With tentative steps...

...I make my way back to clean eating. I went to yoga this morning and it was hard, but it felt great.

Today I made roasted chickpeas. You toss them in your seasoning of choice and bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Stir them around a bit 2-3 times during the cooking time.

For this batch I mixed a healthy dose of wasabi, some soy sauce and a bit of hemp oil in a bowl. After rinsing the garbanzo beans I tossed them in the sauce mixture and roasted them up on a cookie sheet with a silpat on it.

They aren't super pretty, but they are tasty!

huh- over a year later...

I really haven't been watching what I am eating or working out as I should for over a year. I am not in the worst shape of my life, but I am on the express train to that stop! This being said I really had to sit down and think about making changes for myself that make me happy. When I eat well and exercise I feel strong, happy and healthy. Who doesn't want that? I have the ability and the knowledge so here I go again! The 100 day clean eating challenge. Third times the charm, right?

Here is the plan for the upcoming week... I am going to weigh myself weekly. I get a little weird if it is more than that. I will be working out at the gym and from home right now, but I will be starting yoga again in short order.

The menu for the week is as follows:
Breakfast (always the same): coffee, Ezekiel bread and natural peanut butter.

Snacks this week: Greek yogurt with fruit and nuts in the morning and veggie juice, string cheese and crackers in the afternoon.

Lunches will be leftovers or clean frozen meals. I try not to eat too many frozen meals because the content is still hard to control and I try to microwave as little as possible.

Dinners for the week:
Monday: Grilled salmon with a raw corn and zucchini salad (it is DELICIOUS!!!)

Tuesday: Bean and cheese burritos (fast and easy for a late work night)

Wednesday: Grilled chicken breast and a greek salad (great for wraps at lunch tomorrow)

Thursday: Asian Noodle Bowls

Friday: Black bean burgers with avocado and salsa and a salad

A great site for logging nutrition is http://www.livestrong.com/ There also is an iPhone app that syncs to the website. It breaks protein, fat and carbs down for all the food you eat. It is a great site.

Day 12 of 100

You will notice a time lapse. I still want to do this for 100 days, but there was a re-group period needed. I have decided NOT to count macronutrients or calories, but rather focus on whole clean foods. If this doesn't work I will go back to the drawing board.

Breakfast-
coffee
half and half
stevia
ezekial bread
natural peanut butter

snack-
greek yogurt
sliced raw almonds
strawberries (organic)

lunch-
Ethnic Gourmet frozen meal- pad thai
(as much as I would like to make myself lunch everyday- time is limited. The ingredients in these meals are pretty solid. Not organic, but no overt chemicals...)

regroup! regroup!

Ok- not keeping track really didn't work out for me. I think I would learn by now that structure is really the key for me. All good- I am starting back where I left off, so it still will be 100 days of clean eating. There just was a little gap of about 6 days of not so clean eating. Accountability- I think I thrive on it. I also think trying this on the second-ish week of the challenge wasn't the wisest move. Maybe that will be phase 2 of the challenge or somthing....

In the meanwhile. Here are some good resources.

Eating Well magazine. Not hardcore clean, but good recipes. I like it better than Cooking Light. It has a more "whole foods" emphasis and more of an emphasis on ecologically sound food practices. www.eatingwell.com

Clean Eating magazine. Hard core clean eating information and recipes. www.cleaneatingmag.com

The Tosca Reno books (I have not read the kids one) and website. Totally hardcore. I don't think I could, or would want to, take it this far. www.eatcleandiet.com and www.toscareno.com (more about her public personality than the lifestyle)

I am also waiting for the book to arrive called "In the Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto" by Michael Pollan. I ordered off amazon a few days ago. Here is a blurb...

Food. There's plenty of it around, and we all love to eat it. So why should
anyone need to defend it?
Because most of what we're consuming today is not
food, and how we're consuming it -- in the car, in front of the TV, and
increasingly alone -- is not really eating. Instead of food, we're consuming
"edible foodlike substances" -- no longer the products of nature but of food
science. Many of them come packaged with health claims that should be our first
clue they are anything but healthy. In the so-called Western diet, food has been
replaced by nutrients, and common sense by confusion. The result is what Michael
Pollan calls the American paradox: The more we worry about nutrition, the less
healthy we seem to become.

He will be speaking May 19th at the Edina Barnes and Noble.

Also-- my friend Chris has a sister named Lori... She is involved in a program called Every Day in May. This is a fitness challenge. The goal is to work-out every day in May. www.everydayinmay.com Lori and her trainer will be here next weekend to work-out!

Day 11 of 100. The new plan

So I am keeping track of my weight for the purpose of data. I lost three pounds last week by following clean eating. This week I will continue to follow clean eating, but without keeping track of any nutrition values such as calories, protein and carbs. I will eat clean food 5-6 times a day and see what happens.

Today here is what I had...

Breakfast--
1 piece Ezekial bread
1 tbsp natural PB
4 tbsp half and half
coffee

snack--
3/4 banana (shared the rest with Factor the therapy dog at work)
14 almonds
Kashi pumpkin spice flax bar

lunch--
whole wheat wrap
1/3 cup fat free refried beans
1 oz 2% cheddar
taco sauce
2 peanut butter cookies (all natural!-- but a treat to be sure)


snack--
2 rye krisp crackers
3 pieces turkey breast (organic)
1 piece string cheese (organic)
1 can V8 (large)

Dinner
Grilled Salmon with soy horseradish sauce
grilled vegetables
2 peanut butter cookies (natural)
8 oz skim milk


Today I will be biking six or so miles...

Day Ten of 100. 90 left? Phew!

breakfast1 slice Ezekial bread
80 calories
.5 grams fat
15 carbs4 protein

1 tbsp peanut butter
105 calories
Fat: 7.5 grams
Carb: 2.5 grams
Protein: 4 grams

half and half
70 calories
fat 6 grams
2 grams carbs
2 grams protein

Ok- I got really busy yesterday and I can recall what I ate, but I don't remember the totals. Here is the low down.

Lunch
whole wheat wrap, 2% cheddar, onions and BBQ sauce. I was out of organic BBQ sauce so I used some left over non-organic. Well guess what. I checked the label after I ate it- I need to learn to not do that. It has high fructose corn syrup. Even WORSE than sugar. Sheesh. Know I know.

For a snack I had 1/2 a pita, cucumbers and hummus.

For dinner I had a burrito with fat free refried beans, 2% cheddar, onions and taco sauce on a whole wheat wrap. I found some natural cookies made of whole wheat flour and evaporated cane juice. They are quite good. I had two of those. They are 120 calories per serving (2).

I worked out with David at Green Body (www.greenbody.net) for an hour. That was great.

After working out I had some triscuits and ham lunch meat. Thanks Mae!

Day 9...100% clean eating AND 100% sugar free!

breakfast
1 slice Ezekial bread (not too bad!!)
80 calories
.5 grams fat
15 carbs
4 protein

1 tbsp peanut butter
105 calories
Fat: 7.5 grams
Carb: 2.5 grams
Protein: 4 grams

half and half
70 calories
fat 6 grams
2 grams carbs
2 grams protein



Snack 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
75 calories
2 grams fat
4.5 grams carb
8 grams protein

1 tbsp sliced almonds
50 calories
3 grams fat
1.5 grams carb
1.5 grams protein

5 strawberries
20 calories
o fat
4 g carbs
0 protein

Lunch
1/2 chicken breast
71 calories
1.5 grams fat
0 carbs
13 grams protein

whole wheat wrap
150 calories
2.5 grams fat
26 grams carb
5 grams protein

1 oz feta
45 calories
3.5 grams fat
0 grams carb
2.5 grams protein

2 tbsp hummus
70 calories
6 grams fat
4 grams carb
1 gram protein

5 kalamata olives
45 calories
4 grams fat
2 grams carb
0 protein

lettuce, tomato

1/2 cup orzo salad with veggies
207 calories
4 grams fat
34 grams carb
10 grams protein
(high estimate)

Snack
1 whole wheat pita
74 calories
.5 grams fat
15 grams carbs
3 grams protein

2 tbsp hummus
70 calories
6 grams fat
4 grams carb
1 gram protein


Dinner
chicken breast
142 calories
3 grams fat
0 grams carb
26 grams protein

1 slice pepperjack
50 calories
4 grams fat
0 carbs
3 grams protein

whole wheat wrap
150 calories
2.5 grams fat
26 grams carb
5 grams protein

salsa and mixed greens

Total calories-- 1474.

I will probably do all totals and percentages 1-2 times a week only to check in. It is a lot of time to do that.

I didn't work out today. SO tired. I don't know why. Not because of diet!