Trying a Clean Eating Challenge

"Strawberry Splash" by Petr Kratochvil

A friend from high school days is hosting a clean eating challenge this week and I joined. I committed for five days to eating natural foods, exercising 30 minutes a day, and some other things.

So today I ate oatmeal, raspberries, almonds, and cottage cheese for breakfast. I chose regular oats instead of the apple-cinnamon packs my kids eat. Fewer additives, right?

For lunch, I ate a peach, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, strawberries and a salad. I thought about how to keep my salad "clean," so I left out the light ranch dressing and croutons. Instead, I put Parmesan cheese to try and give the spinach, mushrooms, and almond salad taste. It was okay. Thinking I may have to look at some "clean" recipes for salad dressing, but I only like ranch dressing. I hate all the other types of salad dressings.

I ate celery and peanut butter for a snack, but I left out the protein powder. I sometimes add protein powder.

I made a chicken, mushroom, and brown rice entree for dinner. As I added lemon pepper, I wondered if it was "clean." I know what the ingredients are. I made some peach, blueberry crisp too. For the vegetable, I grabbed the frozen mixed veggies. I looked at the shrunk, mutilated veggies and threw the freezer burn mess away. Luckily, we had a second bag of mixed veggies.

I'm wondering where all this energy came from to make dinner: I went to bed by 10:30 two nights in a row! I also walked for 30 minutes today, fell on a few yoga poses, and skipped around. All this with pushing, holding, or avoiding a toddler. All in a day's work.

Sunburn Funburn

"The Sun" by Maliz Ong

Yesterday I went to the doctor about my ingrown toenails. I asked her if obesity can make them worse. She said yes. Well, I just need to lose 50+ pounds now. She referred me to a nutritionist. I called the nutritionist, but only got the voicemail.

In an attempt to be more active, I went to the pool with my boys. I was spraying on sunscreen when the bottle ran out. Only my arms got covered. I found an old tube of sunscreen and tried rubbing it on me. Well, I'd find out later the results on my skin.

The two oldest played while my toddler clung to me. My toddler ventured out for ten minutes in the splash pool. He smiled at me. Then he toppled off two steps and fell all the way in the water. I caught him and just held him while he recovered emotionally. He was fine otherwise. I hate when this type of thing happens because my toddler gets nervous around water again. He takes a long time to venture in the water on his own.

I didn't swim during the entire time, but I lugged a toddler from the big pool to the kiddie pool several times while chasing my two older boys. I also exercised taking the stroller back and forth.

Last night when I got ready for bed, I saw a sunburn outline of my swimsuit across my back. I guess that other sunscreen was out of date. Sunburns make me exhausted too (or sun exhaustion).

Today I vacuumed the upstairs bedrooms, cleaned the tub, swept the kitchen floor, cleaned the counters, did a load of dishes, couple loads of laundry, folded one load of laundry, took out trash, and told my husband about it. I want to brag to somebody. He appreciates the clean house. He then vacuumed the downstairs. Yea for clean floors! Lots more to clean, but the house is livable and I am exhausted.

I tried out Greek yogurt today. I had some a long time ago, but it was a strange apple pie flavor. I mixed some plain Greek yogurt with raspberries and a couple squirts of agave syrup. It had a strong flavor, but tasted okay. Greek yogurt is the rage because it has more protein in it than regular yogurt, but it is an acquired taste. Does the extra protein make it taste funky?

Tonight I made homemade pizza. I'm wondering if it has fewer calories than take-out pizza. It must. I make wheat/white flour dough and pile on the veggies. I used Canadian bacon too. It has very little grease, so that's a positive. I don't know. My problem is portion control.

Such is life.

Day 14, ?: What Day Is It?

I had cheerios and milk for breakfast. Went back to bed. I even went to bed before 10:30 pm. My toddler woke my husband and me at 2 am. When do they stop waking in the middle of the night? Ate an orange and string cheese as a snack. For lunch, I had a peach-berry smoothie from The Formula book. It adds a few almonds and protein powder to it. My toddler likes these smoothies for some reason. My other kids hate it. Had a snack of watermelon and cheddar cheese. I'm tiding over until dinner time. I think I'll eat some leftover chicken and zucchini soup with some bread. I don't know if it will fill me up. I usually eat a snack before bed too.

Um, I don't know what day I'm on anymore, but I do know the actual date, just not the log. Tuesday night I stayed up too late because I was sad over a friend's crisis. I was upset yesterday too after someone made a passive-aggressive put down about me. It doesn't matter if other people are rude, but put it in a socially acceptable way.

I can't remember what I ate yesterday, only that survival was my goal. My house is a mess. Today I went to my parents. I didn't eat any M&Ms or Silvermint ice cream bars at my parents. That's like...a first! I had a flavored apple pop, but so much less than I sometimes pig out at home with. I don't keep treats as a rule in my house. Maybe because I eat it so fast :).

My older boys have been on a whine fest today. We didn't get donuts, didn't get Sour Patch kids candy, the oldest was forced to go to Grandma's. It was a rough day, but going swimming with cousins was fun for them. But if we had stayed home, we never would have gone swimming with cousins. My oldest hates leaving the computer, but has so much fun other places he doesn't want to come home. If only it didn't come with scream fests!

Day 4: Out and About

"Rice" by Daniele Pellati

Yesterday I did some free exercise. I went walking for about an hour. My kids got some exercise in the process too.

I can't remember much of what I ate yesterday. I should keep track better. I had strawberry awake and turkey sausage for breakfast. I figure the sausage gives me lean protein for the morning and milk with my cereal. (My toddler is dripping juice from his sippy cup around the computer.) Ate a peach on my walk. Can't remember lunch.

I had brown rice with chicken stir-fry for dinner. I substituted white rice with brown rice. Brown rice has more vitamins and protein, is a whole grain, and has a lower glycemic level than rice. It keeps you full longer. I had only white rice when I taught in China and I always felt hungry. I bet brown rice would have made a difference. I made guacamole with an avocado and salsa and had it with chips. I figure homemade guacamole is healthier.

I went to bed before eleven last night! That's always a big accomplishment for me :).

So my points would be 8/10 (no toning). I probably need to revamp my point system. I don't know.

Did you do well yesterday? Did you save money in the process?