Made It 7 and Raised Myself 10

   So, it’s been 10 whole days and I've stuck to my clean eating plan.  I only had to do it for 7.  I mean that’s what I wrote on my 40 by Forty list, yet here I am gladly continuing the effort. What?  

   

   I never would have thought I’d make it through a week never mind wanting to continue.  I have to tell you though, I feel great.  I don’t know if it’s a mental thing, just knowing that I’m putting healthy fuel into my body, or that these whole foods are really making a difference, but whatever the reason, I love it.  Plus, I got an unexpected gift out of this past week; I remembered I actually enjoy cooking ;-)

   

   Believe it or not I was able to get my husband on board and by default our son.  Don’t get me wrong I didn't deny my six year old the lollipop his aunt brought for him when she came to visit, but 90% of what he’s been eating has been clean.  Now, when I say clean, I’m not saying we have our own gardens, orchards and farm and picked our own fruit and veggies and butchered our own animals for meat.  What I’m saying is that we used fresh fruit and vegetables from our local Co-op and bought what else we needed from the grocery store.  Using organic whenever available.  We made sure to purchase only grass fed meats, with no added steroids and again organic when possible.  As for things like crackers and hummus, we didn't’ make our own, but read the packages to make sure there was a very short list of ingredients and that those ingredients were whole foods we recognized.  I know there are variations of what it means to eat clean, but this is my version and I think it’s a pretty good one. 

My Family’s Favorite Recipes So Far:

Jon - Breakfast Banana Split (He uses plain Greek yogurt and I use cottage cheese) - 1 Medium banana cut up - 1/2 cup cottage cheese or plain Greek yogurt - 1 1/2 tablespoons of fruit spread or jam - 1 tablespoon of peanuts & a pinch of salt.  Layer and enjoy.

J.J. – Frozen Berry Granola Squares - 1 cup whole grain granola - 2 cups fresh strawberries and raspberries - 3 cups plain Greek yogurt - 1/3 cup agave nectar - 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract. Sprinkle granola at the bottom of an 8" baking pan.  Blend remaining ingredients in blender and pour over the top.  Freeze for 4 hours, cut into squares and eat.

Tracey – Satay Chicken (I use pure maple syrup in place of the coconut sugar)

   The biggest challenge for me was making the time to plan and prepare.  At first I felt I wouldn't be able to do it, but after seriously making an effort, it really wasn't that difficult to adjust my schedule to make it happen.  Sunday afternoons are working out to be a great time for me to take an hour or so to make a menu for the week and prepare some items I can store in the fridge for a quick grab and go, healthy clean snack.  Things like hard boiled eggs, cut up veggies and portioned out nuts and raisins.  I also found a renewed fondness for my crock pot. A week’s worth of chicken can be cooked at one time and be used later to make breakfast frittatas, salads and stir fry, just a few options to name.

   

   Another pitfall I had to carefully avoid was portioning.  It’s always been a challenge for me. So, I chose to use the Weight Watchers Points program as a guide for my food intake and so far it’s worked pretty well.  The biggest difference I find now from when I've done Weight Watchers before is that I don’t find myself hungry.  I eat approximately every three hours, breakfast, lunch and dinner with two snacks in between and unless I've skipped a meal or had to push it off for some reason I really haven’t been starving at all.  This is huge for a foodie like me.

   I know I’m not reporting anything new in the world of health and nutrition, but actually taking the information and doing it is certainly new for me.  The major take away being that I really thought it would be super hard.  I’m pleasantly surprised to find out that it’s not and I’m excited to keep going and see how it continues to positively impact my life.  Right now, I feel like I have more energy and that’s been translating into more exercise and doing fun things with my family.  One of my favorites has been to cook with my husband like we used to do before we were married.  I have a feeling, spending that quality time together somehow makes the recipes come out tasting that much better.