Eating Clean Does my Body (and Mind) Good

 "Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth” -- Pema Chödrön

A few years ago, my friend Holly was talking to me about Tosca Reno’s Eating Clean diet. Fairly quickly into her “eating clean monologue”, her words fell on deaf ears because I had dismissed it as something that would be so incredibly complicated, expensive and downright hard for me to incorporate into my life that I didn’t want to hear anything else about it. 

My thinking back then was, “how could this eating regimen be fulfilling when I would have to limit refined sugar, give up fake sugar, white flour, pre-packaged and processed food?” Frozen meals save me time. Diet Dr. Pepper hits the spot when I start getting sluggish at 3:00. And word to your Mother and mine - ain’t nothing like a Snickers to take the edge off during that time of the month.  I was also on a popular weight loss program at that time and I was losing weight, so if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 

Right? 

Okay, I was hella wrong. Now, I can see that I was giving so much push back because this was taking me out of my comfort zone. These were HUGE changes and I was too nervous and too scared to make them at that time.

Even though I was losing weight, I knew what I was putting in my body was not good. I would always hit the wall at 3:00, I had spikes in my sugar levels, and rounded out with stomach and digestive issues – yea, I was gross. I could not keep lying to myself – I had to man-up and make some changes.

Right now, it is six in the morning as I write this post and in 30-minutes, I will begin my eating clean regimen. I have been eating clean since mid January 2012 and I can honestly say it has really done my body and mind – good.  

I usually have my first meal by 6:30 a.m. (everyday) and I eat every three hours. Each meal includes a complex carb and protein. I spend either Saturday or Sunday cooking a week’s worth of food for me and Jack – and I love it. The meals I cook are the bomb-delicious – just ask my sister and her boyfriend! My monthly grocery bill is down 85 bucks and I no longer need a weight loss program, so good-bye fees. 

My partner in crime Naomi is on her own eating clean journey and it is cool to be able to share ups and downs with each other. Don’t get me wrong, I slip up but slip-ups are expected after decades of poor eating habits. Bottom line is – I’m doing it. 

Shout out to Clean Eating magazine for the delicious recipes and flax seeds – for doing what you do!

If you are doing something that is pushing you out of your comfort zone – please share, I’d love to hear your story.