In my attempts to lose weight over the years, I've tried every plan under the sun:
WeightWatchers (still a fan...minus the prepackaged frozen meals...btw check them out on Fooducate ~ the disclaimer with fooducate is foods are based on criteria where some things will get a not so good grade but I believe them to be healthy ~ I feel they're spot-on about the frozen meals, tho)
South Beach
Atkins
Biggest Loser
starvation (I should actually refer to this one as the Diet Coke & ephedrine plan ~ this one didn't last long either...thank goodness)
low carb (my own not so healthy version of eggs, bacon, cheese & a plethora of beef jerky)
Fat Flush
Flat Belly
Zone
Carb Cycling
and even looked into Paleo recently.
When I say I've "tried" all these....I should clarify I'm using the word "tried" very loosely. I would maybe give them a go for a day or two...in very rare cases several weeks or maybe even months/years if you count WeightWatchers. I was a meeting and online WW member for probably 10 years. But, even on WW, I'm not sure I was ever absolutely consistent with it...day-after-day. Yes, I can say I lost weight on WW over time but not by following it in its design. And, what's worse about how I "followed" WW was I lived off of SmartOnes and Lean Cuisines. I was never satisfied with them. And, although I loved how good some of them tasted, they just can't compare to fresh, clean food. OR I "followed" it by working out for hours to earn more points so I could eat more food...a.k.a. junk food. Points were just points to me almost the whole time I was on it...I didn't care what I was eating as long as I had enuf points for it.
Ummmm....ok......looking back, I should maybe just say I "dieted" on Mondays....lol.
I'm not here to say any of these programs aren't good ~ I honestly don't even know enuf about them now to say one way or the other. What I DO know, however, is that clean eating is by far the best thing I've ever tried....and...can finally say...am succeeding at. And, I think it's in large part due to the fact that I no longer think of what I'm doing as a "diet." Yes, it's a diet in terms of its my nutrition and what I eat but it's by no means a short-term thing. It's a lifestyle change.
And, it's a lifestyle change in that I have a goal of eating clean 80% of the time. Do I have days or weeks where I'm under 80%?
Absolutely.
I'm just so not about deprivation. And, when I use the word deprivation, don't think I mean clean eating is about being deprived...because it's not. Clean eating can be SO good! I'm talking deprivation about never allowing myself to have a drink or a cheat meal or snacks I shouldn't or popcorn at the movies or CAKE at a birthday party (did someone say CAKE?...you should know I love cake and will probably talk about it often)....ok I could go on for an hour on all my "allowances."
(If you haven't already noticed if you've been following my posts or know me, I love to use quotation marks...and in person LOVE to use air quotes! And, I'm not sure air quotes ever fit the instances I use them or are appropriate but I still do it without even thinking.)
NOTE TO SELF: THAT WAS RANDOM....GET BACK ON POINT.
My first serious attempt at clean eating was doing a 10-day Advocare cleanse. While I now do Shakeology vs. Advocare Meal Replacement shakes, I do think this cleanse is safe and healthy. It's not at all what you'd typically think about a cleanse. You eat a ton of normal CLEAN food. You don't drink anything crazy. You take some herbal cleanse pills, some pro-biotics and drink a fiber drink on certain days. There weren't any disastrous digestive issues. And, I felt great once I got past some of the detox into Day 3 & 4. And, the best part was, I stuck with it 100% for those 10 days...even thru a shrimp & crawfish boil at work!
I did this cleanse before I was a Team Beachbody Coach. And, now I totally give my own Coach, Valerie Woeste, serious credit for keeping me on track. Not only is she the one I'm most accountable to, she is a nutrition ROCKSTAR. She creates menu plans like she's putting together a puzzle for ages 2 to 3. Her menus are all clean, creative, and delicious. If you haven't read her blog, you should! You can follow her as she goes thru her own adventures in clean eating and how she incorporates healthy living into her daily life. How she finds the time to run a daycare business, a coaching business AND develop these meal plans while raising 3 girls is beyond me! You can click here to read her blog!
Anyhoo, if any of what I've dabbled in over the years sounds anything like you....actually even IF this is NOTHING like you....I really have to recommend giving clean eating a try. It's not necessarily EASY to start. I had some serious sugar withdrawals in the beginning and still do when I'm at 50/50 and then get back on the wagon...lol.
BUT.....it can be simple.
If you do it right, you honestly don't even need to count calories. Yes, there absolutely can still be too much of a good thing (ask me if I knew the correct portion size of almonds prior to clean eating or that a typical chicken breast I was having was probably twice the portion I should've been). And, what's great is that between google search and Pinterest, you can find recipes and info right & left when it comes to clean eating. If you're not already following me over there, click on my Pinterest icon to start or click here. You should also follow my Health & Fitness board as a lot of my clean recipes & ideas are pinned there. And, if google search & Pinterest aren't your thing, please feel free to email me if you have any questions on how to get started. I can point you in other directions OR let you know when my next challenge is....my BB team runs the free 5-day challenge I'm doing right now monthly!
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