Eating Clean?

You all know that I try to stay very active.  I workout, play soccer, ball hockey and any other sport I feel whimsy about.  It's not just how my body looks that keeps me going, it's how it feels. When I don't get to the gym or get on the field, I go buggy. Seriously. John is so in tune to it that he will say to me (when I'm being particularly crabby) "Have you been to the gym lately, cause you need to run that bitchiness out of you, Babe."

And he's always right.

When I don't look after my body, I get depressed, anxious and just plain insane.  So the math is simple. Physical Activity = Happy Me.  So I do it.

That brings me to what I put into my mouth. A few years ago, I was known for saying "I workout so I can eat like a pig and not gain weight!".   Well, it was true. If I worked hard enough I certainly avoided gaining weight, but I didn't see a change in my body at all.  I just stayed the same - which was fine at the time.

Now, I'm getting older and it's slowly starting to show. My skin isn't as firm, my ass isn't as high (but it's still pretty nice, if I do say so myself!) and my motivation tends to wain a bit.  In the last couple of years, from reading and planning workouts, I've realized that you really are what you eat.

I'm nowhere near hardcore, but I've been very conscious about what I eat. This has only been compounded by the fact that John's routine bloodwork for an increase in our life insurance came back showing high cholesterol.  After a quick appointment with our doctor, John is completely on board (sorta, he whines quite a bit) with changing how we eat.

I recently bought Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Diet book and read it cover to cover in about 3 hours.  Overall, we're doing okay. We always have lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and eating small meals more often is something I do well with. Where we've fallen short is white sugar and flour.  There's just too much of it in this house - so we chucked it all. We still have a few treats, cause the kids are kids and they like the occasional sweet snack.

The best part is that I have a partner. My BFF has the same food mentality that I do (in that we both love it, it tastes great and we could eat like real pigs if we put our mind to it).  We've taken tips from each other, we talk about it and compare what we've eaten on any given day.  Do you know how much easier it makes it if you have someone to do this with? Amazing difference.

Right now, it's all we talk about. Moyra and I. John and I. Moyra's husband and John making fun of Moyra and I as we compare triceps and leg muscles. But soon, I imagine it won't be an issue. It will just be a way of life.

If eating better and excercising more were a part of your resolution, I highly recommend this way of eating. It's not restrictive and you actually eat more during an average day than you did before. Some nights, by dinnertime I was am full from all of the food I have shoved in my gob that I don't even think about evening snacking - something that used to be a big part of my eating day.

Stick with it. It will get easier. Remember last year when I really committed to adding more fruit and vegetables to my diet? That was rough on my bowels, but it got so much better.  It won't happen in a week, maybe not even a couple of months - but it will happen.  You will see the results and you will be more focused than ever. You'll also cheat a bit. I do. Small little indulgences feel good, when they're just that. After that it's onward and upward.

Comments

[raino]

good for you chantal. go for it!

[meanie]

i'm so going to buy that book. i need a good jump start.

[SC]

I have read that book and loved it, it was highly informative... and once I am done breast-feeding I will be all over her program. Did you not love her Top 10 worst foods list... all of the lists in the book were fantastic actually... it was a real eye opener, but well worth the read.