6/13/2014 Day 1 - Clean Eating Hi everyone out there in cyberland!
Today is the first day of eating clean. While I'm currently going to follow the Whole30 plan, my goal is to make the switch to clean eating FOR GOOD!
I'm tired of the sea-saw of endless diets, losing weight only to gain it back, feeling like crap (and that's mild), etc.
The only way to go CLEAN is to be RADICAL! Yup, that's me...Miss Radical.
So last night my daughter and I cleaned our refrigerator and freezer, pantry, and cupboards. We trucked out 5 large bags of food, condiments, snacks, and pure junk in order to start today on a CLEAN slate.
While completing this overwhelming task, we also searched for clean eating recipes, planned a menu (including breakfast, lunch, and dinner), and finally, entered Wegmans. These tasks took us from 2:30 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. to accomplish. A task that I'm am hoping will get easier as the days march on. I think the toughest of these tasks, and the most overwhelming for me, was the grocery shopping.
The plan was not to purchase items for our menu, but to re-stock our pantry with things like ghee, coconut milk, coconut oil, olive oil, and sea salt. Well, 2 hours and $104 later, we emerged with our 5 bags of items (no vegetables, fruits, or meats). My purchases did include a package of frozen shrimp and a package of frozen salmon (the latter will last longer because there is more than one meal in the bag).
The most daunting thing was looking at all of the labels and realizing that 95% of the items we normally purchase contain some type of sugar, MSG, grain, or sulfites. It was a tedious task--one, because I couldn't see some of the label ingredients without my readers (yes, my reading ability of small text is limited), and two, I kept hearing my daughter say, nope, not this, can't have that, etc.
Reading the labels really affected me--deep down in my gut--the one I'm trying to save. I realized how much processing and pure garbage is really put into EVERYTHING. We couldn't even find vinegar that did not contain sulfites, so I'm now on a quest for that.
Some really great stuff emerged from this near 7 hour expedition.
1. I realized that I already have some great recipes that are clean.
2. I realized that I truly am addicted to sugar, although it really was not news to me ;)
3. I confirmed that eating well is only for people who have money.
The last item above is very sad because clean eating should be accessible to everyone. Welfare funds and WIC pay for food products that really are not healthful. Yet, people with low incomes should benefit the most from healthful foods because they do not have the money to be ill, but their food makes them sick. I'll stop here on this note and step off of my soapbox. I can delve more into this at another time.
Another awareness came forth last night - don't be fooled by the word ORGANIC or even the words CLEAN RECIPE. Sugar can be organic, as can grains. Reading the labels on ALL purchases is necessary for CLEAN eating, as is being aware of the items in a recipe.
I will post items that I have found and where I have found them, so my readers who are interested in clean eating can access food a bit easier.
For today--I've only had breakfast thus far, but lunch is quickly approaching. Breakfast entailed: 2 eggs with salt & pepper, a cup of coffee with coconut milk, and a smoothie (coconut milk, strawberry, banana, spinach). Yes, my husband and daughter had the same items. I will be blunt about the coffee with coconut milk--it sucks!! It is not Dunkin Donuts, nor is it Starbucks. But if I want to drink coffee, then I must convert to this way of drinking it. Otherwise, I need to stop drinking it--bottom line. I like eggs, and I've made this smoothie many times before (without coconut milk), but it made it somewhat creamy like yogurt.
Lunch is a salad and dinner garlic shrimp, zucchini, and grape tomatoes (again, a recipe I have already made.) I do have plans for my snacks--as I know that will become an issue quickly. In addition to vegetables and fruits, I purchased Organic Almond Butter and Clif Kit's Organic Bars to help out with any snack cravings.
Today is the first day of eating clean. While I'm currently going to follow the Whole30 plan, my goal is to make the switch to clean eating FOR GOOD!
I'm tired of the sea-saw of endless diets, losing weight only to gain it back, feeling like crap (and that's mild), etc.
The only way to go CLEAN is to be RADICAL! Yup, that's me...Miss Radical.
So last night my daughter and I cleaned our refrigerator and freezer, pantry, and cupboards. We trucked out 5 large bags of food, condiments, snacks, and pure junk in order to start today on a CLEAN slate.
While completing this overwhelming task, we also searched for clean eating recipes, planned a menu (including breakfast, lunch, and dinner), and finally, entered Wegmans. These tasks took us from 2:30 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. to accomplish. A task that I'm am hoping will get easier as the days march on. I think the toughest of these tasks, and the most overwhelming for me, was the grocery shopping.
The plan was not to purchase items for our menu, but to re-stock our pantry with things like ghee, coconut milk, coconut oil, olive oil, and sea salt. Well, 2 hours and $104 later, we emerged with our 5 bags of items (no vegetables, fruits, or meats). My purchases did include a package of frozen shrimp and a package of frozen salmon (the latter will last longer because there is more than one meal in the bag).
The most daunting thing was looking at all of the labels and realizing that 95% of the items we normally purchase contain some type of sugar, MSG, grain, or sulfites. It was a tedious task--one, because I couldn't see some of the label ingredients without my readers (yes, my reading ability of small text is limited), and two, I kept hearing my daughter say, nope, not this, can't have that, etc.
Reading the labels really affected me--deep down in my gut--the one I'm trying to save. I realized how much processing and pure garbage is really put into EVERYTHING. We couldn't even find vinegar that did not contain sulfites, so I'm now on a quest for that.
Some really great stuff emerged from this near 7 hour expedition.
1. I realized that I already have some great recipes that are clean.
2. I realized that I truly am addicted to sugar, although it really was not news to me ;)
3. I confirmed that eating well is only for people who have money.
The last item above is very sad because clean eating should be accessible to everyone. Welfare funds and WIC pay for food products that really are not healthful. Yet, people with low incomes should benefit the most from healthful foods because they do not have the money to be ill, but their food makes them sick. I'll stop here on this note and step off of my soapbox. I can delve more into this at another time.
Another awareness came forth last night - don't be fooled by the word ORGANIC or even the words CLEAN RECIPE. Sugar can be organic, as can grains. Reading the labels on ALL purchases is necessary for CLEAN eating, as is being aware of the items in a recipe.
I will post items that I have found and where I have found them, so my readers who are interested in clean eating can access food a bit easier.
For today--I've only had breakfast thus far, but lunch is quickly approaching. Breakfast entailed: 2 eggs with salt & pepper, a cup of coffee with coconut milk, and a smoothie (coconut milk, strawberry, banana, spinach). Yes, my husband and daughter had the same items. I will be blunt about the coffee with coconut milk--it sucks!! It is not Dunkin Donuts, nor is it Starbucks. But if I want to drink coffee, then I must convert to this way of drinking it. Otherwise, I need to stop drinking it--bottom line. I like eggs, and I've made this smoothie many times before (without coconut milk), but it made it somewhat creamy like yogurt.
Lunch is a salad and dinner garlic shrimp, zucchini, and grape tomatoes (again, a recipe I have already made.) I do have plans for my snacks--as I know that will become an issue quickly. In addition to vegetables and fruits, I purchased Organic Almond Butter and Clif Kit's Organic Bars to help out with any snack cravings.
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