12 week clean eating journey

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12 WEEK CLEAN EATING
                                       JOURNEY WEEK 2
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     Week one went by pretty quickly and I must say although I'm taking baby steps, it was not as easy as I thought it would be. Before I go into Week 2 lets recap week one and how I did on each step.

 
• Organizing my cabinets and slowly getting rid of all unhealthy foods. This part of the task was surprisingly easy for me. I didn't have too me unhealthy snacks to get rid if. When it was all said and done I had some fresh baked cookies (that went pretty fast lol) and pop tarts which I don't eat. I love the end results and it was really easy to maintain.

 
• Drink eight 8 ounce glasses of water. The first 2 days did not go well. I drank two 20 oz bottles of water and I quickly found myself cheating with my strawberry lemonade or iced tea. On the third day I began to feel bad about not being more disciplined. I found it easier to fill my 28 oz  GNC cup twice a day and that worked out better for me vs drinking 8 glasses of water. I drank one eight ounce glass before bed.

 

• Pack my lunch. This was the hardest one to follow. I started off very strong taking home made meals and fresh fruit, along with two bottles of water with me daily. As the week went on I started making excuses "I don't have time" "I need to go to the market" or "I'm running late. To fix these issues I will shop for my lunch at the beginning of the week and pack it at night.

 

WEEK 2 CLEAN EATING JOURNEY

• NO FAST FOOD: This truly needs no explanation. Not only is fast food filled with preservatives, it is also filled with a ton of calories. It is recommended that you consume between 1500-2000 calories a day. One meal at your favorite fast food restaurant can be anywhere between 700-1200 calories. If you consume one fast food meal, two additional meals, 2 snacks and a few sugary drinks you can easily consume 3x the amount that you're suppose to eat daily

• FRUITS AND VEGGIES: I will eat 4-5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. I will also try new fruits and vegetables. If I don't like the taste of the fruit or vegetable I will blend it in a smoothie. Blending it of juicing it with other fruits that I like will allow me to benefit from the nutrients of the fruits and vegetable with dealing with the unwanted taste.

• CLEANSING: I will be doing a cleanse this week. I will cleanse my colon using a super colon cleanse. I will eliminate sugar, caffeine, and have very little salt intake. I will also be drinking a glass of dandelion tea every night. This tea is great for purifying blood, aids in digest, and improves liver, kidneys and pancreas amongst many other benefits.

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12 WEEK CLEAN EATING
                                       JOURNEY
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     They say that it takes 22 days to create a habit but how long does it take to BREAK a habit? For the last year I have been going back and forth with eating healthy and unhealthy. I have tried it all from fruit/veggie detox to being a vegetarian for a few weeks. I would always start off strong but after a few weeks of healthy eating I would tell myself I deserve a treat and well.............(you get the point). I could never figure out why I could not stay focused. I continually made excuses for my bad eating habits and the not so smart purchases were being made at the supermarket. I would make excuses for myself like  "The kids need these cookies for their lunch" or "One sugary drink won't hurt". The problem with those theories are that I always end up eating the cookies and one sugary drink quickly turn into 3 or 4. I'm not sure of where this 12 week clean eating journey will take me but I am hoping that it will help me create better eating habits for me and my family.

 

     I chose to do a 12 week journey because I realized that making so many changes at once only made me crave the unhealthy foods more. I am hoping that by making a few small changes each week, I will create better habits and stick to them. Every Monday I will post the steps I will take that week to create better eating habits on this journey. I will be sharing any delicious healthy recipes I discover along the way.  Updates will be posted on how I did on the previous week. Please join me on becoming healthier. This journey will start Monday June 2, 2014 and will end on August 25, 2014.

 

DISCLAIMER: I am not a fitness expert. This is my personal journey to having a healthier lifestyle. I do not claim to know everything about fitness and health. Please consult your doctor before starting any fitness/exercise plan.

 

 

Week 1

• CLEANING OUT MY CABINETS: The first step to a healthy eating habit is to fill your cabinets with healthy foods. I will not be replacing any sugary snacks. I am not telling you to throw anything away. Lets face it, food is expensive! I intend to use all food items in my cabinets, however once it is gone I will replace it with healthier snack alternatives.

 

• WATER: I will drink eight 8 ounce glasses of water. The easiest way to do this is to drink a glass first thing in the morning, a glass before and after each meal and a glass before you go to bed. I am hoping that it will keep me hydrated and help to curve my cravings for ice tea and Wendy's strawberry lemonade. djm ! If I do have a craving for a sweet drink I will try Mios or herbal tea with honey. I am going to try to do without the Mios and tea though :)

• PACKING MY LUNCH: To avoid making impulse purchases at the vending machines at work, I will be packing my lunch.

 

If you are taking this journey with me thank you and good luck. Please subscribe to be updated each week on this clean eating journey. If you have any tips or great recipes please feel free to comment below.