clean, lean, ean, an, n

something funny has happened. while diligently eating 5 small (utterly clean and healthy) meals a day, i have started to lose myself in the process. while this statement may sound ambiguous, it is meant to be taken literally. my body is changing, getting more lean by the day. eating the right food is a very powerful thing!

i am finding that weekends are particularly difficult for me. it is easy enough to make my lunch and snacks for work during the week, but all hell breaks loose in the food department when i wake up on saturday. sleeping in, random plans – come the weekend, i’m always flying by the seat of my pants. i think part of this challenge for me has been learning to embrace the fact that i am not perfect and am allowed to make executive decisions about what i put into my mouth on the fly. even as i type this, though, i am realizing that i might just need to work on preparing myself for the weekend.

one of my favorite things to do so far is make my salad in a mason jar. by putting the dressing on the bottom, it keeps the greens from getting soggy, but allows you to make it ahead. salads and dressing can be so versatile!

so, i wanted to follow up on the great egg conundrum of 2012. i am very pleased to report that last night i think i finally perfected the hard boiled egg. the magic number for me is 12 minutes. another very magical tip i found was cracking the egg all over and then rolling it between your hands. it separates the membrane of the egg from the shell – and the shell practically falls off! it’s so easy! and a delicious snack!

i was also able to make my lovely mother some clean chocolate cupcakes for her birthday. they were delicious! unfortunately, i attempted to use them a few days later for a dessert night with some friends, but they were mouldy (which really isn’t a bad thing – clean food should go mouldy! next time i will put the cupcakes in the fridge. oops!)

all in all, things have been going GREAT. they are going so good that i may have inadvertently started my march challenge last week……but you will just have to wait to find out about it!

February Challenge Revealed!

 

my first digital drawing - a wrinkly looking apple! YUM!

 

i can’t believe a new month has already begun! last month flew by and gave me new hope that i am totally capable of doing anything for 30 days.

it’s funny, really, that i came home this evening with zero desire to watch t.v. – but i will admit that the fact that i can turn it on and not feel guilty about cheating is quite liberating. yesterday i smiled, giddily, as i removed, crumpled and threw away my “find something else to do” sign. FREEDOM AT LAST!

 

i’ll be honest….i’m still not feeling ready to release this next challenge into the world because i’m struggling to figure out how to make it something that i can achieve. i know what i want to do, but my biggest fear is that i will fail miserably. i’ll cut to the chase:

FEBRUARY 2012:

ACHIEVABLE CHALLENGE: i will practice the clean eating principles – eating 5-6 small meals per day, consuming plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, protein and healthy complex carbohydrates and practice eating healthy portion sizes. i will also be conscious of drinking  as much water as possible throughout the day.

SPECIFICS: eating sugary foods and processed crap will be kept to a minimum, but if there is a time when i want to, i will keep my portion very small.  when eating out, i will try to stick to these rules as closely as possible. 

i’m not sure if this is cheating or not, but i already started this challenge on monday (just seemed easier to start my week off eating good food at regular intervals rather than in the middle of the week). so far i’m finding it much easier to do this challenge when i’ve planned ahead. my evenings this week have consisted mostly of making dinner, making my lunch for the next day as well as making my breakfast for the next morning. so there it is, my first major lesson to making sure this challenge is manageable is preparation. i even went out a bought new water bottles to have stationed at both of my schools that i can fill with water and carry around with me, just to make my life easier.

i have already encountered my first challenge with this clean eating goal……my days get so busy and the time literally flies by. how am i going to make sure i don’t forget to have my snack at 10am? today i forgot to have my mid-morning snack until it was 11:30! oops! my thought at first was to set alarms on my phone, but i don’t always have my phone with me and if it goes off it might disturb someone. i also have an interval timer i use for working out that could be easily attached to my pants that would vibrate at whatever interval i set it to. it will just look a little dorky….but i think i’m willing to look dorky to make sure i accomplish this challenge!

my second challenge has been my epic failures at trying to make hard boiled eggs for lunches. i have cooked 7 EGGS over the last week that have not turned out. what a waste! i can’t seem to get it right…they are always undercooked.

 

what is your february challenge? i hope you’ll join me so you can make the best of february 2012!