So far I have struggled the most with making my lunch for work. I have to start making it the night before because I keep hitting snooze til I am running late. Damn. I have to get to sleep earlier. I am trying to leave leftovers in an easy to sort out container that I can just grab and go.
My favorite part is grocery shopping. lol And enjoying my meals once I sit down. I am realizing that I am eating much slower and really tasting my food. I still read while I eat, but I notice I am not wolfing down the food. I find myself knowing ahead of time that I am getting full. I don't need to overeat anymore. I leave the table satisfied with the knowledge I will have a snack in a few hours.
At the end of the day, I reward myself with one oatmeal raisin cookie. They are so good and, of course, all natural.
For example, my food journal looks like this -
Breakfast - 1/2 cup of Muesli with one banana sliced and 1/2 cup of organic milk
Snack - 8oz of Naked Juice Green Machine and 1/4 of a peach sliced (1/4 cup of Raw Protein Powder)
Lunch - half a chicken breast with steamed veggies (broccoli, peppers, carrots)
Snack - cup of decaf coffee and a granola bar (natures path choco)
Dinner - whole wheat tortilla with beans (pinto and black beans), spinach, tomato, avocado
Snack - one oatmeal raisin cookie
Initially I was worried about the cereal I love to eat in the mornings, every morning and honestly, I could live off cereal. Not the good kind either. I am talking Lucky Charms. But who knew I love Muesli!!
Next was the sweets. It has been over a week since I ate anything other than Organic Vanilla Ice Cream, oatmeal raisin cookie and/or a piece of dark chocolate bar. These are my sweets. I have found that fruit is very sweet. Especially if I leave it to ripen. I don't mind it to be soft because it really cures my sweet tooth. I especially love soft, sweet peaches.
Next was my decaf mocha at work. Oh man, I have switched to a latte with honey. Not my favorite, but it does the trick when needed. I just purchased Agave Nectar to take to work and replace the honey. I am also considering taking a half quart of organic milk to take to steam as well. The cafe people are really nice and accommodating.
Next was the exercise. Ugh. Having asthma really makes cardio difficult. I have tried to commit to a minimum of 3xs a week, but my goal is 5xs a week of 30 minutes of cardio. It can be anything. The other day my boyfriend and I walked down to the park (a 10 min walk) and then tossed the football around. Which let me tell you, I thoroughly enjoyed!! I feel a little bad for my boyfriend because as I started to get tired my throwing kinda sucked, but he was a great sport and didn't mind. I would like to pull my bike out of the garage and go on a serious ride, but that hasn't happened yet. A girlfriend and I went camping and we ended up kayaking for 7 miles one day! I offset it all with my yoga 3xs a week.
We made homemade pita bread this past weekend, which I am so enamored with. It made the most wonderful sandwiches with chicken, tomato and spinach!
I made a really awesome homemade spaghetti sauce with 5 tomatoes (peeled skins), 4 cloves of garlic and about 1/4 cup of onion. I then added spicy andoue sausage and poured it all over egg pasta. I had steamed zucchini and squash added to the sauce on my plate (only).
It has been really fun to work with this new type of eating. At times, frustrating as well. We hit Native New Yorker and I had a beer (oh man, it was good) and a burger. I ordered the hamburger (no cheese) with tomato, lettuce and pickles, then took the top of the bun off when it arrived. It was still oh so awesome! I didn't eat any fries either! Amazing, lol.
I joined SparkPeople - again. But I love that I am using the iphone app to record my daily workouts and food intake. I don't like to obsess over food, but I do need to identity what I am eating and when my cravings happen.
The biggest change though is the fact that my lower belly feels SO MUCH LIGHTER. I cannot believe how good it feels to not have all that stuff hanging out inside me. I feel cleansed. I have also had a consistently really bad gassy tummy. I do not have that anymore. What an amazing feeling!
Article:
Found a really fabulous blog that defines the differences between Raw, Clean Eating and Paleo on Even Was Partially Right blog.
And I really like this article too - Rawlly Rawlly Delicious
