Friday, July 17, 2009

Clean Eating or Clean Off My Rocker?

It happened like this. I was cruising the magazine rack at my local Target because it would appear that I have replaced my addiction to food with an addiction to glossy magazines. And since I just got back from a 2 week trip in which I traveled over 3300 miles, I had fully exhausted my stash. So there I am looking for something new and I find Vogue Decor (didn't care for it), National Geographic Travel (always on the lookout for the next great destination), and Clean Eating (Loved it!) I wasn't really expecting to, like it - that is, but turns out it's not totally for sandal wearing, granola eating, tree huggers. I will own to two out of the three, but let it be known that I love my fashion too much to wear sandals, at least of the Jesus Creeper variety. And since I am stuck in a dieting rut and my energy has bottomed out I was open to trying anything.
I like it. So far. Clean Eating is not really a diet, which I like. It's more of a way of eating. Pay attention to what you eat. Eat whole unprocessed foods, organic when possible. And learn how to prepare healthy meals for yourself instead of relying on restaurants where you don't really have control over what your eating.
I love that I get to eat yogurt, which I have been doing already. And I was skeptical about substituting honey and/or agave nectar for sugar, but I like it. I don't know if I can completely cut out the white sugar but I have definately cut it down drastically. I have switched from white flour products to whole grains and the best part is that my kids haven't bitched about it. Amazing! I'm not so sure about the quoina and bulgar (exotic grains) not so much because I'm afraid to try something new, but because I'm just not sure how practical it will be to find it in my tiny tiny town. And eating locally is a big factor. I have made friends at the farmer's market.
I've been doing this for about a week now and while I haven't really dropped any pounds (I haven't actually lowered my calorie intake) I have already noticed the energy going up and my mood improving as well. That was an unexpected but totally welcome bonus.
So, the bottom line, after a week of clean eating is this. I don't know if I can stick to it 100% of the time, but I have resolved to try to stick to an 80%/20% type of thing. The 20% allows for life and other crap that gets in the way and as long as I don't go crazy and start snorting Pixie Sticks it should be OK. I liked the grilled pork with peaches, but the raw hummus - not so much. So check it out, if you're looking for something new. Or even if you're not, it's totally worth the effort. Besides who can say no to an eating plan that includes lemon shortcakes with strawberries, blueberries, and fresh cream?

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