Clean eating is not super restrictive like paleo, wheat or gluten-free diets, nor is it so limiting regarding what one would need to consume when training for marathons (beans, grains, etc). <- Which is very important to me.
Obviously, we have a choice as to what we consume everywhere, but we won't be asking other people to change their plans to fit our style. We're focusing on eating clean within our home, but do not plan to extend those boundaries outside the home restrictively. We spend a lot of time with others on the weekends bringing tasty goods to parties. So, if I no longer showed up with amazing gooey-fudgey brownies, hold the black beans, I think I'd be under fire. I still want my friends and family to love me. If it takes bribery with brownies, I'm in.
I don't like to think of it as "cheating" when we eat unclean food, as I don't like to label food good or bad. On the other hand, I do like callin' it clean or dirty!
The past month my nutrition has taken quite a bit more of my focus. I not only want to be healthy and set a good example for those around me, but I also want my entire home to be healthy: Chris, Miles and I. Clean eating is something we all can agree on and still enjoy our lives.In addition to re-working our lives to incorporate more clean eating, I have been waking at 5am to hit the gym. It has worked out awesomely well! Usually, I am woken up by Chris' alarm at 5am and then throw pillows over my head and hide until he says goodbye with Miles around 6am. Now, I toss off the covers and whip myself out the door to run, lift weights or cycle.
Not only has my morning routine changed, but I find I am getting more accomplished at work each day, and around the house. I feel less stressed to "get a workout in" after school and I am free to change afternoon plans as needed. Nothing will change my regular plans at 5am... unless you want to meetup for a run?
Welcome a new, less stressed mother-runner.
This week I took everything out of our pantry and ordered it from cleaner to dirtier foods. On the left we have oats, rice, quinoa, tuna, beans, nuts, etc. On the right we have whole wheat flour, sugar in the raw, powdered sugar, chocolate, fake syrup (ick, that's Chris'), pasta and canned sauce.
You know this frugal momma. I went through what we recently purchased, found the receipts and will be returning these items we won't need to use. Can I get a Ba-zinga!?!
Then I put back everything that we are keeping as a part of our pantry. The Cheerios are not a normal purchase, we bought those for Miles under pressure that he "needed" them. Once they are gone, they are gone. The Nutella and dark chocolate, those are our treats - oh yeah. Who doesn't like to eat a dirty every now and then?
I'm not one to waste food, so we'll be using up what is on the counter in the coming weeks. It'll either be made for us to enjoy, or brought to others when we visit. Either way, it won't go to waste. Anything we don't use will be donated to the local food pantry, as well.
There are still some items in the fridge that need to be used up, but we'll get there slowly. I'm a big proponent of small incremental changes. It worked for me in the past, and it's working for me now. Rome wasn't built in a day and our culture of eating won't be changed by any crash diets or crazy challenges. Although, I'm always up for a good challenge!
I'm testing out Naked Juice for the time being as a pre-workout 1/2 cup quick drink to get my blood sugar up at 5am. So far, it's been nice. Although, I prefer the Wegmans green juice to the Naked brand. Wegmans is just more "green". Next to that are my chia seeds and flax seeds to go with my morning smoothies of hemp, dried coconut, almondmilk and a frozen banana.
I'm also trying the flavored Hemp Shakes by Nutiva. I have their regular hi-protein hemp in the freezer. This one was on sale, so I thought I'd give it a try. It's not bad as a quick flavored mix-up. I wouldn't purchase it again though, as I prefer the bland basic straight-up hemp.
A few leftovers from Super Bowl Sunday - Cola is Chris' as a treat for that day - and I cannot wait to finish eating the leftover buffalo chicken dip!
So, that's our pantry and kitchen in a nutshell. There is more we'd like to change over, but in due time. Right now, we're planning clean and trying to get moving every day. I cannot wait until Miles is running around this spring... I believe a lot of pull-ups at the monkey bars are in store for me!
What's your style of eating? Have you ever heard of clean eating?
Equipment used: iPod Touch 5G
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