Thursday, August 20, 2015

Clean Eating - Eat Good Feel Good

I started eating clean 8 years ago after I had my daughter. I didn't realize that changing the way you ate would change the way you feel. My initial reason of changing the way I ate was to lose weight. I gained substantial weight in my pregnancy and needed to lose 40 pounds. It was weight that just didn't want to come off. My husband came across a book called Clean Eating by Tosca Reno and I completely connected with it. I started little by little cleaning up my diet. I started cooking lean meats with fresh vegetables and olive oil, eating fruit and whole grains instead of white bread. I cut out soda, sugars, heavy creams and butter. I used to cover everything with butter and cheese to make it taste good. I found that cooking this way tasted better and we felt better!! It was an amazing process that I became so passionate about.

The weight started to come off and I felt like I was getting somewhere. We also worked out in the gym but then I came across Insanity and completely fell in love with this program!! So, with the combination of eating clean and exercise th
e 40 pounds came off. I hit plateaus many times but my husband would support me and motivate me to keep going and not give up. It wasn't easy because I would get discouraged but the support helped. It actually took me a full year to get back to the starting weight that I was at before pregnancy. I never stopped and have made eating this way and exercising my lifestyle.

Eating clean is not a diet and is truly a lifestyle. You feel amazing eating this way and it doesn't have to be complicated. It is cutting out the processed junk and eating every 2 to 3 hours,  5 to 6 meals a day, portion control, drinking half your  body weight in ounces of water, sticking to the perimeter of the food store. Lean meats, vegetables, fruits, whole grains and healthy fats.

At this point I follow the 80/20 rule and I will have cheats and treats twice a week on the weekends because I love pizza and ice cream just like the next person. The thing is not allowing that to sabotage you and set you back. I have my pizza and ice cream on Friday night but then when I get up on Saturday I will work out, drink tons of water and back to eating healthy again. It is all about balance and not completely restricting foods from your life.

I found in this a love for cooking and my family enjoys it too!! We feel better inside and out!!

 

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