Part 1: Clean Eating

Some of you may have seen the picture I posted on facebook. Believe me...it took some courage to put that up there. Of course the thoughts went through my head...what will people think of me? will people from church see this? will people from work see this? people from high school I never talk to? Yes...its social media. But one thing made me hit the "post" button. The thought of helping someone else. Even if I just helped one person....that in itself was worth putting my stomach myself out there like that. So here is the question....how did I go from this

 to this....

in just 2.5 months. Now that's really putting myself out there. Who really has the guts to post a picture after having their second baby in a bathing suit top and underwear? But I didn't feel like I would be making my point clear without showing a true starting point. And lets get one thing straight.....the first picture was after months of unsuccessful dieting. The point is...we all have to start somewhere. So this is part 1: clean eating.

When it comes to getting lean....I truly believe in the theory that its 80% nutrition 10% exercise and 10% genetics. There is 10% we cannot control...(thanks a lot Mom & Dad for giving me hips the size of Asia). But I learned early in life to not even worry about things out of our control. Time to focus on the portion that we DO have control over. Now when you look at the total picture....80% of the 90% we CAN control is directly related to what we shove in our pie hole. You read that right. I feel as a society...we have put much more emphasis on working out when it comes to being healthy, and not enough on  nutrition. I have heard people say to me before "you are small because you run." Don't get me wrong...running definitely helped me maintain my size at times, but its truly what I ate that made me smaller.

A few months ago I decided to join my friends 24-day challenge through Advocare. It is a 10 day cleanse followed by 14 more days of clean eating and supplements etc. I was a huge diet pepsi addict and knew I needed to get off that toxic poison. The challenge kick started all things clean eating. I quickly realized how good I felt, how quickly my body was transforming, and muscles were starting to show up despite my lack of exercise at the time. The challenge (especially the cleanse) was perfect to get me going. I am the type that sometimes needs to invest a few bucks to adhere to something I set out to do. I tend to get caught in a rut of SUnday night thinking "ok ok...tomorrow I will eat better." Then I walk into work and see the huge box of panera bagels and strawberry cream cheese whipped stuff (the person that made that stuff is evil!) and its all over. So for me...Advocare helped because I spent some $$..which made me discipline myself more. (I recommend the cleanse and its only about $35...just to get going. Let me know if you are interested at all because I signed up to get a discount when a bunch of friends and family wanted to try it). You absolutely do NOT need to do any of the Advocare stuff to get these results...its just how I got going in the beginning until I adapted the lifestyle. I am not trying to sell you anything here...I repeat...you do not need to buy any supplements for these results.

What is clean eating? I wish I had a dollar for everytime someone asks me this question. To everyone...clean eating means something different. I highly recommend Tosca Reno's book called "The Eat Clean Diet Recharged". Read it front to back.....know it...and spread the word. But here it is in simple form:
1) Eat more! (I know you are saying what????....but yes!) Eat 5-6 small meals a day. Eat every 2-3 hours. I try to combine complex carb + protein for every small meal. Examples would be apple and natural peanut butter (with ingredients just peanuts...nothing else added), strawberries & cottage cheese, rice cake with almond butter, hard boiled egg & apple, Chicken & Brown rice. These are just some examples. Before eating clean I tried every diet, weight watchers, calorie counting, low carb, HCG, starving myself etc. This was the first time that I had to set a calorie MINIMUM for myself. 1200 is the magic number. Do NOT go below 1200 calories a day. Eating every 2-3 hours ensures that your metabolism is on FIRE! Your body is never worried about getting fuel...so it never conserves energy (fat)..and continues to burn burn burn. Also...unlike dieting...pretty much everytime you start feeling hungry its time to eat again. It's amazing...but the minute I feel any signs of hunger...I look at the clock and its been about 2-3 hours and its time to eat again anyway.

2) Eat breakfast everyday within an hour of getting up.  I know everyone has been told a million times that breakfast is the most important meal...yah yah yah. But its absolutely true. Your body has been starving all night long. How can you expect it to propel you out of bed and start the daily grind without any energy? And look at what you do to your metabolism when you start running around like a maniac, but don't take in any energy? Your body panics and says "conserve energy" aka...store fat. Jump start your metabolism by having a big healthy breakfast full of the good food God intended you to eat. My breakfast favorites are raw oats (1/3 c raw oats, 1/2 sliced banana, handful of walnuts, 1 Tsp of unsweetened coconut, drizzled with almond milk) or protein pancakes (1/2 c cottage cheese, 3 eggs, 1/2 c old fashioned oats, 1 scoop protein powder...blended and cooked like pancakes)..for syrup I boil strawberries and puree them (you can add stevia or agave if you need it sweeter). Or you can cook some eggs..and have an apple on the side. Eat something substantial to get yourself going!

3) Drink 2-3 liters of water everyday.  Stop right there! I don't want to hear the excuses. I never liked water either...I work in the operating room where its impossible to drink water...and if you can get your hands on it...its impossible to go to the bathroom in the middle of a case. Believe me...if anyone has an excuse on this one..I do! If you don't like water...have a chugging session. That's actually what they recommend. Just chug a bottle at once..a few times a day. But someone told me "The more water you drink, the more you will crave it". And its true! Water is like crack to me now...I hoard it at work. I feel crazy if  I don't have water with me...and I may or may not have been known to disguise myself as one of the supervisors and call food services at work and demand they fill our anesthesia fridge with water. Yes..I'm crazy! Cold water burns calories...hot water keeps you full. Just FYI. I don't care if you drink it from the toilet...just drink it! ewww...

4) Pack a cooler. Everynight I spend about 20 minutes packing a cooler for the next day. As I mentioned before....5-6 meals of lean protein + complex carb. It really doesn't take that much time. And theres a lot you can do to prepare on the weekends to make it easier during the week. (Buy a rotisserie chicken and pull the meat off and put it in little baggies, chop veggies, make a home made soup etc). If you always have access to a little cooler..it makes it a lot easier to turn down the panera bagels with strawberry cream cheese crack spread. Its hard to turn that stuff down for nothing...but its a lot easier to trade it in for something else you have with you. You will find that your tastes change...quickly. Sweet stuff tastes yucky to me now...and cottage cheese and strawberries taste really sweet to me?!

5) Watch your portions Obviously if you are eating 5-6 meals a day...they aren't going to be as big of meals. I tend to have a little bigger breakfast, lunch, and dinner and then 2-3 smaller snacks in between. I try to make dinner one of the smaller meals of the day. At night...your body is gearing down to go to bed...no need to take in a bunch of energy...it will just be in excess and stored as fat.

6) Avoid processed foods I repeat...avoid processed foods! We have completely messed up what God ever intended for us to eat. We have pretty much contaminated everything He put on this earth for our financial gain. The cost? Our health. Everything we eat is laced with sugar, hydrogenated oils, etc. Things that come in packages.....are bad. Stay away from all things processed with added sugars, preservatives, dyes, etc. You will occasionally find something in a package that is somewhat clean (Trader Joes chili chicken lime burgers...yum...look at the ingredient list! You will be pleasantly surprised). But read labels like crazy!! You would not believe the things we inject sugar into! Meats? Breads? what the hell? And artificial sugars?? BAD BAD BAD!!! Stay away from artificial sweeteners...splenda, aspartame..all of it. They are all hundred times more sweet than sugar (eventhough it doesn't affect your calorie count) it makes your body crave more sugar. It triggers your receptors just like if you would have eaten real sugar. It's bad....real bad! If you need sweeteners...stick to all natural. Stevia, Agave nectar, honey, pure maple syrup (sorry aunt jemima!).

7) Avoid alcohol It doesnt take a genius to realize that alcohol in excess amounts makes us fat. Look at what happens to many kids when they go to college. It doesn't do anything to help speed up metabolism....it bogs down our liver with toxins etc. Its ok to have a glass of red wine occasionally or a beer. But lets not get crazy and undo all our success and hard work!

I know this is a lot to take in...but seriously read Tosca Reno's book. Absorb her knowledge. I can honestly say...that this transformation was one of the easiest things I've ever done. And after a month of being very strict....now I live about a 90% clean life and 10% cookies, cupcakes, brownies, bites of my kids pizza etc. But my metabolism is so high now....that even if I eat a little bit of crack chocolate, my body just burns it right up! I definitely recommend being very strict the first month to get all that toxic crap out of your system and to reset your metabolism. After that....your body is ready to handle little glitches. I was amazed that after going to a chili/rib cook off...where I HAD to (part of the rules) sample one of each 7 chili and 7 rib entries (I almost threw up from the amount of meat I had just ingested) that when I stepped on the scale the next day...I still LOST weight.

Ok...so would it be easier if I gave you a sample day? For some reason..that always made it a little easier for me.

Wake up! Rise & Shine...its eating time!!!
6 am: raw oats (recipe above)
9 am: pink lady apple and 2 Tbsp natural peanut butter (for the record..pink lady apples are so sweet that I always feel like I'm cheating by eating them...they just shouldn't be allowed! So delicious!)
12 pm: Handful of blueberries, fresh Broccoli & Egg salad (2 hard boiled eggs, a bunch of chopped celery and onions, mustard, hot sauce, relish, a little cottage cheese to make it creamy)
3 pm: Sliced strawberries & Cottage cheese
5 pm: Chicken Tacos (2 large romaine leaves topped with black beans, quinoa, taco seasoned chicken, and salsa)
7 pm: I sometimes skip this snack but protein shakes are good. Find a protein you like...my favorite is Dymatize Iso-100 (cookies and cream is DELICIOUS!!)  At this point in the day, really start limiting your carb intake. I try to avoid fruits from 3pm on.

So there ya have it...typical day. Ok...heres some more help. I always say to combine complex carb + lean protein. So here is a list of each.

Complex Carbs:
Quinoa *
Brown Rice Cakes
Sweet Potato
Chickpeas* (garbanzo beans...delicious roasted)
Lentils
Brown Rice
Canned Pumpkin
Oats*
Fruits
Veggies
Sweet potato

*denotes the double dippers. These are complex carbs that are also packed with protein...doubly good!

Proteins
Chicken
Flank Steak
Salmon
Fish
Eggs
Edamame
Ground Turkey
No sugar greek yogurt
Tuna
Shrimp
Natural Protein Powder
1% cottage cheese
Tofu
Pork/Red Meat (once per week)
96% lean Ground beef (trader joes)
Almond/peanut butter

Fats  Definitely don't forget your healthy fats. Try to eat some everyday.
Olives/Olive oil
Natural Nut butters (peanut/almond etc)
Oils (healthy)- Udo's, olive, coconut
Avocado
Goat cheese (this is the only cheese I eat...my sister in law taught me that cheese = cottage cheese legs...ewwwwwwwww)


Breads? I don't really do breads.  You can have ezekial low sodium bread. I occasionally eat 1/2 of a multi-grain flat out wrap. But I feel like these are gateway drugs foods. You eat some of them..and start craving all the carby crappy processed stuff you were eating before. I typically stay away. But you can definitely do the ezekial bread if you want.

Ok...the questions...

Will it increase my grocery bill?
Shop at costco if you can. Costco saves me a ton of cash. But honestly...I don't think clean eating has really increased our grocery bill. You would be surprised at how expensive all that pre-packaged processed crap is! A box of granola bars is like $4...or you can get an entire container of oats for $3. We have always had some amount of fruit and veggies here...we have just traded out processed crap for more fruits and veggies. We eat a lot of eggs...and eggs are dirt cheap. $ is no excuse in my book. If I had to invest money in ANYTHING...it would be the health of me and my family and looking and feeling my best. You are crazy to think that any type of makeup, designer jeans, fake tan will cover up carrying around an extra 20 lbs! Put your money where your mouth is...literally. Also..if you have to..drop your gym membership. I will talk about how to get an amazing workout at home...for CHEAP!

Can I still drink beer?
Sure. You wont have AS good of results...and trust me. Cut it out completely for one month (the strict part) and then you'll find that you don't like drinking it nearly as much as you used to. Especially when you see the results...no beverage is really worth messing up shredded abs. But I still have a beer or two.

Do your kids like the food you make?
If you even had a clue how hard I try to make my kids eat healthy...and fail miserably everyday. So then I do the best with what I have. I buy Annies organic mac n cheese, whole grain breaded nuggets, natural peanut butter and no sugar added jelly etc. Its fighting a losing battle. Other ways I make meals for the family..I will make tacos and I use ground turkey mixed with lean ground beef (96% lean) and I use romaine lettuce as my taco "shell" while the rest of my family eats traditional tacos (also plain greek yogurt is a great substitute for sour cream). I will make chili chicken lime burgers for everyone...and again I will eat it with a romaine "bun" while everyone else has a regular bun.

What do I order when I eat out?
Easy...grilled protein + complex carb. If you decide to go the salad route...bring your own homemade dressing. Google "clean eating dressing" and you'll find tons of recipes. I make up a little batch in the magic bullet and stick it in a sealed container and then a zip-loc and throw it in my purse. I will order salad with grilled chicken, shrimp etc. and then use my homemade dressing. But I'm telling you...as your tastes change..you might find yourself scarfing down a salad sans dressing. I have eaten a spinach salad with goat cheese with nothing else on it but sliced strawberries and it was delicious.

I am not a nutritionist. I am not certified at anything but anesthesia. All I can share is what worked for me....and it was a piece of cake. Ive been eating like this for about 3 months now and I'm just amazed everyday at how my body continues to change. If you don't have time to work out....I guarantee you will lookin smokin hot if you just follow these simple principles.

Disclaimer..this lifestyle is very rough on your credit card. I went through 3 jeans sizes in 2.5 months. I was not prepared for how quickly my body would be changing...and my credit card took the hit. So if anyone needs any size 29, 28, and soon to be 27 jeans...let me know! (size 8, 6 and 4 in american sizes). I'm not complaining.......I'd much rather have this problem than the opposite!

Phew! Exhausted??? SO am I! And some carpal tunnel to boot! Any more questions? Shoot away! Ready to get started? Message me on facebook! I would love to encourage you..help you develop meal plans...give suggestions etc. Even if you want to send me a quick note saying you are going to try it...just to help keep yourself accountable. I'd love to say that this hour of my life writing this blog was not wasted...and I helped at least one person. Stay tuned for part deaux!