Clean Eating

Wow, it's been awhile since I posted. I am going to try and commit to posting at least once a week from now on.

Anyway, one night in late April when I had insomnia, I was flipping thru the channels and came across a talk show where Jackie Warner was making an appearance. Jackie is a fitness instructor and personal trainer. She owns her own gym in Los Angeles, called SkySport and had a reality show on Bravo called Work Out. I really enjoyed the show and I came to really like Jackie. I bought her workout DVD even tho I rarely workout. LOL ... Anywho... she was discussing her new diet plan book that had come out on April 27. I didn't know about her book so I sort of took it as a sign that the universe was saying 'go buy that' .. and a couple days later, I did.

On May 1st I picked the book up and began my new eating lifestyle. I officially began her program on May 3rd (you need to start on a Monday) and so far I love it!

Her program is basically the centuries old idea of 'clean eating' .. you eat what the earth provides and nothing that man has gotten his hands on. Fresh fruit and veggies, whole grains, lean protein.

You stay away from simple carbs like sugar, white flour, white potatoes, alcohol and all manner of sweeteners. You dump dairy (eecept for a few low fat things). You ditch the packaged and prepared and stick with fresh and whole. It's how the human body was meant to eat!

Back in 2003, I lost 50 lbs on Weight Watchers. I stayed on plan for a full year to lose it and the program absolutely works. However, lately, I couldn't get the plan to work for me and that indicated that something more was going on with my body.

I had gained back 30 of the 50 I lost and I wanted to get rid of at least 20 of it. I was losing and regaining 3 lbs over and over.. I just couldn't get off the yo-yo thing. It was obvious that my metabolism and body processes were whacked.

Jackie's book led me to research clean eating and how sugar is a poison to the system. I'm stunned by how bad sugar is for you. I'm not just talking cookies and candy bars.. sugar is in everything and Americans are addicted. I'm disgusted by the amount of sugar people eat.

Jackie's plan has you eat clean Monday thru Friday and then for one meal on Saturday and one meal on Sunday, you are allowed a 'treat meal' where you can have anything you want (yes, even fried food, sugary stuff, cheesecake.. whatever .. as long as the entire meal isn't over 1500 calories) .. her idea is that deprivation doesn't work and that by eating clean for 5 days straight you can break the sugar addiction and give your body a much needed break from junk and sugar so that having some on the weekends won't be detrimental to your efforts. I like it.

Now that I have been clean eating for the past 10 days, I'm finding that I'm losing weight, feeling better, have less headaches, I can wear smaller sized jeans and my belly is flatter. I have more energy and a better attitude. I'm not always needing my daily nap and I have a general feeling of well-being that I didn't have before.

I'm finding that my motivation and willpower are at a high and I'm not really having too much trouble staying with this eating style. It isn't a diet, it's a lifestyle change and I realize I will no longer be eating sugar (maybe a little on the weekends) and altho it's a hard thing to imagine for most people, it's necessary.

Now that I've been researching how bad sugar is, I shouldn't have any trouble staying away from it. My husband is a sugar addict and the house is filled with it but I'm not tempted at all. When I look at sugar I see evil in it instead of delight ... and I just don't want it in my body anymore.

I think everyone is capable of doing anything they choose to do but you do have to make the choice. You have to choose health over indulgence. You need to educate yourself and be responsible for learning what you need to do to feel good and look good.

I'm still working on the exercise part. I hate it so much so I'm just not there yet but I think changing the way I eat is a big accomplishment. I think exercise may come into play by fall, we'll see.