clean eating day 2

Here is just a little update on my Clean Eating weekly challenge just 2 days in. For breakfast, I have stuck to my usual fresh juice. Right off the bat, after I take my morning pee and have washed my hands I open the door to what I call heaven, my fridge. For the past two months of completely ex'ing out dairy from my diet and finding new ways to challenge myself (so I don't get bored), my kitchen and my fridge have been my sanctuary. Is it bad that I've let food revolve around my day?

I've cut down on my empty carbs, my portions and anything pre-made, really. I love preparing my own foods and knowing how fresh it all is. By lunch time, I like to make a sandwich on sprouted wheat bread. Right now our favorite is Food for Life's Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain Sesame Bread and costs around $4-$5. For me, cutting out bread is the hardest part because I grew up with bread everywhere. When we would visit my Grandparents, my Grandma who is from Belgium, would always feed us toast with chocolate. Even with chocolate being my number one comfort food, it wasn't anywhere near this difficult to remove chocolate out of my diet than it is bread!

During the day I make sure to snack once or twice which is mostly some fruits and nuts. I really try not to graze throughout the day, but when I work from home and don't really leave my house it gets a bit tricky. I try to do small portions to not turn my smacks into meals.

Ben and I somehow manage to eat dinner like an old married couple, at about 5. Lately I've been doing an awesome mix of vegetables on top of rice or quinoa. Since I've been doing a lot more grocery shopping lately, I've been having to consciously make sure I don't over prepare or we'll be in bed by the time our plate is clean!

It's been a little over a month since I have been eating vegan (this isn't my first attempt), and I love it. Its not much of a insanely crazy difference, but I don't feel so weighed down and tired after I eat. And since the beginning of February, and passing on alcohol, I have seen a huge difference. It's been one week, and I've lost about 5 pounds already! It's crazy what a few beers does to your body, I can't believe I didn't do this sooner!

As for Ben, he's at about a good solid two weeks of no dairy. He still eats meat, but very rarely at home. I have seen a slight difference in him as well. We've been experimenting with his diet trying to figure out what his allergies are. Canceling out dairy has helped him out a lot, but there are still somedays where his symptoms come back. Next week I'll have him try to stop eating is wheat, which has been a food he'd eat and he would notice himself feeling itchy and and groggy and on the toilet within 20 minutes of a meal. It's super hard to find what he has an intolerant to when he would eat all the same foods at once. Breaking it down for ben will help him see what makes him react a certain way so we can both live in peace.