I thought I'd make my first post more of an introduction and explain my motivation for eating clean. About 14 years ago (age 31), I was in the best shape of my life - and I mean the B.E.S.T. I was 95# (I'm only 4'9" so don't freak out too bad) and 16% body fat (athletic for a woman). I was buff and I ate whatever I damn well pleased. I probably ate about 3500+ calories a day. But overall, they were low fat, low/artificial sugar, lots of lean meats, etc. What I considered a "healthy" diet. Yes, I would indulge, but I tried to think in terms of nutritional value. How does one under 5 foot gal take in 3500 calories and maintaing that body you may ask? Exercise. Lots and lots and lots of exercise. I was working out 6 days a week. 60-90 minutes of kickboxing and advanced step aerobics and then another hour of weight training - the real stuff - squats, bench presses, dumbbell flies. You get the idea. But that's a lifestyle that I couldn't continue, nor do I want to return to that kind of exercise regime. So, it didn't last. It was HARD to retrain my eating habits back to a normal amount of calories, and I continue to struggle with viewing my body (which is healthy, but not tone and on the higher end of the scale from which I am comfortable) in a way that I accept.
I'll be honest, a month ago I was fluctuating between 115-117. Yeah, yeah, I know, you all would kill for that. But when you look at my BMI, it's right on the cusp of that every dangerous 25. So, it's not where I want to be. It's not where I am comfortable. Again, I always considered myself a healthy eater. Once I got serious about getting my body to look as healthy as I thought I ate, I searched for the solution - I knew it included exercise and I'm good with that. But I wanted a regime that allowed me and my busy schedule to all work together. I tried Weight Watchers. And that worked. But if you've ever done WW, you know it's all about the points and because of my weight and size, guess how many points I was limited to - 18. A mere 18 points. That leaves no room - and those extra points each week? If I used them, I didn't lose - only if every day I stuck to 18 points. It just wasn't enough food and I could never keep it up for the long haul.
Around the time I was getting serious and searching I saw a book at the grocery store. I was always picking up anything that looked like a cookbook with healthy recipes. And this book piqued my interest - Clean Eating. But whoa, what was she saying? No processed food, no chemicals? Yeah right. Everything's got stuff in it. That sounded like a silly, fanatical idea.
Fast forward about 3 years. Here is Liz - posting her amazing transformation and guess what she was talking about? Yup, we all know the answer - clean eating. I'd been getting more interested in the whole buy local, use farmer's market, etc trend and this whole idea suddenly made complete and total sense. 5 meals a day? I'm sure not going to feel hungry! All fresh? I LOVE fresh veggies and fruits. And I already typically picked up whole grain breads and tortillas, why not everything else?
So, here I am. I'm making it work. I'm finding what does indeed work for me and what doesn't. And bonus - in the last 3-4 weeks of clean eating? I've lost 4 pounds. Yeah, now that's good motivation. What's yours?
