Clean Eating Challenge: Cookbook WINNER!!

Well, if I were smart enough to figure out how to get the random.org picture with the number on it, I would but since I'm not... I won't!  ;)

You'll just have to trust that the winner of the cookbook is commenter #1 on this post. 

So, LeShel, you WIN! 

E-mail me at babblinbrooke 22 {at} gmail {dot} com so we can discuss which book you would like. 

My recommendation would definitely be The Diet Rebel's Cookbook but you are welcome to choose any of the three. 

Clean Eating Challenge: Step 8 -- Keep it up!

And now we're all eating well, with only a set amount of cheating, drinking lots and lots of water, exercising regularly and feeling great, right?  Do you feel any different?  Does your body know when you've cheated? 
I hope you all answered yes. 

Well, this week (and from now on) we're just going to keep up with what we've been doing.  Next Monday we'll find a winner for the recipe book. 

It will get easier, I promise. 

After the winner is chosen, I will probably be switching to my Wordpress blog exclusively.  So, please join me over there. 

Clean Eating Challenge: Step 7 -- Exercise

Now that you are eating clean while still eating your favorite junk food (in moderation, right?), it's time to start exercising. 

Maybe you already are and that's great! 

I would love to say that I know exactly what you should be doing for exercise but indeed, I do not!  I can tell you what I recommend, however.  Cardio at least 3 times per week and strength training 3 times per week.  They can be done together or on completely separate days.  But I can almost guarantee that if you are only doing one or the other, you won't get the results you want. 

As frustrating as that is, it's the truth.  With cardio only, you might see some weight loss (if that's what you're going for) but your shape will not change.  With strength training only, you might feel stronger but you may never see any weight loss.  And continuing to eat well will only aid in your results.  I promise.  Less cheating means for better results. 

So, get to it!  Simple enough, no?  And if you have any questions or anything about clean eating (or anything else) feel free to ask.  I can't promise to know the answer for sure but I promise to try and find out.

Clean Eating Challenge: Step 6 -- Implement "The Cheat"

Well, how was your week?  Was it super hard not to cheat at all (other than maybe a food storage item here and there)? 

This week you get to cheat!  Woohoo for cheats! 

Alright, there are a few ways you can do this.  There's the 'cheat meal', the 'cheat day', and the 80/20 rule.  Let me explain...

Cheat Meal:  This is where you eat clean all the time except one meal per week.  A predesignated meal (maybe a Saturday lunch or something) that you decide you will eat whatever cheat meal you feel is necessary for you to get your 'fix' of junk food for the week.  Maybe you need a combo meal from McDonalds or something.  Or maybe your favorite pizza joint is calling your name.  Or maybe one of your snacks is going to be a decadant dessert of some sort.  Whatever floats your boat.  

The designated day could change depending on your weekly plans.  Maybe you have a party planned on Tuesday.  Make Tuesday your Cheat Meal day. 

Cheat Day:  This is a whole day during the week designated to eating whatever you want and not worrying about it.  Be careful with this one though.  If you are afraid that designating a whole day will throw your chi off with the clean eating, don't do it!  Stick with the Cheat Meal or the.....

80/20 Rule:  This is where you make sure that you are eating clean at least 80 percent of the time.  The other 20 percent is whatever you want.... and sometimes 'whatever you want' turns out to be clean anyway.   

This is the 'cheat' that works for me the best because, although I started out trying the Cheat Meal plan, my life seems so out of control at times.  We frequently have friends over or are invited to a get together with family or friends and I know that the food options won't always be clean.  Anthony and I both try to eat mostly clean in those situations by filling up on fruits, vegetables, water, and whatever other clean options are available before diving into the nasties.  And often times, that is enough to keep us satisfied and we don't need the yucky stuff.  This coming from the girl who has a hard time saying no to food in general, let alone the sweets and processed crap. 

One thing that we hardly ever give in to these days is soda.  That's one thing that we have given up almost entirely whether we're cheating or not.  The only soda we've consumed at all since beginning our journey several months ago was in the form of a root beer float... twice. 

I try to keep it more on the 90/10 side.  Just please keep it at least 80/20 if this is the cheat plan you choose.  Don't go any less 80% clean. 

And always remember to eat only until satisfied no matter what you are eating.  The 5-6 meals rule also applies. 

Another important thing to TRY and do is make your cheats homemade.  If you can, try not to eat the processed foods.... ever!  It really is ok to have treats once in a while but if you make your own chocolate chip cookies rather than buying Chips Ahoy, you really are doing yourself a favor.  At least you know what went into it and you can name all the ingredients.  Every once in a while a processed treat is necessary, I get that.  Just try to keep it in check. 

Well, I hope this week goes well for you.  Keep me posted on your progress. 

In case you missed the past Clean Eating Challenge posts, click on the "Clean Eating Challenge" under the labels on the right. 

And if you wrote down or printed out the ranch dressing recipe, I hope you caught it after the correction.  Nothing major but there was a slight error. 

Clean Eating Challenge: Step 5 -- Lunches and Dinners

I almost forgot to post this.  With Father's Day and the fact that my week/weekend kind went haywire on me, I just about spaced it.  But no worries!  I know you're thanking your lucky stars about now because whatever would you do without your next Clean Eating Challenge post? 

Ok, so I'm sure you'd all get along just fine.  Just let me pretend that I'm needed.  ;)

This week we're going to clean up the remainder of your meals.  THIS IS A NO CHEATING WEEK!  Let me repeat... there is to be NO CHEATING this week.  Got it?  Good!

Here's the part where I contradict myself...
If you're one of those 'crazy Mormons' like myself, and have a crazy, hair-brained idea such as food storage (or maybe you're not a Mormon but still have a crazy notion to have such a storage), you may have not-so-clean items in your storage that you're not willing to part with.  I hear ya!  That was money well spent to feed your family and I'm not telling you to get rid of it.  Some clean foodies (that's what we're calling them for the moment) will tell you to rid your home of all unclean foods.  

Ummm, sorry but I'm too cheap to throw it away and I am NOT willing to GIVE it all away either.  So, in our food storage, I had dirty items such as cream of ... (fill in the blank) soups, tomato soup, ketchup, bbq sauce, ranch dressing, taco seasoning packets, WHITE rice, WHITE pasta, etc.  That's a lot of food to get rid of.  Not that all canned foods are dirty, they're not.  Canned beans (watch for sugars though), tomato paste/sauce, fruit in its own juices, etc. are all great canned items.

So what are you supposed to do?  Well, at our house, I try to make all of our meals clean; breakfast, lunch and snacks.  Dinner is clean too, MOST nights.  In order to still use up what's down in our food storage, I try to make completely clean dinners five nights a week.  The other two nights, we make an old 'dirty' favorite with items from our food storage.  Just remember not to overindulge.  Eat just 'til satisfied, not full.  

Now here's the part that may scare you.  It scared me at first too because, how in the world would I make dinner without canned, boxed, or bottled dirtiness?  Are you ready for it?  Here it is:  ONCE IT'S GONE, IT'S GONE!  DON'T BUY IT AGAIN!  It is possible to make clean versions of those same foods.  Surprised?  I was. 

And guess what, it's not that hard.  I've had so much fun making homemade ranch dressing and homemade taco seasoning.  We don't even miss the MSG.  That stuff is in a lot of processed foods.  It's not good for you, stay away from it.  

Oh, but as I was saying, the ranch and taco seasoning are BETTER than the packaged stuff.  Hard to believe, eh?  I didn't think it was possible but it's true.  Maybe we just enjoy the flavors because we're excited to not be eating crap anymore.  At any rate, it's good stuff.  Both of those recipes come from The Diet Rebel's Cookbook.  I'm beginning to think that it's my very favorite of the three that I got for Mother's Day.  

Tell you what, I'll even give you one of the recipes.  Just vote in the poll telling which recipe you'd like and the one with the most votes will be posted in the next couple of days. 

Simple enough, right?  Clean food is yummy and there's a lot to choose from.  Everything from fruits/vegetables, lean cuts of meat, eggs, whole grains, to dairy products and more.

If you know of a recipe that your family loves, just tweaking a few of the ingredients could make it a clean meal.  Or you could ask my best friend Google for some insight.  Just type in something like "clean eating recipes" or even "healthy recipes".... something to that effect. 

A couple of sites I've been to are:
The Gracious Pantry
Clean Eating Mama

There are soooo many more though.  Just do some research.  You'll find your favorites. 

Next week, we'll talk about how and when to eat crap.  But remember, this week is a NO CHEATING week (except a dinner or two... only a little dirtiness, please! i.e. a can of cream soup)

Keep it clean, people!

In case you missed it:  (I'm too lazy to put all the links here right now -- I know, lame -- but if you go to my Labels on the sidebar and click 'Clean Eating Challenge'... all the past weeks challenges are there.)

Clean Eating Challenge: Step 4 -- The Right Amount

I've got to admit that this week was a terrible one for me as far as my eating goes.  Admitting that is not fun especially considering that I'm trying to help YOU eat better.  All I can say is that I'm really doing this more for myself than anyone else.  It's hard to eat clean when there are so many great tasting and convenient foods out there.  On the other hand, what is the goal here?  Mine is better overall health and knowing that I'm not putting foreign chemicals and other man made yuckies into my own body and the bodies of my precious family.  There's enough research out there to convince me that it does absolutely no good to eat that crap.  It only leads to more long-term diseases and other crap. 

That said, my whole family has been and actually still is sick.  We've had terrible colds, congestion, pink eye and who knows what else.  My weekly trip to the grocery store never had a chance so we've been feasting on whatever was already in the house and convenient due to lack of energy.  It just doesn't seem fair to be sick at the beginning of summer.  Colds in the summer?  It's preposterous!    

But this is a new week which means I get to try again and do everything I can to get back on track.  The grocery store is calling my name and I can't wait to get myself some yummy food with actual nutritional value.  I think it will help us all recover quicker also.  

So this week, we're going to focus on the amount of food you are taking in.  If you've read my blog long, you know that I've already said that when you're eating clean, you don't need to count calories.  And now here I am telling you to watch the amount of food you eat.  

Just know that from here on out, I may sound like a walking contradiction due to the fact that eating clean really is a personal thing and it all depends on what your goals are and how far you want to run with it.  

We know that calorie intake really plays a huge factor in our weight.  Eating clean really is more about better health and eating whole foods.  However, often times, with that comes weight loss.  But that really depends on whether you have weight to lose and it is still possible to gain weight while eating clean if you're not careful.  

Maybe you're thinking, why the heck would you say that I don't need to count calories then?  Well, here's the deal:

When we eat only 3 or 4 meals a day (which many people do), we are so hungry by the time that we eat that we over indulge.  So, what you need to do is eat 5 or 6 times per day.  Sound like too much?  It's not.  This tells your metabolism to speed up because it's going to be getting more fuel within the next few hours.  Your body now knows that it doesn't need to hold on to the food from the last meal because it will be fed again shortly.  

Does that make any sense?  I hope so.  

Well, now that you are eating breakfast (you are eating breakfast, right?), and making sure it's a good one (you're not eating Trix or something equally nasty are you?) we just need to make sure you eat a snack between breakfast and lunch.  Here's your new eating plan, unless of course you're doing this already.  In that case it's not new...

• Breakfast - shortly after waking up
• snack
• Lunch
• snack
• Dinner 
• Snack (if hungry and not too soon before bed)

Sound good?  Alright, let's chat.  Your meals, including your snacks, should be 2-3 hours apart.  Make sure you are drinking your water between meals and with your meals.  At the 2-3 hour mark you should be hungry again.  Not starving, just hungry.  Make sure you eat until satisfied, not full.  If you get full, you've eaten too much. 

This may take a few days to get used to the feeling of being just satisfied but be patient.  You'll start to recognize when you've eaten too much or not enough. 

In general, your breakfasts, lunches and dinners should be around 300-400 calories.  Your snacks should be around 200 calories.  But like I said, everyone is different and you don't have to count.  That's just a general idea if you want to count calories just to see how much you are eating each day.  To be honest, I started out not counting the calories but decided to count for a few days just for informational purposes. 

I figured out that I was eating around 1800 calories per day which made sense for me.  That was the perfect amount for me to maintain my weight at that time.  I also incorporated some pretty vigorous (vigorous to me anyway) exercise too which helped me to actually lose a few pounds at the 1800 calories a day.  I would recommend not dipping below 1500 calories even if you are trying to lose weight but that's just me.  You have to do what's right for you. 

Make sure you're not eating too soon before bed also.  I recommend eating your last meal at least 2 hours before going to bed. 

Don't be freaked out that we're not changing the content of the meals we haven't discussed yet.  We've already discussed breakfast and snacks.... keep 'em clean!  Now just make sure you're eating enough for what your goals are and only eating until satisfied.  I think we, as Americans, think that a portion is as big as Rhode Island.  Think smaller, people! 


In case you missed it...

Introduction
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 3 update

Update to Step 3 of Clean Eating Challenge

I decided to do this as a separate post because I know some of you taking part in the Clean Eating Challenge have already read Step 3 and I want to make sure you see this one too. 

After proof-reading my last post (Step 3), I realize that I wasn't very specific at all about the best way to go about eliminating junk food snacks. 

Are you ready for this?  GET RID OF IT!  That's right, either throw it away, give it away, or make your kids eat it all right now so you won't have the chance.  If you're anything like me you'll eat it if it's around no matter how hard you try not to.  It calls your name and you can't resist.  It's evil!   

Also, stock up on your fruits and vegetables for the week.  And once you are home with all your groceries, prepare them to be eaten.  It may seem like a lot of work but it's so much easier to grab a couple celery sticks and/or carrot sticks if they're already cut and ready to eat.  If I have to grab a knife or a peeler every time I want a vegetable, I'm much more likely to grab something out of the cupboard that's more convenient.  Granola bar, anyone?  So, whatever day you do your shopping, plan to come home and wash all your produce (although there is some produce that shouldn't be washed until you are ready to eat it because it spoils quicker) and cut it up so it's ready for the whole week. 

You might be surprised.  Your kids might even grab something healthy if it's readily available. 

The things I like to have cut up and ready include celery, carrots, green/red peppers (we like it on our sandwiches), prewashed spinach (we use in place of lettuce on our sandwiches, also in smoothies), sliced cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. 

And on that note, let me just say that iceberg lettuce, as wonderful as you may think it is, has little to no nutritional value.  Choose dark leafy green vegetables instead.  That is why we use the spinach instead of lettuce on our sandwiches.  If you like the crunch that lettuce adds to your sandwiches, use sliced cucumbers along with the spinach and even green peppers.  HOLY LOADED SANDWICH!!  Trust me, it's good!

Instead of iceberg lettuce salads, use romaine, butter leaf, red leaf or green leaf lettuces.  They have nutritional value!

Anyway, sorry for the poor explanation in the last post.  Hope this helps with a few things.

Clean Eating Challenge: Step 3 -- Replace Your Snacks

Are you still eating your breakfast every morning?  And what about water, are you still drinking more than you ever thought you could? 

This week we're going to focus on your snacks.  I don't know what you usually eat for snacks... potato chips, candy bars, cookies, crackers, ice cream, microwave popcorn, candy, etc.  That's just a very short list of the 'foods' that used to be part of my days as snacks. 

What ever happened to good ol' fruits and veggies?  Do people even know what they are anymore?  And no, fruit snacks don't count as fruit, and corn chips don't count as veggies.  So sorry! 

So for this week, along with drinking plenty of water and eating a good, healthy breakfast, you now need to replace your snacks with fruits and vegetables.  Don't worry about your lunch and dinner at this point.  Eat them, obviously but don't fret about the contents yet.  We'll be getting to that soon... VERY soon.  For now just focus on your snacks and eat what you normally would for lunches and dinners.  

This week's step is easier said than done.  It may not sound hard but if you have a sweet tooth like me, or a junk-food-in-general tooth (also like me), this week could prove to be pretty challenging.  

Ideally, you will consume more vegetables than fruits but replacing your junk food snacks with either one is better than not changing them at all.  So, if you would normally eat a salty snack, replace it with a vegetable.  If you would normally eat a sweet snack, grab a fruit.  

Here's the trick, try and remember to pair these new snacks with a protein.  Don't overindulge here.  A snack is a snack, after all.  Not a full course meal.  

I happen to like celery as a carb with peanut butter as my protein, and healthy source of fat as well (a brand that contains ONLY peanuts--possibly salt... ~look at the ingredients~ we like Adam's brand).  Another great pairing is an apple with peanut butter. 

You could also use string cheese, a small handful of almonds (or other nuts), plain yogurt (sweetened with honey if needed), or cottage cheese as a protein.  Some will argue that string cheese is not clean.  Like I've said before, there are some instances in which you have to be the judge about whether something is clean or not.  And there are tons of other options as well. 

There are many combinations you could use here.  Or even a green smoothie is a great choice.  I'm telling you, they are good and soooo filling!  Throw in some flax seed or chia seeds for a healthy source of fat and some yogurt for protein.  That is truly the only way I get enough vegetable servings in a day.  Not all at once of course but helps me get there. 

The 'recipe' I've linked you to makes a large batch.  Hopefully you have people willing to help you out with that amount or you can just scale it down quite a bit for a personal serving.  I'm always making it for my whole family of seven.  Well, only six drink it but soon it will be seven.  B just takes sips of mine at this point. 

I don't really care what fruits or vegetables you eat.  Just eat them.  I hope this week is a great one for you.  I'm sure you're doing great.  Keep it up! 

In case you missed it, here's Week One and Week Two.
And here's the Intro.

Clean Eating Challenge: Step 2 -- Eat Breakfast (and make it a good one)

First of all, I have to ask how your week was last week.  Did you do well with your water intake?  I hope so...  And DON'T stop!  Keep it up for this week too.  Each week we'll focus on one more thing to add.

For this week, I really want to focus on the most important meal of the day.  You've all heard that breakfast is the most important all your life, right?  But why?  Did you ever wonder why it's considered the most important? 

Well, let me tell you what I know. 

Breakfast is so important not only for your health but also for your metabolism and your brain.  We all know that kids who eat breakfast do better in school than those who don't as a whole. 

When we eat breakfast, we are breaking a long fast that our bodies have been enduring all night.  It's great for our bodies to take that break for the night, however, if you extend the fast beyond the hours of sleep, your body goes into starvation mode.  For some people, this sounds appealing.  They think that if their body starves it will chew the fat right off of them.  The fact is, when your body goes into starvation mode, it starts chewing on muscle tissue and other areas that you don't want it to.  Then, when you finally give your body some substance at lunchtime or whenever you decide to nourish your body for the first time each day, it holds onto whatever it can from that meal fearing that you will starve it again. 

Simple fact:  Breakfast boosts your metabolism!  Eat it!!

So, what do you eat for breakfast usually?  Nothing?  Cold cereal?  Oatmeal?  Eggs? 

I personally have never had a problem eating breakfast.  The only problem I've ever had is the content of my breakfast.  Cocoa Puffs, Lucky Charms, pancakes with way too much sugary syrup, or a granola bar (the candy bar-ish type), etc.

These days, my breakfasts are much healthier than they've ever been.  I usually have some oatmeal (I really like the steel-cut oats) with a whole banana cut into it and some skim milk to bring it to the consistency I prefer.  That gives me my carb, and a fruit.  To add a protein I usually eat boiled eggs... 1 whole, 1 white only.  

When eating clean, always try to pair a carb with a protein.  A carb could even be a fruit or veggie.  

If you think it sounds bland to eat my oats with nothing on it, you're right.  It was hard for me at first to eat it with only a banana and milk in it.  I've grown to love the flavor of the oats on their own and with a whole banana cut up in it, I pretty much get a sweet flavor with every bite.  Sounds strange but I don't even miss the sugar anymore.  But if that's too bland for you to start with (or forever), you can certainly use a clean sweetener to help you out with the flavor.  Just try to use less of it than you normally might.  

Some options would be honey, agave nectar (try to buy 'raw'), Sucanat (aka dehydrated cane juice),  or pure maple syrup (the real stuff).  You could also use Stevia (use VERY little as this is potent stuff... too much tastes bitter) but I don't like it.  They sell 'Stevia' products by the sugars in the grocery stores but that stuff is not clean.  Highly processed!  The real stuff is in the health food stores.  But there will be more on that later in a future post for our Clean Eating Challenge.  

Of course, you don't have to eat oatmeal for breakfast.  There are tons of other clean options as well.  This is just what I prefer in the mornings.  Anthony loves to eat his whole wheat bagels with boiled eggs and an orange.  

Other great options include Ezekiel cereals, Kashi cereals (look at sugar content though... I like to keep it under 8 grams per serving.  Yes, it's clean sugar but still sugar), whole wheat (or whole grain) toast, quinoa (pronounced keen-wah), turkey bacon (which is a protein), fruits, etc.

There are so many options, it's not even funny.  Angie, with your gluten intolerance, I'm not sure what you usually eat.  I'm an avid fan of breads and things with wheat so asking me to go gluten-free would be like asking me to go vegetarian cold turkey (no pun intended ;).  I'm so dependent on carbs and meats to create my meals at this point that I would be lost if I tried to change it up too much.  I would love your insight, however.  The plan is to eventually migrate more into those areas because I know it would improve my family's health but at this point, I'm just working on whole foods.  

And that's really it, everyone.  Just try to find products that God gave us to incorporate for breakfast.  If the ingredient list says something like chlorosnapwnvoams (not real, just made up)... it's probably a man-made chemical or something.  A preservative, a nasty, yucky thing that our bodies don't know what to do with.  If you can't pronounce it, you probably shouldn't be eating it.

Don't worry about anything else at this point.  Just keep drinking lots and lots of water and make sure you're eating a good breakfast.  Baby steps, right?  This is not too hard yet is it?  WE CAN DO THIS!!  

In case you missed it, here's Step One
and here's the Intro

Clean Eating Challenge: Step 1 -- Replace your beverages!

Drink water!! 

Simple enough for this week?  I think so, and yet, it was so hard for people like Anthony and me.  Anthony was absolutely dependent on Coca-Cola while I was a huge fan of milk with everything!  Milk and I were great friends.  But when I discovered clean eating, I realized that I needed to up my water intake and decrease the amount of calories I was drinking. 

So, week number one, make sure you are drinking your water!  How much should you be drinking?  The most common answer we hear to that question is 8-10 glasses per day, right?  Well, that's a great guideline but that might be way more than you actually need.  Or it could be much less than you need.  Another way to guesstimate the amount of water you need is to take your weight in pounds, divide it in half and that number is the amount of ounces in water you need to drink on a daily basis.  Make sense? 

If you weigh 150 lbs, half of that is 75.  You should be drinking 75 ounces of water. 

Basically, what you need to do is drink more water than you ever thought you could handle.  Yes, you'll be in the bathroom often.  But guess what that does... it gets rid of excess water weight you may be carrying! 

Does it seem odd to you that in order to get rid of water weight you actually need to drink MORE water?  Me too. 

But from what I gather, when you are carrying excess water, it's because your body isn't getting enough to begin with so it retains all it can for fear that you won't give it more.  Layman's terms.  I'm not a very technical person so that's as good as it gets.  Just a simple gal. 

So, here's the plan:

• Drink a glass of water when you first wake up in the morning.
• Drink a glass before/during every meal.  It will help you feel fuller and you might eat less.   
• Drink water any time you think you are hungry.  Often times we mistake thirst for hunger.  If you're still hungry after a few minutes, grab a snack.
• Pee often -- trust me, you will have no problem with this if you are drinking like you are supposed to.
• Make sure you drink water inbetween all meals as well. 
• If you feel you must have something to drink other than water during a meal or snack, cut it back to one drink per day.  

DRINK YOUR WATER!!!!!

I don't really care HOW you drink your water, just drink it.  I happen to like mine with ice and a straw.  Yes, it really does taste better with a straw.  Yep, I'm a kid sometimes.  But if you like it room temperature, drink it room temperature.  If you like it with lemon, put some lemon in it.  If you like it with Crystal Light.... you're out of luck!  Those 'packet' things are all OUT!  No powdery substances allowed!  Lemons, limes, ice, celery (weird?), carrots (weirder?), etc... all allowed.  GO FOR IT!  

And that's it!  Not too bad for week one, right?  You can do this.  Don't worry about changing anything else for now. 

And if you're already drinking plenty of water, then you are just one step ahead of the game.  Good for you!  

Let me know if you lose any water weight by the end of this week.  I did when I replaced my beverages.  

Have a happy day (in the bathroom! ;)

Don't forget to comment on my INTRO to Clean Eating post to enter the giveaway. 

What is Clean Eating? - INTRODUCTION

So sorry!  My Saturday kind of got away from me.  And this morning was church, then lunch, then family chats, and now we're watching a movie.  Which means I can finally tell you what clean eating is! 

But before I do, I am just curious..... who's doing the challenge with me?  LeShel, you still in?  It's not scary. 

Tell you what, if you're planning to take the Clean Eating Challenge, leave a comment and at the end I want to do a give-away.  But only if you really are going to try the challenge.  Or, if you want to leave a comment anyway, how the heck am I going to know you're not taking the challenge?  I mean, really, I can't check up on you.  ;)

This is how the challenge will work:

Each Monday I will present a new step.  Baby steps are what it's all about.  Going cold turkey could be disastrous to your progress.  It's true!  I don't know what it is about baby steps.  I just know that they work.  So, check every Monday morning for the new step of the week.  And what is it about Mondays?  Every goal or diet or plan or whatnot always starts on Monday.  I may not understand it but it seems to be the way to go so we're going with it.  

Now time for the disclaimer:

Please remember that I am not a physician, physicians assistant, nurse, nutritionist, dietician, fitness expert or anything of the sort.  I don't know what your particular diet needs are.  I am only presenting this challenge because it is what has worked for my family and has really prepared us for a life of better health and increased energy.  That is not to say that we will never encounter illnesses or physical ailments.  I just know that we feel better, look better, and have way more energy than we did even just six short months ago.  That said, we never realized how poor our diet was until discovering how to eat real, whole foods and eliminate highly processed foods and refined sugars.  It was then that our diets took a major turn for the better and we can definitely tell when we've eaten something yucky.  But more on that later...

Also, I am NOT an expert.  I am a beginner and am definitely learning more about eating clean every day.  My diet is FAR from perfect, just a work in progress.  This challenge is a way for me to keep myself accountable. 

Now on to the question you're all dying to know the answer to.  I know you are!  Well, maybe not but we're going to venture there anyway.  What is clean eating?  Here's the part where you are anticipating a clear, educated, extremely thought-out, detailed answer.  And here's the part where I highly disappoint you by telling you that I can't answer that for you.  It's a loaded question with more answers than I care to count.  Why?  Because it's different for every person.  

Remember the three cookbooks I got for Mother's Day?  They are all clean eating cookbooks but they all contradict each other.  Sounds funny, I know.  I was as surprised as you are.  Or maybe you're not surprised at all but I sure was. 

Here's an example of the contradictions.  Let's use MILK!  (The opinions and conclusions I've drawn from each of the following are my own.  These are only my interpretations.)

The Diet Rebel's Cookbook:  The authors of this book tend to believe that milk and all milk products should be in whole, raw form.  Raw, meaning unpasteurized and not homogenized, milk straight from the source.  That is not easy to find, mind you.  I know that there's a store here in Utah called Real Foods Market that is the only licensed market here to carry raw milk.  I personally have never been there since there isn't one in my area but I am hoping they open one up closer to me.  I'm intrigued by this idea of raw milk.  Are you?  Here's a blog post I found about the benefits of raw milk. 

These authors also believe that cream cheese, sour cream, yogurt, cheese, cream, butter etc. should be in it's whole, raw form.  No skim, no lowfat, just whole and raw. 

And a note on meats-- They like the lean cuts of beef, chicken, fish, turkey, pork, etc.  All in moderation. 

The Eat Clean Diet for Families and Kids:  Tosca Reno, the author, tends to believe that dairy products should be lowfat and/or skim.  Reduced fat cheeses (very minimal), skim milk, lowfat cottage cheese and yogurt, etc.  This is not necessarily fact but I've gathered that she's not a fan of cream cheeses, butter, or sour cream.  Too much fat maybe?  I don't know for sure. 

Meats-- Same as the book listed above but she also really likes Bison.  It's leaner than beef.  Ever tried it?  I had a bison burger recently and didn't even know until Anthony told me.  I thought it was beef with a slightly different texture than normal. 

Clean Food:  Terry Walters is the author of this one and she is VEGAN!  I was really looking forward to this book for this reason.  My family looooves meat.  In fact, I don't really know how to make a dinner without it.  I'm a steak and potatoes gal!  Every meal I know how to make has meat as a main staple whether it's ground beef, chicken, turkey, or whatever else.  Meat is a staple at our house.  However, I've wanted to cut back on the amount of meats we eat.  The Word of Wisdom says to eat meats sparingly and I feel that we have a long way to go before we can say we are following those guidelines. 

Anyway, forgive the tangent above... I've learned from this book that along with all dairy products and eggs, even honey is out on a vegan diet.  It's an animal product so I shouldn't have been surprised by that but I was.  Did you realize that honey is un-vegan (not a word, I know!)? 

I've also learned that there are a gazillion ingredients out there that I've never heard of and normal grocery stores apparently haven't either.  So, it's back to Whole Foods again.  They carry more of the not-so-normal ingredients.  Hopefully they don't remember me from my last visit! 

Well, we already know her take on meats... NONE! 

Do you see why it's so frustrating to try and define exactly what clean eating is?  **Sigh**  All I can do is give you a few guidelines and you get to decide from there what's right for you and your family.  I'll let you know what my family has been doing along the way.  That will help define what clean eating is for US!  It may differ from your idea of clean eating. 

OH!  That reminds me, another way they differ is on the subject of SOY!  How do you feel about soy?  My family has never really integrated soy into our diets so I tend to side with book number one above on this subject.  They believe it to be too highly processed not good for our bodies anyway so they avoid all soy products.  Book number two uses some soy, and book number three seems to LOVE it.  There are still plenty of recipes without soy but as a whole, she seems to love it. 

Another thing we'll discuss in the future is sprouting.  I can honestly say that I have never sprouted anything.  Not wheat, nuts, quinoa, buckwheat, nothin'.  But I'm tellin' you, it seems to be the one common theme among all three of the books.  So, that's a subject for later... perhaps MUCH later.  We'll see how long it takes me to successfully sprout something.  Then, and only then, we'll discuss.  Have you ever sprouted anything?  I could definitely use a pointer or two.  Maybe ten. 

The only basic definition of clean eating I can give you is that it means no processed foods, no refined sugars, eat what God gave you!  Basically, if God made it, you can eat it.  If man made it, DON'T!  I realize that's vague but we'll figure it all out together.  And hey, there are exceptions.  There are ALWAYS exceptions... to everything. 

Well, I guess that's it for our intro.  Confused?  Don't be.  I'll help you out with the process as we get going.  Check in tomorrow morning for Step 1 of The Clean Eating Challenge.  See you then!  I promise not to be a day late.  It'll be up first thing in the morning. :)

Oh, and don't forget to comment and let me know that you'll be doing the challenge with us.  LeShel, if you end up being the only one, I guess you win!  ;)  I'm going to give away one of the books listed above.  The winner gets to choose which one is the most appealing to them.  It doesn't matter when you decide to join... now, a week from now, three weeks in, whatever.  Just let me know you are taking the challenge and at the end, a winner will be chosen! 

Are you ready?

Monday is almost here!  You know what that means, right?  EAT CLEAN TIME!  So, get ready.  It's going to be great.  I hope you'll join me and see how good you can feel.  Honestly, it's amazing. 

Later tonight I'll have a post about what clean eating really is and some resources to help you.  Can't wait!