Over Labor Day weekend when we were with family, we were talking about clean eating with my Aunt Beth who had just finished a Whole 30. I started thinking more seriously about doing it and asked if anyone wanted to do it with me. My mom and sister are both dealing with health issues that we think clean eating could help with and well, theres always the desire to shed a few pounds right? I was ready to commit but 30 days seemed daunting. Thats when we read over on M is for Mama that she was doing a 14 Day Clean Eating Challenge! 14 days seemed a lot more reasonable to us, so we decided to go with that! Ha.
My aunt had a great idea to create a facebook page for our challenge so I invited my aunts and female cousins around the country - Virginia, Massachusetts, Alabama, Texas, California and Oregon - to participate! The facebook page has already made it fun! We've talked about recipes, grocery shopping and today posted pictures of our last minute sugary indulgences before starting our clean eating tomorrow!
We are starting tomorrow, the 14th, and will end on Sunday the 27th.
Our rules are the same as M is for Mama -
- No processed food (no canned soup, no fast food, no chips, no pre-made salad dressings, etc.)
- No sugar
- No dairy/limited dairy
- No simple carbs (basically a reiteration of no sugar)
- No bread/tortillas/pasta/oats (with the exception of steel-cut oats)
- Nothing to drink but water
For most of us, the main goal is to cut out sugar, so we aren't being super strict about dairy or grains or beans. I think some of us have found brown rice and quinoa recipes that we want to try and we feel okay about that. It's not true, pure Whole 30 rules, but its a good start to eating cleaner.
As I was creating our Challenge Facebook page and casually browsing the blogosphere, I came across a 14 day Core Challenge and thought it would be super fun to add that to our Clean Eating Challenge! Oh yea! Doubling up on the challenges! Woot Woot! What is this blogging world good for if not to inspire us to be better and do better?!
Today I totally pigged out on some snacks that I can't have for the next 2 weeks (Oh Cookie Butter, I will miss you!) and I had some Soda *gasp* because I just needed some bubbles. Which - I know, I know - is totally the wrong mindset to have about yucky food. "You don't need it, yada yada yada." It's true, I don't need it. I just desperately want it sometimes! Maybe this challenge will help reset my thinking? My realistic expectation is that this challenge will help me see where I can make little changes to exchange processed foods for real foods; like a year and a half ago when we chose to stop eating Hamburger Helper boxed foods for good and make similar dishes from real ingredients. Because the big picture goals of these little challenges is to make lifestyle changes, not just diet to lose weight, right? Right. So you guys, I'm not even pretending that I'm going to swear off soda forever after this, but I am hoping to consume things of that nature more responsibly. Meaning - being responsible for my health and making healthy choices more than I indulge in not so healthy options.
So - My fridge and freezer and are stocked with eggs, veggies, fruits and meats and my meals are planned for the next 2 weeks! Hopefully I'll have the forethought to take some pictures of my meals and share the recipes if they are winners! I'm excited to start this and excited to see the results on the 27th!
Wish me Luck! No, I changed my mind. Wish me determination and self control!
**Confession - Reaghan's 1st Birthday party is the 20th, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to cheat just a bit to have a taste of her birthday cake that day. : ) I'll do my best to avoid any other tempting, un approved snacks haha, but I'm totally okay with the small cheat because we only get to celebrate her 1st birthday once, ya know!?**
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