I came across this idea of really sticking with clean eating on Sunday when a good friend of mine at work and fellow health nerd (Eryn) told me about this detox she was trying. She explained how good she felt and how it got her to be creative with her meals. I was intrigued, she explained how it worked, and it seemed reasonable, something worth trying.
I was previously having some issues with my digestive system, my body just wasn't working right. I could feel it and knew this was something that might help.
However, I wasn't going to call this a detox - because it was something I wanted to help be a kickstart to a lifestyle change. I eat pretty healthy on a daily basis anyway but also needed to figure out why my digestive system was acting up. It could be things like dairy, gluten, and soy (which are pretty much given up this week) Also, NO alcohol!
I was doing my clean eating week from Mon-Fri, the outline for the week was:
DAY 1: Fruits
DAY 2: Veggies & one potato
DAY 3: Fruits & Veggies
DAY 4: Yogurt & Bananas
DAY 5: Protein and tomato
Also, LOTS of water - stay hydrated, always!
RECAP
Day 1
I was out the door at 6AM to teach class and for me that's too early to eat breakfast, my appetite usually hasn't woken up yet so what better way to start a detox then with this amazing concoction with so many health and detoxifying benefits.
Pre-breakfast:
Hot water w/ lemon, honey, and
organic apple cider vinegar
By the time I was done teaching I was feeling energized but hungry and ready for a nice big bowl of fruit! I went to the local grocery store and got a fresh cut assorted fruit bowl.
Breakfast: Assorted fruit bowl with pineapple, strawberries, melon, and grapes
Workout: Now that my hunger craving was satisfied - it was off to get my workout in for the day. Off to
Exhale Spa for a Core Fusion Barre class.
By this time I was definitely hungry again - so off to one of my favorite North End spots,
Local Roots for a fresh fruit smoothie.
Snack 1: Mango, banana, pineapple, and coconut oil smoothie
I spent most of the afternoon enjoying the beautiful weather, soaking up some sun, and doing some reading on the North End Greenway. By the time it hit late afternoon, I was ready for lunch! So off to another one of my favorite North End spots,
the Thinking Cup for an iced green tea and another fruit bowl.
Lunch: Iced green tea with a fruit bowl (watermelon, honeydew, and pineapple)
A few hours later, I had enough of the sun and it was back to Local Roots to pick up some produce for tomorrows veggie day.
Throughout the day I had been feeling pretty hungry but wasn't craving any "bad" foods just wanted more fruit - I didn't find it hard to stick to just fruit for the day.
When I got back to the apartment - I satisfied by craving with 2 organic juicy plums I had picked up at Local Roots.
Snack 2: 2 organic plums
Tomorrow is all veggie day but it permits one backed potato but instead of a baked potato I'm planning on some homefries (1/2 potato) with peppers, garlic, onions, and mushrooms for breakfast - I know how lazy I am in the morning so I did all the chopping today and placed it in tupperware in the fridge so it will be ready to go.
I only used 1/2 the potato for the homefries and made potato salad with the other half - the diet says a baked potato with butter so I substituted that bit of dairy with greek yogurt. I can't wait to have this tomorrow but for now, into the fridge it goes!
A few hours later, it's dinner time for sure.
Dinner: 1 large chopped apple with
blueberry chia jam
Day 2
I was out and about extremely early again to teach my
FREE outdoor Pilates class and didn't eat breakfast until I returned home later on in the morning. Gladly, breakfast preparation was already done from the night before!
Breakfast: homefries with peppers, garlic, onions, mushrooms, and spinach sautéed in coconut oil. Side of half avocado
Workout: Had my dose of lunch time yoga at my second home,
North End Yoga with the lovely
Joanna.
I had a full day of work in the office at the studio so it was to
Bread & Butter to grab a quick salad to go.
Lunch: Spinach salad with radishes, Tuscan white beans, and mushrooms. Side of baby carrots and cucumbers
After spending all day at the studio, it was time for a quick boost before Pilates.
Snack: Smoothie with avocado, cucumber, chia seed,
Green Superfood Powder, and coconut water
Workout: Killer and sweaty hour of Pilates
I still had my potato salad that I prepared last night left at home and I couldn't wait to get home to eat it - preparation is VERY key to eating healthy.
Dinner: Potato salad - 1/2 boiled potato, 2 tbsp of greek yogurt, dash of cayenne, 1 tbsp of organic honey mustard, salt & pepper, and chopped green onion.
I was feeling very tired throughout day 2 but I felt less bloated and I felt my body digesting the food I was eating more easily - I was committed to sticking to this so was off to bed early to wake up for early morning Pilates!
Day 3
At 6AM I was out the door and off to North End Yoga for my early morning Pilates butt kicking - I had made a green smoothie the night before so took that with me and had half before and half after class.
Pre/Post Workout: Kale, pineapple,
Green Superfood Powder, banana, and almond milk smoothie
Workout: The
Antonio early morning Pilates beat-down
About an hour after class before heading to work, I stopped by
the Thinking Cup again for a fruit bowl
and green tea.
Breakfast: Fruit bowl with melon and pineapple. Organic China Green Tea.
After Job 1 at the restaurant before heading to Job 2 at the studio, I was off to
Bread & Butter to grab a salad for lunch. They have a great selection of healthy, veggie filled salads.
Lunch: Romaine salad with cucumbers, tomato, chickpeas, red onion, and avocado
Thankfully at the studio we carry
Organic Living Superfoods nutritious snacks - I grabbed one of those for the train ride home.
Snack:
Raw Organic Chia Squares
This clean eating effort has actually made me get really creative in the kitchen and cook more from home rather than eating out which was one of my previous problems. Cooking healthy is cooking simple - I threw together some leftover veggies for a stir fry for dinner.
Dinner: Pepper, onion, mushroom, and pineapple stir fry spiced with ground ginger, some salt & pepper, sautéed with garlic in coconut oil, and tossed with Nature Isle Caribbean BBQ Sauce (I picked this up in the organic isle at Shaw's)
Day 4
I was excited for today actually, it was yogurt and banana day, both of which I love. I started off the day with a parfait with the two.
Breakfast: One sliced banana layered with greek yogurt sprinkled with some cinnamon, chia seeds, and flax seeds then drizzled with honey.
Delicious! Then off to the studio for my lunchtime yoga and day in the office.
Workout: 1 hour Vinyasa flow
After class I only had 30 min to grab lunch so I walked down to
Local Roots again (surprise) for a spinach and banana smoothie. Maaaaybe I grabbed a iced cappuccino with a drop of skim milk on the way too (it was going to be a long day.) I also stopped a grabbed two yogurts and some bananas for the rest of the day.
Lunch: Spinach and banana smoothie. Iced cappuccino with skim milk
Snack: Yogurt and banana
Before teaching Pilates at 6PM at the studio (
North End Yoga) - I had one of the bananas to hold me over.
Snack: Banana
After teaching, it was time for me to get MY butt kicked with the infamous Pilates Fusion with
Jenn. P but before that ... one more banana, I was definitely going to need it!
Snack: Banana
When I got home I made another quick parfait before showering and heading to bed. Yogurt and bananas are actually great for a post-workout recovery.
Dinner: same as breakfast
Before heading to bed, I prepared my lunch for tomorrow: sun-dried tomato and basil tuna salad.
*Blend/Food process together one can of tuna, 2 tbsp of greek yogurt, 3/4 SD tomatoes, 1-2 tbsp of olive oil (I used the oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes I bought), a dash of cayenne, few leaves of basil, one clove of garlic, salt & pepper
Today was actually a much better day hunger wise, with the carbs and protein from the bananas and yogurt I felt much more energized and not always hungry.
Day 5
This was IT - I made it until Friday! It was easy to dedicate just one more day when I jumped on the scale in the morning and weighed in at 113 - down 4lbs from the beginning!
Breakfast: 2 egg white omelet with cherry tomatoes
Off to NEY .... of course. One of my favorite classes of the week - I love Fridays!
Workout: Amazing one hour flow with the inventive
Tim K.
Snack: Raw Organic Chia Squares
Lunch was already prepared in the fridge from the night before, all I did was break off a few leaves from a head of lettuce and place the tuna salad in them to make lettuce wraps.
Lunch: Lettuce wraps with sun-dried tomato and basil tuna salad
After eating lunch, I made dinner to bring with me to work that night. It was going to be caprese stuffed chicken (but without the cheese!).
I butterflyed a chicken breast and placed some basil and sliced tomato inside. I seasoned the chicken with some salt, pepper, and italian seasoning. After baking in the oven for about 25-30 min at 400 degrees (flipping half way through) - the chicken was ready, so easy!
I also made some tomato and basil salad to top it with - Just some chopped tomato and basil seasoned with some salt & pepper and drizzled with olive oil & balsamic vinegar.
After work, this was a delicious dinner to sit down to!
Dinner: "Caprese" chicken (no cheese!) topped with tomato & basil salad
OVERVIEW
Reasons to try this:
1. To kickstart a healthy eating
lifestyle (If you try this but go back to eating junk, you WILL gain the weight right back)
2. To clean up your diet! You may already eat pretty healthy like me but just want to get inventive with your meals - this really helped! I enjoyed cooking these healthy, yet different meals I never would've thought of before.
3. As a healthy eating guide. It really helps to have some type of guidelines to help you begin and
continue a healthy lifestyle.
4. To strengthen your will power! It's really hard to say no to those sweets, or french fries sometimes but to have dedication to your body is important and this week really helped me stick true to that.
I am extremely happy I decided to try this and am proud of myself for really sticking to it. I realized that it was dairy like cheese, creams, milk, heavy soy products, and grains that were upsetting and bloating my stomach.
From this point on I am going to minimize those things in my diet and every week try and stick to a similar clean eating outline like this one. SUCCESS!
