Clean Eating Challenge: Days 1-4

That quote says it all! A group of my friends and family, along with myself, are participating in the Arbonne Clean Eating Challenge this month. I'll be honest, when I first heard about this challenge last April, I had 0% interest in changing the way I eat. Just the thought of cleaning up my meals seemed overwhelming. Until, two of my friends wrote out an entire month long menu and shopping guide for everyone doing the challenge. The Arbonne Fit Kit (these are tools, such as vegan based protein, to help detoxify your body throughout the month) has been around for many years, but the menu and shopping guide are exclusive to our team members only! These two key pieces suddenly made this challenge doable ... not so scary. So, I signed up. Why not give it a try?!


If you're wondering if this challenge is for you, then take a look at my wide range of team members:

• Our age range is 30's to 70's
• We are both male & female
• Some attend boot camp/run & some don't exercise at all
• One is a nursing mom
• One has hypoglycemia - aka low blood sugar (that's me)
• Some are Stay at Home Moms, some work part time/full time, and some are retired
• Some live in Oklahoma and some live out of state

This amazing group has started the month off strong. However, our new eating habits won't stop on Jan 31st. The goal of this Challenge is to (re)train your brain to look at food as a source of fuel instead of just eating to eat. Another goal is to cut out all gluten, dairy, etc to give your body a break from those items that carry high allergens. At the end of the challenge, these foods will be added back in (if you choose) one at a time to see how your body reacts, and to pinpoint if you have an allergy to certain types of foods.


Here is a list of changes that I've already noticed just 4 Days into the Challenge:

• I had more energy at my soccer game today
• I've had more energy throughout the day, even into the late evening
• After church this morning, we stopped at QT to fill up the car with gas. The cold, snowy weather made me immediately think of a warm Cappuchino, but I resisted the urge to get one.
• My mind now plans meals in advance instead of opting to grab a bite to eat while we're out. For instance, our soccer game was a 4:15pm today so it would have been so easy to pick up our kids and grab drive-thru on the way home, but we didn't. I had pre-planned our dinner and even prepped the food so that it would be easier to fix when we got home. Not only did we eat healthier, but we also saved money by not eating out!

My biggest challenge so far:

• Keeping my blood sugar up. With hypoglycemia, my sugar level tends to drop throughout the day if I don't eat the right kind of foods, so I've had to keep an eye on that. I was diagnosed 12 years ago so I've been eating 5-6 meals a day for many years. But, I'll be honest, I know how to "cheat the system." I know how to eat some candy here, a piece of cake there, and it was time to stop those bad habits and get back to the basics that a nutritionist taught me 12 years ago.
• That being said, these first few days have been easier for me than most because I cut out all pop, sugary drinks 12 years ago. I went cold turkey because I had to if I wanted to help my body regulate sugar properly. I feel for my friends that are cutting out the pop/coffee and suffering from headaches. I've been there. And, my best advice is to stay strong. After 3-4 days, you won't miss the drinks that you just "had to have" before starting this challenge. (The Arbonne Fit Kit offers tools to help you get through these cravings.)

TMI Zone:

• Day 4 - I've had some hearty poops today, and they do not smell pleasant. I almost used my lethal weapon of gas during our soccer game, but I decided against it for the sake of my teammates. You're welcome.

Product Reviews from my team:

• Arbonne Vanilla Protein - "It tastes like cake batter!"
• Fizz Sticks - "A pleasant change to my regular water intake."
• Menu & Shopping Guide - "I'm making meals I never thought I would make, and they are fantastic. So far, all of the meals will become part of our regular dinner rotation."

You may ask, "What in the world are you eating?" Well, here is a sample to show you that it's not some crazy diet or fad. It's just good old fashioned clean eating. (Please note: if you want to lose weight then you will do two smoothies a day and one healthy meal, but if you want to maintain your weight then you'll do one smoothie a day and two healthy meals). Not only do I want to focus on eating better, but I would like to lose the last of the baby weight that I put on with my three pregnancies. Keep in mind that everyone's goals are different:

• Day 1
• Before Boot camp at 5:30am - One rice cake with almond butter. Moment of honesty - we went to two different stores and neither of them had plain rice cakes in stock so I ate the chocolate ones I already had at home. It's ok. I'll buy the other ones the next time I'm at the store.
• Breakfast - Smoothie packed with unsweetened vanilla almond milk, Arbonne vanilla protein, banana (for my low blood sugar), frozen berries, spinach, and super greens. You can also add the Arbonne Fiber, but I'm choosing not to at this time since my "system" runs pretty good on its own. Lunch - Smoothie
• Snack - Arbonne Fizz Stick (packed with vitamins, but no artificial flavor - like Crystal Light packets) in my water, rice cake with almond butter
• Dinner - Whole roasted organic chicken with baked sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli. This was the first time I had ever touched a whole chicken (I dispise eating meat off the bone) so I was rather impressed with myself. The meal was fantastic, and our kids loved it as well! For those that don't know, our kids are 5, 3, and 1 and they can be pretty picky eaters.
• Snack - Detox tea, and a rice cake with almond butter because I felt my sugar dropping
• Day 2
• Breakfast - Smoothie
• Snack - Rice cake with almond butter
• Lunch - Smoothie
• Snack - Rice cake with almond butter, fizz stick, and a handful of almonds (a little later).
• Dinner - Turkey Chili
• Snack - Detox tea, and a rice cake with almond butter
• 2nd Snack - We were up late watching football bowl games so I had a handful of almonds
• Day 3
• Breakfast - Smoothie
• Snack - Rice cake with almond butter, and a fizz stick
• Lunch - Left over Turkey Chili
• Snack - Almonds, pistachios
• Dinner - Prepared by my vegan sister in law. It was awesome! Baked sweet potatoes/squash/brussel sprouts, tofurkey, kale/brussel sprout/walnut salad with home made lemon dressing, and freekeh. (If you have no idea what some of those foods are then you're not alone. It was a pleasant learning curve for most of my family.)
• Snack - Detox tea, rice cake with almond butter
• Day 4
• Breakfast - Smoothie
• Snack - Almonds (at church)
• Lunch - Smoothie
• Snack - Two rice cakes with almond butter before our soccer game. Fizz stick in my water at the game.
• Dinner - Burrito Bowl which consisted of the left over Whole Roasted Chicken, brown rice, black beans, tomato, and avocado.

 

This was my first attempt at a whole chicken - Delicious!

 

 

In a nutshell, that is our challenge. It's not weird. It's not scary. So, if this post sparked your interest and you would like to join my team for February then please let me know. I will be putting together groups of 10 each month to go through this challenge so I would love for you to join my group! I currently have 4 signed up for Feb.

If you have questions, then please contact me at morrison25@cox.net. I would love to give you more details about the Arbonne Fit Kit and the tools to help you succeed at this life changing challenge!