It is time I clean up my act.
Let’s be real – it’s beyond time.
It’s generally pretty easy for me to keep my diet in check during the week. The weekends… it’s another story. Since I’m not competing this year I haven’t been following any real nutrition plan. Of course, I took that to the extreme.
What I know about myself is that I love to indulge. I also know that when that starts happening too much, I feel like crap. It affects me physically and mentally. I’ve been struggling lately, and I know it’s time to reign it in.
For a few years now I’ve been doing my own version of a cleanse… it’s really more of a jump start though. Basically, it’s eating super clean and eliminating common allergens like eggs, dairy, nuts, and gluten. The first 10 days is meatless. The last 11 days include chicken and deep sea fish.
I’m only through Day 1, but here’s my first reactions:
- Not taking pre-workout is hard
- I’m going to need to buy a lot more veggies
- Some of the dishes I made when doing this previously are really good – I’m excited to bring them back
- Fruit can make a fun ice cream dessert
- Good lord, I miss meat
This WIAW is my first on the 21 clean(se). I’m still working out the best foods to bring and when to time protein and carbs to get the energy I need.
Read on for my eats, and then check out Jenn’s blog for everyone else’s delicious creations!
Breakfast:
My morning cocktail had to be modified. The Aminos I usually use aren’t really clean, so I modified by using ACV and juice from half a lemon. It wasn’t too bad.
Cleanse meal #1 was chia pudding. It’s been a long time since I’ve made a chia pudding, but I used to eat them all the time. Today’s was a berry theme, with my favorite pea protein for added stay-power. I served myself in a martini glass… 2 cocktails in one morning! 😉
Berry Chia Pudding
- Mashed berries, to taste
- 1 T chia seeds
- 1/3 C unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 scoop Growing Naturals vanilla pea protein
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
In a small bowl, mash berries until they are a chunky puree. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate overnight (or at least 2-3 hours).
In the morning, uncover and stir. Add additional liquid or sweetener as needed.
Mid-Morning Snack:
This happened in two parts. My new pre-workout was dates stuffed with tahini. It was delicious, if not a little messy. It was slow to get going on my workout, but I felt better once I got into it.
Post-workout I made sure to get my protein and carbs in. Can’t lose my gains!
This is my Liquid Sweet Potato Pie made with a date instead of Stevia (Stevia is permitted, but I’m trying to limit it), no extract, and – knowing I have a lot of greens coming my way – I left out the spinach.
Lunch:
Salad of epic proportions and a creamy red pepper soup. See what I mean about the greens?
Afternoon Snack:
Roasted veggies from my trusty Tupperware. Brussels, shiitakes, broccoli, and eggplant with coconut oil, cumin, and cayenne. Coconut oil is a very, very good idea when roasting things. Why do I always forget to use it?
Dinner:
I was starving. Not gonna lie. I forgot my quinoa at home, so I missed my delicious, filling carbs. The better to fuel with when I got home!
Sautés are a quick and easy hanger cure. I tossed some red pepper in a pan to soften while I washed and chopped kale. Then, I added the kale and some pico de gallo to the pan, cooking until the leaves were just beginning to wilt. Lastly, I mixed in the pre-cooked quinoa and a bit of lime juice to warm. Toss it all in a bowl and top with avocado and freshly ground pepper.
Dessert:
Super clean, #strangebutgood dessert. I made protein ice cream by mashing together half a banana, some avocado, pea protein, cinnamon, and unsweetened coconut milk. I froze it for a couple of hours, then blended it in my Vitamix. Topped with cinnamon-honey coconut flour fluff and cacao nibs.
Color = questionable. Taste = good!
***
Day 1 done. 20 to go.
Have you ever needed to clean up your act?
What is your favorite pre-workout? Do you keep it clean?
So basically you’re trying to adopt my diet a little bit huh?!?!?! Well that’s AWESOME because that means you will create MORE MORE MORE MORE #strangebutgood recipes that I can eat……. Okay, Selfish GIGI – SHUT UP! LOL!
Seriously! Shizz is hard. Can’t wait tip I get meat on Friday. You know how I love my MEAT>
Love this ! I’ll have to check out that cleanse:) I love how you eat sorta similar to I do. Regardless what anyone says I’ll just never go without my protein powders- love em:) What kinda tahini did you use?
Thanks! Not sure what brand it is… but it’s pretty standard tahini. 🙂
Your inclusion of dates and tahini has led me to believe we could have been separated at birth 😛
A Lebanese dessert I have yet to try (but my heart yearns for): dates stuffed with tahini and pomegranate molasses. The mind boggles!
Tahini is good on anything, I’m convinced! I really love pomegranate molasses – there’s a Persian place here that has a pomegranate molasses chicken soup that is to die for.
…….Asparagus. What the hell is that doing there!
Can’t wait to see how this goes for you- no doubt some #strangebutgood conjuring to happen!
It’s there because she likes erect things. After neglecting it for so long, she realizes…. Erections are the BOMB! AHHHH HA AH AHA HA AH! Okay, I went there.
Ok, GiGi… you win. That one even made me giggle out loud.
I’m 13 years old – “orally clean” made me giggle. Thanks for the laugh!
Oh my goodness – My March was soaked in alcohol, so you better believe I need to clean up my organs big time! I feel sorry for them.
I totally love your clean meals, they sound delicious!! And I keep forgetting the Chia Puddings and the Coconut Oil to roast – thanks for the reminder 🙂
I think we had similar Marches then. 😉
So yeah…yesterday was NO JOKE…pun not intended in the least! 😛 It kinda helps to plan in advance when one takes on such an endeavor…and since I haven’t been to the “real” grocery store yet, let’s just say things got interesting? Thank GOD I baked up one of those purple sweet potatoes before work! I’m not so sure…I’m thinking the fiber is going to eventually kill me, but I’ll stick with it for at LEAST a week! And at least now I have an idea for what to have for breakfast tomorrow….I need to try that chia pudding! 🙂
we love love love the BERRY CHIA PUDDING here too.
Im so boring these days I dont need to clean up my act–but am heading to see college friends soon so, uh, YES after that 🙂
Yes! I actually am going to clean it up even more starting this monday! As we talked about, I have a HUGE sweet tooth, and eat waaayyy to many of them throughout the day….cannot go more than 2 hours without some sugary sweet. From Monday, I cut down to one sweet thing per day (can be up to about 500cals), but it makes such a difference to my training.
I may be coming your way for ideas to trick your sweet tooth 🙂
I have the same affliction. I’ve been making cleaner desserts just to give me the taste without having a giant slice of cheesecake, for instance. 😉
Ok so you hit it in the head, I feel like I’ve been indulging a bit too frequently lately and I know i”ve been eating things that are allergens for me. I hope in the next week I can mentally get refocused to cut them out
Good for you! It seems to be a common issue lately – we can encourage each other!
Funny! I posted my 21 Day Fix post today too – I need to REFOCUS on portions and clean foods – we’ve got this girlie!
Yes ma’am! The first few days were hardest, but I’m feeling good now! How are you doing?
that berry chia pudding looks awesome!
You are so much braver than I!!! I could not do that! OK< I could be I don't want to! 🙂 I eat pretty good & that has to good enough for me.. I just can't ever envision doing this unless a doc said I had to.. 🙂 No pre workout – YIKES!!!!!
There ya go – you can do anything, but you have to WANT to do it. 🙂
The pre workout things has been really eye opening though. I didn’t realize how dependent I’d gotten!
By what you post, I guess I think you eat super clean like 90% of the time. My salads tend to include lots of green the other day it was spinach, asparagus and peas. Weekends are my major downfall too. Maybe I’m too strict during the week and then go crazy on the weekends with something like pizza or nachos. Then afterwards, I just want clean eats again … not that I’m perfect by any means. I have a huge crutch called stevia I do believe. I like the idea of using dates. Must hit up Whole Foods!
Seriously?! You should see my IG feed then. LOL! I really do have a pretty decent diet during the week, but I can easily do enough damage on the weekends to un-do it all. It’s a bad habit I slip into.
Reading the comments above, I’m glad I’m not the only one who giggled at ‘orally clean’. :-p
I keep saying that I need to make chia pudding…but honestly, I’m a little afraid of the texture.
Haha – had to fix that typo (Freudian slip?).
The texture isn’t too bad, especially if you use protein powder or a sweet potato to make it smoother. I can’t do those chia drinks – it’s like swallowing half-done jello or something.
I actually had to have a little pep talk with myself the other day (I’m weird I know). I’ve been indulging a lot more over the past few…months…eek…and I’m feeling the effects now. I plan to incorporate more veggies into my meals – that usually does the trick!
I have pretty much been indulging nonstop for 2 months…which is all well and good, but somewhere along the lines it needs to stop. I should stop just being inspired by your delicious eats and actually make some! 🙂
I know how that goes! I think I spent the first quarter of the year doing that. Q2 is going to be MUCH better. Mostly. 😉
Sounds similiar to the elimination diet which is what I usually recommend for clients/patients that want to do a cleanse. I forget about the existence of chia pudding – need to bring that back for sure. That is an INSANE amount of greens, I’m super impressed! Good luck with your cleanse and excited to see end results!
I thought about doing the elimination diet, but then decided it was too hard… now I realize I am basically doing it. LOL!
Also I should note I’ve recently read a study that shows indulging on weekends actually helps your overall nutrition, I think there was some validity in it, I’ll see if I can find it.
I completely agree with that, in moderation. Often when you’ve reached a plateau a “cheat” meal can actually help rev your metabolism to get you over it. I was indulging a *bit* beyond that. 🙂
wow does this hit home! after a season of ‘bulking’ very carelessly, bikini season is so so near and my diet has made a sharp turn! time to re-focus, but I know we have that dedication and determination 🙂 good luck!!
You too!!! Are you coming back thru ATL any time soon??
You are gonna rock this! I just know it! You are so dedicated! I feel ya though! I have been over indulging just a tad too much and I can definitely feel it when I try on my pants…ugh. And I have a wedding dress I need to fit into! FOCUS! haha
You described exactly how I’ve been feeling – I love to indulge … until it makes me feel drained and crappy all the time. I know that leading my Spring Reset group will get me refocused again … sometimes all you need is a short period of clean eating, motivation, and accountability to get you back on track :). Good luck!
Is it something about this time of year? It seems that everyone is int he same place! So very, dry excited to get my results, too. Perfect timing. 🙂
Me too! I was really hoping for today, but no dice. I need to be patient, and I’ll let you know as soon as I hear!
After my insanely indulgent vacation week, I have to get back on track!! I didn’t gain body fat (shockingly) over vacation, but I didn’t lose as I had planned over the month. This month I have a big (still healthy) goal and I need my GI to start working (ahem) correctly again. 😉
AFTER wine country, of course. 😉
I love how colorful your food is! That is fantastic!
I am indulgent….like every day. And it’s cool–I am bfing, so I need LOTS of calories 😉 hehe
I won’t tell you how long it took me to figure out what “bring” meant. 😉
i’ll come eat clean with you. that protein ice cream is usually my breakfast. No joke! love that pea protein. It blends up nicely
I’m still a bigger fan of the rice! They’re both good though. I can’t wait tip it’s warm enough to have ice cream for breakfast!
Your quinoa, kale, avocado dish looks really good. Even though I don’t eat very much junk food or sweets, I do get lazy sometimes and find myself relying too much on processed food (fake meat, pasta..so good, but still…). Good luck with your cleanse!
I keep thinking you are going to love my blog for the next few weeks because it’s all vegan. It’s been a lot of fun so far – I love how creative it makes you. I’d forgotten that. 🙂
It is not problem to indulge sometimes, you need it 😀
I love your recipes as they also are a bit healthier, although that pudding is my new official breakfast!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Completely agree… but sometimes I get out of hand and it becomes a daily expectation rather than a treat. 🙂
Does coffee count as a pre-workout? lol
My biggest clean up was when I started on my healthy living journey.
Hahaha – that’s the ultimate in preworkout.
The berry chia pudding has me so intrigued! I am going to try it next week 🙂
Thanks! Let me know what you think if you try it!
I’ve been cleaning it up this week…I had a very indulgent weekend of eating out and drinking and my body felt like absolute POOP the last 2 days, so I have just gone back to the basics. Lots of water, sleep, vegetables, fruits, healthy fats, and just real food. Oh and I’ve been doing a lot of sweating. I already feel so much better. 🙂
There’s nothing better than a good sweat!
tahini and dates!! yes please!
Farewell pre-workout…although the date/nutbutter thing used to be my go to before a workout and I loved it.
I’m right there with ya. I’ve been in “bulking season” for quite some time now (I would consider myself a pro) and I’m so unhappy with what I’ve let happen and it’s time to switch gears (now that I’ve conquered the whole bulking process).
Too bad we can’t really pro in bulking… LOL!
There’s no way I could last that long without meat! #TWSS
Mwhahahaha! That IS what she said.
I’m on a cleanse too. It’s the kind where you eat a pound and a half of kale a week because you bought it at Costco. The Costco Kale cleanse; I may regret this.
Hope you bought TP too.
I know everybody has their own opinions on food, but I think it’s weird that a cleanse allows fruit but not meat (even lean meats like fish). I wonder what the reasoning behind that is? I need to clean things up a bit, but #gradlife.
How is that weird? Two very different things… one harder to digest than the other. Either way, I get meat Fridayyyyy! Whee!
That makes sense. Usually when people talk about “cleanse” they mean getting rid of sugar, salt, junk, so to me it seemed weird that fruit was ok but meat wasn’t. But this’ll help actually get your system working better from the sounds of it.
Tell my system that meat is easier to digest than fruit … i double dog dare you.
YAY MEAT ON FRIDAY.
This is a different sort of cleanse… its more focused on common allergens and things that stress the digestive system. For *most* people, fruit is easier than a protein. 🙂
Have you tried the new Gnc Puredge Complete Amino Natural? Looks like it might be a more “clean” amino for your morning cocktail.