Shred

Today I bought Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred so that I can work out in the morning and not forfeit any of my time with my little man since he is a good sleeper and doesn't usually wake up until 7 or later. (yay and knock on wood). I usually just sleep in until he wakes up. I will have to set an alarm and get up before he does. Now I have put it out here on the internet and I have to do it! My plan is to start tomorrow morning. Wish me luck. I hope to see results soon.

On that note, I would love to post some results from my clean eating plan, however, my scale is on the fritz. That is not a made up story like my dog ate my homework. I got on the scale Monday to see what my progress was after two full weeks and it said I was down 20 pounds from my original weight. Before you run out the door to buy the Eat Clean Diet book I've been using, I had the feeling that the 20 pound weight loss was a little too good to be true. I stepped back on the scale and it said that I was up 2 pounds from my original weight. So in a matter of seconds, the scale gave me two different weights that were 22 pounds apart. Riiiiight. So for now, I am using the ole tried and true "are my pants too tight?" method to gauge my weight loss since none of my clients find it necessary to pay their bills and I cannot get a new fancy scale right now. Maybe Santa will bring me a scale. Or a paycheck. Either would be much appreciated. For now, what I can tell you all is that my pants, while still tighter (and MUCH larger) than I would like, they are also less tight than they were before I started this. I can actually tell I have lost a little bit of weight. Maybe it is better that I can't weigh myself. This way, when I actually do get to a scale, I will have a massive weight loss number since I won't be weighing myself daily like I tend to do when I am dieting.

Biggest Loser Style

I don't know if it's my good influence, so much, or the fact that none of our suits fit anymore, but my office has decided to follow my lead and get healthy! The co-workers have dubbed our little experiment LFC, short for Lawyers' Fat Club. Each of the four of us is going to try a different method of weight loss. I am going to continue with clean eating and try Jillian Michael's 30 day Shred (the workout is still up for change as I have not yet purchased the 30 day Shred dvd). Amber may try the Biggest Loser diet. We're going to go to Barnes and Noble and look tomorrow to make a decision. Chris says his plan is to eat healthy foods and healthy portion sizes. I am not sure what Lee Ann's plan is, but if I had to bet, I'd say she is going to eat Lean Cuisines. She walks in the morning already, so she is ahead of the game exercise wise. I will keep you all posted on whose plan is the most effective. (Hope it's mine!)

Have any of you tried Biggest Loser style office challenges before? I hope it gives me us all a little motivation. We could all use a pick me up.

Waiting for the Food Network to Call

Yesterday, I spent the day with my little man. We decorated the house for Christmas. I am not finished because it takes approximately 1,000,043 hours to spread out the branches and make the tree look presentable. My hands and arms are cut all to hell but my tree looks good so I guess it's worth it. During the day, I decided to make some quinoa. I purchased it upon Tosca Reno's suggestion but had not yet mustered the courage to cook it. I cooked quinoa and some black beans and added some spicy flavor and had that with baked spicy chicken for both lunch and dinner. I am a culinary genius. It was delicious. I heart quinoa.

As the day went on, I realized that I needed some booze to fuel my Christmas spirit. I packed C-money up and we went to Hobby Lobby to get new ribbon for my Christmas tree and then headed over to Grape and Grain for a little vino. Yes. I took my 4 month old son into a liquor store. Don't judge me. It was a Christmas decorating emergency. I briefly considered wearing sunglasses into the store to shield myself from the shame.

Today, I need to get up and finish my decorating the house for Christmas and head over to Whole Foods for my grocery shopping for the week but what I really want to do is crawl back in bed. I am sleepy! I get to eat some new and exciting things this week (i.e. not sweet potatoes). I am most looking forward to brown rice, nonfat plain yogurt topped with granola and fresh berries, and whole grain muffins and wraps. I guess I need to plan out my meals for the week so I don't get carried away and waste a ton of money. I am pretty excited about the Paradise Island Bean Burgers we will be having one night this week. Yum!

Blogs of note...I was recently turned on to the Skinny Runner blog (thanks Morgan Beene) and although I am not a runner, at ALL, I am obsessed with it! Maybe I will be inspired to put on some jogging shoes and give running another chance. Check her out at skinnyrunner.com. What blogs do you love to read?

Thanksgiving

Well...I made it through Thanksgiving! I have to admit, I was a little nervous about the damage that Thanksgiving might do to the ole diet, but I weighed myself Thanksgiving morning and again this morning and...no weight gain! Not even one little ounce. I say that is a victory. I started out my Thanksgiving morning like every other (oatmeal and egg whites) and even had a midmorning snack of turkey and an apple. We ate lunch at Billy's mother's house and dinner at my aunt's house. I saved my splurge for dinner so at Billy's mom's house, I had a bit of turkey, a small spoonful of his mother's most delicious green bean casserole (it's my very favorite and it is not like your average green bean casserole with cream of mushroom soup. It's made of cream cheese and fatty yumminess).

At dinner, I ate horribly but I kept my portions small. I feel gluttonous telling you what all I consumed but I am going to put it out there because that is what this blog is about. I had stuffing, cheesy hashbrown casserole, 2 deviled eggs (2! dammit Holly!), corn casserole and mac and cheese. I also had a tiny bit of dessert but it really was just a bite of two of my faves so it wasn't too bad. The ridiculous carb and cheese overload definitely made me feel lethargic and yuck, but it tasted delicious and it was Thanksgiving, so I make no apologies for the splurge. I got right back on the diet bandwagon this morning and had oatmeal and egg whites and I even packed my chicken, spinach and sweet potato and my snacks as we went up to Greenfield, Tennessee to decorate my grandfather's house for Christmas.

I love my grandfather's house but I think it looks especially beautiful at Christmas. He has an ancient Christmas tree that we have to put in each branch to assemble it, but it's enormous (like 12 feet tall) so we continue to use that same one year after year. It is obviously not pre-lit, as it is from the 60's, and we usually just drape lights around it and call it a day and it looks fine. This year, I decided to go all out and wrap the lights in and out of each branch. It looked amazing. Do you have any idea how many lights that takes? About 8,000,000. That's how many. It also took about 260 hours. It looks great, though. I will post pictures later. Maybe.

Well, I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! The New Year will be here before you know it, so maybe some of you will be inspired and try a little clean eating, too! I am excited that I made it through the first two weeks (oatmeal and sweet potato hell) and I have to tell you, I don't hate oatmeal anymore. I have gotten used to it and actually sort of like it now. Now I can eat other clean foods like yogurt with granola and fresh fruit, nut butters, peas and beans, brown rice, Ezekial breads and wraps and whole grain pasta. YUMMO.

Conquering Mexico!

Billy wanted to go to a Mexican restaurant tonight so I agreed, since he did not sign up for this crazy diet with me and I am sure that he is DONE eating baked sweet potatoes. Plus, I have to learn how to eat out eventually, right? I stayed strong, despite having to watch Billy eat a cheesy delicious burrito. I did not eat chips or cheese dip, which is basically the only reason to eat at a Mexican restaurant. I had grilled chicken fajitas with bell peppers and onions and a side of guacamole salad. I put a bit of salsa on some of the fajita meat as well and it was delicious. Who needs cheese dip anyway?

Public Service Announcement

This is not a dietary post. It is a public service announcement. I think that we need to have a little lesson on the use of the apostrophe. (' for those of you who do not know what an apostrophe is). The apostrophe is quite possibly the most over used and abused punctuation mark in the universe. The apostrophe SHOULD be used for the following purposes:

1. To show ownership or possession of something.

Examples: Carter's blanket.

The Holt's table.

The team's trophy.

Three girls' purses.

Note: Apostrophes are not necessary when using words that naturally imply possession. For example, hers, not her's.

2. In contractions such as these:

Are not = Aren't

Is not = Isn't

She is = She's

APOSTROPHES ARE NOT NEEDED WHEN AN 'S' IS ADDED TO A WORD TO MAKE THE WORD PLURAL!!!

Example:

Incorrect: The Holt's are coming to dinner.

Correct: The Holts are coming to dinner.

or a trickier one...

Incorrect: The Harris' are coming to dinner.

Correct: The Harrises are coming to dinner.

Also Correct: Belle is the Harrises' dog.

One more grammar tip for the day: alot is not a word. The correct way to say you have a lot of something is with two words...a and lot.

To Motivate the Non-Believers

I waited the entire week to post any stats, so here goes. Since I have started the clean eating I have lost (drumroll please) 6 pounds! Yay! I know that this is just because I have started something new and shocked my body with my nutritional intake, but still, it's exciting and motivating, no?

I think that this is also starting to help me in other areas of my life, as well. Yes, I am aware that I have only been doing it for a week, but I swear, I was less preoccupied with hatred for my job and my clients, etc. last week and I was so excited about preparing my meals for the week ahead of time, that I was in a surprisingly good mood on the way to my mediation today. This case has been going on for years. YEARS, people! Guess what? They SETTLED!!! I am convinced it is because of the residual effect of my obsession with my new diet. I have been so preoccupied with it that I have seriously worried so much less about my evil work life!

I won't continue to post my meals this week, as they are the same (oatmeal, egg whites, chicken, broccoli and sweet potatoes) pretty much every day until the end of this week. I did, however try something a little new with my sweet potatoes, because I could not stomach the thought of another baked sweet potato. I baked a few yesterday and today, I peeled the skin off, chopped one up, added some liquid smoke flavor and chipotle spice and then mixed them with a mixer like you would mashed potatoes. It was good! I just needed a little variety and it hit the spot. I don't like my sweet potatoes sweet, anyway, so smoky and spicy was the way to go for me.

I got a few suggestions on workout dvds so thanks to everyone for the input! I will be sure to keep everyone posted on my progress once I start my workout plan, too!

Well, I made it through the weekend! I am pretty proud of that. The weekend is much tougher than the weekday, because there is no routine. I spent the morning cooking for the week and let me tell you, it gave me such a feeling of accomplishment! I have a really early mediation tomorrow morning (well, it's not THAT early, but it is WAY out in Collierville and I have to be there on time, unlike my regular workday) and I already have my lunch and snacks packed for tomorrow and dinner cooked for tomorrow night! I am hopeful we will settle this case before my midmorning snack :) I highly doubt that will happen but I am going to think positive thoughts. I may have a bit of a struggle keeping to my plan tomorrow with this mediation but I have packed for the day and all I can do is be prepared and remember what I have learned.

So as some of you may have noticed, I have yet to mention exercise in this blog. I am sure you are thinking..."if she is trying to lose weight and get healthy, why doesn't she start working out?" I am not going to make any excuses for myself but I am going to say this: this diet is hardcore at first and requires a great deal of preparation, planning and cooking. I knew that if I was going to stick to it, I needed to establish my eating habits before making any other monumental changes. I felt that if I dove into too many things all at once, I would quickly burn out and I really did not want that to happen. That said, I am getting comfortable with the diet and feel that after a week or two more of the eat clean experiment, I will be ready to add some exercise to my routine.

I was once a committed gym member. In fact, during my first and second year of law school, I worked out every morning before class. Then again after graduation and once I had found a job, I worked out every morning before work. This was a huge commitment on my part as I had to get to the gym at 5 in the morning. My bff Laura even came with me. She was a good sport. Looking back, I do not understand why I did not alter my eating habits at that time. I literally got up at 4:45 every morning and dragged my fat ass to the gym and basically didn't lose any weight because I still ate like crap. When I got pregnant, I fell off of the workout wagon again. I could kick myself for stopping, because while I was not losing any weight, I was getting in much better shape and was much stronger. Oh well. Hindsight is 20/20.

Now, I have a 4 month old. I am not using him as an excuse not to work out, but it does complicate things. I cannot go in the morning because my husband leaves for work too early and there would be no one to watch the baby. After work, I have to rush to the babysitter's house to get Carter and then rush home to cook dinner. I think I need to start with something that I can do at my house in the morning or evenings. Does anyone have a suggestion? I have heard P90X and Insanity work wonders, but I am a little intimidated. What do you think?

7 days = 1/3 way to a habit

I think it's the theory (or maybe it's a proven fact) that it takes 21 days to make something a habit. It is possible I made that up or messed it up completely, but I'm going to go with it. I have been at this clean eating experiment for 7 days, so, theoretically, eating healthy will be a habit for me in 14 more days. I hope so!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Saturday. I spent mine with my favorite little man. I didn't get much accomplished, though. I tried to get our stockings monogrammed today, but the stupid place closed at 2:00. What kind of business closes at 2 on a Saturday? The only other monogramming place I could think of is in the front of Walmart on Hwy 64 and I would rather take a bullet than go to Walmart on a Saturday, especially this close to the holidays. It would be a veritable madhouse. After the failed monogramming incident, Carter and I headed over to Target, which was a zoo. I wanted to get a little Christmas shopping done, but one look at the toy section and I decided that my shopping would have to wait...preferably until a weeknight when the store is not so crowded and I don't have Carter with me. I got some spoons and bowls for Carter to use for cereal and got out of there as fast as I could. Then we went to the clubhouse for some football. It was fun, but it is definitely different for me there now than it was last football season!

As you can tell from my post, I made it through today with my plan. I mixed it up with scrambled egg whites with spinach and turkey for dinner. I didn't have any cooked chicken or sweet potatoes and I really didn't want that anyway. The eggs hit the spot.

One week down, one week to go (of the strict stuff).

Things Got a Little Dicey

Well today, things got a little dicey with the new plan. I didn't eat anything that wasn't on the plan, but I also didn't stick to my meal schedule. I started off okay, in fact, I ate my oatmeal (with scrambled egg whites of course) and it looked like things were going to go as normal. I was even super proud of myself because I got up at 6 to run to Kroger and get some eggs as I had used the last of them yesterday. Commitment points for sure. I had to take Carter to his 4 month checkup this morning and that is where I got off track. I totally missed my midmorning snack altogether. Then, I came home for lunch before heading to court in the afternoon. I had cooked a few chicken breasts the night before and was afraid they would not be tasty because they looked to have a little bit of frostbite on them and then I thawed them in the microwave and I always think that is a bad idea. I was right. I started with baked chicken on top of romaine lettuce and 1/2 baked sweet potato. The chicken was totally inedible and I was in a time crunch. In a stroke of genius, I decided that I would use egg whites as my protein in a pinch, so I cooked up some egg whites. They tasted a little funny. A very familiar taste....hmmm....yes that was it, I clearly didn't get all of the dish soap out of the pan before I cooked my eggs. Gross. By that time, I was out of time, so I headed out the door for court with my apple in hand. My court appearance was really quick and I had already paid the babysitter, so I headed to Whole Foods to get my groceries for next week. By the time I got home, I wanted a little nap (a certain little boy woke me up in the middle of the night because he had a tummy ache). I slept right through my mid afternoon snack. For dinner, Billy wanted to go out to eat. I was reluctant, but like a good little dieting wife, I looked up the restaurant choices that Billy gave me and picked Outback because I was able to stick to my diet there. I even came home with a meal for tomorrow! I had Grilled Chicken on the Barbie with no bbq sauce and "served lightly." I had steamed vegetables and baked sweet potato, plain. I started off by cutting the chicken portion and the baked sweet potato in half and requesting a to go box so neither Billy nor myself would eat it. It was delicious! I swear, it is the exact same thing that I make for myself and it tastes 100 times better. The texture of the chicken was better (read: not chainsaw chicken...I am terrified of undercooked poultry). Even the baked sweet potato was better and it didn't have anything on it! That is how celebs stick to these diets...they have professionals hired to cook for them. I need to ask for cooking classes for Christmas!

That's a good idea, actually. I wonder where I could take a healthy cooking class? Anyone know of any in the Memphis area?

I will keep you posted on how the weekend goes. I was nervous, but now that I have made a grocery run and my fridge is stocked with healthy options, I am ready! I am so proud of my fridge when I open the doors. I should post a picture. It is literally teeming with yummy organic produce. Just a week ago, I only had condiments and beer in the fridge. I feel like a bona fide grown up!

a l m o s t there

I feel like if I make it to Friday with my new experiment, I have made it. I think it's because at work, we have a tendency to talk each other into going to lunch pretty much every day, just to get away from the insanity of our clients. I knew that if I made it through one week at work, I would show myself and my coworkers that I am serious and I really want to stick this out. So, yay! 4 days down! I know my coworkers waistlines and wallets will thank me if we all stick to eating at the office every day.

For those of you who have been on the edge of your seats waiting for my oatmeal update, today, I tried steel cut oats topped with fresh blueberries and two sliced strawberries. I will say this, I think that if the berries were in season, it would've been pretty good. The berries were a little sour, I think, because berry season is in the summer. Sour berries aside, the oatmeal was tolerable today. I was able to tolerate several bites of oatmeal without wanting to gag. Progress.

Also today, we ate dinner with my in-laws. We usually eat with them every Wednesday but this week, we moved it. Anyway, I took my dinner (and made Billy warn them ahead of time so that they would not think I was an a-hole for bringing my own dinner), and they had vegetable soup. I have only been asking for vegetable soup since it started to get cold and right now, I cannot eat it (especially not the way they cooked it :(

Okay well it's time to put the little one to bed so for those who are interested, here is what I ate today (sidenote: once I am through the strict period of this experiment, I will probably only notify my readers of truly delicious--or truly disgusting dishes)

Breakfast

Steel cut oats with fresh blueberries and strawberries

Scrambled egg whites with one yolk

Mid Morning Snack

1/2 apple

(I was in court so I couldn't very well whip out a chicken breast to nosh on)

Lunch

Leftover baked chicken with chipotle seasoning

steamed broccoli

1/2 baked sweet potato

Afternoon snack

1/2 apple

sliced baked chicken breast with some delicious jalapeno hot sauce

Dinner

Spinach salad topped with baked chicken, avocado and tomato, and balsamic vinegar

1/2 baked sweet potato

I think I can I think I can

Well, today is day three of my experiment. I stuck to it, but let me tell you, this first "strict" phase is no joke! You're just so limited in what you can eat. I am especially limited because I don't like fish. I know, I know...eating fish is good for you. I am going to try and force myself to like fish but not right now. Right now, my focus is on making myself like oatmeal. To that end, I had steel cut oats this morning and they have a much more palatable texture than the rolled oats. They still, however, do not taste good to me. I think they will be much better when I add some flavorful things. Today, upon a friend's suggestion, I went by Fresh Market and got some blueberries, raspberries and strawberries with hopes that I will actually start to like oatmeal. I tried to think while eating my oats today (just like a cheesy diet book) that I was eating to fuel my body and not just for my own gluttonous pleasure. I was able to choke down a few bites. I'll let you know tomorrow if the fruit helps. I also got some good tips from readers about what to add once I am no longer in the strict phase.

This is not intended to be a project to force myself to like oatmeal, so I will move on. Although I feel like I have been doing this forever in a day, it has only been three days, so there are no results to report just yet. I can tell you this: I read in the book that your body goes through a detoxification of sorts when you start this plan and I believe it. I had a horrible headache yesterday and I truly feel like it is grueling, at times. I know it will be worth it so I am ever hopeful that I will keep it up! I know it will be much easier and more pleasurable after next week, when I can add some more food choices to my repertoire. I also bought a cookbook and some of the recipes truly look delicious! I can't wait to try those and report to you all how wonderful and delicious and easy this plan is instead of constantly complaining about oatmeal. In addition to the withdrawal symptoms, I also noticed today that I had a lack of appetite. I could not eat the protein with my morning or afternoon snack and I was not really hungry at lunch. I am not sure if that is part of the plan, if my portion sizes were too big (I don't think that is the case) or if I was just sick of chicken and sweet potatoes. Whatever the case, I struggled to eat the suggested diet today. Here is what I actually consumed:

Breakfast

Steel cut oats with cinnamon and 1 tsp vanilla extract

Scrambled egg whites with one yolk

Mid Morning snack

1/2 apple

Lunch

Spinach salad topped with baked chicken, avocado, tomato and balsamic vinagrette

1/2 baked sweet potato

Afternoon snack

1/2 apple

Dinner

Baked chicken with chipotle spice

Steamed broccoli florets

1/2 baked sweet potato (although I only ate a few bites)

After dinner

1 small spoonful of natural peanut butter

Conspiracy Theory

Well, it's my second day on my clean eating expedition. Today was also the second day that I tried to force myself to like oatmeal. Actually, I have tried on multiple occasions and I still find it the most repulsive substance on earth. Tomorrow, I think I will try steel cut oats instead of rolled oats. I have tried steel cut oats before, but they can't be worse than the oats I had this morning.

I do not plan on continuing to torture myself with the oatmeal, in case you were wondering. I am just trying to stick to the strict phase as closely as possible for the next two weeks. I did not realize at all that next Thursday was Thanksgiving. Excuse me, November, just where do you think you are going? I guess I will have no choice but to cheat a little on Thanksgiving but I promise myself that I will not eat ridiculous portion sizes like I always do. Also, I think I will eat my regular breakfast (egg whites and oats) and even possibly my mid morning snack (protein and complex carb). We do lunch at Billy's mother's house and then dinner at my aunt's house. I always save up to eat dinner since my mom cooks what her kids like the best. I think I will try to either just eat a teeny bit of some type of protein (turkey or something even though I don't really like Thanksgiving turkey. I know...I am weird) and maybe some green beans or something. That way, I will only be cheating for the one meal. I'll let you know how that turns out for me.

Today I realized something very scary...grocery stores are set up to make you fail at all diets and to make you FAT! I went to Kroger on the way home to pick up some rice cereal for Carter (he's getting so big!) and as I walked through my neighborhood Kroger, I was astonished at the things I saw. It's not like I've never been to the grocery store before, or even this one, but for some reason, now that I have started this new plan and been to the local health food store, I was totally shocked at what Kroger had to offer! For example, I headed straight to the produce section just to see what they had to offer since I am sure I won't ALWAYS be able to go to Whole Foods when I need some groceries. The produce section was okay, but not great. Then you have to travel through the baked goods section where the grocer tries to entice the diligent dieter with all sorts of yummy baked confections, not to mention the casseroles and unhealthy whatnot they serve at the deli counter! I went on around the store and as I made my way towards the baby aisle, I noticed that every single end display was for cupcakes, poptarts, chips and other assorted junk food. Not one single end display had anything of any nutritional value. In fact, the "healthy food sections" in the local grocery stores are hidden in and amongst the junk food rubble. Then, every single checkout line is fully stocked with an array of candies. No wonder we're all a bunch of fatties. (By we, I mean Americans...specifically Memphians). I was really scared from my visit today that when I do need to shop for my groceries, perhaps I should try and frequent the health food store every time. I am not sure if anyone has the willpower to say no to all that unhealthy goodness every single time she frequents the grocery!

Scary grocery trip aside, I stuck to the new regimen again today...two days down, a lifetime to go! If you're interested, what I ate today was:

Breakfast

Scrambled egg whites with one yolk

Oatmeal with cinnamon and vanilla extract

Mid Morning Snack

1/2 apple

sliced oven roasted turkey

Lunch

Romaine Lettuce salad with baked chicken and lemon juice

1/2 baked sweet potato

Afternoon snack

1/2 apple

sliced oven roasted turkey

Dinner

Baked chicken with chipotle pepper spice on top of a bed of spinach leaves, topped with avocado and tomato salad with lemon juice. I also put a teeny bit of balsamic vinegar on the salad (it was delicious!)

1/2 baked sweet potato

Day One

A success! I am pretty impressed with myself because we had to go to lunch as an office for a birthday party for our former partner who moved to Dallas. Basically, to be a clean eater, you are supposed to eat 5-6 small meals a day. For breakfast, I had oats (oatmeal) and scrambled egg whites. For my mid-morning snack, I had 1/2 of a delicious apple and a few slices of oven roasted turkey (that I roasted this morning before work--turkey breasts). For lunch (out to eat) I had an asian dish that had chicken, broccoli, and snap peas with brown rice. It was delicious! I wish I could hire a chef to help me on my journey! For my afternoon snack, I ate the rest of the apple. You're supposed to have a lean protein as well, but I am having some sinus drainage issues and I just didn't want it. For dinner, we had baked chicken, steamed broccoli, and 1/2 of a baked sweet potato. Dinner was good as well. Throughout the day, I have been drinking as much water as I could. You're supposed to drink a ridiculous amount of water, but as I mentioned earlier, I am having some sinus issues and it has been a chore for me to choke down the required amount of water. I'm still sipping, though.

While I am super proud of myself for making it through the day with the temptations of birthday muffins in the morning and yummy restaurant food at lunch, let me be completely honest. This morning, even though I was in no hurry to be at work, I was TOTALLY overwhelmed trying to get everything ready for the day. I think in order for this to really work and for me to stick to it, I am going to have to prepare for the day the night before. I also plan to cook what I can for the week on Sunday.

Well, so far, so good. I know it's only been one day, but I can already tell that this is going to be a huge commitment on my part. The person who wrote the book that I read about this diet claims that it will make me feel wonderful, fire up my metabolism and help me get and stay lean and healthy forever. I hope she is right! I guess now that I have put it out there for my 6 readers, I will have a little bit more motivation to stick to it! I will let you know how it makes me feel after I've been on the plan for a few days!

Eat Clean Experiment

Things at work are crazy (not in a good way) and I am now doing what I always do when some part of my life is making me unhappy: I am diving head first into something that I can preoccupy myself with. This time, however, I am doing something that is GOOD for me. I will use my blog to update my progress.

Basically, I have decided to start "eating clean." It's not really a diet, so much as it is a change in my eating lifestyle. I mean, it's not a diet in that there is no calorie counting, etc. It is a diet to me, though, as it is so dramatically different than the crap I have been putting in my body for the past 29 years (especially the past 5).

The basic premise of "eating clean" is that you eat foods that are nutritious and whole and good, such as fresh, organic produce and lean meats and avoid all over processed foods, especially white flower and sugar.

As with all diets, the first two weeks are super strict, meant to help break addictions to sugars and other bad things. I wanted to dive into this project whole heartedly, so I went straight to Whole Foods to stock my fridge and pantry.

First, let me say this: I always feel like people at places like Whole Foods are staring at me and thinking that I do not belong there. I do not know why I have this self consciousness, but I faced my fear and went to WF (on a weekend, no less!) and got lots of organic and yummy goodies and (shockingly) did not spend all that much more than I would have for a normal trip to the grocery.

I will keep you all posted on my progress. Wish me luck!