30 days of (somewhat) clean eating...

Alright people.  Yesterday was 30 days of "eating clean" for me.  I started on October 28th.  (Right before Halloween.  That was TORCHER!)

I'll be honest.  I was not perfect.  But I ate so much better than I normally would have and I was able to make better choices because I was making a conscious effort to put good things into my body.

So here's how it went...

(I'm going to be honest here.)

Breakfast was usually eggs with a little goat cheese and dill.  Some days I switched it up and had oatmeal.  Most days I also had a banana and my yummy Super Green Drink from Trader Joe's.

Snacks were usually veggies and hummus, nuts, or brown rice cakes with peanut butter.  I became obsessed with Trader Joe's Wasabi Wow mix.  I think I've eaten like 5 bags of it this month.  It has almonds, peanuts, wasabi peas & cranberries.  It's sweet, spicy and a little salty all at once.  Delicious.

Lunch is always hard for me.  But I usually had a sandwhich.  Whole wheat with turkey or lean ham and veggies.

For dinners we tried a few new things.  One of my faves (which I think I mentioned before...) was the coconut chicken curry with brown rice and steamed broccoli.  We also did our usual tacos, stir fry, bbq...

 I made sure that I was drinking a lot of water all day.  And I always finished my day with hot caffeine free tea while I watched TV.  I made a point to not snack at night.

And some days (NOT all days!!!) I indulged in my favorite thing on the planet.  Dark chocolate.  And I have to get this off my chest... I had some Diet Coke.  I know that soda is a no-no.  I know I should stay away from it but on days when I was craving something sweet Diet Coke did the trick.  Everything in moderation, right?  I don't know...  Aaahhh I'm glad I got that out there in the open.

And I also found a loop hole for sugar cravings.  I mentioned before www.chocolatecoveredkatie.com.  These recipes are amazing.  They are all vegan.  A few times I made her fudge babies.  All they are are ground up dates and cashews.  You mix a little unsweetened cocoa powder in there and they taste and feel like your eating balls of chocolate cookie dough.  Pretty amazing.  We also tried the vegan chocolate chip cookies.  They have 2 tablespoon of sugar in the entire batch of cookies! Crazy, right?  They are delicious.

Annnnd my favorite eating out meal was Chipotle.  Hands down.  I order the same thing every time.  A veggie bowl with brown rice (Yep!  They have brown rice now!) black beans, veggies, roasted corn salsa, medium salsa and a little cheese, and lettuce.  It's sooo yummy! Eating out can be tough if you're extremely strict with your eat clean plan.  But it's not impossible.

Also Thanksgiving dinner wasn't as tough as I though it would be.  I was in charge of veggies.  I made  a huge amount of roasted butternut squash, sweet potatoes, bell peppers and onions tossed in olive oil, balsamic vinegar and fresh rosemary.  I loaded up my plate with veggies and kind of filled up on them before I got to my meat and stuffing.  And I'll be honest... I ate pumpkin pie!  And I didn't feel guilty for one second!  It was soo good!

 So all in all I think these last 30 days went great!  I feel good about what I put into my body.  No Doritos, no candy (besides a little dark chocolate).  I didn't even have a bit of cake!  And I had numerous opportunities to get in on some cake.

I realize that eating what's good makes me feel good.  I have more energy and I sleep better.  

So I plan to keep going with this.  Saying no to processed foods and foods loaded with sugar is what I have to do.  And now it's not because it's a game or a challenge, it's because I know that's what will feel best for me in the long run. 

Now on with life!  Eating good, running, strength training, getting ready for baby boy!!!  Life is busy! 

I hope some of you did this with me!  How did it go?