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. :)

Weekend Update

I've had a post tickling at my fingertips for a couple days now and I just have not had the time to actually sit down and write it.  Things have been busy here.  Saturday is almost always a full-day-away-from-the-house kind of day.  We all carpool, drop the kids off at YiaYia's, I drop Mike at work, then I head to "work" cleaning my father-in-law's office.  That's followed by either pick up Mike and the kids and head home OR stay at YiaYia's while PaPa and Mike work on our house (which is LONG overdue).  This weekend was a work-in-the-house weekend.

I was quite proud of myself for not eating terribly on Saturday.  My mother-in-law has a HUGE selection of foods in the pantry that beckon me from the moment I walk in the door.  And even though I was starving after I got back from working, I didn't let the pantry win.  I made myself a nice bowl of old-fashioned oatmeal with honey and raisins and drank my lovely little glass of water with a smile.  Of course, dinner was a different story, but I feel bad asking her to go out of her way to make something clean when she's already feeding my family.  Really, what I should have done was made something to take with so eat alongside dinner (like I did on Halloween with my yummy winter salad).  But alas, I didn't, and I had pizza.  Not terribly unclean, but definitely not the best.

Yesterday was cleaning day.  I've decided that if I'm going to devote as much time to food prep as I have been, the weekends really need to be my big chore days.  That's not to say I won't do anything else during the week, obviously.  But if I do all the laundry, the major room straightening, the mopping, the bathroom cleaning all on Sunday, then I don't have to do it during the week, leaving more time for schoolwork with Katy, wrestling with Mikey, and preparing healthy meals and snacks for the family.

I'm planning on sharing some of the super awesome dinners I've been making (as well as the CRAZY yummy desserts that have been coming out of my oven), I just haven't had time to do it all yet.  But don't worry ... they're coming!

Just a quick update

I'm officially a firm believer in clean eating.

At first, it was more experimental than anything - to see if I noticed a change in how I feel, look, etc.

The weight loss seems to have balanced itself out as I've gained back 2 of the 4.5 lbs lost.  I think my body was just in shock for a little bit and freaked out!

Now, the other night, Mike had a small going away get together because he left his current branch to move to a new one.  It was at a Mexican restaurant and I knew, knew, I would not be able to resist the chips and salsa.  I didn't have a single sip of alcohol (which was difficult with $3 margaritas).  I split a steak taco dinner with Mike which was remarkably filling and tasted amazing!

Then the next day happened.  Food hangover city, folks.  I don't know who remembers this about me, but I usually get a couple good (read: bad) headaches a week.  I've been on prescriptions before but had to go off when we decided to start a family.  The first day of clean eating I had a caffeine withdrawal headache - a can of Pepsi cleared it up in minutes.  The day after eating out (read: eating unclean), boom: headache.  I tried to go as long as I could Thursday without taking medicine because I wanted the reminder of what it does to my body to eat so poorly.  I made it about half the day before I popped a couple ibuprofen (and then 2 later on in the day).

I'm going to try my absolute hardest to not do that to myself again.  If I can make it a full week of clean eating with no headache, maybe I can convince my husband that it wasn't just a coincidence or hypochondria.

My little snafu

Okay so here's the deal.

I mentioned that I've lost a few pounds while on this clean eating switch.  I realize that a lot of it is water and my body is getting readjusted to the new intake of fresh foods.  I know that it takes less time to digest foods that don't have preservatives in them so my food exits much faster than it used it.  I get that.

But at the same time, guys, I just calculated my BMI and it's a little scary.  It's now 18.2.  <18 .5="" considered="" have="" i="" is="" nbsp="" underweight.="">never
 been underweight.  Now, I know that it's barely underweight, but it's still underweight all the same!
I'm beginning to think that it's definitely time to start throwing in some workouts here and there.  My caloric intake is really pretty good, I just need to rebuild my muscle tone.  Before I got pregnant with Katy, I was a nice healthy 130 lbs (at 5'7") and a lot of it was lean muscle.  I wasn't bulky and I wasn't crazy strong, but I had decent muscle tone (and as we all know, muscle weighs more than fat).

Of course, once I figure out some more clean desserts to make, I'm pretty sure my weight will begin to turn around :)

1st Clean Eating Update

So, it's been 5 days and I already have an update to give!

I want it to be clear that I did not begin clean eating as a way to lose weight.  Being that I started this out at 120lbs while 5'7", losing weight is not something that I wanted/needed/could really afford.  But my body obviously had some different plans.  Apparently all that junk I was putting into my body was causing me to retain water (which I knew to an extent).

So, 5 days after I've started clean eating and I'm down to 116lbs.  This is the lowest weight I've been my entire adult life.  I don't think I've been 116 since at least high school.  I've been the same height since junior high so I'd venture a guess that I haven't seen 116 since even then.

He's a big clarification though - I don't look super skinny.  I can tell that I've lost water weight, but as far as losing a bunch of inches off my body, I don't really think I have.  I did go down a notch on my belt, but I think that's also from the dropping of water weight - bloating is something I've nearly always dealt with.

I feel a heck of a lot more energized (even with just 1 cup of coffee in the morning and nothing but water throughout the day).  I don't have the strong craving for sugar as I did a week ago.  I even cleaned out my pantry and put a bunch of stuff in a bag to take over to my in-laws (they've made it pretty clear this is not something they really want to do - at least not yet).

I haven't noticed a difference in my skin yet but it's only been 5 days and I'm pretty sure I'm in the throes of PMS anyway so that always throws things for a loop.  At the end of November I'm planning on taking a picture of my face, fresh from the shower, no makeup.  I took one last week and I'm looking forward to seeing the comparison.



Another thing I'm going to try to do is eliminate plastics from our kitchen/pantry.  A lot of our food is stored in plastic containers (sugar, flour, grains, etc) and I want to switch over to glass.  I actually found a pretty good deal on 2 gallon cookie jars.  I told Mike this last night and he got this stunned look on his face like "How the heck are we going to do that?!"  But really, it won't be that giant of a leap.  Mason jars are good for things like grains and beans, big jars for our flours and storing baked goods.  I already use mostly glass Pyrex bowls to store leftovers.  The only time we really use plastic is if we're transporting stuff to my in-law's place.  I think he's more afraid of what it's going to cost.


And speaking of cost!  Another thing I'm going to do throughout all of this is keep all of my receipt for grocery shopping over the next 6 weeks or so.  I had a friend ask me if clean eating was more expensive and I want to give an honest answer to that.  So far what I've found is that it is more expensive at the grocery store but, bear in mind - we're not eating out (or at least, definitely not as much) AND I've had to restock things that normally is purchased maybe once a year (like my chili powder that normally would cost $1 but instead cost me $4 because we switched to organic).  And I'm also buying things that I haven't really bought before (like quinoa) so I don't know if there are places where you can buy these things more in bulk and pay less. (On that note: if you know of a good place to buy grains and other dry goods in bulk at a decent price, I'd love to hear it!  With 2 kids in tow, shopping around looking for the best price on stuff isn't the easiest thing in the world.)

Changes, they are a-comin'!

I debated with myself whether or not I was going to blog about this at all.  I kept thinking "who cares?  You're doing this stuff for you, you're not an expert on this at all.  Why would you want to blog about this?"  But then I remembered that I blog mostly for myself.  I don't have many people who read my blog to begin with.  So I decided to go ahead with it and here I am!

A few weeks ago, I saw in passing something about clean eating.  I didn't even pay attention to it at all, really.  Then I was watching a YouTube video about dying my hair and I wound up watching a whole bunch of videos by this person who also, coincidentally, clean eats.  She went on about how it changed her life, she's no longer putting chemicals in her body, yadda yadda yadda.

Fast forward a few weeks and I hop on Pinterest (oh the love/hate relationship I have with thee) and decided, what the heck - I'll search for some clean eating stuff, see what I come up with.

Whoa, guys.  This is a pretty big deal!  I've come across a few blogs (check out this one) and a whole mess of recipes (this is a good one!).  Some people are far more strict with their diets; they have eliminated anything that isn't 100% fresh.  Others are more relaxed; they've eliminated overly processed foods, refined sugars and flours.  The route we're taking is kind of in between (so far, anyway).

It's a transition, to go from "normal" eating to clean eating.  I suppose I could go through my refrigerator and pantry and toss anything and everything that isn't clean.  But then I'd have to spend hundreds of dollars repurchasing things that are clean.  Because, guys, SO much that we put into our bodies is not clean.  The biggest shock I've discovered?  Spices!  If you don't buy organic spices, you might want to switch over, and I'll tell you why: non-organic spices have a chemical added to them to prevent clumping.  A CHEMICAL to prevent clumping, y'all!  Even our spices aren't safe!!

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There's a few reasons why I've decided (for myself) to eat clean.

Number 1, I want clearer skin.  I've always struggled with combination skin, acne, dullness, age spots, sun spots, saggy skin (especially in the face).  I've tried every OTC medication/cream/cleanser known to man.  Nothing has worked.  And I figured out that maybe I'm going about it the wrong way.  Maybe what my skin needs isn't something to fix the outside, but something to fix the inside.  I need to get rid of the refined sugars, MSG, gross additives that are in darn near everything I eat.

Number 2, I want more energy.  I don't want to NEED caffeine throughout the day.  I don't want to feel run down by the time I'm starting dinner.  I want to be able to have the energy to play with my kids throughout the day.  I want to wake up in the morning ready to start my day.  I want to not NEED coffee to be able to function in the morning.  I've had a few days here and there over the past few months where I haven't needed a cup of coffee or I have gotten up and got right to work on the house.  Those days are awesome, and I want more of them.

Number 3, I want to change my kids' diets.  I don't want them to have to start this in their 20s or 30s when they feel run down and exhausted and are sick and tired of feeling sick and tired.  I don't want then to NEED to make this change.  And since we are their parents, we are in charge of what they eat.  We can make this change for them now to prevent future problems.  I don't want them to become addicted to the same things I have (sugar, processed and prepackaged foods, etc).  Someone mentioned to me about a week ago that she felt bad for the kids who aren't allowed to have candy and boxed mac & cheese because their parents got to grow up with it and she felt they were unfairly missing out.  But the thing is, while WE might see it as missing out, they don't.  These kids don't know any different!  How can they miss something they've never had?

Number 4, and this is the most important, it's Biblical.  Romans 12:1-2:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (ESV)

God gave me my body, as a gift to me, to do His will.  It is my job to take care of my body, my childrens' bodies, and my husband's body (as the primary food purchaser and maker).  While exercise is great (and VERY important), the stuff we put into our bodies is equally as important, if not moreso.  I firmly believe it is right and good to go back to eating the way God intended: fresh fruits and vegetables, unprocessed meats, whole grains.  God gave us these things to nourish our bodies and we ignore them for the flashy packaging and artificial flavors of processed foods.

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My goal is to use this blog as an accountability partner.  I want to journal the changes that I notice.  I want to be open and honest about my feelings toward this adjustment (right now I'm very positive, but it's been less than a week - I'm sure there will be days when things get HARD).

Here's the deal, though: I need your help just a little bit - if you notice it's been awhile and you haven't heard from me, PESTER ME.  Almost everyone who reads this either knows me personally or through Facebook or Proboards.  I want to keep this updated with my journey and, as I'm sure you've noticed by now, I'm not so great at this keeping up with the blog thing.  I want to get better at that.

Announcement

On Saturday, I informed my boss that this would be my last month with the company.  It's something that Mike and I have been discussing for quite some time but kept finding a "good" reason not to follow through.  Even before Mikey was born (and before I was pregnant with him), I knew that I wanted to be home with my children, even if it was just until they were all in school.  When we found out I was pregnant with Mikey, we decided to hold off - why wouldn't I want to get paid for 12 weeks maternity?

The original plan was to come back, get the branch through the holidays (which is always a stressful time in the banking industry) and then leave January 1.

Then we got a house and that changed.  The plan then became to leave March 1 based on the assumption that we would be moved in and settled at the new place, know what our living expenses looked like.  5 months after purchasing the new house, we're still not moved in.  The cost of remodeling our house went through the roof.  Certainly not the time to quit.  In fact, it seemed like a good time to ask for a promotion.  So I did.  And I hadn't heard anything.  And hadn't heard.  And hadn't heard.

Then, I heard something - or rather, Mike did.  It was God, clearly telling him that this was NOT the path we were supposed to be on.  We were no longer relying on him but trying to repair the situation ourselves.  We always try to seek and follow God's will for our lives which, if you've ever sought that for yourselves you know, is not the easiest thing to discern.  However, not trusting in God is never His will.

On Wednesday, Mike told me that he thought I should quit my job, that it's been weighing heavily on him, did I feel the same?  Of course I had.  Of course.  We just had to figure out when my last day would be.  Thursday morning, clear as day, He spoke - April 1.  Give my boss a month to figure out what would be done (fill my position? fill another position that I often covered?) but still not prolong the inevitable, the necessary.

Saturday afternoon, after hemming and hawing and procrastinating, I pulled my boss into her office and told her.  I choked up explaining that I needed to be home, that it was not to be seen as anything negative against her.  And that's the truth.

I don't know what exactly God has in store for us, but I have a great peace knowing that I'm following His will.  Not for a moment have I doubted that this is the decision for us.  I know things are going to be tighter financially, but the positives greatly outweigh the negatives.  And God will provide.