Fit Friday

Andy and I started a clean eating challenge this week.  While we almost always eat healthy, we don't always eat clean.  So I did a little research, recipe planning, and grocery shopping to come up with a 10 day (maybe longer) clean eating challenge with hopes to make a few permanent lifestyle changes.  There are probably going to be some bumps along the way, such as the wedding I'm attending this weekend and our weekly family dinners (I'm not going to request a special meal be prepared for us) but we are just going with the flow and will make the best choices with what's available.  There are so many variations of clean eating, but we are keeping it fairly simple and maybe slightly modified from some.  Our rules:

1.  No bread or pasta
2.  No processed foods
3.  Limit dairy, if not eliminate it.  (we are eating some greek yogurt and cheese, but only the block form) I'm not a milk drinker as it is, but I switched to coconut milk for a snack, cooking, and Andy's coffee creamer
4.  No chips or crackers
5.  No cereal (we are eating whole oatmeal, brown rice or quinoa though)
6.  No sugar except fruits or naturally occurring

Basically, our diet is going to be comprised of lean, unprocessed meats (chicken, fish, grassfed buffalo, and maybe some steak or shrimp here and there) , lots of fruits, brown and wild rice, greek yogurt, oatmeal, coconut milk, kale chips, veggie sticks, spaghetti squash, PB2 (a bit of a cheat, it has some added sugar), grilled or baked veggies, eggs, salads with homemade dressing, and soup from my homemade chicken stock.  It's not too different from our normal diet, but I will admit that we sometimes have tacos, burgers, pastas, etc that have a few processed ingredients.  We always have our lean meats and veggies, but I'm attempting to eliminate the sugar and processed foods from our normal diet as much as possible.  I will try to post pictures and recipes as I go, but I already am a little behind on my blogging as it is, so we will see!


Motivation behind this lifestyle change?

1.  To create healthy habits for my daughter
2.  To increase Andy and I's over all health
3.  Eating healthier just feels good
4.  Prevent diseases in the future.  Since I am adopted, I don't know what my family medical history is.  I'd like to do my part and be as healthy as possible, so I'll have no regrets.
5.  Finally, to feel GOOD about myself in a bikini.  Although I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight, I feel like my body isn't quite as lean as it was before.  I'm attempting to shed a few pounds in hopes to have a leaner, stronger, less jiggly physique.  I'm happy with my body and proud of how far I've come since pregnancy, but I feel like I still have room to improve.

First dinner:

- Baked salmon with lemon, garlic, parsley and pepper for seasoning (the white stuff is the fat that   cooked out when I baked it)
- Steamed broccoli
-  Brown rice pilaf:   brown rice, homemade chicken stock, pepper, frozen peas and shallots, dash of cumin

First dessert:

Greek yogurt and diced nectarine!