Day 10 Cleanse

I made it!!! Final day of the cleanse and it feels really good to have accomplished what I set out to do. Many of the changes I made in the last 10 days will become life-long habits. We had small group tonight and to celebrate I let myself eat pretty much whatever I wanted. Surprisingly, I choose pretty wisely! I avoided the chips and just ate the dip with a spoon and didn't over do it. I made two appetizers and both were all natural. I'm including the recipes below.

Breakfast--Fiber drink (so glad to be done with these!)
Mid-morning snack--almonds
Lunch--salad with walnuts and spray dressing
Afternoon snack--peanut butter
Dinner--small group appetizers
Workout--3-mile run!! Yay!!! It was almost 60 degrees here so I couldn't pass it up!

Here's what I made for appetizers:

Almost Guacamole
2 avocados
1 medium red onion
1 package cherry tomatos
handful cilantro
1 lime

Dice the avocado, onion and cherry tomatoes. Mix 
together with handful of chopped cilantro and juice from 1 lime. Serve immediately with tortilla chips. 

Cheese Queso
Usually you use Velveeta, which is far from natural, but this recipe uses all natural ingredients.

1 can Rotel
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 block cheddar cheese, shredded
1 block colby jack cheese, shredded
1 cup milk

In a saucepan, mix the butter and flour until butter is melted into flour. Whisk in milk until all the flour is dissolved. Slowly add in the shredded cheese a little at a time, only adding more when the other is melted in. Once all the cheese is in and melted, add in the Rotel. Put in crock pot to keep warm. Serve with chips. 

Eating Clean Step-by-Step

A livestrong.com article published in 2010 listed 5 steps to clean eating. I found them overall helpful, with a few minor adjustments. 

Step 1
Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Choose fresh, unprocessed foods over canned or processed products. Clean eating enthusiasts believe that we were meant to survive on fresh fruits and vegetables and that processing them reduces their nutritional value and fiber content and adds salt, fat, sugar and chemicals. Choose fruit instead of fruit juice and if you must pick a processed vegetable, frozen is always better than canned.

Ugh...I hate fruit. I only like two types of fruit, bananas and strawberries. I guess I will have to work on liking more types of fruits. Luckily, I do like all different types of veggies, so that won't be too hard. As for processed veggies, we've already eliminated canned for frozen. Luckily, I can still find great sales on frozen veggies; Kroger runs their frozen veggies 10 for $10 every few weeks. 
 
Step 2
Balance protein and complex carbohydrates. Incorporate whole grains like brown rice or millet over processed grains. Eat lean meats, and choose organic or grass fed meats when possible as these foods are usually clean of pesticides, hormones and additives. Grill, broil or steam your meats rather than frying.

Check...we already choose a lot of whole grains over processed grains anyway. And thankfully, whole wheat pasta has gotten better lately. Lean meats will be a challenge budget-wise, since they tend to be more expensive. I am going to investigate local butchers to see if they may be cheaper. The only meat I fry is fish, and that is very occasionally, so we're good there too. 

Step 3
Avoid sodas and high calorie, sugary drinks. Follow the tenant of clean eating that aims to remove added sugars from the diet. Choose water or tea for your beverages, or juice your own fruits and vegetables and enjoy them without added sugars or preservatives.

This will be one of the exceptions to the rules...I cannot give up my diet Pepsi and Coke Zero!! :)
 
Step 4
Trade bad fats for good fats. One of the most important aspects of clean eating is removing saturated fats from the diet. Lower your saturated fat intake by avoiding fast food, choosing lean cuts of meat and getting your fat calories from foods like nuts and fatty fish.

I never pay attention to fats, good or bad, so it will be interesting to see how I do in this category. 
 
Step 5
Eat several small meals to keep blood sugar stable and to avoid overeating. Choose snacks like nuts, low-fat or fat free dairy and fruits and vegetables. Note that some people who live a clean eating lifestyle don't eat dairy products while others adapt clean eating to a vegetarian lifestyle.

I've tried eating five or six small meals before and it didn't work for me. I'll probably do more of three regular meals and one afternoon snack. 

Day 9 Cleanse

I'm getting so close I can taste the carbs ;) Tomorrow night we have small group and it's appetizer night...usually that would totally be bad news for my willpower, but I am working on a couple of all natural, not-so-bad-for-you appetizers...tune in tomorrow!

Breakfast--Fiber drink
Mid-morning snack--nothing
Lunch--two eggs
Afternoon snack--two handful almonds (I added in a few chocolate chips...I'm so bad! ;)
Dinner--chicken stir-fry with lots of yummy veggies

Evening snack--two spoonfuls of peanut butter
LOTS of water all day

Workout--25 minutes on the elliptical

On another note, I made the kids mac and cheese today for lunch. Usually, I buy and make the Kroger brand mac and cheese out of the box. Whoa additives and preservatives!!

 Thankfully, Trader's Joes also makes a boxed mac and cheese that's much more natural, with most ingredients I can pronounce. Still several unrecognizable ingredients, but again, better than the other stuff...baby steps :) Bonus, the Trader's Joes was on sale for $.99...not too shabby!

Day 7 Cleanse

It's amazing to me how after only 7 days my stomach has already gotten smaller. I am full a lot sooner than I've ever been and all without any carbs or starches! After the cleanse, I was planning on going back to eating carbs and starches, but I think I can cut back a lot on the amount I eat. For example, I think instead of a starch at every dinner, we'll do a starch at every other dinner. The last 7 days have proven I don't NEED them, I just WANT them :)

Breakfast--banana 
Mid-morning snack--nothing
Lunch--leftover fajita veggies
Afternoon snack--two handful almonds
Dinner--grilled boneless pork chop with Montgomery Inn sauce, green beans and strawberries

Evening snack--two spoonfuls of peanut butter
Herbal pills before bed and LOTS of water all day

Workout--25 minutes elliptical

Day 6 Cleanse

Day 6...officially over half way through the cleanse! Still taking the probiotics in the morning, herbal cleanse pills at night and I've added fish oil pills during lunch.

Breakfast--Green Monster Smoothie...I found out about these bad boys from my friend Bethany and her marathon training blog. There are many different versions; mine is banana, peanut butter, spinach and half-n-half. 

Mid-morning snack--handful of peanuts
Lunch--salad with walnuts and ranch dressing spray Afternoon snack--peanut butter
Dinner--chicken fajitas sans tortillas (is it still a fajita?)--red and yellow peppers, onions, avocado, salsa and a little cheese

Evening snack--two spoonfuls of peanut butter
Herbal pills before bed and LOTS of water all day

Workout--Insanity plyometrics cardio circuit

$$ Homemade Taco Seasoning $$

I've been making my own taco and fajita seasoning. The pre-made packets are convenient and cheap, but chocked full of preservatives and additives. The homemade mix keeps well and does not contain any unrecognizable ingredients, plus I figured out it costs me about $1 to make one batch, which equals about 4 to 5 uses. That's about $.20 a use, compared to about a $1.00 for one packet. Not a huge savings, but every little bit counts. So, I'm not only clean, I'm saving money!

Here's the recipe:

Homemade Taco Seasoning

4 teaspoons onion powder

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Mix well and store in an airtight container. 

  

Day 4 Cleanse

Day 4 was a little different for the cleanse routine. I didn't have to take the fiber drink (thank God!) and instead took two pro-biotic pills to aid with digestion. I caved a little today and had some carbs (brown rice in my burrito bowl and small helping of rice pilaf at dinner). I was sooooo hungry!!! For me, this cleanse isn't about losing weight, but helping my body be as healthy as it can be. However, I have noticed that it has only taken three days to get rid of the extra Christmas weight I put on in the previous two weeks.

Breakfast--banana
Mid-morning snack--handful almonds
Lunch--Chipolte chicken burrito bowl with brown rice, black beans and guacamole (I'll admit, I also had a little cheese and sour cream as well)

Afternoon snack--banana and peanut butter
Dinner--country ribs, rice pilaf, sauteed green beans, sauteed peppers, onions and mushrooms

Evening snack--handful almonds
Herbal pills before bed and LOTS of water  

Workout--rest day

Day 3 Cleanse

 Today was the same as the first two, nothing new to report! 

Breakfast--Advocare fiber drink
Mid-morning snack--nothing
Lunch--banana with peanut butter
Afternoon snack--two handfuls of almonds
Dinner--red pepper, onion, mushroom and ham 3-egg omelette
Herbal pills before bed and LOTS of water  

Workout--Insanity Cardio Abs

Day 2 Cleanse

Not much change from yesterday. I did remember to take a picture of my dinner tonight, but only remembered half way through, so excuse the lack of food on the plate :) I went through my database of go-to recipes for dinner and threw out a ton that were not natural or clean. I then spent too much time on Pinterest finding new recipes. But, I can't wait to share what I've found with you!

Breakfast--Advocare fiber drink
Mid-morning snack--two handfuls of nuts
Lunch--salad with carrots, few squirts of Wishbone ranch dressing spray and cubed ham
Afternoon snack--two spoonfuls of peanut butter
Dinner--swai fillets, zucchini and tomato sauce and broccoli slaw
Herbal pills before bed and LOTS of water  

Workout--25 minutes elliptical and abs

Day 1 Cleanse

In my research into clean eating, a lot of people suggested doing a cleanse before starting clean eating, especially to clear out the liver. My experience with cleanses is minimal and what I found online reinforced what I thought a cleanse would be...disgusting, time-consuming, complicated, etc. After consulting with my Facebook peeps, my friend Katie introduced me to Advocare and their 10-day Herbal Cleanse. I checked it out and decided it was perfect for what I needed.

Here's a look at Day 1:

Breakfast--Advocare fiber drink (totally gross!) and a banana
Mid-morning snack--handful of nuts
Lunch--salad with carrots, few squirts of Wishbone ranch dressing spray and cubed ham
Afternoon snack--two spoonfuls of peanut butter
Dinner--grilled chicken breast, sauteed vegetable primavera
Herbal pills before bed and LOTS of water (half my body weight in ounces) throughout the day

Workout--Insanity Fit Test

The idea of the cleanse is load up on fruits, veggies, lean protein and good fats and avoid carbs, refined sugars, fatty foods and junk. 
So far so good...but it's only been 24 hours ;)