties, eating on the road, and living with a 3 year old, but I am going to make a conscious effort to clean up my diet as much as possible. Now, if only I could drink the dreaded 8 glasses of water a day!
I have been printing out some recipes that fit into the eating clean category, and they are not as bad as I was expecting. Since I am cheap I am not going to buy all the books to read and get recipes from, but I am going to look for this one
Mostly I just need some good snack ideas. I know this lifestyle change will have so many amazing benefits, so maybe easing into this way of eating is the best plan. Now, what are the chances of getting Gary on board???
you know what, you'll be surprised how easy it is. the hardest part is converting your house. there is that period of "we have junk food in the pantry/freezer/fridge" and it is just wasteful to toss it or not eat it and let it go to waste. so, using up all that old stuff and replacing it with the whole-foods takes about 2 months, just so you know. and after you make that switch, it is an easy "diet" (lifestyle) to have.
ReplyDeletei've been doing it this whole year. we eat nothing processed, i've not eaten out (fast food) all year either. we eat out (sit-down-type) on occasion, but i always try to pick things that are cooked in their purest form (like, a grilled beef taco with cilantro and onions rather than a burrito with refried beans and all the other junk).
if you need some guidance, let me know. especially on "how to do it on a budget" - i've made our switch using the same budget as i did before.
oh, another part of it was #1 you gotta cook everything (no pre-cooked things), #2 you gotta eat less (because what you are eating is more nutritional), and #3 you gotta eat all of it (i.e., leftovers). that is the only way to make it affordable. of coarse, we buy ONLY organic, so that means our bill includes those costs. maybe after you make a "whole" switch you can make the "organic" switch.
i'm totally behind you!
oh, snacks: fruit, greek yogurt, rice cakes (sweetened with agave) - don't forget you CAN have raw sugar, and stevia is a natural sweetener too.
ReplyDeleteyou can also find organic coffee (i'm not sure why it said to not drink coffee...) but i've had minimal sodas this year. like, less than 12 this entire year. i still have 1 can left in the garage from the pack i bought last year.
i also make my own orange/grapefruit juice. you can buy the big bags of the fruit and just squeeze it yourself. it is delish and my kids love it.
you can also make your own bread (which i can't do, my oven sucks - cooks unevenly) so i buy the arnold's brand of whole wheat, it has no preservatives, no high fructose corn syrup, etc. - we don't eat much of it so i end up drying half of the loaf in the stove and making homemade bread crumbs with it for chicken nuggets. HOMEMADE chicken nuggets.
la petit appetit cookbook: buy it. it is the best cookbook i've found for kid-friendly meals made out of whole & organic foods. i use it at least 2 times a week. (its where i got my nugget recipe from.)
AND LAST kendal and holly eat nothing processed or non-organic. this diet is SO doable. that is how i've lost 13ish pounds this year. not a lot, but i've done nothing else and i don't drink enough water. and, i probably still eat to many calories in a day.
ReplyDeletealso, how much did the girl that lost 47 pounds weigh to start with? that is a lot of weight to loose just by changing to whole foods (unless she did vegan?)
Thanks for the info! I'm not sure how much my friend weighed before-only that she had gained a lot in the past years. Plus she is doing Tae-bo and P90X
ReplyDeleteI love Arnold's wheat bread. That is about the only thing that will not change in our house. And you are right about getting rid of the junk food. You should see our pantry-junk food central. It will take a while to really convert the shelves and the fridge, but I am in no rush. I am going to take it one step at a time, and make small changes as I go.
I have been trying to lose all this baby weight from my last two kids and just can't find a way to do it. Trying to find the right things to eat has been quite a challenge for me. I love snacks, but what are the good ones to eat. If someone else tells me rice cakes I'll scream. Your post really gave me some insight. Thanks! check me out at abm365.blogspot.com
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Starting my "eating clean" soon..
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