Clean Eating Diaries: The Beginning

I want to begin this post by saying how challenging this experience has been so far. I know, I know… starting a post with what seems like negativity, isn’t ideal. However, I do not mean it to be pessimistic or negative in anyway. I am simply stating the truth about my lifestyle change (so far). If change were easy, wouldn’t every person do it? I love that this is a challenge. In the end, when I overcome this challenge, I will be a better and stronger person for it. So, view that statement as what it is: a statement.

Photo Credit: Google Images

A clean diet may be different from person to person. My diet does not eliminate any specific meats or gluten, at the moment. Eventually, I may get to that point. For now, I am making one small change at a time. In this case, my clean eating diet is by switching to ALL organic and NO junk food. What constitutes as junk food? Chips, cookies, ice cream, cake, etc. On occasion, I will indulge, but it will be portioned. I do not want to take any steps backwards.

My cousin e-mailed me some resources that will guide me during this life change. I am thrilled to continue reading and learning about this topic. She explained that, “Every time you buy organic and choose not to put garbage on your plate, you’re voting. You’re taking a stand against the food industry poisoning us. Make cooking a priority and eventually you’ll save money (not to mention your health)!” That, alone, was enough for me to take this change a lot more seriously than I had in the past. 

I will provide a separate post to explain the top reasons why I made this change. In this post, I wanted to give a little update on how the diet change has been going. Officially, it has been 3 days since the change. The only aspect to my past diet that I have not eliminated is coffee. I did switch to organic coffee, though. I will admit that Starbucks has made its way into my body on more than one occasion. I love coffee too much to cut it completely. I do not drink more than two cups a day… that’s okay, right? There are benefits to coffee, as you may have read from a previous post this summer. Maybe one day I will be down to half of a cup or one full cup only!

Photo Credit: Google Images

The meals I have been eating are somewhat bland, but tasty overall. I already feel a change in my body. Two of the biggest changes are in my digestive tract and my skin. Also, if you didn’t know, I exercise/lift six days out of the week. Sunday is my rest day. I am up at 5:00 a.m. and finish my workouts by 6:30. This allows me time to relax before work in the morning, prepare my lunch and mid-day snack, and I have an opportunity to research more about the clean eating topic.

At the end of each post, I will provide some advice or tips, based on my experiences. My advice for today is to stay motivated! If that means posting a cliche quote on Twitter, reading motivational speeches online, or simply looking at yourself in the mirror and saying, “I can do this.” THEN DO IT!

Another piece of advice is to create a meal plan for the week in advance. This will make for a smooth grocery store trip and a less stressful week overall (in terms of choosing meals). Before planning my meals, I would shop frivolously when at the grocery store. Anything that looked tasty would make its way into my cart. Now, I not only save money by sticking to a list, but I do not have Oreos in my pantry tempting me to break from my diet.

My final tip is to not be too hard on yourself. It takes about thirty days to get into a solid routine. It is okay if you skip the gym, mess up a meal, or even cheat at times. Learn from your mistakes and use that as fuel to power through the next day! Change is great if it is in the right direction. Be sure that the direction you are headed is best for you and your body. Happy Tuesday and keep working hard. Check out this documentary below to learn more about why I have changed my diet.