Hello friends!
I wanted to share something with you that I am absolutely loving!
I mentioned in a recent Week In Pictures post that I've started to "eat clean". The short story of that is that I'm avoiding refined sugars and carbs. Lots of fruit, veggies, lean protien and nuts. I also shoot for 5-6 small meals during the day instead of 3 and a snack. I know! What a concept, right??
I started out with this book by Tosca Reno. She's kind of the Clean Eating guru.
Let me just say, that I am definitely one of those "tried it all" people. If there is a diet plan out there, I've tried it. My weight has been up and down for most of my teens and adult life.
We've never been a huge processed food eating family. My mom has always stayed home, and as a farmer's daughter has passed her whole ingredient cooking skills to me. My biggest thing was sugar, both real and artificial. I drink way too much diet coke, and artificial sweeteners have been my "free ride" foods. I know it's not good for me, but I did it anyway.
Here's what I know about eating clean. I know that I have eaten more colorful, delicious food in the past 2 weeks than I usually eat. I know that I feel better throughout the day with no sleepy afternoons and blood sugar dips. I know that I've only had one Diet Coke in 2 weeks (!!!). I know that agave syrup and almond milk in my coffee in the morning is might be my new favorite thing. I also know that in the last 2 weeks I lost 7 pounds without counting a single calorie, carb, or point.
That, my friends, is liberating!
If you've struggled with your weight, I encourage you to look into clean eating. You don't need to go out and buy a book, but I like having "the rules" on hand. Who knows, maybe I'll start sharing my favorite clean recipes here on the blog. Would you guys like that?
I'm not affiliated with The Eat Clean Diet or Tosca Reno in any way, I just want to share something that is making me happy!
Be blessed!
Heather
i just bought the kindle version of this - going to get into it tonight!! thanks :)
ReplyDeleteHeather, that's great! The kinds of foods you eat while clean eating are the foods your body most desires anyway!
ReplyDeleteMy husband recently started working for a personal training / exercise company and he had to learn all about the nutritional aspect of how the body works as well. Once I found out how the body treats carbs and refined sugars, I realized that they were the single most detrimental thing to staying lean and losing fat. Your body would rather have the protein in a ham and egg scrambler for breakfast than the nothing that is in a bowl of cereal.
I've also been eating this way for awhile and am very happy with how I feel and look. I also think this is sustainable because you start wanting to eat the foods that make you feel good and stop craving the bad stuff. Keep up the good work :)
Amy
You are so right! I am so much more aware of how certain foods make me react now, and it keeps me motivated to avoid them!
DeleteAwesome - so happy for you! That's some of what juicing is doing for us. Steven is down 7 pounds in a week! trying to get into new routines. Feel I'm flipping back to all of the stuff I treid to do 5 or so years ago with more raw foods, quinoa, etc. . . Hoping to watch Forks over Knives tonight too. Feel like I need some ammo for renewing my belief in building muscle and eating protein without meat.
ReplyDeleteVery cool! I went on a no sugar diet {even fruits, carrots and sweet potatoes} and I felt amazing and struggled to keep weight on.
ReplyDeleteOooh, that's hard core! I don't think i could give up fruit and sweet potatoes! I'm loving being refined sugar-free though!
DeleteI am so glad to hear that this is going so well in your house! We are in the process of cleaning out the kitchen getting ready for our clean eating journey starting this weekend. Your meals look super delicious!
ReplyDeleteI was really struggling with losing the baby weight last year (Well, more with NOT losing it!) and I recently decided that I was going to forget about "dieting" and just eat healthy, fresh foods and not worry about it! I've lost some weight, but mostly I just feel healthier. I'd love to see some of your recipes :)
ReplyDeleteSo excited to read that you've started Eating clean! It's such an awesome lifestyle change. Good luck on your journey!!
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