Before I start with my weeklong journey of “eating clean,” let me put it out there that I absolutely love food. I get hungry about six times a day and have horrible self control when I see, or smell something… well, delicious. For seven days I modified my diet from “Go ahead Brooke, eat whatever you want,” to “slow down and think about a cleaner option.”
Plus, Girl Scout season has started… enough said.
When I Googled, what it means to “eat clean” I discovered that it does not have strictly defined boundaries on what you can, and cannot, eat. Vegetarians don’t eat meat and people on low-carb diets lay off the bread, but eating clean is described as “eating more of the best and healthiest options in each of the food groups—and eating less of the not-so-healthy ones,” by eatingwell.com. Sure, I liked having some of it up to my own interpretation, but that also gives the cheese-lover in me opportunity to talk myself out of a salad and into a grilled cheese, because it contains calcium and whole grains… right?
I decided to make a list of things to eat less of, and things to eat more of so that it would be easier for me to make good decisions on meals. I needed to limit my processed foods (less fast food and more Whole Foods) more veggies, more whole grains, less added sugar and less meat, because it contains high levels of saturated fats.
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I had started my research on how to eat clean a few days before I started the seven day journey so that I had ample time to Pinterest ideas and go grocery shopping. Pinterest is a girl’s best friend after all, especially when it comes to all things food related. Whether you need to find ways to be frugal while eating clean, meal ideas for the whole week or need clean snacks to grab on your way out the door, Pinterest has it all.
Day 1, Sunday:
Waking up knowing I would be eating healthy for the next week, I felt confident that I could do this and succeed, until I remembered that I spent the night at my parent’s house. They are serious food connoisseurs and whenever I am home we usually eat out every meal, or make way too much food for only three people (and eat it all.)
Choosing where to go to eat was difficult because I wanted to make sure wherever we went had clean options (and for the record I decided a protein-style In-N-Out burger was not classified as clean). Hard-boiled eggs held me over until lunchtime, when we decided to go to Starbucks because their Cheese and Fruit box is amazing, and surprisingly healthy. Knowing I was going out to dinner with friends I wanted to keep my lunch small.
Dinner was hard; everyone around me got extra fried cream cheese wontons and lots of fried rice. Surprisingly I stayed strong and ate Kung Pao chicken with vegetables and egg flower soup. I avoided as much rice as possible and kept away from the soy sauce. Even though I made some substitutions to my regular meal choice, I actually did not miss any of the items I left out.
Day 2, Monday:
I knew this was going to be a hectic day for me, so I grabbed a Naked juice on my way out the door and felt good that I drank all of necessary fruit for the day before 9 a.m. Between three classes and work in one day I didn’t have any time to sit down for lunch or dinner so those snacks I packed came in handy. When I felt like I needed something more substantial I had hummus and sugar snap peas. But whenever I felt the hunger coming on I ate a cutie, or some protein balls that I made the night before. Get the awesome recipe here.
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To be honest though, I cheated. Remember how I said I had trouble with self-control?
Day 3, Tuesday:
I had some time (if 10 minutes qualifies as some time) before I left for class so I made an organic peanut butter banana sandwich on 12-grain bread. Since I wasn’t starving it wasn’t as hard today to make good decisions on what I ate for lunch, I just did it. A chicken bowl with black beans, cojita cheese, salsa verde and lettuce contained no unnecessary ingredients and didn’t make me feel like I was eating on a turtle’s diet. Keeping the bag of protein balls, was very helpful, whenever my stomach started growling I could just eat a few and drink some water to hold me over.
Today I realized that by eating snacks throughout the days my meals didn’t have to be as big.
Day 4, Wednesday:
Naked juices never fail to keep me full throughout the morning and are totally delicious at that. I had time to sit for lunch today and it just so happened to be the day my school’s cafe was serving Italian food. What is better than spaghetti and meatballs? Not much, but I decided that probably wasn’t the cleanest option. I substituted the red sauce and fatty meatballs for a different and sautéed vegetables. To my surprise the pesto and vegetables were a perfect combination and actually tasted better than I thought it would.
Unfortunately my delicious lunch was followed by a less than satisfying dinner. Most of the time the dining hall serves jail food, with exceptions a few days a week. This was not one of those days.
Today was harder me to stay away from the ice-cream machine. Every time I craved something sweet I ate a protein ball and the honey in them made my sweet-tooth-self smile.
Day 5, Thursday:
I basically repeated Tuesday’s breakfast and lunch today, but added in a few cuties. When it came to dinnertime it was difficult to find somewhere I could eat something clean with my friends who will eat anything full of grease if it tastes good. El Pollo Loco has many options for those trying to live a healthier lifestyle and it was easy for me to find something delicious and clean (I was very sad to have to cut down on El Pollo’s creamy cilantro sauce- it is the best.)
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I realized that a big part of this diet change was what I drank. Water and green tea seemed to be the only thing I could drink and not feel guilty about the extra sugar.
Day 6, Thursday:
Today was the day of the club fair where I would be hosting our Her Campus club fair booth so I knew I needed a big breakfast. I ate eggs, potatoes and vegetarian sausage (with an unhealthy amount of Tapatio) for breakfast and when it came to lunch I only ate because I knew I would regret it in a few hours if I didn’t. I filled my plate with fruit and a vegan burger patty (I ate all of the fruit, but half of the vegan patty found its way to the trashcan.)
When it turned about 6 o’clock I was craving a lot of something delicious. My go-to when I need something filling and full of healthy ingredients is Phò. Rice noodles, broth, onions, bean sprouts are only four ingredients that will leave you feeling stuffed, but not like a pig.
My biggest struggle today was telling the Girl Scout selling cookies that I didn’t want any Samoas (because I totally did).
Day 7, Saturday:
The final day has come and I am now more than ever craving chocolate ice cream, yes, even for breakfast. My clean choices included a Spinach Feta Wrap from Starbucks and eating my body weight in sushi. I know, moderation is key, but c’mon all rules are lost when you break those chopsticks.
Avoiding the smells of cheeseburgers, fries and chicken strips was hard because I have been without it for a week now, but every time I was tempted I reminded myself that the next day this was all over and if I wanted, I could eat whatever I wanted.
Overall, my clean eating week made me feel good about the food choices I made. Even though it may have been hard to avoid carne asada fries and donuts, I felt less guilty every time I looked in the mirror and felt self-conscious, because I knew I did all I could that day to feed my body good things. Even though I immediately broke my clean eating habit with some chili cheese fries, I fully intend on continuing my clean snacks and meals as often as I can. So give it a try and see what clean food can do for your mind, body and soul!