The Finish Line

<posting this a little early, just because my to-do list is long because I am GRADUATING!!! AHHHH>

So I am at the finish line of this specific set time for experimentation with Clean Eating.  Though I was done a couple of weeks ago with the actual experiment, I have of course kept it going because I feel so stinking good!

A few things I have learned along the way ...

• Clean living and eating requires extreme commitment.  The first phase is really detoxing not only yourself but your life.  You have to break off talking about it with naysayers, and you have to commit to purge yourself of all things unhealthy.  The hardest thing to do was to get rid of perfectly good food to purge my house.  I held on to the junk for about 2 weeks into the new plan, just because I could not let it go to waste.  As a response to that, I posted on FB that I was giving away tons of food, come on over!  People did come right over, and I then invested $100's in making my kitchen what I needed ... it was expensive but worth it.  Now, I can go into my kitchen and eat whatever I want.  No worries about anything being wrong!!
• Not everyone gets it.  This is a very "now" thing to do, and everyone is started to get "organic" and "sustainable."  I have to fight being one of the newbies and accept that this is me now.
• It's expensive, yes.  But I am investing in my health and my family ... where else should I spend my money?  I can order in dinner for $20, or spend $10 at the market on a healthy meal.
• It takes more that the food.  The working out has not come easily to me, I personally hate it!  But I know it is part of the process.
• It's not just about losing weigh, but holy cow that is great!  Since starting this plan in mid-May, I have lost 13 pounds and ate out, vacationed, and lived life.  I cannot imagine what a dedicated month without all those distractions would do!

This was a worthwhile experiment for this class, and I hope was entertaining.  But, it was worthwhile to my health and my future.  Hooray!!

My Menu

Lucky for me, my menu has gone on auto-pilot since the start of this blog.
At first, I was trying to navigate it all myself.  Then, my health coach started providing a weekly menu plan with a grocery list!  THANK YOU!  Now if I could only find someone to go buy all the stuff for me ... and maybe cook it all ... hahahahahaa!

Her motto is "A Diva sizzles in the kitchen," and with this way of having everything planned out of me I have to say I have been sizzling!  I desire making things at home because I have no way to know what people are adding to things I do not cook.  Quality control at its best!

And thanks to my OCD quality control, I can say that in the month of July I vacationed, I ate out, I did fun things, and I STILL lost 8 pounds at the end of the day!  HOORAY!!

A kid at heart!

So I know I am 31, but I am a kid at heart!

And this baby size Cliff bar is AWESOME!  For .69 vs around $2, I get a half sized bar that is boosted with vitamins and minerals with all organic ingredients.  Yes, please!!

So when would I have this little snack?  I just had it for my mid-morning boost, a time when come complex carbs, sugar, and protein come in handy.  I have learned this is the perfect snack for this time of day-- no fruit or sugars for me!  This girl needs FUEL!

My favorite store bought discoveries ...

I like to cook and create, but some things need to be purchased pre-done!

Needless to say, this is gluten, dairy, preservative free ice cream. AND OH MY GOSH. It is delicious! however, it is $6 for this tiny container, and has some organic cane sugar.  Still better than white sugar!

I have covered this in a previous blog, but these bars are delicious.  They are a great quick breakfast option.

These little beauties are from our CSA, www.greendoorgourmet.com.  They are on my favorite store bought list because I just do not have the green thumb talent needed for these beauties!!

And as you can see, my crew loves Starbucks.  So, I had to discover a caffeine and sugar free option, and got this pink yummyness know as a Passion Tea.  Great stuff!

My favorite at home creations...

A big part of this project of clean living is to be able to do things at home so you are in control of all that goes into what you consume.  Here are my favorite things I created...

Chicken Salad in a jar ... the thought for this came from the cleanse week and looking around pintrest you see tons of variations.  This is a way to have a delish salad at work and be cleanly satisfied!  Many of my lunch hours this summer were at my desk with this salad, a big water, and my school to-do list!

This is the infamous "Citrus Salmon with Garlic Kale & Roasted Sweets & Beets," the meal we attribute our whole new lifestyle to.  This was meal one of our clean-cleanse, and there was no going back after all this good stuff!

And finally, the mega awesome glass mason jar.  There is this whole movement to pay more for BPA free plastic ... why not grab a case of glass mason jars instead!  This haul represents my Sunday roasted organic chicken for salads all week, the veggies that were roasted with the chicken as a side later in the week, and some bean soup!

Juicing

We love the juicing!  I have written about this in many forums for this class, but a picture is worth 1,000 words!

A counter at your local coffee shop

Some places boast about their healthy options ... such as a skinny blah blah blah and a healthy oatmeal breakfast.  But as consumers, are we advertised to in order to choose healthy, or to go with the fat filled overly processed cheap stuff?

Take for example, Starbucks.  They pride themselves in their granola bars, fruit snacks, and bottled Naked juices ... pictured below:

All in a case directly under the frozen pastries that are thawed out and served on a daily basis full of fat, sugar, preservatives, and processed junk.

I went out on a limb for these pictures, I was even a bit made fun of my the sweet barista that always gives me an ice water in my post below.  "Are you KIDDING?" she said to her coworker... "How weird is SHE..." says the other guy.

Little do they know I am not just a weirdo, I am a weirdo on a mission.  

May I have an ice water refil, please?  Thanks!

A hard thing to do ...

Come into a Starbucks for you lunch break and drink WATER.
It is not that I cannot have an iced tea if I want one, but you get a a point where you realize I am spending $3 every time I come in here for herbal tea.  I should just drink water.

So there is the fear of being judged by the barista when you ask for water, looking like a cheap jerk to the other people as they sip there $5 iced coffee ... but in the long run it is worth the battle.  I get to leave here having written this blog completed meaningful projects for my education, and $3 richer along with being better hydrated.

Please excuse that I give into the man and get it in my reusable Starbucks cup ... I appreciate the green practice!

Sugar, Sugar!

I know that eating cleanly requires me to stay away from processed sugar products (think corn syrup and white sugar.) ... but I never actually thought I would get to a place where the sugar in fruit would effect me.  Until today!

This morning I was running late, but wanted to have a healthy breakfast on the go so I grabbed my trusty blueberry cliff bar.  I love them; they have all the boost you need for the day.  However, I stopped into Corner Court on campus for a hot tea and was swayed by fresh looking fruit cups.  Thinking what's the harm I grabbed one and had it with my bar.

10 minutes later I was queazy, nauseated, and ready to lay down!!  I did a little research, and found that I had OD-ed on sugar.  Processed or natural, too much of a good thing can throw you off!!

A tinge nervous about a weekend trip to Memphis with family ... have to attempt to make really good decisions while still enjoying myself.  I hope all of the walking will counteract a few of the nibbles!!

The focus of my blog

So I realize that the first post was supposed to be more of and introduction to what I will be blogging about than who I am and why I am familiar with blogging!

I am going to take this blog and connect it to my Experiment for this course.  I am conducting an experiment in Clean Eating.  But not just clean eating, I am clean LIVING.  This blog is going to focus on the food portion of this show ... and why it is important to me.

I am consuming only whole foods and beverages, nothing processed and nothing I cannot identify.  I am practicing gluten free eating, something I have done for a little over a month now.  I am doing this for a rather simple reason; I want to feel better.

I have a great Pintrest Board, if you are interesting, with thoughts, links, etc about clean living.

Here, I am going to post my family menu for the week ....

And I will talk a bit about the success of it.  For example, We had beans Sunday, chicken last night, and salmon tonight.  Mixed it up, but essentially we are still sticking to the plan!

I will also post a favorite product of the week ...

I am telling you.  I had a hard time buying into the protein/energy bar craze... mainly because I like lunch and dinner.  But as a breakfast?  That is a whole new idea!  This bar is extremely tasty and delicious, has great nutrition, is organic, and lasts me from 7:30am-lunch no problem.  I pair it was a juice (kale, zucchini, apple, lime) and am set for the morning.

So my blogging commitment is:

1. A blog of the Menu
2. A blog of a favorite item
3. A blog of how the week went and how it's going

I think this is definitely going to fall under the journal/letter writing/autobiographical/essay aspects of Life Writing, because I hope to document my journey will writing to an mysterious audience about what I am up to in an interesting way!  So for now, until we meet again ... imagine me with my markers, day of the week magnets, munching on a Cliff bar!!