Feeling Great!!!

It's been about 2 weeks since I started clean eating.  I could say "we," but that isn't really the case.  I can't really control what the rest of my family puts in their bodies 100% of the time.  Mike still drinks his Diet Coke (waaaay more often than he should, even if we weren't trying to go clean) and Halloween was just last week.  There's a couple pumpkins full of Halloween candy that, I'm proud to say, has not been touched by me at all.  Katy is allowed 1 piece of candy a day, usually after her lunch. Daddy sometimes sneaks her another piece in the evening which usually garners a glare from me, but we're both her parents ... not just me.

I've put together a workout schedule that, I think, will work out for me (and the kids).  I should be able to do it during naps because they're quiet maneuvers that don't require too much floor space or extra equipment (not right away, at least).  I will be picking up some light dumbbells and resistance bands, maybe a stability ball once we move (there's just no room for a big bouncy ball in our house right now).

I'm going to post a few "before" pictures here now, just for a reference on where I'm starting.  Now, these were taken yesterday so they are a couple weeks into clean eating.  This is without any exercise, just clean eating, nursing, and chasing after 2 kids under 4.

 (haha ignore the sick boy photobombing)

 (This is the view I want to improve upon the most and even this is a big improvement from 2 weeks ago!)

My favorite thing that I have noticed since clean eating is the serious lack of bloating.  I usually wake up in the morning bloated so this is such a nice change of pace!  I don't know if it's the increase in my water intake, the lack of processed and refined foods, or the significant increase of fresh produce in my diet, but I love it!

In other, related news, I promise that some recipes are on their way!  We've had some meals that are AMAZING as they stand, others that need to be tweaked a bit to fit our tastes, and then others that just have no hope and will not be repeated.  I won't post any recipes until I can say that we 100% love them.  The ones we adjust I'll make sure to note the changes in case that's just not your style.

This change is really not a hard one, as I've found.  I was worried that I would become superbly overwhelmed and just give up.  But really, now that I'm making healthy, fresh meals, I'm finding that I have more fun grocery shopping and cooking.  In fact, this morning, I was so antsy to get this evening's dinner started, I cooked (most of) it before 10am!  It helped that it was a freezer meal (there's two more frozen, ready to go) and I wanted to get it cooled, packed up, and in the freezer before it was too late in the evening.  And I won't lie, it helps that I spent a day planning 6 weeks worth of meals. :)