Reality of You

Real talk about health, fitness, and weight loss.

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7 Day Clean Up: Eat Clean, Live Clean [Day 1]

7daycleanupnew

This is part of the 7 Day Clean-Up Series. See all posts in the series here.

Introduction

Here’s the thing about leading a healthy life and eating clean: it takes constant work. Sometimes you fall off the wagon and have to reset yourself.

The 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge is a good introduction to eating clean, but this 7 Day Clean-Up is more of a check in that you can do anytime you feel like the siren song of junk food seduces you back to the dark side.

Eating healthy and exercising is tough, so don’t get down on yourself for

Day 1: Plan, Prep, Detox, Re-Focus

If you haven’t prepped for clean eating before, check out this post.

There are three things you should do on day one:

  1. Remind yourself why you’re eating clean. There are so many important reasons to eat clean: you’ll feel more energized, you’ll live a longer life, you can continue to improve your body and mind — pick a reason that matters to you and write it on a post-it note where you can see it.
  2. Pick recipes and go grocery shopping (but not when you’re hungry). Go grocery shopping with a list and a game plan about what recipes you’re going to make this next week. I don’t supply a meal plan because everyone is different as long as you stick with the clean eating basics, any clean recipe will do to help you reach your goals! We’ll be talking more about macro nutrients and other ways to make sure your diet is balanced later this week.
  3. Detox, do yoga, meditate, and reset. The holidays are extremely stressful, so make sure you’re taking time out to relax. I took a meditation class, and saw my stress levels decrease dramatically. I highly recommend trying this body scan meditation and do it every day for at least a week to begin to de-stress. A clean life begins with a clean mind. Not to mention most of the aspects of unhealthy and binge eating stem from cravings and other constructs or emotional needs not being addressed in our minds.

Day 1 Recipes

On day one, I suggest making some foods that carry over throughout your busy week, like the following: [Read more…]

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Clean Eating Challenge: Results (Day 30)

30 Day Clean Eating Challenge RESIZE

This is a part of my 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge Article Series! Read about the challenge and see all of my posts HERE!

Before the 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge, I was eating relatively healthy (lots of fruits and veggies and protein) but I had bad habits that stuck around. I ate a lot of processed foods and white flour, and I craved these things. I also ate way too much sugar.

Now, those cravings and bad habits are gone, and my body’s thanking me for it! I’m healthier, skinnier, stronger, and more energetic. I’m going to continue clean eating for the rest of my life, and I’m really excited to learn more clean recipes and continue working out so I can reach all my goals.

Here are my results of the clean eating challenge:

Weight Loss

I dropped 6lbs and 1% of my body fat through clean eating. I lost inches off my waist and hips. I’m at a healthy weight — and I was before the challenge as well — so weight loss was not something I was striving to do this month. I didn’t count calories. I just ate healthy, did strength and HIIT workouts, and saw my body changing. I also dropped a jean size over the summer, which was unexpected but welcome. I’m now around sizes 4 and 6 depending on the brand, instead of around 6 or 8. This is huge for me since I’m pear shaped! More strength training and cleaning up my diet is the reason why all this happened. [Read more…]

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Clean Eating Challenge: 7 Clean School Lunch Recipes (Day 28)

Clean School Lunches

This is a part of my 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge Article Series! Read about the challenge and see all of my posts HERE!

Packing school lunches is not an easy task — especially if you’re trying to eat clean! Luckily, I put together a list of seven healthy school lunches that will still be fresh and delicious by the time lunch rolls around! [Read more…]

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Clean Eating Challenge: Is Cheese “Clean”? (Day 24)

cheesecleaneatingThis is a part of my 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge Article Series! Read about the challenge and see all of my posts HERE!

Original photo by _gee_ via flickr

The vegan and paleo diets eliminate cheese, but in the clean eating community, cheese is accepted within moderation. It also has to abide by these guidelines: [Read more…]

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Clean Eating Challenge: Clean Eating When Dining Out (Day 23)

eatcleandineoutThis is a part of my 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge Article Series! Read about the challenge and see all of my posts HERE!

Although homecooked meals are far preferable to going to restaurants when it comes to maintaining a clean diet, you can still eat clean when dining out. Here’s how: [Read more…]

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Clean Eating Challenge: Clean Eating on a Budget (Day 22)

eatcleanonabudget This is a part of my 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge Article Series! Read about the challenge and see all of my posts HERE!

Two of the biggest challenges to eating clean are time and money. Yesterday I talked to you guys about how to manage your time, and today’s post is about how to save money and still eat clean! [Read more…]

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Clean Eating Challenge: Basic Cooking Guide (Day 17)

Clean Eating Basic Cooking GuideThis is a part of my 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge Article Series! Read about the challenge and see all of my posts HERE!

One of the hardest aspects of clean eating is mastering a set of tasty, clean recipes you can make quickly and on a budget. I didn’t really know how to cook — until this summer, that is. I’ve been cooking more often than your aging grandmother since May, and I’m here to put on my Good Housekeeping hat and lay down the law with my basic clean eating cooking guide! [Read more…]

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Clean Eating Challenge: 5 Best Clean Snacks (Day 14)

clean eating appleThis is a part of my 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge Article Series! Read about the challenge and see all of my posts HERE!

You can never have enough healthy snack recipes. As a college student, there is no worse feeling than being almost late to a class and starving. That’s why I have healthy snacks on hand at all times!

Here are my favorite cheap clean eats! [Read more…]

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Clean Eating Challenge: 4 Tips for Getting Back on the Wagon (Day 12)

Getting Back on the Wagon for Clean EatingThis is a part of my 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge Article Series! Read about the challenge and see all of my posts HERE!

Newsflash: we’re not perfect. If you’re able to do all 30 days without having AT LEAST one off-day, you must be a mythical creature with willpower granted by the gods.

Because I’ve been blogging about clean eating every day for the past twelve days, I’ve managed to stay on track — up until today. Today I spent the day catching up with old friends and drinking sugary coffee drinks and eating frozen yogurt. Definitely not clean-eating approved.

I did manage to keep the rest of my day clean (minestrone soup, whole wheat grilled sandwich with hummus and veggies, and a spinach smoothie), so that’s a victory!

Here are 4 tips for recovering from an unhealthy day of eating: [Read more…]

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Clean Eating Challenge: 3 Best Lunches (Day 11)

bestcleanlunches This is a part of my 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge Article Series! Read about the challenge and see all of my posts HERE!

Hey guys! I hope your month is going well — we’re almost halfway done! If you’re like me, you’re already encountering some of the bonuses of clean eating: an appreciation of healthy foods, a slimmer waistline, increased energy, and fewer cravings for junk food.

So in order to keep introducing all you delightful fitness unicorns to all the delicious options out there, here are my 3 favorite clean lunches:

Lunch #1: Open-Faced Apple Butter Sandwich

You can do almost anything with whole-wheat English muffins. Seriously. I use them for my Clean Pizza Paninis and also for lunch spreads and occasionally for discus throw practice.

 Ingredients:

-1 whole wheat English Muffin

-Almond butter or peanut butter (organic, no sugar added!)

-Apple slices

-Dash of cinnamon

Almond Butter Apple CInnamon SandwichDirections:

1. Cut the English Muffin in half

2. Spread on the Almond Butter

3. Add apple slices and dash of cinnamon

4. Optional: grill on a George Foreman sandwich grill

And voila! Basically my favorite open half sandwich ever created. As a bonus, the cinnamon speeds up your metabolism and the almond or peanut butter counts as a MUFA (monounsaturated fatty acid) which is a great weight loss food. [Read more…]